Effects of social media use on customer preferences according to generations: A study in hospitality businesses

The aim of this study titled "Effects of Social Media use on Customer Preferences According to Generations: A Study in Hospitality Businesses" is to determine the effect of social media use on different generations and the level of influence on consumers from social media in the choice of accommodation businesses. It was aimed to evaluate the effect on their attitudes towards. The study consists of three parts, excluding the introduction and conclusion parts. In the first part, information is given about the concept of social media; the historical development of social media has been examined from the past to the present, and the importance of social media applications in terms of accommodation businesses are mentioned by classifying them according to their relevant functions. In the second section, the behavior of different generations and consumer are examined in detail. In the third and last part, the methodology and findings of the research are listed. In the implementation part of the study, 409 guests staying in 4 and 5 star accommodation establishments in Kusadasi were contacted and asked to participate in a survey by filling out a questionnaire. In this study, it was tried to find answers to many questions such as whether the attitudes towards accommodation businesses differ in terms of demographic factors; how is the level of influence of social media use according to generations; how does the use of social media differ between generations and do businesses have an effect on the purchasing behavior of generations on social media. According to the results of this study, it has been revealed that the information tourists get from social media does affect their choice of accommodation. While it was furthermore determined that the boomer and silent generations attitudes had no significant relationship towards online posts and/or towards the accommodation businesses of any kind, there appeared to be a very weak relationship in the attitude towards accommodation businesses of the X Generation. Also a very weak relationship was found in the Y Generations attitude towards sharing and accommodation businesses. Generation Z, on the other hand, has a weak relationship in their attitude towards shared online posts, while there is no significant relationship in their attitude towards accommodation businesses.