University of Twente Student Theses
Customer misuse of social media power in the hospitality sector : threats and strategies
Steggemann, Maike (2015) Customer misuse of social media power in the hospitality sector : threats and strategies.
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| Abstract: | The rise of the internet and social media platforms has led to new challenges for businesses keen to protect their reputation. Based on growing consumer empowerment due to the possibilities that the internet and social media incorporate, the customer is now able to actively influence and engage with any business and its products or services. This customer impact is of high relevance, especially when it comes to online reviews and ratings on platforms, such as TripAdvisor.com. Since reviews and ratings have a direct impact onto customers’ buying decisions, the challenge for businesses is to deal with the growing threat of the influence of negative reviews on a company’s reputation. In the hospitality sector, where reading and writing reviews for consumers is common, this challenge is even more acute. In recent times, diverse businesses within the sector experienced clients misusing their growing social media power. The misuse takes the form of extortion at the cost of businesses with customers threatening to write a negative review, if they are not given a freebie or a favor of another kind. This manner of customers’ extorting businesses to their own advantage is labelled social media blackmailing. This article is concerned with this phenomenon examining the background of blackmailing and investigating strategies on how deal with it. The research was conducted by critically assessing existing scientific and non-scientific literature, enabling a comprehensive approach on the topic of blackmailing. By means of this, a strategic guidance framework was built helping to protect businesses from the threat of blackmailing and helping them with how to handle this occurrence. The framework is supported by findings from two case studies and consequently gives not only theoretical implications but also practical advice for businesses specifically within the hospitality sector. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 85 business administration, organizational science |
| Programme: | International Business Administration BSc (50952) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/67291 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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