Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia

Despite the fact that using social media for arranging trips is becoming increasingly important, community-based tourism (CBT) of Malaysian rural homestay operators still heavily rely on traditional marketing platforms and third parties’ assistance to gain tourist attraction. Previous studies found...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rasid, Ismail, Affero, Luis Mota, Luis Mota
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: uthm 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11485/1/J15988_2bf27ea6ee242d74b87f8a0cd49194b6.pdf
_version_ 1811134795295490048
author Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati
Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rasid
Ismail, Affero
Luis Mota, Luis Mota
author_facet Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati
Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rasid
Ismail, Affero
Luis Mota, Luis Mota
author_sort Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati
collection UTHM
description Despite the fact that using social media for arranging trips is becoming increasingly important, community-based tourism (CBT) of Malaysian rural homestay operators still heavily rely on traditional marketing platforms and third parties’ assistance to gain tourist attraction. Previous studies found a lack of awareness constraining social media marketing adoption in small enterprises. Hence, this study aims at exploring the awareness of homestay operators regarding the use of social media as a marketing tool in CBT of rural homestay operators in Malaysia. A survey study was done by using a semi-structured interview involving nine respondents from nine homestays across Johor, Malaysia. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that the community still has low awareness of the digital divide as well as the unavailability of relevant human resources and technical expertise. It also indicated that the homestays’ operators still use Malay rather than English on their social media promotion and interaction, which restricts their chances to access global markets. It is critical for operators of homestays to improve their competencies to maintain their businesses and increase their level of market competitiveness. Therefore, this study constitutes an essential call for stakeholders’ attention to enhance CBT rural homestay operators’ awareness through effective training. Accordingly, it closes the digital gaps that challenge social media marketing awareness and hence encourages technology adoption in the community.
first_indexed 2024-09-24T00:10:50Z
format Article
id uthm.eprints-11485
institution Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
language English
last_indexed 2024-09-24T00:10:50Z
publishDate 2023
publisher uthm
record_format dspace
spelling uthm.eprints-114852024-08-01T03:02:33Z http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11485/ Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rasid Ismail, Affero Luis Mota, Luis Mota T Technology (General) Despite the fact that using social media for arranging trips is becoming increasingly important, community-based tourism (CBT) of Malaysian rural homestay operators still heavily rely on traditional marketing platforms and third parties’ assistance to gain tourist attraction. Previous studies found a lack of awareness constraining social media marketing adoption in small enterprises. Hence, this study aims at exploring the awareness of homestay operators regarding the use of social media as a marketing tool in CBT of rural homestay operators in Malaysia. A survey study was done by using a semi-structured interview involving nine respondents from nine homestays across Johor, Malaysia. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that the community still has low awareness of the digital divide as well as the unavailability of relevant human resources and technical expertise. It also indicated that the homestays’ operators still use Malay rather than English on their social media promotion and interaction, which restricts their chances to access global markets. It is critical for operators of homestays to improve their competencies to maintain their businesses and increase their level of market competitiveness. Therefore, this study constitutes an essential call for stakeholders’ attention to enhance CBT rural homestay operators’ awareness through effective training. Accordingly, it closes the digital gaps that challenge social media marketing awareness and hence encourages technology adoption in the community. uthm 2023 Article PeerReviewed text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11485/1/J15988_2bf27ea6ee242d74b87f8a0cd49194b6.pdf Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati and Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rasid and Ismail, Affero and Luis Mota, Luis Mota (2023) Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia. JOURNAL OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING, 15 (1). pp. 142-157. ISSN 2229-8932 https://doi.org/10.30880/jtet.2023.15.01.013
spellingShingle T Technology (General)
Dewi Eka Murniati, Dewi Eka Murniati
Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rasid
Ismail, Affero
Luis Mota, Luis Mota
Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia
title Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia
title_full Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia
title_fullStr Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia
title_short Training Urgency to Bridge the Digital Divide for Social Media Marketing Awareness and Adoption: Case of CBT Rural Homestay Operators Malaysia
title_sort training urgency to bridge the digital divide for social media marketing awareness and adoption case of cbt rural homestay operators malaysia
topic T Technology (General)
url http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11485/1/J15988_2bf27ea6ee242d74b87f8a0cd49194b6.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT dewiekamurniatidewiekamurniati trainingurgencytobridgethedigitaldivideforsocialmediamarketingawarenessandadoptioncaseofcbtruralhomestayoperatorsmalaysia
AT abdulrazzaqabdulrasid trainingurgencytobridgethedigitaldivideforsocialmediamarketingawarenessandadoptioncaseofcbtruralhomestayoperatorsmalaysia
AT ismailaffero trainingurgencytobridgethedigitaldivideforsocialmediamarketingawarenessandadoptioncaseofcbtruralhomestayoperatorsmalaysia
AT luismotaluismota trainingurgencytobridgethedigitaldivideforsocialmediamarketingawarenessandadoptioncaseofcbtruralhomestayoperatorsmalaysia