THE EFFECTS OF MARKETING INNOVATION, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND BRAND EQUITY ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF TOURISM BUSINESSES IN THAILAND
Research on the effects of marketing innovation, social media marketing and brand equity on business performance of tourism businesses in Thailand aims to study 1) marketing innovation, social media marketing, brand equity and business performance of tourism businesses in Thailand, 2) effects of marketing innovation, social media marketing and brand equity on the business performance of the tourism business in Thailand, and 3) guidelines for managing the tourism businesses in Thailand. The conceptual framework was developed from the theory of marketing competitive advantage in tourism industry and research findings related to the business performance of tourism businesses. Therefore, this study examined the importance of the following factors: marketing innovation, social media marketing, brand equity, and business performance of tourism businesses in Thailand. A mixed methods research was used as research methodology. For quantitative research, the research instrument was a questionnaire. The population was a tourism businesses registered as a type-1 tourism business. Stratify random sampling method was used to collect the data from 340 type-1 tourism business executives. The data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the business performance of tourism businesses in Thailand. For qualitative research, the data from factors that affect success in the tourism business was synthesized. Then, in-depth interviews were conducted by selecting interviewees through purposive sampling. The interviewees were 10 successful and consistently profitable tourism business entrepreneurs in order to obtain guidelines for developing inbound tourism business brands in Thailand. The results found that the structural equation model of the effects of marketing innovation, social media marketing and brand equity on the business performance of tourism businesses in Thailand included the cause variables: marketing innovation, social media marketing, and brand equity, and the effect variable: tourism business performance. In conclusion, social media marketing had the highest effect on tourism business performance, with a total effect coefficient of 0.80, followed by brand equity, with the total effect coefficient of 0.59, and marketing innovation, with the total effect coefficient of 0.19, respectively, influencing change by 99%. While, social media marketing had an effect on brand equity with a total effect coefficient of 0.69, followed by marketing innovation, with the total effect coefficient of 0.21, influencing the change by 67.0% with a statistically significant level of 0.05. The results of in-depth interviews to study the business performance of tourism businesses in Thailand from type-1 tourism business executives who were successful in business operations found that successful tourism business operations should have guidelines for conducting business using social media marketing, marketing innovation and brand equity creation for tourism businesses in Thailand.
Marketing Innovation, Social Media Marketing and Brand Equity