ONLINE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: A MIXED METHOD RESEARCH

Focusing on accommodation establishments, such as hotels, this study examines the factors that lead customers to engage in social media platforms and determines whether the importance of these factors differs according to the customers' demography. We used exploratory sequential mixed method research (MMR) design. Customer reviews on the Facebook page of a 5-star hotel in Alanya, Turkey analyzed for the qualitative part of the study. Subsequently, in the quantitative part, a questionnaire was created based on the results of the qualitative study and the relevant literature. The quantitative part employed the convenience sampling method using an online survey filled out by 602 social media users. Based on the factor analysis we identified seven customer engagement dimensions: experiential benefit; identity; appreciation; information; advocacy; recommendation; and satisfaction. The appreciation dimension was introduced to the literature as a new dimension that had not been used in previous empirical studies. One of the most striking results obtained from the study was that there were significant differences between all demographic variables (gender, marital status, education, and age) and customers' perceptions of the information dimension.