Abstract:
The brand identity and service dominant logic is giving a new pace to the business world
since past few years with the introduction of the post-modern marketing and viral
marketing as a component of the online marketing strategies using the social media
forums. Professor David F. Larcker says that “Companies appreciate the potential that
social media can have to transform all aspects of their business: branding, reputation,
communication, outreach, and identifying strategic risks,” (Katie Pandes, Stanford
Graduate School of Business, 2012). This has specifically given the dynamic force to the
hospitality industry, facing increased competition, hospitality companies are driven to
project a positive image to their stakeholders. Therefore, these organizations have begun
to develop new organizational identity programs as part of their strategies to achieve their
desired outcomes through online marketing. The proposed study intends to explore such
viral marketing practices through social media and their impact on the hospitality
industry specifically in context of Pakistan, for gaining insight of the customer’s
perspective that how our hospitality sector is implementing these techniques for the
purpose of brand building and how the elements of simulation, viral marketing, employee
involvement, merchandizing, hybrid consumption, etc. are being promoted by using
social media. This research study analyzes the role of social media in the definition of the
organizational identity of the restaurants and café culture in Islamabad and the way they
are promoted, employing a qualitative research methodology based on the secondary
data. The entire study revolves around the audience and consumer perspective of the
social media who are the ultimate customers of the restaurants and how impactful are the
post of these websites and pages for shaping the audience’s views and opinions about a
hospitality service.
