The Influence of Social Media Marketing on Customer Decisions-Making Process in Selecting Guesthouses in Maldives

The emergence of the social media has replaced the traditional approach to marketing. Unlike
traditional marketing, social media marketing offers a multiple way of communication. With
this change, it has impacted almost all the sectors recently. Among this, accommodation sector
has changed dynamically due to the influence of social media marketing on customer decision
making. Hence, the minor research questions of this study were- how the contents shared by
the guesthouses and how the level of customer engagements and interaction of the guesthouses
impact customer decision making process in Maldives. Data collected for the research were
based on qualitative method. Semi-Structured, telephone interview was used as the data
collection technique. The researcher conducted 17 interviews. The findings have revealed that
high quality visual contents from guesthouses’ Instagram pages impact the customers decision making process. While participants want to see reviews from Facebook pages. Reviews and
word-of mouth has and thus have a significant impact. Further, it showed the customer
engagements and communication are vital in selecting a guesthouse. However, customer
engagements and communication need be improved from guesthouses through Facebook and
Instagram.