The perception of social media as a promotional mix element in star-graded accommodation establishments in the Western Cape province of South Africa
Loading...
Authors
Van Niekerk, Claudette
Issue Date
2014-12
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Accommodation establishments , Consumer behaviour , Marketing , Perception , Promotional mix elements , Social media , South Africa , Star-graded , TGCSA , Traditional marketing methods , Western Cape
Alternative Title
Abstract
Since the advent of the Internet, the number of individuals and organisations
using tools such as the World Wide Web and cell phones has increased, and is
continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Social media has provoked fundamentally
different ways of doing business, and organisations rapidly had to get on this
social media bandwagon to stay up to date with the latest market trends and
ahead of the competition. Although social media is already broadly used among
South African businesses, the perception regarding the use of social media as a
promotional mix element has not been investigated sufficiently in South Africa.
The primary purpose of this study was therefore to determine the perception of
star-graded accommodation establishments, operating in the Western Cape
province of South Africa, regarding the use of social media as a promotional mix
element. A broad and in-depth literature review was conducted on the use of
social media and social media as a probable promotional mix element. An
empirical study was conducted, in which data was collected from star-graded
accommodation establishments operating in the Western Cape by means of a
web-based (computer-assisted) self-administered questionnaire. A quantitative
approach was followed in order to satisfy the research objectives of this study.
The results of this research study indicate that social media is perceived to be
an instrumental marketing element in star-graded accommodation establishments
and can indeed be considered an element of the promotional mix.
Description
Citation
Van Niekerk, Claudette (2014) The perception of social media as a promotional mix element in star-graded accommodation establishments in the Western Cape province of South Africa, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18496>