THE IMPACT OF MOBILE MARKETING ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: CASE OF LISTED HOTELS IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Digital tools, including mobile phones, have been widely popularised amongst both resident and non-resident tourists to explore vacation destinations and to make subsequent bookings. This provides a versatile platform for hoteliers and prospective clients to exchange information effectively. However, according to the past literature, it was revealed that the adaptation of digital marketing tools such as mobile marketing is scarce in the context of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, according to the preliminary interviews held with experts, one of the main contributory factors was identified as the lack of experience and confidence of hoteliers in investing in digital marketing solutions such as mobile marketing due to ambiguity in relating to financial and non-financial outcomes. Hence, this study aims to bridge the existing knowledge gap by evaluating the impact of mobile marketing on listed hotels’ financial performance in Sri Lanka. All thirty-seven (37) hotels registered in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) under Listed Tourist Hotels category were chosen as the population sample for this quantitative study with Mobile Marketing as the independent variable and Return on Equity (ROE) as the dependent variable. The required data was collected through structured questionnaires distributed among the marketing managers of the firms. The Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) was used to analyse and obtain results on the research objective from the collected data. Descriptive statistics, Correlation and Regression, were deployed in assessing the impact of mobile marketing on the financial performance of listed hotels. The findings revealed a significant positive impact on the financial performance of hotels from mobile marketing since its significance value is less than 0.05. This demarks that mobile marketing, if utilised appropriately, could influence the financial performance of hotels positively allowing firms to reap greater economic benefits. In addition, the results help allay the ambiguity and uncertainty that hotel managers have