The usage of social media as a marketing tool in two Southern African countries

ABSTRACT

This research provides empirical evidence for the usage of social media in the marketing of accommodation establishments in two Southern African countries. The usage of social networks in the accommodation sector of these two countries has received little attention in hospitality research. The study finds that social media is used very differently by marketers in the two countries. Marketers of accommodation establishments need to be aware of such differences and not assume that all countries use these media in the same way. The study provides evidence on how social media is utilised by accommodation establishments from a developing country perspective. Its findings are useful not only to marketers but also to researchers in the field of social media marketing, especially in the Southern African region.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• accommodation establishments
• hospitality industry
• South Africa
• Zimbabwe

1. Introduction

The use of social media worldwide has attracted considerable research attention. In less than five years, social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have developed from an online niche activity into a phenomenon in which tens of millions of people are engaged (Cachia, 2008; Trusov et al., 2009). Social networking websites, first introduced to the online community in 2003 (Salkhordeh, 2010), have seen an extraordinary increase in the number of users and brought about changes in the economic, social and political landscape. Businesses across all sectors of the economy are as a result of this increase compelled to use these social networks to stay in touch with consumer behaviour. For a hospitality business, this goes beyond having a website – it means reaching out to customers across the changing online landscape (Chan & Guillet, 2011; Stelziner, 2011). It means engaging people using a variety of newly developed social media platforms. Strategic marketing of a tourism-based business must harness the potential of online social networks (Lim, 2010). Since the hospitality sector is one of the most customer-interactive industries, establishments competing in this space will inevitably want to use social media to market their businesses, increase brand awareness and collect direct feedback from their customers (Ernestad & Henriksson, 2010) and increase sales. The literature emphasises the importance of social media networks in marketing because of their popularity, ability to communicate quickly and widely, and apparent influence on users (Friebe & Campbell, 2009; Pradiptarini, 2011). Since social media networks are increasingly being used in hospitality service marketing, more empirical evidence is needed about how they are used and how effective they are, especially in the accommodation sector (Assenov & Khurana, 2012).

Against this background, this research was conducted in two developing countries: South Africa and Zimbabwe. The study’s goal was to discover how social media are being used in the marketing of accommodation services. The study used accommodation managers’ perceptions to gain a clear picture of social media usage in the accommodation sector of the two countries. South Africa and Zimbabwe, two Southern African countries at different levels of technological advancement and Internet penetration, provide a useful contrast for studying social media marketing. Zimbabwe’s economic and political problems have seriously hindered the adoption and use of Internet technologies over the past decade. Poor provision of basic Internet services and a thin Internet bandwidth make it almost impossible to use the Internet and it was only in the past few years that mobile 3G Internet was introduced in Zimbabwe, allowing many people to access the Internet easily (Techzim, 2012). Zimbabwe is currently engaged in marketing campaigns to resuscitate its flagging tourism industry. These campaigns included promoting the Victoria Falls as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Look East Policy [aimed at strengthening relationships between Zimbabwe and Far Eastern countries like China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Pakistan to deal with the country’s severe economic problems and estrangement from western technology, sources of capital and trade] and the exemption of duty on tourism industry equipment by the government to promote growth (Karambakuwa et al., 2011; Maroodza, 2011; Mirimi et al., 2013). Researchers can help by investigating how social media can be integrated effectively into these marketing campaigns so that the country can increase its presence in both regional and international markets. South Africa, on the other hand, is technologically more advanced; at the time of writing it had the highest tweet rate in Africa (Lipman, 2014). The authors are unaware of any previous study into the usage of social media in marketing accommodation establishments in South Africa or Zimbabwe, making it difficult to compile a well-documented literature review for developing countries in Africa. This study therefore fills a gap in the current literature.

Accommodation is one of the primary sectors of the tourism industry. With very few exceptions, tourists need a place to stay and sleep when arriving at a destination. Thus, the accommodation sector complements the tourism service by providing an essential support facility in destination regions, contributing a high percentage of overall tourism income. The hospitality sector comprises 67% of all tourism in South Africa, and the wholesale, retail, catering and accommodation sectors contribute 14.4% of the country’s gross domestic product (Statistics South Africa, 2014). In Zimbabwe, the accommodation sector is the third highest contributor to the country’s gross domestic product, with a growth rate of 6% in 2011 (Zunga, 2011). The importance of the accommodation sector to the tourism industry and a country cannot be overstated. Therefore, it is crucial for the sector to understand social media marketing to market itself effectively to visitors worldwide.

2. Literature review

Social media platforms are web-based services that allow the user to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, to create a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and to view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system, invite people to access those profiles and exchange emails and instant messages (Blackshaw & Nazzaro, 2004; Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Miguens et al., 2008; Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Lange-Faria & Elliot, 2012). According to ComScore (2011), social media networks have reached a penetration of 78%, 68%, 62%, 55%, 42% and 16% in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, France and Japan, respectively, with a global penetration of 52%. A ‘social media landscape’ survey conducted in South Africa in 2011 showed that social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn led the way in user numbers, with approximately 4.2 million Facebook users by August 2011, and the same survey conducted in 2012 showed that large corporate brands in South Africa have embraced social media, ‘following in the footsteps of their customers’, with First National Bank and Woolworths being the top users (Goldstuck, 2012:3). In 2013 South Africa’s Internet penetration rate was 40.9%, while social media usage was at 22% in 2015 (Web Africa, 2013; Wild Wide Worx, 2015). The South African hotel sector is following suit; the Tsogo international hotel group, for example, enables guests to check availability and reserve rooms directly via their Facebook page (The Sowetan, 2011). Zimbabwe’s Internet penetration rate was approximately 40% in 2014 (TechZim, 2014). Unfortunately, the literature on social media penetration in Zimbabwe is scarce; the authors could find no published literature from reliable sources. The Holiday Inn hotel group in Zimbabwe has a Facebook page where guests can view their services. To the authors’ knowledge, at the time of this writing no academic research had been conducted to establish how accommodation facilities in Zimbabwe are performing in social media marketing.

Online social networking has become a gateway for travel-related information which an establishment can use in many ways: to collect feedback, both positive and negative, analyse it and determine how to improve services and enhance visitor experience; to attract and retain customers, strengthen customer relationships and increase brand loyalty; to broaden marketing campaigns; to protect an establishment’s reputation; and ultimately to gain a competitive edge (Kasavana, 2008; Xiang et al., 2008; Qualman, 2009; Salkhordeh, 2010; Guarav, 2012). Hospitality businesses today, especially those in the accommodation sector, can no longer rely solely on traditional media to communicate with their customers but must learn how to use the social networks that provide an ideal platform for marketing in the virtual world (Lim, 2010; Chan & Guillet, 2011). Using these social networks has become no longer a choice but a necessity. This situation has, of course, attracted research attention. A London study shows that 66% of hospitality marketers say Facebook and Twitter are the most useful social media for marketing their businesses (Friebe & Campbell, 2009). The Fortune Global 500 Index shows that 79% of its top 100 companies use at least one social media platform (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube) (Burson-Marsteller, 2010). Of international hotels in New York, 80% use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube to market their services (Lanz et al., 2010). Pradiptarini (2011) describes the advantages that some tourism businesses have gained from social media marketing. For instance, visits to the US website ‘Dessert Gallery’ increased by 20% per month after the number of its Facebook fans increased from 383 to 817. Unfortunately, most of these studies are limited to hotels; the authors are unaware of any study that has covered a wider spread of accommodation types.

Research on social media marketing has been carried out thoroughly in developed countries (Lanz et al., 2010; Salkhordeh, 2010; Stankov et al., 2010; Milano et al., 2011; Assenov & Khurana, 2012; Guarav, 2012), but limited research has to date focused on this aspect from a developing country context. The literature on social media marketing in the hospitality sector shows that some hospitality businesses, especially chain and boutique hotels in developed countries, have embraced this means of marketing though their usage, and its effectiveness varies. Tourism businesses are beginning to realise the importance of using social media marketing, and most hospitality businesses have already established a presence on social media websites, as several studies have shown. The following were some findings. For hotels in Phuket, Thailand, social media were still a new marketing communication tool – Facebook and TripAdvisor were the most commonly used social networks, although not being used effectively for marketing. Hotels, however, recognised their importance for brand awareness and exposure (Assenov & Khurana, 2012). Some hospitality businesses in Las Vegas had embraced social media, but the wave of social media marketing was still new to them (Guarav, 2012). A study of social media and the hospitality industry in the United States showed that many hotel chains had embraced Facebook and other channels for marketing purposes, but others were hardly represented in the social media sphere at all (Withiam, 2011). The social media platforms most commonly used by hotels in Vienna were Facebook and TripAdvisor, although boutique hotels here were using some social media platforms for marketing while many chain hotels were only using Facebook (Vidovic, 2012). Hotels in Taiwan were using Facebook marketing effectively for the domestic market, but failing to use it effectively for the international market (Hsu, 2012).

A hospitality industry trend report (Coyle Hospitality Group, 2012) showed that 93.8% of hospitality businesses investigated said they were using social media, particularly Facebook, to connect with customers and were planning to allocate more resources, in terms of time and budget, to social media marketing. A study of the 10 largest hotel operators in the world showed that seven of them were using Facebook to communicate with their customers, but their knowledge of how to use social media platforms for marketing was limited (Friebe & Campbell, 2009). A study of hotels in Hong Kong found that Twitter and Facebook were the most commonly used social media, but they were not used extensively. These hotels lacked the commitment to sustaining social media marketing efforts (Chan & Guillet, 2011). Parsippany (2010) argues that, although the number of hotels using Facebook and Twitter is growing by the day, the main challenge facing all hotels is how to engage customers effectively to the establishment’s benefit.

These studies all found that many establishments were not using social media extensively or efficiently, but other studies have found the reverse. For example, most of the hotels investigated in a UK study said they actively promoted their businesses through social media marketing and were realising its benefits, not least of which is the fact that it is a direct and ‘free’ marketing tool (Friebe & Campbell, 2009).

The adoption and usage of social media vary from one country to another. Some hospitality businesses, especially in developed countries, have grabbed social media marketing with both hands and are using it effectively for their benefit. Some have joined the social media marketing wave, whereas others are not represented at all. It was difficult to carry out a literature review on the use of social media in the accommodation sector in developing countries, especially in Africa, since at the time of writing this had been little researched.

The benefits of social media marketing are well documented by several researchers, but most of them focus on brand awareness and direct customer communication feedback. Some benefits that have been identified are more business exposure, increased traffic, improved search rankings, increased brand awareness, new marketing leads and reduced marketing expenses (Liu, 2007; Riesse, 2010; Stelziner, 2011; Yazdanifard et al., 2011; Lange-Faria & Elliot, 2012). The ‘free’ benefits that are offered by social media cannot be overestimated, compared with traditional marketing methods, which cost more and offer a much smaller scale of exposure, slower response time and possibly lower effectiveness in capturing the target market (Liu, 2007; Ernestad & Henriksson, 2010; Salkhordeh, 2010). Razzaque (2009) notes that social media networks offer marketers the opportunity to advertise or undertake public relations activities through electronic word of mouth, which is seen by many as the most powerful application of social media networking.

Several studies have examined the use of online marketing tools and Web 2.0 technologies in tourism businesses and tourism-related businesses, looking at the extent to which business-consumer firms use online marketing tools and the effectiveness of these tools as perceived by the managerial staff in these companies (Teo, 2005), the extent to which hotels in Hong Kong perform in marketing on social media websites (Chan & Guillet, 2011), the adoption of Web 2.0 by tourism businesses (Au, 2010) and the use of social media in the hospitality and leisure industry (Friebe & Campbell, 2009; Stelziner, 2011). These studies were used in creating the questionnaire for the present study.

3. Methods

3.1. The questionnaire

A structured questionnaire based on previous research, as already mentioned, was used to collect the data. Some of the questions from the aforementioned sources were used and modified to suit the objectives of the present study. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. The first section captured demographic data, the second ascertained the current usage of social networking websites, the third investigated the usefulness of the social media, and the fourth section asked about the benefits and challenges of using social media.

3.2. Sampling method and survey

The survey was conducted through two primary methods: an electronic method and a hand delivery method. In South Africa, the questionnaires were emailed to the respondents, who completed them online; in Zimbabwe, they were hand-delivered by trained field workers. The questionnaire was sent to registered accommodation establishments in the two countries under investigation, 900 in South Africa and 300 in Zimbabwe. According to Krejcie & Morgan (1970:608), the required sample sizes are 269 for a population of 900 and 169 for a population of 300. Each questionnaire was directed to the general manager or marketing manager of the accommodation establishment. In both countries, data were collected from June 2013 to June 2014. Of the 900 questionnaires that were distributed in South Africa, only 130 were returned – 129 of which were used in the analysis. Despite efforts to increase the number of returns, the response rate remained 14%. This low response rate is typical of electronic surveys, which average a return rate of 10 to 15% (Survey Gizmo, 2014). Of the 300 questionnaires delivered in Zimbabwe, 150 were returned – a response rate of 50% after all the efforts to increase the number had been exhausted – and 134 of these were sufficiently complete to be used in the analysis. The authors are aware that the samples are thus unrepresentative. This study can nevertheless be considered valid exploratory research.

3.3. Statistical analysis

The data from the online questionnaires were captured in Adobe Forms Central and exported to Microsoft Excel. The main software package used for data analysis was SPSS, version 17 (2008). The convergent construct validity of the variables in the second and fourth sections of the questionnaire was tested using factor analysis to determine the combination of factors in which the variables were most consistent. The reliability of the variables in these sections was measured using the Cronbach alpha test, which represents the average of all possible split-half reliability for a construct. The alpha coefficient indicates the quality of the measurement: a score ranging from 0.60 to 0.70 indicates fair reliability; 0.70 to 0.80 indicates good reliability; and 0.80 to 0.95 indicates excellent reliability (Zikmund et al., 2010:306–8). Finally, an independent t test was performed to compare the means from the two groups of respondents.

3.4. Limitations of the study

The small response rate to the questionnaires was a severe constraint. Efforts to increase the response rate were unsuccessful and slowed down the data collection process. It was impossible to use field workers to collect data in South Africa, given the large geographical area covered. In Zimbabwe, it was costly for the field workers to keep revisiting establishments to solicit responses and affected the quality of the data. The inclusion of different types of establishments can also affect the results. The authors therefore suggest that in future studies of this kind, a better result might be obtained using a qualitative approach, interviewing selected accommodation facilities.

4. Results

4.1. Profile of respondents

Table 1 shows that about a third of South African establishments were guesthouses, and about half of Zimbabwean establishments were hotels. Most of the establishments in both samples were small, with 30 rooms or fewer. The social media that the South African establishments knew best were Facebook, TripAdvisor and LinkedIn, and for the Zimbabwean establishments these were Facebook and TripAdvisor. Considerably more of the establishments in South Africa used social media for marketing than those in Zimbabwe (86% as compared with 53%). The former used Facebook most and the latter used TripAdvisor most. About half of the establishments in both countries had been using social media for one to three years. About two-thirds of the establishments from both countries spent one to five hours a week on social networking websites. To attract customers, the two groups tended to use social networks differently: most of the South African establishments presented a profile page, whereas the Zimbabwean establishments provided links to websites. To engage customers, almost all of the establishments from both countries said they answered guest queries, and to retain customers most of them had security features on their social media sites. To learn more about customers, about two-thirds of South African establishments captured guest information, whereas only half of the Zimbabwean establishments did so. Most of the South African establishments provide personalised responses to customers, whereas Zimbabwean establishments updated customers on content changes.

Table 1. Respondents’ profiles.

	South Africa (N = 129)	Zimbabwe (N = 134)
Response rate	14%	50%
Demographic information
Grading	41% four-star	54% ungraded
Accommodation type	32% guesthouses	47 hotels
Accommodation size	81% with 30 rooms or fewer	56% with 30 rooms or fewer
Popular websites	70% Facebook, TripAdvisor, LinkedIn	100% Facebook, 60% TripAdvisor
Use social networks?	86% yes	53% yes
Social network usage
Extent of use	52% Facebook	70% TripAdvisor
Years using social networks	46% 1 to 3 years	53% 1 to 3 years
Weekly time spent on social networks	63% 1 to 5 hours	66% 1 to 5 hours
Performance on social media
To attract customers	89% present on profile page	93% show website on profile page
To engage customers	93% answer guest queries	90% answer guest queries
To retain customers	78% have security features	60% have security features
To learn about customers	59% capture guest information	49% capture guest information
To respond to customers	86% provide personalised responses	76% update customer about content change
Usage of other marketing media
Most used	61% email/web marketing	76% brochure
Effectiveness of social networks	78% increase in business exposure	86% effective way to communicate with own markets
Social networks versus other marketing media
Effective	56% compared with print media	41% compared with print media
Contribution of social networks to business performance
More than 10%	46% business exposure	27% improved understanding of the market
Problems with using social networks
Major problem	30% lack commitment to sustain social media efforts	42% lack commitment to sustain social media efforts and have time constraints
Future plans
To adopt social networks	YouTube, blogs and Twitter	YouTube
General plan on social media marketing	Adopt new social networks	Learn how to use social networks for marketing effectively

Most South African accommodation establishments said they had experienced an increase in business exposure after using social media, whereas most of the Zimbabwean ones had found social media effective for communicating with their existing markets. A fair percentage of both groups (56% of the South Africans and 41% of the Zimbabweans) found social media more effective than print media. About half of the South African establishments said that using social media increased business exposure, and about a quarter of the Zimbabwean establishments said using social media improved their understanding of the market. The main problems that were highlighted by establishments from both countries were a lack of commitment to sustaining social media marketing efforts, followed by time constraints. Most of the South African establishments said they planned to use YouTube, blogs and Twitter, whereas the Zimbabwe establishments said they planned to use YouTube. Besides social media, about two-thirds of the South African establishments used email or web marketing, whereas most of the Zimbabwean establishments used printed brochures.

4.2. Results of the factor analysis

Before calculating Cronbach’s alpha values, a factor analysis was conducted using principal component analysis. According to Malhotra et al. (2008:268), factor analysis requires a large sample size for the correlation to stabilise; for the purpose of this analysis, data for South Africa and Zimbabwe were combined. The Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin measure of sample adequacy for activities that were performed when using social media for marketing was 0.966, implying that the sample was adequate. According to Field (2000:445), the sample is adequate if the value of the Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin measure is greater than 0.5. Field (2000:446) further indicates that before conducting factor analysis it is crucial to measure sample adequacy. Bartlett’s test of sphericity reached statistical significance, reflected by 0.001 for activities that were performed using social networks, thus supporting the factorability of the correlation matrix. Field (2000:445) also indicates that the SPSS inter-correlation can be checked using Bartlett’s test of sphericity, which shows there is an inter-correlation of variables if the determinant is greater than one. In this case, the determinant was 0.000, implying that there is no inter-correlation of variables. Table 2 presents the results of the factor analysis.

Table 2. Results of factor analysis of activities performed using social media.

Social media marketing activities	1	2	3	4	5
Phase 1: To attract customers
Present a profile page	0.90
Show website on social network site page	0.72
Promote discounted services on social network sites	0.36
Show videos capturing company’s culinary skills	0.85
Provide company’s telephone numbers on Facebook wall or Twitter page	0.78
Phase 2: To engage customers
Answer guests’ enquiries		0.91
Handle guests’ complaints		0.90
Introduce establishments’ services to guests		0.85
Present a discussion wall on the social network site page		0.36
Offer customers participation in lucky draws		0.36
Phase 3: To retain customers
Offer customers games, contests and forums			0.28
Provide hyperlinks to related sites			0.73
Have security features			0.59
Phase 4: To learn about customers
Capture information about customers and prospects				0.57
Support chat groups				0.43
Perform market research on social networking sites				0.21
Phase 5: To respond to customers
Update customers about content change					0.78
Engage in real-time interaction					0.31
Provide personalised responses					0.85
Total variance explained (%)	89.011
Reliability coefficient	0.832	0.734	0.68	0.73	0.64
Average inter-item correlation	0.46	0.38	0.41	0.36	0.42
Mean value	4.61	3.87	2.99	2.25	3.01

Source: For phases used in the table: Chan & Guillet (2011).

Factor scores were calculated as the average of all items contributing to a particular factor to interpret them on the original five-point Likert scale. As Table 2 shows, five phases of social media marketing activities were identified. From these results, it can be deduced that most of the activities carried out by the sampled accommodation establishments in both countries centre on attracting customers (4.61), followed by engaging customers (3.87), responding to customers (3.01) and retaining customers (2.99). The activity that is performed least by the establishments from both countries is learning about customers, with a mean value of 2.25.

Table 3 shows that three factors were identified when the usefulness of social media was measured. These were grouped as financial benefits (factor 1), market-related benefits (factor 2) and other business benefits (factor 3). The results presented in Table 3 indicate that the greatest benefits experienced by accommodation establishments from both countries fall under other business benefits, with the highest mean value of 3.89. This was followed by market-related benefits (3.01) and financial benefits (2.56).

Table 3. Factor analysis and reliability results of the effectiveness of social networks.

Social network effectiveness factors	1	2	3
Factor 1: Financial benefits
Improved sales	0.45
Reduction in marketing expenses	0.53
Factor 2: Market-related benefits
Growth in existing markets		0.56
Communication with own markets		0.78
Growth in new markets		0.58
Increased understanding of the marketplace		0.89
Factor 3: Other business benefits
Increase in business exposure			0.84
Increase in business partnership			0.41
Increased generation of leads			0.56
Increased traffic to the site			0.79
Loyal fans acquired			0.82
Immediate response to customer queries			0.76
Total variance explained (%)	63
Reliability coefficient	0.68	0.81	0.76
Average inter-item correlation	0.32	0.38	0.45
Mean value	2.56	3.01	3.89

4.3. Results of the chi-square test

The retained components from the factor analysis of the activities that were performed on social networking websites were subjected to a chi-square test. The results are presented in Table 4 and show that four out of five factors that were used to verify the usage of social media for marketing retained a p value of less than 0.05 (p < 0.05) and only one factor retained a p value greater than 0.05 (p > 0.05), implying that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected – but the alternative hypothesis is rejected, based on the chi-square rule which states that a null hypothesis can only be dismissed when p > 0.05. This confirms the first assumption of this study: that although accommodation facilities in South Africa and Zimbabwe have adopted social media for marketing, they are not using them extensively.

Table 4. Chi-square results of social media marketing activities.

Factor	Chi-square	Degrees of freedom	p value (two-sided)
To attract customers	95.502	5	0.000*
To engage customers	15.502	5	0.002*
To retain customers	55.958	5	0.001*
To learn about customers	1.707	5	0.132
To respond to customers	14.989	5	0.013*

Notes: α = 0.05, confidence interval = 95%. The bold values indicate the aspects that were statistically significant.

*Statistically significant difference: p ≤ 0.05.

The second assumption of this study was that social media are not very effective or useful in the marketing of South African and Zimbabwean accommodation establishments. The identified factors from the factor analysis of the usefulness of social media were again tested using the chi-square test, and the results are presented in Table 5. These results show that, of the three factors identified in the factor analysis of the effectiveness of social media, only one retained p < 0.05 and two factors retained p > 0.05. This implies that the null hypothesis is rejected, but the alternative hypothesis is not rejected since the rule of chi-square states that if p < 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected. The conclusion is therefore that social media are in fact useful and efficient in marketing accommodation establishments in the two study countries.

Table 5. Chi-square results of the effectiveness of social networks.

	Chi-square	Degrees of freedom	p value (two-sided)
Financial benefits	0.610	5	0.212
Market-related benefits	1.632	5	0.106
Other business benefits	65.721	5	0.002*

Notes: α = 0.05, confidence interval = 95%. The bold values indicate the aspects that were statistically significant.

*Statistically significant difference: p ≤ 0.05.

4.4. The t-test results

To determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the variables in the usage and the usefulness of social media in the South African and Zimbabwean samples, an independent t test was performed. A mean score of p < 0.05 indicates a significant difference; p > 0.05 indicates no significant difference. The p value alone is not considered sufficient to explain the difference between two samples, so the effect size – which quantifies the difference between two groups and is regarded as a true measure of the significance of the difference – was also calculated (Coe, 2002:3; Sullivan & Feinn, 2012:279). Cohen & Cohen (1988) general guide for interpreting the results of effect size was used: 0.1 = trivial effect; 0.1 to 0.3 = small effect; 0.3 to 0.5 = moderate effect; and  > 0.5 = large effect.

Table 6 shows that some statistically significant differences were found in the usage of social media: retaining customers (p = 0.001; effect size = 0.41) and responding to customers (p = 0.015; effect size = 0.23). This implies that the South African accommodation establishments were performing more activities intended to retain and respond to customers than the Zimbabwean ones. No statistically significant differences were found for the other factors. Some statistically significant differences were found in the benefits of using social media: financial benefits (p = 0.001; effect size = 0.33) and market-related benefits (p = 0.021; effect size = 0.25). This finding implies that the South African establishments were getting more benefits out of using social media than the Zimbabwean ones, which is unsurprising given the larger scale of usage by the South Africans.

Table 6. Usage and effectiveness of social networks.

Variable	South Africa		Zimbabwe
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	p value	Effect size (d)
Usage factors
To attract customers	3.456	1.001	3.371	1.043	0.176	0.08
To engage customers	1.751	0.775	1.603	0.966	0.071	0.15
To retain customers	4.351	0.832	4.102	0.861	0.001*	0.41****
To learn about customers	2.312	0.754	2.223	0.891	0.106	0.09
To respond to customers	4.121	0.998	3.891	1.002	0.015*	0.23***
Effectiveness factors
Financial benefits	4.002	0.891	3.626	1.080	0.001*	0.33****
Market-related benefits	3.866	0.716	3.645	0.881	0.021*	0.25***
Other benefits	3.192	1.274	3.003	1.390	0.103	0.14

Notes: SD = standard deviation. The bold values indicate the aspects that were statistically significant. *Statistically significant difference: p ≤ 0.05. Effect sizes: **d = 0.1: trivial effect; ***d = 0.1–0.3: small effect; ****d = 0.3–0.5: moderate effect; *****d > 0.5: large effect.

5. Findings, implications and recommendations

The study found firstly that the usage of social media marketing by this sample of South African and Zimbabwean accommodation establishments differed from one establishment to the next. It appears that the type, nature and geographical setting of an establishment influence its social media usage and the way the usage is prioritised. This implies that a social marketing strategy should be developed that is specific to each establishment’s familiarity with social media and level of expertise in using these media.

Secondly, the study identified, in both sample groups, the five phases of social media marketing activities described by Au (2010): attracting, engaging, retaining, learning about and responding to customers. For both countries, as also found by Qualman (2009) and Salkhordeh (2010), attracting customers was the most important phase. The t-test finding that accommodation establishments in South Africa used social media more actively to retain and respond to customers than the Zimbabwean ones could be explained by the fact that South Africa is technologically more advanced than Zimbabwe.

A third finding contradicted the notion that social media marketing is used especially for effective communication (Liu, 2007; Ernestad & Henriksson, 2010; Salkhordeh, 2010). The study found that accommodation establishments in both samples considered social media more useful for increasing business exposure and building partnerships, increasing traffic, gaining more loyal fans, providing immediate response to customer queries and obtaining financial benefits. Other studies have also identified these benefits of using social media (Liu, 2007; Riesse, 2010; Stelziner, 2011; Yazdanifard et al., 2011; Lange-Faria & Elliot, 2012). A related finding was that South African and Zimbabwean establishments received different financial benefits and market-related benefits from their use of social media, with South African establishments experiencing more of these benefits. This implies that Zimbabwean establishments must use social media effectively for them to realise more financial benefits.

The study found fourthly that lack of adequate knowledge about how to use social media is a worldwide problem in the hospitality industry (Chan & Guillet, 2011; Withiam, 2011; Assenov & Khurana, 2012; Guarav, 2012).The chi-square tests showed that the sampled accommodation establishments in the two countries had adopted social media marketing but were not using it fully. The descriptive profile of the samples shows that although these establishments perform some of the activities provided by the online marketing framework, there are many activities that they do not perform extensively. This implies the need for education over the long term in the effective usage of social media.

Finally, the chi-square tests revealed that, as found in previous research (Friebe & Campbell, 2009; Parsippany, 2010; Salkhordeh, 2010; Chan & Guillet, 2011; Vidovic, 2012), social media were effective in the sampled South African and Zimbabwean accommodation establishments’ marketing, especially for obtaining other benefits such as increased business exposure, increased traffic to their websites and gaining more loyal customers and an established customer base. The descriptive statistics also revealed that most accommodation establishments from both countries considered social media more effective than other forms of marketing media.

Based on these findings, the authors offer the following recommendations for managers of accommodation establishments.

Overall, the study found that accommodation establishments in South Africa and Zimbabwe were not using social media extensively for their marketing, but that those that did use them found them effective, particularly the South Africans. On the whole, both samples were using social media effectively to attract customers but were not so good at responding to customers, and very few establishments in the sample were using social media for market research. The authors therefore recommend that, as others have done (Di Pietro & Di Virgilio, 2012; Vinerean et al., 2013), accommodation managers should take time to learn about their customers’ online behaviour, stay in touch with them online, become aware of their views and develop strategies to retain them through social media.

The authors advise that the only way an establishment can reach out to customers effectively is to become familiar with the social media most used by their target customers. Twitter has gained momentum in Africa recently, and large numbers of South Africans and Zimbabweans are now using this website. However, the present study showed that Twitter was little used by accommodation establishments in these countries, especially in Zimbabwe. An establishment can attract visitors to its website by posting a link on its Twitter profile page, and the latter should contain all of its details and marketing literature.

The study found that, as have other researchers (Braun, 2004; Au, 2010), one of the factors hindering the adoption of social media was a lack of technical knowledge on how to use these media effectively for marketing. The main challenge facing all accommodation establishments is how to engage customers effectively to the establishment’s benefit. It is thus recommended that accommodation facilities train their staff to use social media for marketing purposes. Managers could arrange social media marketing-related workshops and conferences to help their staff learn the necessary skills. Alternatively, they could liaise with tertiary institutions to conduct the workshops or design short courses on social media marketing. Learning can also be done by imitating what other establishments are doing online.

The study showed that although accommodation establishments are aware of the benefits of social media marketing and some are even enjoying these benefits, they do not devote much time to this marketing. Most of the sampled establishments, from both countries, were found to spend only one to five hours per week on social media sites. This is insufficient to attend to customer queries or to follow what they are saying. Social media marketing is different from a project where an establishment can implement a strategy and wait to see the results; one has to work every day to see the results. Many customers are online most of the day, so hospitality marketers need to be there too. One way to do this is for establishments to employ staff specifically for social media marketing and website management, who will keep posting the establishment’s offerings on its profile page, engage in conversation related to the establishment and provide high-quality content to capture the attention of potential visitors.

6. Conclusion

This research has provided empirical evidence on the usage of social media in the marketing of accommodation establishments in two countries in Southern Africa – an area that at the time of writing had received little attention in hospitality research. The study therefore provides evidence from a developing country perspective. The study found that South Africa and Zimbabwe were using social media very differently for marketing purposes. This implies that marketers of accommodation establishments should take these differences into account and not assume that all countries use social media in a similar fashion for their marketing. The findings of this study can be used as a reference point for other researchers in the field of social media marketing, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Research Foundation for financial assistance. The authors also express their gratitude to all of the accommodation establishments in South Africa and Zimbabwe that were willing to participate in the survey; a special word of thanks to all of the fieldworkers who assisted with the survey in Zimbabwe.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.