Social media in relation to restaurants in Malta

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to help restaurants and academia’s understand the relationship between social media and the restaurant industry in Malta. It seeks to highlight and stress the significance of the use of social media in the restaurant industry, in building a sustainable competitive advantage. It aims to identify social media tactics for restaurateurs aiming to increase their ROI by analysing restaurant types and customer demographic target. Design/Methodology: Quantitative method was adopted to carry out this research on Maltese population, and the questionnaire comprises of closed-ended, open-ended and Likert scalebased questions. To be able to identify the trends and statistical patterns. This research recorded a total sample of 434 participants, in addition to this, it categorized restaurants into the following segments: fast casual, cafeteria, buffet, casual, fine dining and upscale casual. Findings: This research discovered that customers within the age group of 18-24 25-34 and 35-44years old use social media to research and find information about restaurants before deciding which restaurant type to visit. As a result of this, their decision making is influenced by the information they encountered online. Furthermore, this research discovered that those customers who use social media as a point of reference in making a restaurant choice are prone to select casual dining and family styles as their restaurant choice. As oppose to other restaurant types. Research Limitation: The limitation of this research is that since this study focuses on the use of social media in the restaurant industry in Malta – the notion of generalizability does not apply to other countries. As there are many dynamics at play such as culture, customer taste, economic and political regulations that controls the use of social media to share information. Applying these discoveries of this research in such countries is not possible. Managerial Implication: Managers of different type of restaurants needs to be aware and take a proactive approach in providing reliable information about their restaurants on social media. Managers of the different restaurants types in Malta can increase the number of customers visit to their restaurants by increasing the popularity of their restaurant on social media, striving to get positive online feedback and patronizing their regular customers so they can recommend their restaurant to their friends. Originality/Value This research fills the gap identified between the use of social media and what factors attracts customers to various restaurant types - fast casual, cafeteria/buffet, casual, fine dining and upscale casual – by highlighting the inclusion of information such as GPS/location, real-time updates (e.g. special offers), online ordering, and online payment options on each restaurant social media page.