Moderating Effect of Social Media Use on Guests‟ Post Purchase Evaluation and Guests‟ Loyalty in Four and Five Star Hotels In Kenya

Abstract

The use of social media has reshaped the way tourism related information is distributed and the way people plan for and consume travel. Despite the contribution of social media to the hotel business, the extent of its use by hotel managers and how guests use the media for their hotel transactions remains unexplored. Although guests‟ post purchase evaluations influence guest loyalty, this relationship has not been explored in four and five star hotels in Kenya. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the moderating effect of the social media use on Guests‟ post purchase evaluation and guests‟ loyalty in star rated hotels in Kenya. The specific objectives were to: establish the effect of guests‟ post purchase evaluations on guests‟ loyalty in four and five star hotels: to establish the effect of use of social media on guests‟ loyalty in four and five star hotels: to establish the effect of use of social media on guests‟ post purchase evaluations in four and five star hotels in Kenya and to investigate the moderating role of social media use on the relationship between guests‟ post - purchase evaluations and loyalty in four and five star hotels. Conceptual framework explained the independent, dependent and mediator variables and their relationships. Concurrent parallel research design was employed. The population was drawn from guests and top managers in four and five star hotels in Kenya. The study employed multi - stage sampling technique to stratify hotels into regions and further as four and five star hotels. Proportionate sampling selected 406 guests and 42 managers. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collected quantitative primary data from guests while qualitative interviews were used to collect qualitative data from guests and managers. Principle Component Analysis was carried out on guests‟ post purchase evaluation and guests‟ loyalty to ascertain uni-dimensionality, construct and discriminant validity. Multiple regressions tested the relationship between social media, post purchase evaluation and guest loyalty. Service performance and information sharing were significant(R2= 0.08),p=0.00,(R2 =0.06)p=.02 respectively. Hotel communication and service importance were not good predictors of post purchase evaluation f(3.159)=1.65,p=.18 and f(3.159)=1.69,p=.17. Social media use significantly influenced post purchase evaluation on frequency of customer review site visits (β=.17,p=.04) and number of social media types (β=-.25,p=.00). Results on moderating role of social media use on the relationship between post purchase evaluation and guest loyalty revealed that Service performance significantly interacted positively with customer review site visits (β=.23,p=.02), information sharing was significant on social media use (β=.23,p=.03), service performance was significant on customer review site visits (β=.21,p=.03) and in increased patronage loyalty purchase importance was significant on social media use (β=.31, p=.00), service preference was significant on customer review site visits (β=.29,p=.00) while information sharing was also significant on customer review site visits (β=.33,p=.00). Moderation results indicated that customer review site visits significantly moderated the relationship between post purchase evaluation indicator variables and those of guest loyalty which indicated that whenever customers visited review sites, there would be significant effect on the relationship between guest post purchase evaluation and guest loyalty to the hotels. This means that if hotels invest in social media use, then there would be improved effect on post purchase evaluation by customers and hence increased loyalty. Thematic analysis revealed that guests used social media to search for hotel information, communication as well as give feedback on services received while hotel managers rarely used social media to get feedback from their guests. Trip Advisor, Facebook and Twitter were the most popular platforms. Factor analysis revealed that both post purchase evaluation and guest loyalty had four dimensions. This study concluded that social media use had a moderating effect on the relationship between post purchase evaluation and guest loyalty. The study recommended that four and five star hotels should invest more, monitor and control social media use and embrace strategies that support its use within hotels. The study suggested that future studies should include hotels with lower star ratings as well as lodges on their use of social media.