Influence Of Social Media Marketing Tools On Performance Among Hotels Registered By Tourism Regulatory Authority In Central Region, Kenya

Abstract

The environment in which hotels operate is quite competitive due to the constantly evolving environment. as a result, hotels are quickly rejuvenating their survival strategies to sustain profitability. Despite the innovative adoption of digital marketing amongst hotels in Central Region, most of the hotels are struggling to remain afloat as others close down. Against the background, this study aimed at establishing the influence of social media marketing tools on performance of hotels registered by Tourism Regulatory Authority in Central Region, Kenya. The guiding objectives were to determine how social media platform, social media content, social marketing capacity and social marketing culture influences performance of hotels in registered by Tourism Regulatory Authority in Central Region, Kenya. The founding theoretical frameworks included: technology acceptance model, theory of change, system theory of management and social exchange theory. Descriptive survey research design was adopted in the implementation of the research. The targeted population is 228 hotels registered by the Tourism Regulatory Authority as by the year 2021 in central region. Census method was adopted. Raw data was collected by means of structured questionnaires. Pilot study was conducted to a sample size of 23 respondents in Nyeri County in order to enhance feasibility of the research methodology. Reliability and validity of the instruments was determined using split half method and matching respectively. Data was collected after getting clearance and research permit from the KCA University and NACOSTI respectively. The following diagnostic tests were carried out: normality, heteroscedasticity and multicollinearity. Quantitative data was subjected to SPSS version 25 so as to generate descriptive statistics (frequencies, means, standard deviation and percentages) and inferential statistics (correlation coefficients, regression coefficients, ANOVA). Relationship between variables was established using Pearson`s Product Moment Correlational Analysis. Hypotheses was tested by means of F-statistical test at the widely accepted 0.05 level of significance. Statistical findings were presented in tables. The strength of the relationship between social media marketing tools and performance of Hotels in Central Region of Kenya decreased in the following order: social media content (r=0.81), social marketing capacity (r=0.76), social media platform (r=0.51) and social marketing culture (r=0.33) for p = 0.00 < 0.05. Therefore, the four null hypotheses were rejected and concluded that there is significant relationship between social media platform, social media content, social marketing capacity, social marketing culture and performance of hotels in central region in Kenya. The model or social media marketing tools (social media platform, social media content, social marketing capacity, social marketing culture) accounted for 78% variation in the performance of hotels in Central Region of Kenya (for R2=0.78). The resolved model was: Y = 0.24+0.05X1+ 0.55X2+ 0.39X3+ 0.04X4+ε. It was concluded that an increase in social media platform, social media content, social marketing capacity, social marketing culture would result into a significant increase in the performance of hospitality firms amongst the registered hotels in Central Region, Kenya. Government was recommended to create digital schools, develop policies that encourage creative utility of social medial platforms while promoting ethical social media marketing practices so as to protect the rights of the consumers while promoting fair trade. Managers should conduct thorough analysis of the targeted audience and suitability of a social media platform before adoption to optimize its utility in enhancing performance. Managers should also ensure that the social media contents are relevant, informative and engaging with customers. Also, managers should put in place a dedicated digital team to effectively manage and optimize social media marketing while promoting positive social marketing culture. Future studies should focus on testing the findings from this study in different contexts in order to generate more representative and generalizable findings.