Examining the Effect of Social Media on Online Reputation Management of Hotels Special Reference to down South Area in Sri Lanka during COVID 19 Pandemic

Abstract

Covid 19 has physically halted the world's activities. Almost every industry in the globe has failed, forcing them to choose whether to seize the firm or continue operating. Social media has emerged as a critical role in determining the fate of businesses and sectors. As the most significant force in the new normal, social media has produced a large demand for all sectors functioning throughout the world. Covid 19 has made the globe virtual and permeable, but social media contributes to the world's seamless virtual operation regardless of the field. During covid 19, hotels and tourist businesses that deal with customer satisfaction required to focus extra attention on strengthening their reputation and trust with their customers. In accordance with this, the study's goal is to investigate the impact of social media on hotel online reputation management, with a focus on down south area in srilanka. The purposive sample approach was used to pick a sample of 8 hotels from among hoteliers in the down south area. Thematic analysis was used in the study to assess the results of the hotel interviews. Social media marketing communication mix considered as the parental theme, while, social media marketing strategies, social media sales promotion and social media interactive marketing being the sub themes of the study. The study's key findings demonstrated that facebook and instagram play an important part in preserving and obtaining online hotel reputation, becoming the most powerful elements. Youtube drew less attention because of the time element being mentioned. The hotels have achieved a big and enormous online awareness and online reputation through viral intimacy marketing campaigns and paid advertising in order to optimize their occupancy levels. Viral intimacy marketing has gained significant advantages for hotels in terms of advertising and sales promotion while being the least expensive strategy. This study emphasizes that social media is serving as a lifeline in pandemic scenarios owing of the continuous service provided. Further research on the mediating role of wow and wom marketing and customer brand insistence is required in hotels in order to investigate the influence of social media on online reputation management.