Mizrachi, Isaac (2014) Facebook Adoption by Australian Small Tourism Enterprises (STEs): Business Requirements and User Perceptions. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

The findings of the research identified similarities in the way that both STEs and the users perceive Facebook as a marketing platform for the STE accommodation businesses. On the other hand, the research found significant limitations in the social media knowledge and skills STEs possessed, including the manner in which they interpreted the main function and goals of having a Facebook presence. In general, STEs were found to be overly experimental with their Facebook maintenance, which assisted them in exploring the business benefits of Facebook and, in particular, promoting their business in an affordable way. However, the same spontaneity led to the above-mentioned limitations. The study proposed an implementation model for Facebook adoption by accommodation STEs. Two anchors form the model: one being the strategy of Facebook adoption and the other addressing the availability of resources and skills related to Facebook adoption. Measuring STE performance on Facebook is another interactive component of the model. The research portrays a representational picture of early adopting accommodation STEs and their use of the Facebook social media platform and sets the foundations for future research. The proposed implementation model can be used to further explore Facebook adoption amongst the cohort of Australian accommodation STEs. Notably, the model proposed and the findings can be used in researching other types of STEs, both in Australia and in other destinations. Although premised on the Facebook social media platform, the proposed implementation model can be potentially extended to other forms of social media platforms.

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