Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels: a survey about its antecedents and its impact on performance outcomes

Abstract

The use of social media in the hotel industry comprises a great
challenge for marketing executives. The primary purpose of this study is to
examine the use of social media (SM) among hotel firms, the role of
organisational characteristics in SM adoption, and then the impact of SM
adoption level on hotel performance outcomes. Using a sample of 60 small and
mid-sized hotels located in Crete Island, Greece, we collected data through a
questionnaire designed for hotel managers. The findings revealed that hotels
are increasingly adopting social media. The results also indicated that the
degree of previous experience and the satisfaction from the use of SM are
highly related to SM adoption, while hotel size and hotel rating do not have a
significant effect on social media adoption. Also, the adoption level of social
media is an effective determinant of performance benefits. Managerial
implications are being provided for tourism marketing and for hoteliers who
want to adopt social media marketing tools.

Full text

Int. J. Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx 1
Copyright © 20XX Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Social media adoption among small and
medium-sized Greek hotels: a survey about its
antecedents and its impact on performance outcomes
Maria Spita, Eirini Peitzika* and Sofia Chatzi
School of Social Sciences,
Hellenic Open University,
Patras, Greece
Email: mariaspita@yahoo.gr
Email: peitzika@aueb.gr
Email: hatsof@aueb.gr
*Corresponding author
Abstract: The use of social media in the hotel industry comprises a great
challenge for marketing executives. The primary purpose of this study is to
examine the use of social media (SM) among hotel firms, the role of
organisational characteristics in SM adoption, and then the impact of SM
adoption level on hotel performance outcomes. Using a sample of 60 small and
mid-sized hotels located in Crete Island, Greece, we collected data through a
questionnaire designed for hotel managers. The findings revealed that hotels
are increasingly adopting social media. The results also indicated that the
degree of previous experience and the satisfaction from the use of SM are
highly related to SM adoption, while hotel size and hotel rating do not have a
significant effect on social media adoption. Also, the adoption level of social
media is an effective determinant of performance benefits. Managerial
implications are being provided for tourism marketing and for hoteliers who
want to adopt social media marketing tools.
Keywords: social media adoption; social media marketing; SMEs’
performance; technology-organisation-environment; TOE; hotel industry.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Spita, M., Peitzika, E. and
Chatzi, S. (xxxx) ‘Social media adoption among small and medium-sized
Greek hotels: a survey about its antecedents and its impact on performance
outcomes’, Int. J. Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, Vol. X, No. Y,
pp.xxx–xxx.
Biographical notes: Maria Spita is an MBA (Master in Business
Administration) graduate of the Hellenic Open University. She completed her
Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and Communication at National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens and has attended educational programs and
seminars regarding marketing, sales techniques, public relations and
advertising. She works in the Municipality of Rethymnon-Greece, as A Chief
Secretary of the Mayor for the past ten years and is the owner of a
medium-sized accommodation business. Her research interests include tourism,
travel and hospitality.
Eirini Peitzika holds a PhD from the Department of Marketing of the Athens
University of Economics and Business in Greece. She has taught courses in
marketing management, strategic management, human resource management,
agricultural marketing and consumer behaviour at Hellenic Open University,

2 M. Spita et al.
Greece and Agricultural University of Athens, Greece in post-graduate and
master degree programs. She has also sixteen years working experience in both
private and public sector and she has also been involved in various projects and
research programs funded by the EU. She has published in the field of
marketing, advertising, tourism and biofuels. Her research interests lie in the
areas of marketing management, tourism marketing and consumer behaviour.
Sofia Chatzi (PhD, Department of Management Science and Technology,
Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece) is an organisational –
occupational psychologist and currently a member of the Adjunct Academic
Staff of the Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece. She teaches courses in
organisational behaviour/psychology, management, human resources
management, marketing management, economic psychology, strategic
management, and management of multinational corporations at the Hellenic
Open University, Patras, Greece and Athens University of Economics and
Business, Greece in undergraduate and post-graduate level. She has published
in the field of organisational behaviour/psychology, human resources
management and economic psychology. Her current research interests include
team-based employee selection, creativity and innovation, job insecurity, talent
management, safety climate and safety performance, workplace mediation,
economic and consumer behaviour.
1 Introduction
The incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) into business
has primarily altered the way we perceive business and marketing strategies (Porter,
2001). ICTs have radically changed the way customers have access to information and
communicate with each other, while they have positively influenced the way companies
interact and integrate with them, too (O’Conor, 2010). Today, more and more businesses
adopt more interactive and dynamic applications, where users not only read the content
provided to them but also actively contribute to the development of the content by
sharing photos, ideas, videos, comments and experiences (Saravanakumar and
Sugantha-Lakshmi, 2012). The prolonged use of ICTs globally has substantially affected
the tourism businesses and destinations by helping them to enhance their competitiveness
(Buhalis, 1993) and be successful. In a similar vein, more and more tourism theorists
have drawn attention to social media strategies employed by travel and tourism industry
(Neuhofer et al., 2014), and have pointed out the contribution of social media as a
strategic and operational tool for marketing purposes (Inversini and Masiero, 2014).
Consumers that have a bigger emotional engagement to social media normally spread
more positive comments for products or services (Chu and Kim, 2011). Word of mouth
(wom), and the most recently concept of ‘e-wom’ is one of the most significant
determinants of evaluating a service prior to its consumption (Litvin et al., 2008). The
huge penetration of ICTs technologies and social media in consumers’ lives certainly
influences not only customer knowledge and consumers’ perceptions towards the brand
(e.g., Sigala, 2011; Goyette et al., 2010), but also influences consumers’ actual buying
behaviour. Consumers use social media to interact with industry suppliers and to gain
information about products they are interested in. Furthermore, they consider social
media a significant source of becoming aware of new offerings. The vast majority of
consumers actively seek and read online reviews before making a purchase decision, as

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 3
they perceive this kind of information as being more reliable compared to any other
information delivered to them by other sources (Foux, 2006; Filieri and McLeay, 2013).
Furthermore, social media are also linked to higher levels of buying intentions and higher
potential to change consumers’ attitudes towards a brand.
In travellers’ market, social media has introduced major changes to the way travellers
have access to information, book journeys and circulate travelling experiences (Xiang
and Gretzel, 2010; Viglia et al., 2016; Varkaris and Neuhofer, 2017). Nowadays,
travelers are more sophisticated and actively seek more travel-related information and
reviews from other travellers before purchasing a travel service. As such, online reviews
are considered one of the most reliable sources of information in travel and tourism
(Xiang et al., 2015). As noted by Bahja et al. (2018), online reviews have emerged as the
most significant determinant for cruise customers in their decision-making process. It is
also common among travellers not to trust hotels with a review score below 4 stars and
research has provided evidence of a negative relationship between a negative online
review and online hotel booking intentions (Sparks and Browning, 2011). Eventually, the
growth of virtual travel communities and travel review sites, such as TripAdvisor and
Travelocity, where customers communicate their experiences and opinions for every
travel service they have consumed, is of paramount importance to travellers that are
sensitive to high levels of cognitive effort and uncertainty before making a travel decision
(Wang et al., 2017).
Thus, due to travellers’ reliance on social media content to assess their buying
decisions and support their need to co-create travel experiences (Buhalis and Sinatra,
2019), the engagement with social media by travel and tourism businesses is growing
rapidly, while the latter has changed the way travel enterprises operate (Kapiki, 2012).
Although there has been a relatively slow adoption of ICTs from travel enterprises
(Buhalis, 2003), destination marketing organisations (Mistilis et al., 2014), tourism
companies (Baghirov et al., 2019) and in particular hotels are increasingly incorporating
social media strategies as an integral element of their marketing and communication
plans. Social media is considered a great marketing tool and presents hotels with
significant challenges for brand growth and business development (Noone et al., 2011).
The use of social media is considered to be inevitable for small- and medium-sized hotels
in order to survive and become successful in the competitive tourism marketplace (Law
et al., 2010; Spencer et al., 2012; Inversini and Masiero, 2014). Hence, a great challenge
for tourism and hospitality professionals is the effective shift from classical marketing
practices to online, social media and digital marketing in order their companies to adjust
to travellers’ needs for more information and interaction. Social media provides hotels an
excellent opportunity to communicate and interact with customers, while offering
accurate, real-time and personalised information long before they make the actual
purchasing decision. Lastly, social media can also lower the bargaining power of
intermediaries in the hotel industry, such as tour operators or tourism agencies, for
reaching customers (Buhalis and Law, 2008).
Although there is a huge research effort to imprint the benefits derived from SM use,
there is a dearth of research providing evidence regarding the factors affecting the degree
of SM adoption by small and medium hotels and then whether the degree of SM adoption
has an effect or not on the organisational performance. All the above inspired us to
examine the degree of social media platforms adoption for marketing purposes in the
hotel industry and especially, the factors that have an effect on this degree of SM

4 M. Spita et al.
adoption. Finally, we try to investigate the role of SM adoption in two major elements of
hotel performance, namely financial and non-financial performance.
2 Literature review
2.1 Definition and implications of social media
According to Statista (2018), in the second quarter of 2018 the total number of social
media users was 3.297 billion people worldwide, which corresponds to a penetration rate
of 43% in a total market of 4.087 billion internet users. The huge penetration and the
mass adoption of social media platforms have become extremely important in services
markets, and even more important in hospitality and tourism.
Nowadays, more than ever, the traditional channels of communications as sources of
information and communication have given their place to new platforms of participative
web or social media (Constantinides, 2009). Though the use of social media has emerged
as a dynamic component of marketing strategy in modern businesses, a lot of different
conceptualisations and definitions can be addressed in the relevant literature. Social
media is the outcome of information and communication technologies revolution and can
be defined as “…a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and
technological foundations of Web 2.0 platform, and allow the creation and exchange of
User Generated Content” [Kaplan and Haenlein, (2010), p.61]. Mayfield (2006) states
that SM is “…about sharing ideas, cooperating and collaborating to create art, thinking
and commerce, vigorous debate and discourse, finding people who might be good
friends, allies and lovers” (p.07). In the same vein, social media cannot be considered a
passive content but a dynamic interface where many users can communicate, create, and
post and share their content (Sigala, 2011; Gupta and Brooks, 2013). The content
transmitted through social media platforms encompasses online reviews,
recommendations, information sharing, thoughts, experiences, stories, photographs,
videos and many others that mainly affects travel and tourism industry (Cantallops and
Salvi, 2014).
Social media definition contains a lot of different applications, tools and techniques
(Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010) with many different classifications addressed in the
literature. Each social media platform bears its unique characteristics and is supposed to
serve different social services. In the present study, we carefully selected those social
media platforms that are considered more applicable to the hotel industry and are more
frequently used by hotel customers. We excluded from our analysis the virtual social
worlds and the visual game worlds as their applicability in hospitality industry is
relatively low. We also included specialised social media platforms that are exclusively
used in travel and tourism industry, like TripAdvisor.
Social media provide hotel managers with many opportunities to effectively
implement different functions of their organisations, including product distribution,
promotion and communication, business management, market research, marketing and
sales (Kietzmann et al., 2011; Leung et al., 2013). In particular, social media is
undoubtedly considered a substantial instrument for strategic marketing, communication
and selling activities in hospitality industry (Munar, 2011; Kumar et al., 2013; Leung
et al., 2015). Hotels can use SM for a plethora of marketing implications, such as
building and managing customer relationships, establishing a communication pathway

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 5
with tourists for marketing and selling purposes, managing positive and negative
comments, advertising and implementing promotional activities (Kim and Ko, 2012),
providing information about hotel products and services, collecting market information
(Constantinides, 2009), developing new tourist services (Culnan et al., 2010), and
managing hotel online reputation.
2.2 Social media adoption and benefits in hotel industry
Research has shown that the adoption of SM yields substantial benefits for organisations.
Marketers have the opportunity not only to transmit information about a product or
service but also conduct marketing research and receive useful feedback from customers
while monitoring travel reviews and comments for better understanding of their needs,
preferences, attitudes and buying behaviors (Leung et al., 2013). Consumers’ feedback
provides the opportunity to tourism organisations to customise their marketing and sales
efforts and provide personalised and specialised services that satisfy individual specific
needs. Alongside, other benefits identified in the relevant literature include the
enhancement of corporate image (Neti, 2011), the building and enhancement of global
brand awareness, the strengthening of brand equity, the development of a unique brand
identity, the augmentation of e-WOM positive communication (Trusov et al., 2009;
Ashley and Tuten, 2015), the reduction of marketing costs (Molla and Heeks, 2007), the
increase in purchase intentions (Colliander and Dahlén, 2011), the upgrade of
search-engine rankings, and the increased traffic in hotel’s official website (Lebherz,
2011). Social media platforms can greatly direct customers to hotels’ official websites,
where they can directly book their stay instead of using an intermediary (e.g., tour
operator) to book the hotel for them (Jeong et al., 2003), thus, reducing hotel companies’
reliance on intermediaries (Minghetti and Buhalis, 2010). Hoteliers can also use social
media tools for online sales, especially when they are integrated with online traditional
media (e.g., hotel’s website) (Inversini and Masiero, 2014).
Undoubtedly, the focus of communication has moved from delivering information to
building relationships with customers (Drury, 2007). Social media tools offer
unprecedented opportunities to firms for interaction with customers, while building,
maintaining and strengthening relationships with customers in some cases is achieved
without requiring a substantial financial investment (Kim and Ko, 2012; Chikandiwa
et al., 2013).
In addition, social media is regarded as a cost-effective way for hotels to reach
masses of geographically dispersed travellers (Buhalis, 2003). The interactive nature of
social media platforms provides firms and sales departments with real-time feedback
from customers that contribute to effectively meeting the needs of their customers and
identifying new segments with high selling potential by hotels (Liang and Turban, 2011).
Another useful gain that derives from social media deployment is its contribution to
pricing strategy as it provides insight into optimising pricing strategy (Noone et al.,
2011). Moreover, the use of social media enables hotel managers to facilitate promotion
by providing online special offers and rewards to their customers. Finally, by applying
social media tools hotel managers can ensure loyalty and customer retention (Gilbert,
1996; Lee-Kelley et al., 2003).
Given the competitive framework of tourism industry, in order for social media
marketing activities to prove beneficial for hotels, firstly, it is imperative that hotels

6 M. Spita et al.
realise that social media should be a fully integrated element of their marketing and
communication strategy in compliance with their traditional media plans, and secondly,
should be implemented following a carefully designed social media strategy, which
includes carefully selecting social media platforms tailored to the objectives a hotel
company wants to accomplish, and the specific audiences that wish to serve; otherwise, it
would be an useless tool with only short-term results for businesses (Andzulis et al.,
2012).
The perceived reliability of SM, its unique characteristics, its almost catholic
adoption by individual consumers, its increased influence on consumer buying behaviour
and its undoubtable benefits for organisations, have led hotels to adopt and utilise them
either as a key component of their marketing strategy or as a complement to other
marketing tools. Undoubtedly, an increasing number of hotels have adopted numerous
SM platforms simultaneously in order to gain as many benefits they can get from such an
extended use (Michaelidou et al., 2011; Paraskevas et al., 2011).
Although organisations have recognised the potential of SM, the adoption of social
media tools in some cases is not without obstacles (Radwan, 2016). Marketing managers
often do not fully appreciate the efficiency of social media, while the main frontiers for a
firm’s inability to integrate them in its marketing strategy are also the scarcity of
resources and managers’ struggle to develop adequate skills and technical expertise
(Venkatesh and Davis, 2000; Michaelidou et al., 2011). Another important reason for this
unwillingness to adopt social media tools for marketing purposes is that marketers have
difficulty measuring social media effectiveness in achieving marketing objectives
(Pradiptarini, 2011; Fischer, 2009).
Moreover, the resources and capabilities constraints of small travel and tourism
enterprises (Spencer et al., 2012) and also the perception that small-sized organisations
cannot benefit from their use inhibit small firms’ social media deployment. The above
perception is reinforced as most of the research on social media literature has been
conducted in large organisations (Gallaugher and Ransbotham, 2011; Bogea and Brito,
2018). Less research has examined the adoption of social media in small- and
medium-sized organisations (Wamba and Carter, 2014; He et al., 2015) and the potential
benefits of social media use in the travel and tourism industry (Danias and Kavoura,
2013). Furthermore, the impact of social media adoption on hotel performance has not
been empirically investigated yet (Parveen, 2012; Odoom et al., 2017).
Given that social media is an ICT technology, its adoption can be described as any
other technology adoption. Although many researchers have examined a lot of factors
related to ITCs adoption process in the tourism context, there is relatively little available
evidence that unveils the facilitators of social media adoption in a hotel context. Studies
in social media adoption are an emerging research topic with little empirical results,
especially in hospitality context. It is also common that a stream of research in
technology adoption theories have been focused on exploring the initial decision of a firm
to adopt a new form of technology while others do not. Fewer research studies
investigated firm’s decision to continually use these technologies to a great extent. In
addition, research related to technology adoption theories have mostly examined
technology adoption at individual level, while the research at organisational level is
rather limited (Yu and Tao, 2009).
Lastly, the adoption of ICTs, and, more specifically, that of social media platforms,
and the factors that stimulate their usage are more than relevant for countries and regions
that are less technologically developed. In the tourism sector, the technological readiness

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 7
of a country or a region is regarded as an indicator of its ability to effectively interact
with customers (Minghetti and Buhalis, 2010) while affecting the image of the
destination. Therefore, the need to explore the factors that accelerate ICTs adoption in the
tourism industry is imperative, as the discussion will be beneficial to hotels and
policymakers.
All the above gaps in research motivated us to further explore the use of social media
as a marketing and communication tool in small and medium-sized hotels. The main
objectives of this study are to:
a examine the importance of the different types of social media platforms that are
employed for marketing purposes by hotels, as well as the current degree of adoption
b specify the criteria on which hotel managers select specific social media platforms
c determine the objectives for using social media tools
d investigate the factors that have a positive effect on social media marketing adoption
level
e Explore the relationship between the level of social media adoption and hotel
performance
Apart from the identification of social media behavior by small and medium-sized hotels
based on adoption theories and social media literature we propose a model that explores
the determinants of social media adoption and use taking into consideration that social
media differ substantially compared to other technological innovations. In this study, we
seek to examine the role of organisational characteristics (size, star rating, experience and
satisfaction) of small and medium-sized hotels in the adoption level of social media. Our
study contributes to social media literature in four ways: first, it furthers our knowledge
of social media use for marketing activities in small and medium-sized hotels, second, it
supplements technology adoption theory by testing the effect of additional determinants
of social media adoption in hotels, third, it extends social media adoption literature by
exploring the factors that determine the degree of this engagement in hospitality context
and not by simply examining the factors that influence the initial decision whether to
engage or not in social media marketing, and finally, it provides useful insight in
academic researchers and practitioners regarding the impact of social media adoption on
organisational performance.
3 Conceptual development and hypotheses
3.1 Theoretical models in technology adoption
Based on the view that social media adoption is a form of technology adoption, someone
can find numerous theoretical approaches that try to illustrate factors for its adoption. The
most widely recognised and used technology adoption models and the factors being
employed to serve as determinants of technology adoption and use are (for a review see
Oliveira and Martins, 2011):

8 M. Spita et al.
a the technology of adoption model (TAM) proposed by Davis (1989), which
examines the role of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use
b the technology of adoption model II (TAM2) proposed by Venkatesh and Davis
(2000) that complements TAM model by considering image, subjective norm and
experience as factors influencing technology adoption
c the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991)
d the diffusion of innovation (DoI) model developed by Rogers (2003) who stressed
the importance of technological (e.g., compatibility, trialability) and organisational
characteristics (e.g., size, support from management)
e the unified theory of acceptance and technology use (UTATU) proposed by
Venkatesh et al. (2003)
f the technology-organisation-environment framework (TOE) supported by Tornatzky
and Fleischer (1990) according to which technological, organisational and
environmental factors, such as top management support, IT expertise, perceived
benefits, availability of resources, firm size, competitive pressure, and government
support, influence the acceptance and adoption of technology.
TAM, TPB and UTUAT models have been primarily used to examine individual-level
technology adoption, while DoI and TOE are models mostly utilised in organisational
contexts. Though, TOE has been regarded as a valuable framework to explain and predict
technology adoption (Arpaci et al., 2012; Ndekwa and Katunzi, 2016) among
organisations with a variety of technologies (e.g., Baker, 2012; Gangwar et al., 2015)
compared with other adoption models.
Figure 1 The proposed model
Hotel size
Hotel rating
Satisfaction from the
use of social media
Financ ial
Organis ational
Performance
Social Media Adoption
Non-fi nancial
Organisational
Performance
Social media
experience
H5a
H1
H5b
H2
H3
H4
Drawing on extended TAM (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000), TOE framework (Tornatzky
and Fleischer, 1990) and information technologies theories, a set of organisational-level
determinants on social media adoption in hotels were tested, namely hotel size, star rating
of the hotel, prior experience in the use of SM platforms, and managers’ perceptions of
the degree of their satisfaction with social media platforms used in their hotels for
marketing purposes. More precisely, we tried to examine how the above factors directly
influence the extent of social media use for marketing purposes by hotels, contrary to

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 9
other research efforts that have examined the initial decision of hotels to accept and adopt
or not social media platforms. After identifying the factors of social media adoption, we
examined the influence of social media use on financial and non-financial organisational
performance.
The proposed model is illustrated in Figure 1.
3.2 Antecedents of social media adoption in hotels
As discussed earlier, theories of technology adoption have identified organisational
characteristics as key components of technology adoption. In the current study, we
examine the effect of hotel size, star rating, experience and satisfaction from the use of
social media.
3.2.1 Hotel size
The size of an organisation is regarded as a key predictor of technology adoption, since it
enhances the likelihood of excess resources and it associates with an organisation’s
ability to successfully integrate the new technology in business strategy (Hackler and
Saxton, 2007). Plenty of research findings have confirmed the effect of firm size on the
decision to accept or reject a new technology (Shook et al., 2002; Zorn et al., 2011;
Arpaci et al., 2012; Verheyden and Goeman, 2013). More specifically, studies focusing
on social media adoption indicated that firm size significantly explains the adoption of
social media by organisations (Litvin et al., 2008; Mandal and McQueen, 2012;
Escobar-Rodriquez and Carvajal-Trujillo, 2013; Garrido-Moreno and Lockett, 2016).
Although all the above studies have provided evidence of the relationship between
organisation size and social media adoption, there is not enough indication of the role of
the size of an organisation on the degree of social media use with the exception of
Verheyden and Goeman (2013) who revealed that the intention of social media use is
bigger in larger firms.
Larger organisations compared to SMEs have usually more and adequate resources to
support social media use and to enable a higher degree of social media use (Rahab and
Hartono, 2012). The availability of employees that are assigned with the task of the
implementation and management of social media activities over time, along with the
excess financial resources associated with larger organisations are supposed to be major
aspects of organisation size that consequently affect social media adoption rate. On the
other hand, having in mind the higher flexibility of smaller firms to adapt better to
technological change, many scholars claim that smaller firms (Frambach and
Schillewaert, 2002; McAfee, 2006) may be more able to adopt new technologies.
In line with previous studies that showed that smaller organisations have resource
constraints and other barriers to technology adoption (Rahab and Hartono, 2012), we
expected that smaller hotels are less likely to adopt social media for marketing purposes
to a great extent. Therefore, we tested the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1 Hotel size has a significant positive effect on the degree of social media
adoption.

10 M. Spita et al.
3.2.2 Hotel rating
Hotel rating is an indicator of service quality provided. In the current study, we tried to
investigate whether the level of service quality has a positive effect on social media use.
Nassar (2012) examined the relationship between hotel star ratings and social media use
and concluded that hotels with higher star ratings are more likely to engage in social
media activities. This finding can be explained by the fact that hotels with higher ratings
are hotels that provide better quality and augmented services to travellers, therefore, are
expected to have bigger availability of resources, greater expertise and willingness to
respond to customers’ needs.
Following the above findings, we wanted to examine whether a hotel star rating is
associated with the degree of social media adoption. Thus, we examined the following
hypothesis:
Hypothesis 2 Hotel rating has a significant positive effect on the degree of social media
adoption.
3.2.2 Social media experience
Contrary to the original technology of adoption model (Davis, 1989), the enhanced
TAM II model (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000) considers prior experience in technology as
an element with a significant effect on attitudes, which subsequently impact the
propensity of organisations to adopt this technology. Additionally, Michaelidou et al.
(2011) report that experience, expertise and resource availability constitute the most
common barriers in social media tools adoption among hotels. In the above reasoning,
other researchers argue that a hotel’s level of social media knowledge develops
competencies that can induce firms to adopt and use additional technologies (Rogers,
2003; Kropczynski and Nah, 2011) perhaps because marketing managers anticipate
reduced risks and effort associated with a more intense use (Gretzel et al., 2007). Hotel
managers’ perceptions regarding social media experience are a significant facilitator of
the technology adoption process (Straub, 2009). As noted by Nikraftar and Hosseini
(2016) prior knowledge is one of the most significant predictors of business opportunity
recognition to grow business by tourism enterprises that influence the adoption of new
innovations in travel and tourism industry.
Therefore, we supposed that increased levels of prior similar experience in social
media tools can facilitate the incremental involvement and engagement with social
media. Thus, the following hypothesis was tested:
Hypothesis 3 Hotel experience with social media tools has a significant positive effect
on the degree of social media adoption.
3.2.4 Satisfaction from the use of social media
The perceived effectiveness or usefulness regarding the use of a technology influences
the level of satisfaction from its use (Davis, 1989). A number of studies have
demonstrated that higher levels of satisfaction lead to increased intentions towards the
use of technologies at individual level (Chang, 2013; Park and del Pobil, 2013; Nikou and
Economides, 2015) or increased technology usage (Khalil and Elkordy, 1999; Stone
et al., 2007). When someone is satisfied, he/she feels a sense of contentment (Hernon and
Whitman, 2001), and within the technology acceptance literature, satisfaction is regarded

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 11
as an attitude toward the use of a technology. More specifically, satisfaction is an
important driver of technology use in organisational settings.
Since there is no existing literature regarding the impact of an organisation’s level of
satisfaction with the existing social media use on the subsequent degree of technology
adoption, we proposed that hotels that have a positive perception of the effectiveness and
usefulness of social media use, as subjectively expressed by the general or marketing
manager, are more likely to utilise these tools for marketing purposes. Therefore, we
developed and tested the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 4 Hotel’s level of satisfaction with the existing social media use has a
significant positive effect on the degree of social media adoption.
3.2.5 The impact of social media on hotel performance
In an organisational setting, the ultimate goal of social media use is the enhancement of
organisational performance. A number of studies have investigated the role of various
social media tools on organisational performance in various settings. Kwok and Yu
(2013) and Rodriguez et al. (2014) have supported the relationship between Facebook use
and sales performance, while Ainin et al. (2012, 2015) and Parveen et al. (2015)
concluded that Facebook usage plays a significant role into both financial and
non-financial performance. Based on Ainin et al. (2015) work, Odoom et al. (2017)
confirmed that social media use among SMEs affects the two above dimensions of
performance. Ferrer et al. (2013) concluded that social networks significantly influence
financial, market and shareholder value performance (Stone et al., 2007). Almost all
studies empirically support the impact of social media use on firm performance, while
only a few studies do not (Ahmad et al., 2018). Though, little research has examined and
supported the role of social media tools specifically on hotel performance (Tajvidi and
Karami, 2017).
Following the work of other researchers, our final hypotheses were the following:
Hypothesis 5a The adoption of social media tools has a significant positive effect on
hotel financial organisational performance.
Hypothesis 5b The adoption of social media tools has a significant positive effect on
hotel non-financial organisational performance.
4 Methodοlogy
4.1 Sample, data collection and measures
An exploratory study was conducted with data gathered from small and medium-sized
hotels that operate on the island of Crete in Greece and are members of the Hellenic
Hoteliers Federation. We focused on hotels primarily from Crete, since Greece in
general, along with some of its islands are considered the most visited tourist destinations
in Europe (WTTC, 2018) and for one additional reason: to control for the interference of
locational factor on hotel performance as Ham and her colleagues have suggested (2005).
Thus, from the total of 60 hotels that agreed to take part in the survey 68.3% were small-
sized hotels that employed less than 50 employees, while 25% were medium-sized hotels

12 M. Spita et al.
that had more than 51 employees. Since grading and classification of hotels area reliable
indication of expected services and facilities standards, hotels that have been classified as
tourist (*) (Wikipedia, 2018) were not included in the final sample as having the least
potential of using social media platforms as a marketing tool. So, the target population of
the study consisted of hotels from 3 to 5 stars. 41.7% of the hotels were classified as
standard (**), and comfort (***) hotels, whereas the rest 53.3 percent of the hotels were
classified as first class (****) and luxury (*****) hotels. Concluding, the majority of the
participants were general managers (45%), whereas 30% of the sample were hotel owners
and the rest 21.7% were marketing managers.
Our research hypotheses were tested by following a quantitative research approach.
Due to a lack of archival data on organisations in question, we followed the
key-informant method to collect information on organisational – level constructs (e.g.,
Seidler, 1974). General hotel managers, corporate-level hotel marketing managers and
hotel owners were chosen to provide this information due to their specialised knowledge
towards their organisations (Bagozzi et al., 1991; Garrido-Moreno and Lockett, 2016).
So, a structured questionnaire was uploaded to Google Form application
(https://www.google.com/forms/about) accompanied by a cover letter explaining the
research objectives and administration details and then general, marketing managers and
hotel owners were invited through e mails to follow the link to the survey and complete
the questionnaire. Individual anonymity was assured. Two weeks later a reminder letter
was sent to participants. Four weeks were needed for the responses to be collected.
The questionnaire consisted of two main parts. In part 1, participants were asked to
record their immediate response to items that reflect the frequency in which their hotels
use different social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the kind of social
media analytics tools that hotels use, the criteria of choosing a social media platform over
another and the main non-financial objectives derived from the use of social media
platforms. In part 2, participants were surveyed on the constructs of interest namely
social media adoption in their hotels, satisfaction from the use of social media, social
media experience, financial and non-financial organisational performance (i.e., after the
usage of social media platforms).
The frequency a hotel uses different social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter
etc.) was measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = never to 5 = very often,
whereas three items were used to measure the kind of social media analytic tools that a
hotel use (Spita, 2017). Two multi-item measures for the assessment of the criteria of
choosing a social media platform over another (6 items; sample criteria: ‘importance of
the platform’, ‘popularity’, etc.) and the main non-financial objectives derived from the
use of social media platforms (seven items; sample items: ‘my hotel uses social media
platforms to attract new customers’, ‘my hotel uses social media platforms to receive
customer feedback on existing hotel’s offers/services’, etc.) were adapted from Ainin
et al. (2015) and Odoom et al. (2017) and were measured on a 5-point Likert scale
ranging from: ‘not at all important’ to ‘very important’.
A 5-point Likert scale (1=not at all/ 5=to a great extent) was used to measure social
media adoption which was represented by an item derived from Siamagka et al. (2015)
(‘to what extent does your hotel currently use social media’). On the premise that

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 13
satisfaction constitutes a reflection of the gratifications for continual usage of social
media (see, Odoom et al., 2017), the hotel managers’ level of satisfaction from the use of
social media was assessed with one item (‘Ι am satisfied with the use of social media in
my hotel?’ 1=very dissatisfied/ 5=very satisfied). For our research purposes, we tested
the role of social media experience on social media adoption by asking the participants to
respond to one question ‘How long has your hotel been using social media as a marketing
tool’. Social media experience was coded as 1 = 0–12 months, 2 = 1–2 years, 3 =
3–4 years and 4 = more than 5 years. Finally, non-financial organisational performance
(i.e., after the usage of social media platforms) was measured with a 6-item scale adapted
from Ainin et al. (2015) and Odoom et al. (2017) (sample items: ‘the use of social media
in my hotel has improved the visibility of the hotel’, ‘the use of social media in my hotel
has increased the customer loyalty and retention’), whereas for the measurement of the
financial organisational performance one item (‘the use of social media in my hotel has
increased sales’) was derived from the 4-item measure of Ainin et al. (2015). Items were
modified to fit the context of hotels. Both scales were measured on a 5-point scale
ranging from 1= strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The Cronbach’s
α
value for the
non-financial organisational performance measure was .85, which is well above the
recommended .70 cut-off (Nunnally, 1978). All study data analyses were conducted with
the use of SPSS version 24.
5 Results
5.1 Social media platforms usage
The participants of the study were asked about the frequency their hotels use different
social media platforms. The majority of survey’s participants indicated that their hotels
use Facebook very often (55%) while the 1.7% of the hotels do not use the Facebook
platform as a marketing tool at all. Table 1 depicts different distribution of the
percentages for Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Youtube, Google+ and Foursquare.
Specifically, these platforms seem to be never used as a marketing tool by a significant
percent of hotels operating in Crete (56.7%, 50%, 63.3%, 48.3%, 41.7%, 63.3%
respectively), while the above platforms are frequently used by a minority of the hotels in
our study (6.7%, 3.3%, 5%, 3.3%, 13.3%, 3.3% respectively). 35 percent of the hotels do
not use Instagram platform, whereas 21.7 percent of the hotels use the platform in
question sometimes. Finally, TripAdvisor that constitutes an online travel site amassing
reviews and opinions from travellers about worldwide experiences, accommodations,
restaurants, airlines is considered a useful marketing tool for hotels (TripAdvisor, 2018).
A percentage of 55% of the participants noted that their hotels utilise the TripAdvisor
platform very often. In contrast, a percentage of 10% of the hotels hesitate in adopting the
TripAdvisor platform for marketing purposes.

14 M. Spita et al.
Table 1 Social media platforms usage (N = 60)
Frequency Percent (%)
Facebook platform
Never 1 1.7
Rarely 5 8.3
Sometimes 7 11.7
Often 14 23.3
Very often 33 55
Twitter platform
Never 34 56.7
Rarely 9 15
Sometimes 6 10
Often 7 11.7
Very often 4 6.7
Linkedin platform
Never 30 50
Rarely 12 20
Sometimes 9 15
Often 7 11.7
Very often 2 3.3
Pinterest platform
Never 38 63.3
Rarely 7 11.7
Sometimes 8 13.3
Often 4 6.7
Very Often 3 5
Instagram platform
Never 21 35
Rarely 6 10
Sometimes 13 21.7
Often 9 15
Very often 11 18.3
Youtube platform
Never 29 48.3
Rarely 11 18.3
Sometimes 10 16.7
Often 8 13.3
Very often 2 3.3

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 15
Table 1 Social media platforms usage (N = 60) (continued)
Frequency Percent (%)
Google+ platform
Never 25 41.7
Rarely 8 13.3
Sometimes 9 15
Often 10 16.7
Very often 8 13.3
Foursquare platform
Never 38 63.3
Rarely 14 23.3
Sometimes 4 6.7
Often 2 3.3
Very often 2 3.3
TripAdvisor platform
Never 6 10
Rarely 4 6.7
Sometimes 4 6.7
Often 13 21.7
Very often 33 55
Total 60 100
5.2 Social media analytics tools usage
Participants were asked which of the social media analytics tools have been used to
monitor the social media presence of their hotels. In our study, 40% of the businesses
utilise a free analytic tool, 30% have adopted tools that are available to all business users
for free and only 6.7% are willing to pay for services like these (see Table 2).
Table 2 Social media analytics tools usage (N = 60)
Frequency Percentage (%)
Free ΑΤ 24 40
Platform’s AT 18 30
Paid AT 4 6.7
N/A 14 23.3
Total 60 100
Note: AT – analytic tools; N/A – no answer.
5.3 Criteria of choosing a social media platform
In order to identify the main criteria that the 60 hotels of the sample consider most
important when choosing a social media platform over another, managers were asked to

16 M. Spita et al.
respond to six criteria namely importance of the platform, its popularity, functionality and
cost, its ability to attract a specific target group or groups and the platforms that are used
by the competitors to reach customers (see Table 3). The majority of the sample claimed
that the importance of the platform (55%) and its popularity (78.3%) are considered from
hoteliers’ manager as very important elements of choosing a social media platform over
another. On the other hand, a considerable percentage (35% and 38.3% respectively) of
the sample accepts that a platform’s ability to attract a specific target group of customers
and the functionality of the platform constitute moderately important components of
rejecting a social media platform.
Table 3 Criteria of choosing a social media platform (N = 60)
Frequency Percent (%)
Importance of the SM platform
Not at all important 0 0
Slightly important 2 3.3
Moderately important 16 26.7
Important 4 6.7
Very important 33 55
N/A 5 8.3
Popularity of the SM platform
Not at all important 0 0
Slightly important 0 0
Moderately important 9 15
Important 1 1.7
Very important 47 78.3
N/A 3 5
Target users/ groups of the SM platform
Not at all important 0 0
Slightly important 0 0
Moderately important 21 35
Important 5 8.3
Very important 27 45
N/A 7 11.7
Functionality of the SM platform
Not at all important 2 3.3
Slightly important 0 0
Moderately important 23 38.3
Important 12 20
Very important 17 28.3
N/A 6 10
Note: N/A – no answer.

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 17
Table 3 Criteria of choosing a social media platform (N = 60) (continued)
Frequency Percent (%)
SM Platform usage by the competitors
Not at all important 5 8.3
Slightly important 2 3.3
Moderately important 21 35
Important 8 13.3
Very important 19 31.7
N/A 5 8.3
Cost of the SM platform
Not at all important 6 10
Slightly important 1 1.7
Moderately important 17 28.3
Important 12 20
Very important 19 31.7
N/A 5 8.3
Note: N/A – no answer.
Finally, those platforms that are used by the competitors to reach customers and the cost
accompanying each platform contribute to managers’ decision to choose a social media
platform over another. A great percentage of the respondents stated that competitors and
the platforms they use for marketing purposes are considered very important (31.7%) and
another percentage of the sample (35%) reported that this criterion is moderately
important. Furthermore, the cost of a social media platform plays a role, although
controversial, in their decisions to use a platform. There is a percentage of the sample that
claimed that the cost is a very important element (31.7%), whereas a significant
percentage of the sample considered it as moderately important (28.3%).
5.4 Non-financial objectives from the social media platforms usage
The main non-financial objectives from the social media platforms usage are depicted in
Table 4. There were 46.7% of respondents suggesting that the usage of social media
platforms help hotels to acquire new customers and sustain the ones they have. By
initiating effective digital marketing tools hotels can communicate with customers
instantly and easily (53.3%) and nurture stronger and more direct relationships with them
(55%). Through social media platforms not only can hotels advertise and promote their
offers (43.3%), but also can receive customer feedback on existing offers and services
(56.7%). While it is true that social media platforms are effective tools in promoting
products and services, it is also as important to use these channels effectively in order to
strengthen customer loyalty. So, 46.7% of the respondents stated that one of the most
important objectives of encompassing social media into their marketing endeavours is the
opportunity provided to hotels to enhance customer loyalty given the amount of people
using social media platforms every day. Finally, since branding is significant for the
success of any hotel, the creation and communication of a hotel’s brand image online is

18 M. Spita et al.
considered very important from the majority of managers that participated in this survey
(61.7%).
Table 4 Non-financial objectives from the social media platforms usage (N = 60)
Frequency Percent (%)
Attract new customers
Not at all important 1 1.7
Slightly important 1 1.7
Moderately important 6 10
Important 21 35
Very important 28 46.7
N/A 3 5
Communicate with customers
Not at all important 1 1.7
Slightly important 1 1.7
Moderately important 12 20
Important 12 20
Very important 32 53.3
N/A 2 3.3
Nurture relationships with customers
Not at all important 1 1.7
Slightly important 2 3.3
Moderately important 2 3.3
Important 16 26.7
Very important 33 55
N/A 6 10
Advertise and promote hotel offers
Not at all important 1 1.7
Slightly important 2 3.3
Moderately important 11 18.3
Important 16 26.7
Very important 26 43.3
N/A 4 6.7
Receive customer feedback on existing hotel’s offers/services
Not at all important 1 1.7
Slightly important 2 3.3
Moderately important 6 10
Important 13 21.7
Very important 34 56.7
N/A 4 6.7
Note: N/A – no answer.

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 19
Table 4 Non-financial objectives from the social media platforms usage (N = 60) (continued)
Frequency Percent (%)
Strengthen customers’ loyalty
Not at all important 1 1.7
Slightly important 1 1.7
Moderately important 6 10
Important 19 31.7
Very important 28 46.7
N/A 5 8.3
Create and communicate hotel’s brand image online
Not at all important 0 0
Slightly important 1 1.7
Moderately important 7 11.7
Important 10 16.7
Very important 37 61.7
N/A 5 8.3
Note: N/A – no answer.
Table 5 Means, standard deviations, and correlations among the variables of interest (N = 60)
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 Hotel rating 1.56 .50 1 .29* .16 .00 .13 –.03 –.08
2 Hotel size 1.27 .44 1 .07 .03 .06 –.22† –.29*
3 Social media experience 2.85 .98 1 .27* .40** .12 .18
4 Satisfaction from the use of
social media
3.15 1.00 1 .67** .53** .25†
5 Social media adoption 3.25 1.24 1 .43*** .43***
6 Non-financial organisational
performance
23.57 4.20 1 .58**
7 Financial organisational
performance
3.87 .89 1
Note: †p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
5.5 Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis
We used correlational analysis to test the hypothesised relationships between social
media adoption and financial organisational performance and between social media
adoption and non-financial organisational performance. Table 5 provides means, standard
deviations, and zero-order correlations among the study variables. Firstly, correlation
analysis showed that social media adoption is positively related both to financial and
non-financial organisational performance (r = .43, p < .001; r = .43, p < .001
respectively). As a result, H5a and H5b are supported. Furthermore, results revealed that
none of the predictor variables of hotel size and hotel rating are significantly associated
with social media adoption (r = .06, p > .05; r = .13, p > .05 respectively). So, H1 and H2

20 M. Spita et al.
are rejected. Instead, hotel experience with social media platforms in the past and
satisfaction from the use of them are significant predictors of social media adoption (r =
.40, p < .01; r = .67, p < .01 respectively). Thus, H3 and H4 are supported. This analysis
was an initial step to test the Hypotheses H1, H2, H3 and H4 before moving to a further
analysis of the aforementioned hypothesised relationships.
5.6 Hierarchical regression analysis
To further investigate the effect of hotel size, hotel rating, social media experience and
satisfaction from the use of social media on social media adoption whilst taking into
account all the predictor variables simultaneously, we run hierarchical regression
analysis. In step 1 the control variable of respondents’ position was introduced first, and
in step 2 hotel size, hotel rating, social media experience and satisfaction from the use of
social media were entered into the regression. Table 6 displays the results of the
regression analysis.
Table 6 Results of hierarchical regression analysis (standardised beta coefficients) (N = 60)
Social media adoption
Variables Model 1 Model 2
Control variable
Position –.07 –.00
Predictor variables
Hotel size –.02
Hotel rating .12
Social media experience .23*
Satisfaction from the use of social media .63***
R2 .00 .58***
ΔR2 .00 .58***
ΔF .30 17.17***
F .30 13.87***
Note: *p < .05; ***p < .001.
The analysis yielded a statistically significant model (F(5,49) = 13.87, p < .001, R2 = .58)
(see model 2) that explained the 58% of the total variance of the dependent variable of
social media adoption. Contrary to H1, hotel size is not related to social media adoption
(
β
= –.02, p > .05). Moreover, hotel rating does not predict the dependent variable
(
β
= .12, p > .05). So, H2 is rejected. As predicted, the analysis resulted in
two statistically significant predictors of social media adoption, namely social media
experience (
β
= .23, p < .05) and satisfaction from the use of social media (
β
= .63,
p < .001). So, H3 and H4 are supported.
6 Discussion
The tourism sector has been largely affected by the proliferation in social media
platforms use by consumers, as they have changed consumer behaviour and consequently

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 21
the marketing practices used by organisations. It is unquestionable that organisations that
want to attract new customers and enlarge their customer base should offer as much
brand-related information as possible (Reino and Hay, 2011). Apparently, the use of
social media marketing tools and applications provide organisations in different
industries, including hotel industry, with the path to build and extend long-lasting
customer relationships with their customers and stay connected anywhere and at any time
(Armstrong and Kotler, 2015; Hofacker and Belanche, 2016). Given the importance and
the opportunities that social media marketing can offer to hotels, the present study makes
an attempt to address the issue of how hotels adopt social media as a powerful marketing
and communication tool. It also tries to identify organisational factors that affect social
media adoption rate by hotels, and provide empirical evidence on the relationship
between social media use and hotel’s performance.
The results of this survey reveal that hotels in Greece are increasingly deploying
social media as part of their marketing strategy with different levels of sophistication. It
is evident that Greek hotels have employed social media technologies mainly to
communicate and integrate with customers. Although the level of social media
penetration is rather high, a great number of hotels need to progress regarding their
degree of social media use. Hotels with low levels of social media utilisation should
realise the benefits of social media potential in order to compete in international markets,
especially when Greece’s basic international tourism markets, such as British and
German, are very mature in ICTs (Buhalis and Deimezi, 2004).
Consistent with previous research (Dosi and Tzortzaki, 2017), the overwhelming
majority of hotels in our study have primarily adopted Facebook, with TripAdvisor
coming second in the frequency of use among small and medium-sized Greek hotels. A
considerable number of hotel firms have not fully exploited the potential from social
media use; therefore, hotels vary in the degree of online strategies adopted in different
platforms. We also note that the vast majority of hotels deploy more than one platform
simultaneously. The integration of multiple social media platforms can provide hotels
with various benefits due to different characteristics of each platform. The usage of
different social media platforms by hotel firms enables them to gain more access to
clientele that use different types of social media to connect online. With regard to
selection criteria, the survey concludes that the most important criteria for the selection of
specific social media tools are the popularity and the importance of the platform,
followed by their use from the rival hotels and the cost of employing them.
According to hoteliers’ responses, the main objectives of using social media tools are
to attract new customers, thus increase sales levels, nurture stronger relationships with
customers, and get a better understanding of the customers’ preferences. It seems that the
majority of hoteliers concentrate on sales goals. Furthermore, our respondents stress the
importance of social media in social interaction, communication, sharing and actively
participating in a network. Consequently, the findings assent that one of the primary
objectives of an organisation when uses social media for marketing purposes is to
facilitate active communication with customers and strengthen relationships with them
(Buhalis and Deimezi, 2004). Lastly, the results of our study, in contrast to other studies
(Weinberg and Pehlivan, 2011), do not support the findings that the use of a specific
social media tool is related to the accomplishment of specific objectives.
Since social media analytics provide a range of different benefits for organisations
(Sterne, 2010; Kurniawati et al., 2013; Holsapple et al., 2014), the vast majority of the

22 M. Spita et al.
respondents deploy social media-analytics (SMA) in their hotels to assess the
effectiveness of social media engagement and evaluate their results against objectives
pursued. Though, a large percentage of hotels do not use e-metrics tools probably
because they are unaware of the range of potential benefits of feedback and insight
gained from e-analytics or they are unfamiliar with their usage. The effective deployment
of SMA applications to track social media activities is crucial for social media marketing
decision-making due to their impact on business. Tracking social media usage can also
help small and medium hotels to improve their social media presence compared to
competitors.
As reported in the relevant literature (Law and Jogaratnam, 2005; Buhalis, 2003),
hoteliers are somewhat reluctant to adopt new technologies, including social media tools,
compared to managers in other tourism enterprises. Hence, the acknowledgement of the
critical factors that enhance social media use may stimulate the employment with social
media tools from hoteliers for marketing and selling purposes. Our results indicate that
hotels use social media tools regardless their size, expressed by the number of employees
that a hotel employs, and star rating. Although previous studies have concluded that size
is a critical factor of technology adoption due to a number of adoption barriers related to
small businesses, such as resource barriers, unfamiliarity with technology, negative
perception about their usefulness, the results of our study do not support these findings.
This can be attributed to special characteristics of social media that are low cost, and
basic IT knowledge requirements (Derham et al., 2011). Though unlike other pertaining
findings, our results imply that hotel size and hotel rating should not be considered
obstacles for the integration of social media tools in hotel marketing and communication
plans. The view that benefits can only be accrued by large organisations is not accurate,
and hotel practitioners must be aware that small and medium organisations can also reap
these benefits as well (Meske and Stieglitz, 2013). It is also important for small
businesses to understand that the constant managing and update of the content of social
media platforms can be a time-consuming activity for managers-owners of a hotel, so
employing a professional or even outsource their social media management could be
seriously considered by hotel managers.
In addition, the results demonstrate that the degree of social media adoption is
significantly affected by hotel previous experience with social media tools, while
satisfaction from their use is the strongest predictor of the extent of social media use.
With regards to satisfaction, a great percentage of respondents report high levels of
satisfaction regarding the use of social media tools. A smaller though significant
percentage of hotel managers express no satisfaction with the current use of social media
tools. The reasons for that could be attributed to hotels failing to deploy the full potential
of social media tools capabilities. Hotels do not often use social media analytics
applications effectively to measure social media performance. Concluding, one of the
main findings here is that the degree of social media adoption is mainly influenced by
personal perceptions. Managers who perceive a high level of satisfaction regarding its use
have higher propensity towards the continuing implementation of a social media plan.
Lastly, we confirm the positive relation between the extent of social media use and
hotel performance (Ainin et al., 2012; Stone et al., 2007). It is of the outmost importance
that even small hotels that have adopted social media have gained all the benefits in
marketing and communication associated with social media use. In the light of this
relationship, hotels should incorporate social media in their marketing strategy to a
greater extent in order to grip the full range of the benefits that social media provide. We

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 23
can also infer from the results that hotels recognise the benefits associated with social
media deployment, and that is reflected in the positive relationship between social media
use and hotel performance.
6.1 Study strengths, practical implications, limitations and future research
The above results provide new findings and directions for small and medium-sized hotel
marketers and hoteliers who want to embrace the new social media marketing trends and
develop a dynamic online presence. The empirical evidence from this study offers a
deeper understanding of the factors that influence social media use, and enhances
confidence in marketing managers, hotel marketers and hoteliers to further stimulate the
use of social media tools as they contribute significantly to the increase of organisational
performance. Merely introducing ICT elements may not be enough to boost hotel
financial and non-financial performance (Sirirak et al., 2011). In particular, the degree of
social media adoption is what matters the most to enhance performance levels.
Knowing the factors that accelerate the use of social media tools for marketing and
communication purposes can serve strategically in the following directions: to an
increase of hotel performance, profitability and customer satisfaction. It can also
contribute to an enhancement of tourism related benefits for the local economy in a
sustainable manner. Thereafter, the ignorance of the factors that ensure sufficient social
media use, and consequently the failure of small and medium hotels to engage in social
media platforms and implement online booking strategies, may put them at a competitive
disadvantaged position.
The findings support that social media deployment can both affect the financial and
non-financial performance of small and medium hotels, as it is directly linked to hotel
online communication strategy and marketing strategy. The contribution of social media
use in hotel performance can serve as a facilitator of social media deployment, especially
for small and medium hotels in Greece. Thereafter, the increased use of social media
platforms may help small and medium hotels to reduce their total dependence on the
distribution channel members (e.g., tour operators) for reaching target markets and
communicate with customers, an issue that is particularly pronounced in Greek hotels
(Buhalis, 2000) and even more noticeable in Crete where local tour operators exercise
great power over hoteliers as they control the charter flights market (Fountoulaki et al.,
2015). Hence, enhancing social media deployment offers to small and medium hotels in
Greece direct booking opportunities, the potential to engage in new online distribution
channels for bookings/reservations and new avenues for growth in international and
global markets, thus increasing the bargaining power of hotels over traditional travel
agencies and tour operators. On the other hand, keeping in mind that Crete is considered
an insular and peripheral travel destination, which accounts for the huge dependence on
intermediaries with great bargaining power, hoteliers are often forced to lower their
prices while improving the quality of their services, and operating in a competitive local
market where discounting in price is essential to attract visitors (Buhalis, 1999). As such,
our results strongly indicate that fostering the level of social media use could also be
beneficial especially for hotels at peripheral destinations to attract the desired customers.
In this way, tourism development of a peripheral destination can be assured and the
destination can reap all the relevant benefits with the appropriate use of social media
tools.

24 M. Spita et al.
From a practical perspective, the use of social media tools enables hotels to attract the
desired travel market segments reducing the reliance on tour operators while ensuring
hotel economic performance. Having in mind that social media platforms constitute the
primary source of travel-related information used by customers in the hotel industry,
hotels that wishing to increase sales and attract new guests have to manage successfully
their online presence and communication. Though, if hotel management puts emphasis on
non – financial organisational performance, simply by introducing social media does not
guarantee enhanced levels of customer loyalty or brand awareness, while the intensity of
information and communication technology usage and the degree of social media
adoption may provide valuable help in this direction. It is crucial for hotel firms to create
and deliver appropriate content through social media platforms for different segments of
users in order for social media to enhance the communication effectiveness (Tiago et al.,
2018).
Furthermore, due to transparency and price comparisons, the role of consumer is
certainly strengthened (Buhalis and Zoge, 2007) that makes it imperative for hotels to
customise their products and services to tourism needs in order to remain competitive.
Social media redefines the source of competitive advantage, giving the opportunity to
hoteliers to be innovative and differentiate their offerings rather than competing over
price, while offering customised and value-added services to customers. Another
important implication of this research regarding the factors that enhance the degree of
social media use, relates to the valuable and instant information a hotel can gather
directly from customers about the service attributes that are important drivers of their
buying intention, as well as the level of fulfilment. This has direct implications associated
with the development of customer expectations. Marketing activities through social
media form expectations of service quality to customers about products and services
provided by hotels. Hotel success to exceed customers’ expectations and generate
satisfied customers is extremely important for the hotel success and survival (Ahmad
et al., 2018). So, it is imperative that hotel firms carefully create and manage expectations
of service quality through social media use.
Additionally, the research findings also provide useful implications not only for the
hotel management, but also the social media service providers. The improved knowledge
about hotel managers’ perceptions and attitudes towards social media use, and more
specifically about the importance they attach to certain selection criteria, can help social
media service providers to increase the value delivered from the social media services
they provide to hotels. Social media providers should be aware that the cost associated
with the use of social media is the least important selection criteria for hotels. What is
more, the findings are decisive for policy makers, as they stress the need for a central
strategic planning regarding the use of social media by Greek hotels, as it can contribute
and strengthen the online presence of the country worldwide and also its competitiveness
and success. Collaboration between the hotel industry and the government is needed to
promote policies, such as training and funding, that will accelerate the diffusion and the
degree of social media deployment in hotels.
However, a few limitations of our study should also be taken into consideration.
Although our sample was not high enough to ensure enhanced statistical power, smaller
samples may be acceptable if the research variables are reliable and the proposed model
in not very complex (e.g., Bollen, 1990; Iacobucci, 2010). Furthermore, systematic errors
due to key informants’ tendency to overreporting or underreporting organisational – level
phenomena as a function of their position in the organisation, their organisational tenure,

Social media adoption among small and medium-sized Greek hotels 25
and their personal characteristics (i.e., demographic data, personality), might have
distorted their inferences towards study’s organisational – level constructs and
subsequently the relationships between the predictors and the criterion (see Bagozzi et al.,
1991). So, research in this field should address the issue of common method biases
(Podsakoff et al., 2003) and incorporate different sources of ratings such as employees,
hotel clientele.
Concluding, a thorough investigation of the determinants of the degree of SM use in
the hotel industry can be promising and serve for further research. First, although the
results of our study can be used to advance our understanding of the organisational
factors that influence social media use, future research should continue to examine the
impact of size and star rating on the adoption of social media use, as well as the
development and testing of a more integrated framework elaborating not only on
additional organisational factors, but also managerial, technological and environmental
factors relevant to hotel industry. Additionally, the orientation of future attempts should
be focused on examining determinants of the level of involvement in each of the social
media platform separately. Secondly, the present study can serve as a starting point for
exploring further the type of social media tools adopted by hotels in order to achieve their
marketing and communication objectives. Thirdly, future research should be directed
towards whether the decision to engage in social media tools based on specific selection
criteria is related to increased levels of organisational effectiveness. For example, it
would be of great interest to examine whether the selection of social media tools that
have been selected in terms of cost or functionality, may be a misleading practice that do
not serve the marketing and communication objectives of a hotel. Finally, to address the
research problem more in depth, future research should be conducted into different
industries, other contexts and other countries. Since social media adoption may depend
on whether the hotels are sea side or city hotels or whether they are luxury or economy
hotels (Tajvidi and Karami, 2017), future research should be based on these elements to
broaden our knowledge of the impact of social media adoption on firm performance.
Despite its limitations, the current study provides a starting point for understanding
factors that enhance the use of social media strategies in a hotel context. Social media
engagement and managing user-generated content on social media platforms comprise
great challenges for hotel industry professionals. Along with traditional means, social
media can provide hotels with the opportunity to successfully implement the marketing
and communication strategy for the benefit of the hotel.
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