The impact of information and communication technology on the marketing performance of Jordanian hotels

Abstract

Purpose – This thesis proposes to address the research gap of understanding the relationshipbetween ‘Information Communication Technology (ICT)’ and ‘marketing performance’ in upscale hotels in Jordan.\nDesign/methodology/approach – Extensive literature that links both ICT and marketing performance forms the framework of this research. This research examines the level of ICT usage by hotels as well as their marketing performance to support the theoretical framework that can be used for practical application in the hospitality industry and provides direction for both practising managers and theoreticians. The quantitative survey technique, using structured closed questions, was the main method applied to test the theoretical framework and all of its hypotheses as well as to provide answers to all the research questions. The quantitative survey was undertaken of 61 Jordanian hotels in Amman, Aqaba, the Dead Sea and Petra over the time period from May to July 2013. The senior managers including CEOs, managing directors, and general managers or marketing directors of the hotels, who are responsible for making decisions regarding the hotel marketing activities, were selected to provide the primary data regarding the use of ICT in their hotels and their marketing performance.\nFindings – The findings demonstrate that the majority of Jordanian hotels have a high level of ICT adoption, however, the integrated (i.e. interconnectivity) level and the usage level of ICT are significantly less. Moreover, the availability, interconnectivity and the usage extent of ICT vary according to the size of the hotel, star-rating, and the experience of hotel management in ICT. The findings also suggest that Jordanian hoteliers are to some extent satisfied with their marketing performance and particularly with the financial aspect of marketing performance. Additionally, the results exhibited important differences in the contribution that each technology makes to the marketing performance. For example, the electronic-points-of-sales systems (EPOS) and the booking-enabled hotel Website are the highest individual ICT systems that impact the marketing performance. Finally, the invention measures (e.g. the ability of launching new products/ services) are the most affected aspect of marketing performance when adopting interconnected ICT systems in hotel establishments.\nPractical implications – There are multiple areas and issues that need to be considered in making and implementing ICT investment decisions if they are to contribute to the hotel marketing performance. Hotel companies need to be selective in their ICT adoption decisions and look at each ICT system from the marketing management perspective. The Electronic Distribution Systems (e.g. Booking-Enabled Website), and Hotel Front-Office Systems (e.g. PMS) are some of the most differentiating technologies, which may be implemented by 3-, 4- and 5-star hotels to improve marketing performance, especially; the non-financial aspects of marketing performance (e.g. the ability to launch new processes and services and the perceived quality of these processes and services).\nOriginality/value – This is one of the first studies in the hospitality field that offers practical evidence on how ICT systems affect the marketing performance. This research identifies the most discriminating ICT solutions across three, four, and five-star hotels, and discusses their potential for improving marketing performance. It also provides recommendations for Jordanian hotels to improve their marketing effectiveness by using the appropriate technologies in the hospitality industry.

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