The Web 2.0 Platforms in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry by Marianna Sigala - Article Example

Analysis of the Web 2.0 platforms in New Service Development Introduction The social media, also known as the Web 2.0 has revolutionized communication and interaction across the world. Social media has the advantage in reaching a global audience, immediacy and its ubiquitous versatility for interactive exchanges. The platform has been of importance in the hospitality and tourism industry as it has provided opportunities for managing and presenting business content and drawing customers to the company. This paper will provide an in-depth analysis of the Web 2.0 platform as discussed by Marianna in the article. The information obtained will be used for the provision of recommendations that will boost the tourism industry in the Gulf region. Summary Marianna SigaLa in her article, “Exploiting Web 2.0 for New Service Development: Findings and Implications from the Greek Tourism Industry” investigate on the role of Information and Communication Technologies in New service development. She specifically analyses how the Web 2.0 platform also known as social media transforms the implementation of knowledge management processes. The author also investigated on the levels and type of Web 2.0 exploitation for Knowledge management purposes in the Greek tourism industry. Through this analysis, she was able to identify the gaps and opportunities in relation to Web 2.0 exploitation for Knowledge management purposes. Key learning points. The Web 2.0 platform is transforming the way tourists and travellers search, find and read and search as well as collaboratively produce information about tourism destinations and suppliers. The applications for the Web 2.0 such as social networks, multiplayer online games and collaborative trip planning tools enable travellers to participate fully in all aspects of business operations and functions. As a result, tourists have become co-marketers, co-consumers, co-producers and co-designers in the travel experience. In using social media, travellers have been able to co-produce and share large amounts of information and knowledge in user generated content and social intelligence (Alam, 2006). Social intelligence is vital as it has a significant impact not only on the travellers’ behavior and decision-making process but also can be employed in getting information and improving effectiveness in business operations. Web 2.0 based service developments provide platforms for collaboration, interaction and exploiting customer intelligence for gathering, sharing and evaluating new ideas. They are also tools for motivating and instilling brainstorming sessions for idea generation (Rowley, Teahan and Leeming, 2007). The level and type of Web 2.0 exploitation can lead to a shift from designing for customers to developing with and by clients. Critical analysis Firstly, a major strength of the text is in the author’s argument on the need for integration of web 2.0 technology in order to spur innovation. This holds true for any the hospitality industry and the calls by the author for acceptance by all stakeholders are admirable. As an important factor in global competitiveness is innovation, the country or region that readily applies and suits ICT to its tourism market will have a competitive advantage over other countries. The author alludes to the inexperience of hospitality services in launching such recent and unique innovations. Showing due diligence in her article, the author points out the necessary steps for a successful launch of Information and Communication Technologies for the development of new services. This discussion on the steps to be followed gives a clear roadmap on how to develop a service. The supporting literature on the steps validates the author’s points and proves to be informative (Johnson, Menor, Roth, and Chase, 2000).. However, not much is discussed on the importance of staff involvement and education in the process. In the hospitality industry, the first points of contact are employees and customer experience depends on the engagement with employees. Some employees may view ICT innovations as disruptive and may be uncooperative. Therefore, staff must be educated to be fully supportive of new technologies and will remain a key point for success of an ICT-supported service. The author considers customer engagement a noteworthy point of service success derived from web 2.0 technologies. This position is motivated by the author’s observations of customers as necessary resources in any business. As a resource, a customer can provide ideas and feedback and plays the role of a co-creator of a service. This view is accepted as the norm in business and is held in high importance. The UAE and Gulf Region should not shy off from identifying the critical information required from customers to shape the development of a service. The author rightfully concludes that web 2.0 technologies have the potential to improve the methods of customer engagement and information gathering massively. However, the points of communication and platforms for feedback are not extensively discussed. Perhaps the author does not seek to specify a single approach and provide bias in her article. The author blames the lack of radical innovation in the hospitality industry on the unwillingness of customers to provide feedback on innovations. Customers experience inertia and are comfortable in continuously improving existing services instead of co-developing new ones. The author points out that this is the major reason for the lack of customer involvement. This view is controversial as there are not enough studies on the magnitude of factors limiting customer involvement. An equal argument can be made on the limited methods of interaction between customers and management in developing new services. This differing view may be the main reason as customers may be unwilling to engage with companies that do not provide adequate avenues or traditional modes of engagement. Even if enough information is provided, managers may lack the necessary skills to evaluate such information. The author excels in pointing out the latent potential of web 2.0 technologies in providing engaging, feature-filled and involving platforms in order to serve the customer’s needs adequately. Relevant statements to the session The benefits of customer involvement are immense. User involvement makes ideas for new products more original and enhances the perceived value. Consumer examination of prototypes can also positively influence service adaptations and firms understanding of customers’ service usage and benefits. Integrating customers in service development enables companies achieve many advantages related to new service success, boost in public relations, high new service acceptance rate and so forth. Sigala (2012) emphasizes , “exploitation of social media can provide additional benefits of customer intelligence because C2C dialogues enable customers to reflect on theirs and others’ service experiences.”(p. 556). However, most research studies on consumer involvement focus only on the short-term and financial benefits. These factors are not only affected by consumer participation but several other factors. There is also inefficient and inconclusive evidence on the overall outcomes of customer involvement using the Web 2.0 platforms. SigaLa (2012) points out, “Although the Web 2.0 provides more opportunities to develop and foster highly interactive and information rich interactions with customers, little is still known about how firms develop, manage and benefit from Web 2.0-based NSD.”(p. 557). The research study carried out by SigaLa on Greeks tourism industry found out that the tourism industries in the country do not invest considerable resources toward new service development. The exploitation of Web 2.0 resources in Greeks hospitality industry was, therefore, subtle. Their Web 2.0 exploitation can be described as a reactive approach to the customers’ preferences and needs, as firms solely observe and respond to customers’ comments contributed only in specific Web 2.0 tools. Customers are not perceived and used as active collaborators in various service development stages; instead they are massively exploited by using their contributions. The findings of the focused groups revealed that the low level of Web 2.0 Exploitation is driven by a number of factors. The main factors being competitive pressures, limited skills and perceptions of the Greek professionals regarding the management issues and risks of Web 2.0 exploitation. Professionals also showed limited understanding and knowledge about the potential benefits of customer involvement, which further confirmed their low level of knowledge and use of Web 2.0 in new service development. Practical Implications. The tourism industry is no exception to the continual technological advancements. This trend is seen through the behavior of global travelers, business models and the diverse tourism services. All, stakeholders in the tourism industry need to know that continuous development of new services is both a survival and competitive necessity in the industry. In order to efficiently generate and implement new service ideas, the business owners need to develop service development processes that are flexible and easily allow them to integrate and co-operate with all stakeholders. This integration and cooperation will enable them to acquire valuable information and competencies quickly. Extensive research on the market situation will enable the firms to understand the needs and wants of their customers that will in turn contribute to the successful introduction of new services (Menor, Tatikonda and Sampson, 2002). Obtaining information on the clients and market situation, however, go beyond research work. Firms need to go an extra mile in engaging their customers in new service development processes. The Web 2.0 platform provides information and communication capabilities that enable interaction between the customers and the firms service development networks. Through this interaction, the companies can generate a rich user generated content that is a valuable source of market intelligence that is required for making and assessing service ideas. The business owners can also engage their clients so as to get suggestions for product and process improvements. The engagement in turn reduces the risk of service failure in its implementation. Companies should also engage lead users in new service development processes. It is beneficial to involve such users in online communications because they tend to receive much credibility from their peers. They, therefore, have substantial influence over the buying patterns of many other online users. Customers’ insufficient technical knowledge and their inability to express their perceived needs may lead to service failures. Consumers cannot express and verbalize their needs because they do not know what is technologically feasible or not. The expressed consumer need may also change in the period between of product development and launching. Therefore, overreliance on consumer participation in new service development may contribute to unforeseen failures. Conclusion It is clear that social media adoption is a demand and technologically driven phenomenon. The tourism and hospitality industry players in the Gulf region are however struggling to catch up with these developments. Sigala’ s case study on the Greek tourism sector clearly shows that the majority of the industry do not take full advantage of the many opportunities social media offers. This makes it increasingly difficult for the industry to satisfy customer needs and expectations. Tourism and hospitality marketers need to carry out comprehensive and systematic research in understanding the influence of social media on tourists and travellers in order to assess viable business strategies ultimately. The application of the study in other contexts and countries, especially those in the Gulf region can serve for the betterment of the tourism sector. References Alam I. (2006). “ Removing The Fuzziness from the Fuzzy front-end of service innovations through customer interactions.” Industrial Marketing Management 35(4): 468–480. Johnson, S. P., Menor, L. J., Roth, A. V., & Chase, R. B., (2000). “A critical evaluation of the new service development process.” In New service development - creating a memorable experience, Fitzsimmons JA, Fitzsimmons MJ (eds). Sage Publications Inc.: Thousand Oaks, California; 1–32 Menor, L., Tatikonda, M., & Sampson ,S., (2002). “New service development: areas for exploitation and exploration.” Journal of Operations Management 20(2): 135–157 Rowley, J., Teahan, B., & Leeming, E. (2007). “Customer community and co-creation: a case study.” Marketing intelligence & Planning 25(2): 136–146. SigaLa, M.,(2012) Exploiting Web 2.0 for New Service Development: Findings and Implications from the Greek Tourism Industry” Int. J. Tourism Res. 14, 551–566 (2012). Wiley Online Library. DOI: 10.1002/jtr.1914 Read More