Cornell Marketing Roundtable Focuses on Implications of Social Media

Old-fashioned listening to the customer remains important, regardless of technology............

The hospitality industry continues to grapple with the effects of social media—both in terms of how customers use these media and how hospitality organizations can interact with their customers. Participants in the spring 2010 Marketing Roundtable, sponsored by Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), addressed both ends of that question. Regardless of the media channel, they agreed that hospitality operators should carefully listen to their customers and adapt their offerings and messages accordingly. Chaired by Cornell's Lisa Klein Pearo, the roundtable combined discussions by CHR partners, invited participants, and researchers.


Looking at the social media strategies used by Tennessee's Department of Tourism, Hannah Paramore, of French Quarter Holdings, concluded that regardless of the social media venue, speaking in the brand's voice is a critical component of engaging both visitors and local residents. Participants observed that the specific voice might be slightly different for various sites, but the brand personality must resonate.

Bill Carroll, senior lecturer at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, presented data from PhoCusWright's most recent research on the use of social media. The results indicated that over 80 percent of online travelers use social media, with the most prominent use being the posting of reviews on online travel agent sites and peer-to-peer review sites, like Trip Advisor and IgoUgo. A second major result was that there was a correlation between positive comments (sentiment) and the hotel quality level.