EXPLORING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN HOSPITALITY SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS VIA ONLINE BIG DATA

Abstract

For 2014-2016, “Developing Marketing Analytics for a Data-Rich Environment” is determined as a “Tier 1 Priority” by the Marketing Science Institute (MSI). Understanding customers by analyzing their experiences is very important to build long-term and profitable relationships with them. In the hospitality sector, travelers create huge amounts of data called “big data” by sharing their experiences in travel websites. If these experiences are analyzed and transformed into information, they can provide a competitive advantage; thus, data mining tools are used to find hidden patterns and relationships in large data sets. So, the purpose of this paper is to explore the cultural differences in the hospitality sector with the help of big data. For this purpose, customers’ online reviews are analyzed by using text mining, as a data mining tool, according to the factors based on positive and negative reviews collected from “booking.com” (1000 customer reviews, 500 for each city) for the hotels in London and Tokyo. Then, the findings are discussed according to Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation and the cultural differences. In addition, some managerial implications were given to hotel managers to enlighten them about gaining competitive advantage in their industry.

Keywords

• Big data,text mining,tourism,Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Motivation Theory,tourism marketing

Konaklama Sektöründe Büyük Veri Aracılığıyla Sektörel Rekabette Kültürel Farklılıkların Keşfi

Abstract

2014-2016 yılları için Pazarlama Bilim Enstitüsü (MSI), “Veri Bakımından Zengin Ortamlarda Pazarlama Analitiğini Geliştirme” konusunu “Birinci Derecede Öncelikli” konu olarak belirlemiştir. Müşterilerin deneyimlerini inceleyerek onları anlamak, uzun dönemde kârlı müşteri ilişkileri oluşturabilmek için önemlidir. Konaklama sektöründe ziyaretçiler, deneyimlerini internetteki seyahat sitelerinde paylaşarak “büyük veri” olarak adlandırılan büyük miktarda veri yaratmaktadır. Eğer bu deneyimler analiz edilip bilgiye dönüştürülebilirse rekabet avantajı sağlanabilir, bu amaçla veri madenciliği araçları büyük veri setlerindeki gizli örüntü ve ilişkileri bulmak için kullanılır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmanın amacı, büyük veri yardımıyla konaklama sektöründe kültürel farklılıkları keşfetmektir. Bu amaçla, müşterilerin Londra ve Tokyo’ya ilişkin “booking.com” üzerinden toplanan çevrimiçi görüşleri (her bir şehirden 500 olmak üzere toplam 1000 müşteri görüşü) olumlu ve olumsuz faktörler üzerinden bir veri madenciliği aracı olan metin madenciliği kullanımıyla analiz edilmiştir. Ardından, bulgular Hertzberg’in İki Faktörlü Motivasyon Teorisi’ne ve kültürel farklılıklara göre incelenmiştir. Ek olarak, otel yöneticilerine sektörlerinde rekabet avantajı kazanabilmeleri için yönetimsel çıkarımlar sunulmuştur.

Keywords

• Büyük Veri,Metin Madenciliği,Hertzberg’in İki Faktörlü Motivasyon Teorisi,Turizm Pazarlaması

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