The effect of customer engagement in social media and purchase intention in the Malaysia hotel industry
List of Authors
  • Norazlina Rahmat , Raja Hafizah Raja Hashim

Keyword
  • Surveillance, social interaction, sharing information, attraction, and purchase intention

Abstract
  • In recent years, the hospitality industry has overcome numerous challenges to engage customers in social media marketing. Greater interest in customer behaviour has led the hotel industry to engage in more social media marketing, resulting in purchase intent activities. Therefore, this study aims to identify the effect of customer engagement that influences customers' purchase intention in the hotel industry. Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires through invitations via email, WhatsApp, and social media platforms. A total of 326 respondents from Malaysia were selected through convenience sampling in this survey. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software. The results discovered that surveillance, social interaction, information sharing, and attraction significantly impacted customer engagement and purchasing intention. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing insight into the importance of social media to hotel customers in Malaysia. Besides, this research can help the Malaysian government and hoteliers to integrate the research framework into their current business model and impose more effective strategies to engage customers in their social media marketing.

Reference
  • 1. Algharabat, R., Rana, N. P., Alalwan, A. A., Baabdullah, A., & Gupta, A. (2020). Investigating the antecedents of customer brand engagement and consumer-based brand equity in social media. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 53, 101767.

    2. Alghizzawi, M. (2019). The role of digital marketing in consumer behaviour: A survey. International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies (IJITLS), 3(1), 24-31.

    3. Appel, G., Grewal, L., Hadi, R., & Stephen, A. T. (2020). The future of social media in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing science, 48(1), 79-95.

    4. Azmi, E. N., & Rahman, N. A. A. (2022). The Malaysian Job Market: Exploring Social Networking Sites (SNSS) As an Alternative Communication Method Between Employers and Job Seekers. International Journal of Modern Trends in Social Science, Vol. 5, Issue 22, pp 12-21.

    5. Chu, S.-C., Deng, T. and Cheng, H. (2020), "The role of social media advertising in hospitality, tourism and travel: a literature review and research agenda", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32 No. 11, pp. 3419-3438. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-05-2020-0480.

    6. Demmers, J., Weltevreden, J. W. J., & van Dolen, W. M. (2020). Consumer Engagement with Brand Posts on social media in Consecutive Stages of the Customer Journey. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 24(1), 53-77 doi:10.1080/10864415.2019.1683701 10.1080/10864415.2019.1683701.

    7. De Silva, T.M. (2020), "Building relationships through customer engagement in Facebook brand pages", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 38 No. 6, pp. 713-729. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-02-2019-0085.

    8. De Vries, L., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. S. H. (2012). Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: an investigation of the effects of social media marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(2), 83- 91.

    9. Dwivedi, Y. K., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, D. L., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., Jacobson, J., ... & Wang, Y. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions. International Journal of Information Management, 59, 102168.

    10. Fishbein, M. and Ajzen, I. (1975), Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

    11. Friandi, S. Z., Handayani, I., & Ratih, F. K. (2021). Instagram social media As a Means Of Supporting Information And Promotion At PT. AIK Cheong Indonesia. International Journal of Cyber and IT Service Management, 1(2), 151-158.

    12. Garg, A., & Kumar, J. (2021). Social media marketing influence on Boutique Hotel customers’ purchase intention in Malaysia. Tourism &Management Studies, 17(3), 51-62.

    13. Giombi K, Viator C, Hoover J, Tzeng J, Sullivan HW, O’Donoghue AC, et al. (2022) The impact of interactive advertising on consumer engagement, recall, and understanding: A scoping systematic review for informing regulatory science. PLoS ONE 17(2): e0263339. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263339.

    14. Harun, A., & Husin, W. H. R. (2019). Is the purchasing behavior of suburban millennials affected by social media marketing? Empirical evidence from Malaysia. KOME: An International Journal of Pure Communication Inquiry, 7(2), 104-127.

    15. Husin, W. H. R. (2019). The influences of social media marketing on consumer purchase behaviour of low involvement product among generation y in sub-urban areas in Malaysia (Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia).

    16. Husnain, M., & Toor, A. (2017). The impact of social network marketing on consumer purchase intention in Pakistan: Consumer engagement as a mediator. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, 10(1), 167-199.

    17. Hue, N. T. K., Loc, N. T., & Hong, N. T. (2022). Applying social media in the Hotel Sector: Satisfaction with the Facebook Pages of Hotels and Intention of Future Visit. Intellectual Economics, 1(16).

    18. Kapoor, K. K., Tamilmani, K., Rana, N. P., Patil, P., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Nerur, S. (2018). Advances in social media research: Past, present, and future. Information Systems Frontiers, 20, 531-558.

    19. Katz, E., & Blumler, J. G. (1974). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research.

    20. Kaur, P., Dhir, A., Rajala, R., & Dwivedi, Y. (2018). Why people use online social media brand communities: A consumption value theory perspective. Online information review, 42(2), 205-221.

    21. Kim, H., & Park, M. (2023). Virtual influencers’ attractiveness effect on purchase intention: A moderated mediation model of the Product–Endorser fit with the brand. Computers in Human Behavior, 143, 107703.

    22. Kucukusta, D., Perelygina, M. and Lam, W.S. (2019), "CSR communication strategies and stakeholder engagement of upscale hotels in social media", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 2129-2148. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2018-0484.

    23. Ibrahim, B. (2022). Social media marketing activities and brand loyalty: A meta-analysis examination. Journal of Promotion Management, 28(1), 60-90.

    24. Lal, B., Ismagilova, E., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Kwayu, S. (2020). Return on investment in social media marketing: Literature review and suggestions for future research. Digital and social media marketing: emerging applications and theoretical development, 3-17.

    25. Lee, M., Hong, J. H., Chung, S., & Back, K.-J. (2020). Exploring the Roles of DMO’s Social Media Efforts and Information Richness on Customer Engagement: Empirical Analysis on Facebook Event Pages. Journal of Travel Research, 004728752093487. doi:10.1177/0047287520934874 10.1177/0047287520934874.

    26. Lutz, C., & Tadesse, G. (2017). African farmers’ market organizations and global value chains: competitiveness versus inclusiveness. Review of Social Economy, 75(3), 318-338.

    27. Li, F., Larimo, J. & Leonidou, L.C. (2021) Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 49, 51–70). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00733-3.

    28. Ma, L., Lee, C. S, & Goh, D. H. (2014). Understanding News Sharing in social media an Explanation from the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Online Information Review, 38(5), 598–615.

    29. Mutiara, P., & Kinkin Yuliaty Subarsa Putri. (2023). Uses and Gratification Theory in TikTok as Social Media Marketing Platform: Seen from Market Player View. Journal of Digital Marketing and Communication, 3(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.53623/jdmc.v3i1.164.

    30. Ng, J., & Wah, K. (2022) Mediating Role of Consumer Innovativeness: The Impact of Social Media Engagement on Behavioural Beliefs in Private Healthcare. Available at SSRN 4239645.

    31. Phuong, T. T. K., & Vinh, T. T. (2020). The Impact of Customer Engagement in social media on Satisfaction: A Preliminary Study. Asian Journal of Research in Business and Management, 2(2), 60-75.

    32. Ruckenstein, M., & Granroth, J. (2019). Algorithms, advertising, and the intimacy of surveillance. Journal of Cultural Economy, 1–13. doi:10.1080/17530350.2019.1574866 10.1080/17530350.2019.1574866.

    33. So, K. K. F., Wei, W., & Martin, D. (2021). Understanding customer engagement and social media activities in tourism: A latent profile analysis and cross-validation. Journal of Business Research, 129, 474-483.

    34. Singh, A. (2021). Impact of social media on Consumer Behaviour. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(5), 1216-1225.

    35. Sreejesh, S., Paul, J., Strong, C., & Pius, J. (2020). Consumer response towards social media advertising: Effect of media interactivity, its conditions, and the underlying mechanism. International Journal of Information Management, 54,102155. doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102155 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102155.

    36. Tariq, M., Abbas, T., Abrar, M., & Iqbal, A. (2017). EWOM and brand awareness impact on consumer purchase intention: mediating role of brand image. Pakistan Administrative Review, 1(1), 84-102.

    37. Torres, A. P., Marshall, M. I., Alexander, C. E., & Delgado, M. S. (2017). Are local market relationships undermining organic fruit and vegetable certification? A bivariate probit analysis. Agricultural economics, 48(2), 197-205.

    38. Trad, N., & Al Dabbagh, M. A. (2020). Use of Social Media as an Effective Marketing Tool for Fashion Startups in Saudi Arabia. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 8(11), 319-332.

    39. Varadarajan, R. Innovating for sustainability: a framework for sustainable innovations and a model of sustainable innovations orientation. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 45, 14–36 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-015-0461-6.

    40. Voorveld, H. A., Van Noort, G., Muntinga, D. G., & Bronner, F. (2018). Engagement with social media and social media advertising: The differentiating role of platform type. Journal of advertising, 47(1), 38-54.

    41. Vivek, S. D., Beatty, S. E., & Morgan, R. M. (2012). Customer engagement: exploring customer relationships beyond purchase. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 20(2), 122-146.

    42. Weismueller, J., Harrigan, P., Wang, S., & Soutar, G. N. (2020). Influencer endorsements: How advertising disclosure and source credibility affect consumer purchase intention on social media. Australasian marketing journal, 28(4), 160-170.

    43. Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013). Why People Use social media: A Uses and Gratifications Approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 16(4), 362-369.

    44. Yaacob, A., Ling, G. J., & Yusuf, S. (2021). The Influence of Social Media Marketing towards Online Purchase Intention of Fashion Apparel during Pandemic.

    45. Yoong, L. C., & Lian, S. B. (2018). Customer Engagement in social media and Tourism Brand Performance Implication. The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art, and Communication - TOJDAC, 1186- 1194.

    46. Yoong, L. C., & Lian, S. B. (2019). Customer Engagement in social media and Purchase Intentions in the Hotel Industry. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(1),54–68.