Social Media Marketing Strategies for Luxury Business Travel: A Case of the Ritz-Carlton’s Hotel

Introduction

With the increase in social media platforms and the internet, businesses and firms should adopt precautionary measures to safeguard their reputation with regard to their brands and corporations. As such, organisations should improve their image through websites and social media platforms to strengthen their image. An excellent example is the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a luxurious business travel that has utilised social media platforms and online platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to achieve brand equity and enhance its brand image. As such, this study will explore the social-emotional aspects that underlie the fundamental integration of luxury business travel as well as social media. The proposal outlines a comprehensive social media marketing strategy for Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a global leader in hospitality business travel, to enhance its appeal to business and corporate business travel.

Literature Review

Ritz-Carlton was named after its founder, Caesar Ritz, who was born in 1850. Caesar managed to open his first Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1898. He later opened another hotel in London in 1905. This was the first phase of the series of hotels. The second phase was the establishment of the Ritz-Carlton Investing Company by Albert Keller. The name Ritz-Carlton was maintained in the US and European hotels. The expansion in the US under the new company started with the opening of the Boston Hotel in 1927. This hotel established new luxury standards, which are still in the present. The phase also followed with opening other US hotels, such as in Atlantic City, New York and Philadelphia. The third phase entailed an expansion of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which took place between 1983 and 1995. As a present subsidiary of Marriott International, Currently Ritz-Carlton Hotel Chain operates in more than 26 countries globally. However, it has its management despite Marriott International taking more than 49% in 1999 and 50% shares in 1998 (Alsabbagh & Ahmad, 2013). The success setting of Ritz-Carlton can be attributed to exceptional service and its leadership.

According to Rathi et al. (2022), the global luxury industry has changed radically and is undergoing tremendous growth. Such transformation is not only in the West and Europe but is also spreading to the Asian markets. The luxury hotel business is a lucrative industry that is anticipated to reach a $1.5 trillion market across all categories in the next two years. Consequently, luxury brands are endeavouring to meet the surging customer expectations.

In order to evaluate how social media influences the judgements of luxury business travel, Liu et al. (2019) conducted a study to evaluate the response to postings on Facebook by a premium hotel provider to determine the priority of intelligence or emotional appeal. In their findings, an emotional appeal did not outperform an informed appeal regarding the improvement of consumer quality perception about the hotel. On the other hand, social media did not have a bearing on the decision of a customer to book a premium hotel and like it through social media platforms such as Facebook. In most cases and as Heinze et al. (2016) posit, social media platforms are mostly used in retaining customers. Another study by Heinze et al. (2016) outlines five factors that determine the usage of luxury business travel through social media: trust, perceived advantage, accessibility, enjoyment and social influence. The scholars also found that pleasure minimally impacted the customer’s luxury business travel propensity on social media users, despite being qualitatively suggested. Customer retention can be enhanced by creating a sense of client loyalty. The role that social media platforms play in creating such loyalty cannot be underestimated, especially in the context of luxury business travel. In addition, Ryschka et al. (2016) assert that cruise operators should see to it that they exchange reliable messages on social media platforms. Such messages should be honest, open and customised in order to meet the future goals of a luxury travel business.

Another study was carried out by Kucukusta et al. (2019) to investigate how social media impacts the management of an organisation’s reputation during a crisis. They found that the frequency of the response of people on social media platforms, the traditional values of the respondents and knowledge of the brands impacted how people feel about the reputation of a luxury brand after a crisis. According to a study by Yoo & Lee (2015) on Facebook postings, social media can be used to attain corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals. The duo posts related to CSR are less prevalent compared to posts relating to marketing, giving the same engagement and similarity levels. Their results postulate that organisations must work on a social media strategy for a business strategy regarding content orientation to be achieved. Hence, it is critical to enhance multimedia content across several platforms. Despite the augmented popularity of social media in the luxury travel business, some brands are still in the initial stages of adopting social media.

There are several studies that have been conducted to examine the marketing strategies of luxury brands. Other studies have been specific to the strategies utilised by businesses within the luxury tourism and hotel industry. However, across the literature, there have been no specific studies that have examined social media strategies in the luxury travel industry using a case study of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Literature review involves surveying books, journals, articles, and other significant sources pertinent to a particular topic, area of study, or theory. The researcher will review current journals, articles, books, and other essential materials in that case. The researcher will be specific to materials related to luxury brands’ social media marketing. The study will review materials not older than ten (10) years about social media marketing of Ritz-Carlton Hotel and other luxury travel business brands.

Research Questions

1. What are the major social media marketing strategies utilised by businesses in luxury travel?
2. To what extent has the Ritz-Carlton Hotel been able to apply the four Ps of marketing in its marketing strategy?

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework integrates the components of social media marketing strategies in luxury travel and the four Ps in luxury hospitality. This offers a holistic conceptualisation of how the Ritz-Carlton can leverage marketing on social media platforms to address luxury business travellers efficiently. The framework emphasises aligning social media strategies that are tailor-made with unique expectations and needs suitable for this segment.

Besides, the theoretical framework forms the foundation of this research. It guides the investigation into how Ritz-Carlton Hotel can refine its marketing strategies on social media in order for it to resonate with luxury business travel and align with luxury branding principles and the Four Ps of marketing.

Methodology

The proposed study does not involve the collection of primary data. As a result, the ethical considerations made are those related to the collection and analysis of secondary data. The ethical issue under consideration relates to the safety of the data used. In this case, data collected for secondary research in the study will not be used for any purpose other than what it was intended. The researcher will also observe the ethical principle of no harm. In this case, the data used will not be used in any way that would harm the reputation of Ritz-Carlton’s Hotel. Data in this study will be collected from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel’s website as well as other publications related to the topic. A search strategy will be utilised to ensure that the information collected meets the specific purpose of the study. Expected results include targeted information that is only focused on this population group and appropriate use of language, content, and visuals.

Conclusion

To conclude, Ritz-Carlton Hotel can gain significantly if it adopts a detailed social media marketing strategy tailored to luxury business travellers. A robust online presence, such as on Facebook and Instagram, can help it differentiate itself as it grows. In so doing, it will create a lasting connection and build its image among discerning customers. This proposal offers a foundation for the study and implementation of a successful social media marketing campaign suitable for a luxury travel business, which ultimately drives the growth of the business and ensures that Ritz-Carlton remains a global leader in luxury business travel.

References

Alsabbagh, K. I., & Ahmad, S. Z. (2013). Values-based organisation – Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi Hotel. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 3(6), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-06-2013-0115

Heinze, I., Guhr, N., & Breitner, M. H. (2016). Cruise Customer Loyalty Improvement with Social Media. In Cruise Business Development (pp. 157–174). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27353-2_11

Kucukusta, D., Perelygina, M., & Lam, W. S. (2019). CSR communication strategies and stakeholder engagement of upscale hotels in social media. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(5), 2129–2148. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2018-0484

Liu, H., Wu, L., & Li, X. (Robert). (2019). Social Media Envy: How Experience Sharing on Social Networking Sites Drives Millennials’ Aspirational Tourism Consumption. Journal of Travel Research, 58(3), 355–369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287518761615

Rathi, R., Garg, R., Kataria, A., & Chhikara, R. (2022). Evolution of luxury marketing landscape: a bibliometric analysis and future directions. Journal of Brand Management, 29(3), 241–257. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-022-00273-x

Ryschka, A. M., Domke-Damonte, D. J., Keels, J. K., & Nagel, R. (2016). The Effect of Social Media on Reputation During a Crisis Event in the Cruise Line Industry. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 17(2), 198–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2015.1130671

Yoo, K.-H., & Lee, W. (2015). Use of Facebook in the US heritage accommodations sector: an exploratory study. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 10(2), 191–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2014.985228