Students will be provided an IMC strategy document for an existing business and, within the context of the business's growth strategy, will develop an analysis of the effectiveness of the IMC strategy, offering critique and suggested revisions.

sustainability

Article

The Effectiveness of Marketing Communication and Importance of Its Evaluation in

an Online Environment

Anna Krizanova1,George Lzroiu2,Lubica Gajanova1,*, Jana Kliestikova1,MargaretaNadanyiova1 and Dominika Moravcikova1

1. DepartmentofEconomics,TheFacultyofOperationandEconomicsofTransportandCommunications, University of Zilina, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 Zilina, S..a@fpedas.uniza.sk(A.K.); j..a@fpedas.uniza.sk(J.K.); m..a@fpedas.uniza.sk(M.N.); d(D.M.)
2. Department of Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Bucharest 030045,Romania;

* Correspondence: l..a@fpedas.uniza.sk; Tel.:+421-41-513-3237

Received:31October2019;Accepted:30November2019;Published:9December2019

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updates

Abstract:Onlinemarketingcommunicationcoversawideareaandthuspromotesanextensivereach of advertising to a broad audience. Hotels can achieve certain goals through online communication, mainlyanincreaseofhotelawareness;animprovementoftheirimage;andanincreaseinthelevelof customersatisfactionandtrust,orbrandloyalty.Measurementoftheeffectivenessofcommunication toolsintheonlineenvironmentisstillachallenge,whetherintheacademicworldorinthebusiness world, mainly due to the complexity of this process. The main objective of this paper is to propose amethodologyforimplementinganindicatorsuitablefortheevaluationoftheeffectivenessofonline communication activities in the Slovak hotel industry.It uses analysis of the current usage of online marketingcommunicationactivitiesfromtheperspectiveofhotelserviceproviders.Themethodology should be applicable to support decision-making and actively support the sustainable development of hotels. In order to achieve the objective of the paper,the authors conducted a marketing survey focusedononlinemarketingcommunicationbySlovakianhotelstodeterminetheiruseandtomapthe currentstateormethodsofevaluatingtheireffectiveness.Resultsoftheresearchsuggestthathotels in Slovakia perceive evaluating marketing communications online as being important, regardless of thesize,lengthofoperation,budget,andclassofthehotel.Theypreferfinancialmetricsbecausethey are a de facto manifestation of the traditional approach towards investment evaluation. The results alsoshowedthatreturnoninvestmentisthemostcommonmetricforevaluatingtheinvestmentsof online communication activities, and that respondents expressed the highest level of confidence in thismetricaswell.Inlinewiththeresults,wehaveproposedreturnoninvestment(ROI)asthemost appropriate metric applicable in evaluation of the effectiveness of online communicationtools.

Keywords:online marketing; effectiveness; return on investments; hotel industry; Slovakia

1. Introduction

Competitive pressures on hotels and additional problems caused by the slow pace of economic growth are triggering a push for greater efficiency and effectiveness. As a result, marketing activities have become an integral part of business operations, as they have an impact on the current and future success of hotels. Their use is a continuous process in which the key task is to follow new trendsandrespondflexiblytosurroundingchanges[1].Thisalsoappliestomarketingcommunication,

Sustainability2019,11,7016;doi:10.3390/su11247016www.mdpi.com /journal/sustainability

inwhichusinganadequatelyselectedcombinationofcommunicationtoolsleadstolong-termcustomer relationships and the sustainable development ofhotels.

The unprecedented growth of online marketing has not only changed the way people interact, it has also changed the way in which businesses attract and retain their consumers. The Internethas

become an innovative marketing tool by providing travel information and a place to conduct online transactions[2].TheinformationalnatureoftourismproductsmeansthattheInternet,whichoffers a global reach and multimedia capabilities, is an increasingly important tool for promoting anddistributingtourismservices[3].Theincreasingnumberofnewcommunicationchannelshasincreased

theneedforhotelstopayattentiontotheeffectivenessoftheseactivities.Therefore,theymust

determine whether they wish to use communication tools efficiently or to merely take advantage of their benefits [4].

Classic forms of marketing media are becoming a thing of the past [5]. Online marketing communication and its new forms provide a wider coverage area that promotes a better reach of advertisingtoawideraudience.Theformsofmarketingcommunicationavailableonlinearemuch

fastertousethanofflinecommunicationtools,astheadvertiserhasmorespaceonlinetoprovidemore

information to a potential customer at a relatively low cost. The effectiveness of new forms of online marketingcommunicationisenhancedbythecontinuousdevelopmentofadsintheonlineenvironment, whichcanbecreatedusingthemanyanalytictoolsavailable[6].Therefore,measuringtheeffectiveness ofthesecommunicationtoolsinanonlineenvironmentisaverycomplexprocess,especiallyin

a constantly changing environment where new marketing resources are being developed every day.However, determining the effectiveness of different forms of online marketing communication is still a major challenge for the academic and business worlds. Since online marketing is completely differentfromtraditionalmarketingapproaches,traditionalmarketingtheoriesandpracticesmaynot be applicable to these types of communicationtools.

Basedontheaforementioneddiscussion,wehaveanalysedthecurrentusageofonlinemarketing communication activities by hotel service providers. Based on the results, the main objective was to identify or propose a suitable methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of online communication activities that would be specific to the Slovak hotel industry and would be useful to support decision-making relating to the sustainable development ofhotels.

1. The Current State of the Slovak HotelIndustry

Despite minor oscillations, European and global tourism have been experiencing significant growth overall. European tourists currently have high purchasing power,as well as a tendency to travelfrequently,whichiswhyEuropecontinuestobetheleaderinglobaltourismflows[7].Thehotel industryinCentralandEasternEuropehasbeenregisteringgrowthinallkeyindicators.Thenumber oftouristsaswellastheoccupancyrateshavereturnedtopre-globalfinancialcrisisconditionsorhave even surpassed them[8].

Slovakia has all of the necessary prerequisites for the development of tourismnatural environments,aconvenientgeographicallocation,historicalmonuments,astrongculturalheritage,etc. However,itcurrentlydoesnotmakesufficientuseoftheseassets.Thetrendtowardsthedevelopment of active tourism and the need for a hotel industry catering for it has been a challenge for Slovakia. SlovakiainrecentyearshasbeenreceivingalowershareoftouristsfromWesternEuropeancountries

and an increasing share of visitors from former socialist countries. Most tourists come to Slovakia fromtheCzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,Germany,Austria,theNetherlands,andUkraine.Interms of visitor composition, tourists visiting Slovakia are most commonly 35-45 years of age and have alowermiddleclassincome.ThemostcommonreasonstovisitSlovakiaaretransit,businessorstudy

trips,visitstofamily,shoppingtourism,vacationstays,cultural/sightseeingtrips,skiingandspatrips.

The average number of overnight stays is three nights [9]. The share of tourism in the Slovak GDP is approx. 2.5% and does not reach the EU countries average (more than 5%). The low percentage is theresultofseveralfactorssuchasincompleteandunrelatedservices,unsatisfactoryinfrastructure

(mainlytransport),lackofqualifiedstaffinservices(insufficientlevelofforeignlanguageskills),alow level of services that is inconsistent with price levels, and low awareness and promotion[10].

A positive phenomenon in the context of tourism and hotel industry promotion in Slovakia is the adoption of the official logo"Good Idea Slovakia"in 2016, which is focused not only on represent Slovakiabutalsoonsupportingdomestictourism,accommodationfacilities,restaurants,organizations, andprovidersoftourismservices.TheActNo.415/2013Coll.onPromotionofTourismasamendment

is also considered a challenge to support Slovak tourism, as well as new forms of online marketing strategies[11].Itaimstomotivatetourismentitiestoensurethecoordinationofactivities,i.e.,destination management in regions and areas of tourism, in other words, a system element that is significantly absent inSlovakia.

In Slovakia, 38 tourism organizations have been established since 1 January 2011. The aim of these organizations is to create and implement the concept of tourism development; to create and implement marketing and promotion of tourism for the members at home and abroad; to promote the common interests of the members; to promote cultural, social, and sporting life; and to preservenaturalandculturalheritage[10].Amajorchallengeinthefieldofmarketingcommunicationforthe development of domestic tourism and hotel industry is the financial contribution to the recreationof

employees.Employers have provided contributions to employees since 01/2019, in accordance with

the Article 152a of the Act No. 311/2001 Coll. on Labour Code as amendment [12].

As the primary role of marketing communication is to influence the consumer to purchase a product or service, this marketing mix tool is under considerable pressure to achieve demonstrable businessresultsinformssuchasinfluencingsalesofproductsandservices,increasingbrandawareness, orgettingcustomerinformation.Inordertoreducethispressure,hotelsarelookingfornewsolutions. Marketingcommunicationisatoolofmarketingmix,whichischaracterizedbyconstantlyemergingnew trends. The enormous boom of the online environment gives hotels multiple options to communicate withexistingorpotentialcustomers[13].Becauseofalargenumberofcommunicationtoolsavailable

in the online environment, hotel managers need to find the most effective ones.

1. LiteratureReview

Businesses in all sectors pay close attention to the concept of effectiveness. The evaluation of effectivenessinthefieldofSlovakandforeignliteratureisbeingscientificallyresearchedfromseveral points of view depending on the scientific focus of authors. The advancement and importance of communicationtechnologiesinrecentdecadeshaveledtothegrowthanddevelopmentofthebusiness environment and intensified competition [14-16]. Businesses have been forced to seek new ways to meetcustomerdemands.Asaresult,thereisagrowingawarenessamongbusinessesabouttheneedfor effectivenessofheterogeneousbusinessactivities[17].Toexplainthis,amarketingperspectiveistaken to explain the fact that companies achieve their objectives by satisfying their customers with greater effectivenessthantheircompetitors[4].Consequently,measuresdesignedtoassesstheeffectivenessof businessactivitiesshouldreflectthespecificactivitiesandtypesofproductsandservicesoffered[18]. It is also important to determine theoretical knowledge of effectiveness and its evaluation, which would be most suitable for its implementation in marketingcommunication.

Ineconomictheory,itispossibletodeterminetwobasictermsinconnectionwithanyinvestment appraisaleffectivenessandefficiency.Thesetermshaveasemanticbase,mainlyinEnglishscientific sources.Efficiencyisdefinedastheratiobetweeninputandoutput,orbetweentheachievedresultsand theincurredcosts[19].Itfollowsthattheefficiencyreferstotheeconomicaspectofheterogeneousmeans investedinbusinessactivities,i.e.,isinterpretedaseconomy.Economyformarketingcommunication is defined as the minimization of costs incurred in order to achieve the stated communication goal, i.e.,efficiencyisthedegreeofachievementoftherelevantgoalofmarketingcommunicationactivity[20]. In terms of the number of input and output variables, efficiency is expressed as the ratio of inputs and outputs that are achieved in a conversion per production unit with a result equal to or greater than one[21].

Thedefinitionsofeffectivenessaredetermineddifferently.Theconceptofeffectivenessisbased onthewordeffect,thatis,theeffectofprovidingoutputsintheformofproductsandservicesresulting fromtheconsumptionofproductionfactors(inputs)tothetargetaudience[22].Itcanbestatedthatit is the ability to produce the desired outputs with a rational usage of available inputs. The importance ofeffectivenessintermsofthenumberofinputandoutputvariablesliesinaproductionsystembased on either maximizing outputs (output-oriented effectiveness) or minimizing inputs (input-oriented effectiveness)[21].Inthemarketingandcommunicationfield,theinterpretationsofthismeaningcould includetherelationshipbetweenthegivencommunicationgoalsandrealimpactsonbusinessresults, i.e., the ratio of desired andachieved.

In connection with the issue of marketing communication, it is also necessary to define its modernformscreative,emotional,innovative,andintegratedcommunication[23].Thismeansthat effectivenessisanintellectualeffort,aswellasanattitudebasedonthateffort,whichmustbeconstantly measured to ensure commercial success [24]. However, it is important to note that effectiveness is not only a measure of market success, but also a measure of operational excellence or productivity. This involves minimizing costs and improving operating margins. On the other hand, effectiveness is linked to the ability of a company to design a unique model of accepting business opportunities through the exchange of relationships. Focusing on efficiency and neglecting effectiveness can lead to a temporary profitability. Otherwise, focusing on effectiveness and lack of efficiency can lead to unprofitable growth [25-27]. The company should therefore maintain an optimal level of efficiency andeffectiveness(theindicatorsthatwillleadtosustainableprofitabilityandbusinessgrowth[28,29]).

1. Marketing Effectiveness and Importance of ItsEvaluation

Theessenceofmarketingeffectivenessisparticularlyusefulinanybusiness,asitassumesbetter business stability,long-term profit growth, increased customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, and business sustainability [21,30-35]. A study on the evaluation of marketing effectiveness has shown that businesses with higher marketing effectiveness also achieve higher overall business effectivenesscomparedtocompetitorsinthemarketwheremarketingeffectivenessisnotapriority[36]. Theassessmentofmarketingeffectivenessisanintegralpartofacomprehensivebusinessperformance evaluation that helps companies to implement a marketing strategy by providing a general view of business performance [37,38]. The aim of evaluating marketing effectiveness is to analyse the interrelationships between marketing activities and overall business performance [39]. It is very important that the concept of marketing and its effectiveness contribute to the overall functioning of the business and are not an isolated function. This means that the objectives of evaluating marketing effectivenessandbusinessobjectivesshouldbemutuallysupportive,especiallyintheareasofmeeting customer needs; stimulating, developing, and increasing sales; and assessing the impact on overall business effectiveness.

Thereareseveralconceptualmeasuresdefiningmarketingeffectivenessthatarebasedonacademic research. Drucker,as the first author dealing with the issue of marketing effectiveness, states that the basis for the success of marketing activities and processes is to do the right things, which means, to do things in an effective way [40]. Marketing effectiveness, as reported by Walker and Ruekert, refers to the results of business programs in relation to the resources used to implement them [41]. Morespecifically,Clarkstatesthis.Accordingtohim,effectivenessreferstotherelationshipbetween marketing results (marketing outcomes) and efforts or means introduced into marketing (marketing inputs)[42].Measuringeffectivenessisamatterofincreasingimportanceindevelopingstrategicplans, evaluating the achievement of marketing goals, and rewarding managers[43-45].

Other authorsalso discussed theissue of marketingeffectiveness. Accordingto them, theeffectivenessintermsofmarketingrepresentsacomparisonofmarketingoutputsandmarketing inputs, i.e., efforts in relation tothe outcomes ofbusiness programs andthe resources used, i.e.,thesuitabilityofmarketingcommunicationprogramswithexistingbusinessstructures.Thismeans that they have investigated the extent to which marketing activities can meet the business goals[46].

This scientific study was extended by Mavondo, who examined marketing effectiveness only in theshortterm.Hepresentedthepositiveimpactofmarketingeffectivenessonthefinancialperformance of a company,which resulted in increased market share, sales, gross margin, and even successful launch of new products on the market[34].

Other authors have built on previous studies and even expanded them and presented marketing effectiveness as a measure of how a company can gain a higher market share over competition in advertising and promotion field. They dilated their research to optimize marketing spending throughmarketingeffectivenesstoachieveevenbetterresultsforbothshort-andlong-termgoals[31]. Gao's study was based on the basic formulation of effectiveness, doing the right thing by comparing marketingeffectivenesswiththegoalsformulatedinthemarketstrategyofthebusiness[47].Another study also examined marketing efficiency,but the outcome was to define marketing effectiveness as along-termprocessthatwasaimingtocreatevaluebasedonbusinessresourcesformarketingactivities and competitive advantage [32]. In Slovakia, the authors, who addressed the issue of marketing effectiveness,definedintheirstudiestheconceptofmarketingeffectivenessasthequalitywithwhich managers optimize expenditures in order to achieve better results for companies in the short- and long-term, i.e., optimize the quality of marketing spending so that businesses achieve their goals in any time period analysed[33].

There are various reasons to carry out regular measurements of the effectiveness of a business.

These reasons may include, especially in the marketing environment, as follows:

• Ifsomethingcannotbechanged,itcannotbeunderstood;
• Ifsomethingcannotbeunderstood,itcannotbechecked;
• If something cannot be checked, it cannot beimproved;
• If results cannot be measured, success cannot be distinguished fromfailure;
• If success cannot be seen, it cannot beevaluated;
• If success cannot be evaluated, failure is likely to beevaluated;
• If failures are not recognized, old errors will be repeated and resources wasted[48].
  1. Effectiveness and Evaluation of Marketing Communication in the OnlineEnvironment

The use of Internet technologies in marketing communication is gaining in importance [49]. It is also a fact that the most revenues are generated through online marketing communications by using personalization, multimedia integration, and real-time interactions[50-52].

The importance of effectiveness of marketing communication in the online environment is also

multipliedbythenumberofscientificpublicationsdealingwiththisissueintherenowneddatabases, namely,WebofScience(1990)andScopus(2059),fortheperiodfrom2004to2018(Figure1).However, it should be noted that the number of scientific articles and studies includes all synonyms of online marketing, i.e., digital marketing, internet marketing, ande-marketing.

The effectiveness of the evaluation of any marketing tools is also assumed by the fact that only

acomprehensiveevaluationcanmovecompaniesintofurtherdevelopmentofmarketingactivities[53].Thus, the effectiveness of marketing tools becomes the basic dimension of a company's performance and the basic pillar for its sustainable development[30].

Figure 1.Number of scientific articles and studies from the Web of Science and Scopus databases on the effectiveness of online marketing communication.

1. Materials andMethods

Demonstratingeffectivenessinmarketinghasneverbeensodifficult.Therearemanyfactorsto consider:pressureonmarketingbudgets,transformingmediaenvironmentsandchannels,theimpact oftechnology,changingconsumerbehavior,andsoon.Suchadynamicenvironmentisbothachallenge andanopportunity.Demonstratingthetangibleeffectivenessofcommunicationcampaignsisbecoming increasinglyimportantformarketers.Measuringofeffectivenesshasbecomeakeyissueinthemarketing departmentsofmanycompaniesoverthelastdecade[54].Inhisstudy,IBMidentifiedthemeasurability ofmarketingactivitiesasoneofthethreekeyareasforfuturedevelopment.Thefindingsofthestudy show that the ability to evaluate marketing investments could be one of the main ways to restore credibility to the marketing department[55].

Another report showed that the evaluation of the effectiveness of communication activities is perceived as significant by the contracting authorities. However, it was surprising to find that 43% of marketersdonotmeasurethereturnoninvestmentintheircommunicationactivities.Rather,theresults ofthestudyconfirmedtheuseofstandardevaluationmethods.Morethan90%ofrespondentsevaluate the effectiveness of communication campaigns, and 53% of respondents usually use the return on investment (ROI) indicator for evaluation. So, most marketing professionals track campaign results, but only half of them in financial terms. The 47% of marketers do not monitor the financial impact of their campaigns. The study showed that typically large companies with long-term existence and higherbudgetsforcommunicationactivityofthecompanyimplementtheevaluationofeffectiveness. Only 41% of respondents are evaluating all campaigns, more than half of the respondents focus on criteria of effectiveness for selected campaigns only,and 7% of respondents report that they evaluate their campaigns only exceptionally[56].

IBM study also identified increasing pressure on marketing departments based on qualitative research.IBMconsiderstheabilitytoquantifyandanalysethefinancialresultsofmarketinginvestments

and,aboveall,topresenttheconclusionsofmarketingdepartmentactivitiesthroughouttheorganization as a key task [55]. The measuring of effectiveness is also expected to be a challenge in studies ofReglix [57,58].

Another survey also revealed a significant need for improving data use, measuring online marketing, and evaluating marketing return on investment. In addition, the survey also focused on the degree of business satisfaction regarding ability to measure return on marketing investments. Upto41%ofbusinessesintheUSaresatisfiedwiththeirabilitytomeasuremarketingROIthrough

properleadershipandperseverance.Theirknowledgeoftheirmarketingreturnoninvestmentallows them to manage marketing spending decisions. Only 43% of organizations make their marketing budgetsbasedonananalysisofmarketingreturnoninvestment.Incontrast,68%ofbusinessesbase their marketing budgets partly on historical spending and 28% on their own instincts. When making decisionsaboutspecificmarketingexpenses,upto21%ofbusinessesmakeallormostofthosespending decisionswithoutmetrics.Insteadofmarketingreturnoninvestment,executivescontinuetousemany traditionalmetrics,suchasbrandpreference,shoppingintent,andwillingnesstorecommend[59].

Thesefactstogetherwiththetheoreticalbackgroundformthebasisofourresearch.Weassumed thathotelmanagementfeelspressureintheformoftheabilitytoquantifythereturnoninvestment

spent on the online form of communication even in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. That is why we asked in the realized research whether hotels evaluate the effectiveness of all forms of online marketing communication used. Additionally, we asked whether there is a certain type of hotel (basedonsize,lifetime,budgetsize,andhotelclass)thatwouldperformthatassessmenttoagreater

extent.Anotherfocusoftheresearchwasonthebenefitsandmetricsofevaluatingtheeffectivenessof

onlinemarketingcommunications.Intheend,weaskedwhetherhotelsweregeneratinganinterestin newmethodologytoassesstheeffectivenessofonlinemarketingactivities,thecreationofwhichisthe main objective of thispaper.

Basedonthetheoreticalresearchandanalysisofsecondarydataandwithaviewtoachievingthe objective of the paper, following research questions and hypotheses wereformulated:

• Researchquestion1:Dohotelsassesstheeffectivenessofallformsofonlinemarketingcommunication that theyapply?

Hypothesis 1a.The effectiveness of the applied forms of online marketing communication is insufficiently monitored by lower-class hotels.

Hypothesis1b.Theeffectivenessoftheappliedformsofonlinemarketingcommunicationisinsufficiently monitoredbyhotelswithalowerbudgetinthisfield.

Hypothesis1c.Theeffectivenessoftheappliedformsofonlinemarketingcommunicationisinsufficiently monitored by hotels with a shorter existing(lifetime).

Hypothesis 1d.The effectiveness of the applied forms of online marketing communication is insufficiently monitored by hotels of a smaller size.

• Research question 2:Do hotels perceive the benefits of evaluating the effectiveness of online marketing communication?

Hypothesis 2.There is no statistical dependence between the perception of the benefits of evaluating the effectiveness of online marketing communication and the evaluation itself.

• Research question 3:What metrics do hotels use to evaluate the effectiveness of online marketing activities?
• Researchquestion4:Isthelevelofmetricsusedtoassesstheeffectivenessofonlinehotelmarketing activities sufficient?

Hypothesis3.Thereisnostatisticaldependencebetweenthetypesofmetricsforassessingtheeffectivenessof online hotel marketing activities and their sufficientlevel.

• Research question 5:Are hotels interested in implementing a new methodology to assess the effectiveness of online marketingactivities?

In order to meet the main objective of the paper,the conceptual scheme of research elaboration shown in Figure2was used. The scheme is based on theoretical knowledge from secondary research anddataobtainedfromprimaryresearch,andillustratestheconnectionoftheresearchquestionsand hypotheses to individualfactors.

Figure 2.Conceptual scheme of research elaboration.

Inordertomeettheobjectiveofthepaper,theauthorsconductedamarketingsurveyfocusedon online hotel marketing communication in the conditions of Slovakia to determine the level of its use in the practice and to map the current state or methods of evaluating of its effectiveness. According the results, the authors proposed ROI as the most appropriate metric applicable in the evaluation of effectiveness of online communicationtools.

In the survey,the size of the population was determined based on data obtained from the organizational statistics of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. The population consists of economicunitsclassifiedaccordingtotheirprimaryeconomicactivitybasedontheSKNACE,group "55.10.0HotelsandSimilarAccommodation".Forthepurposesofthepaper,wedealtwithaccommodation facilities of a hotel type, as these facilities are divided into classes according to the quality of services and technical equipment. Pursuant to Decree of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic no. 277/2008, a class is determined as meeting the minimum requirements for accommodation facilities, quality,and scope of services adequate to the class, which is marked with stars from the lowest class (*) to the highest class (*****). The size of the base population is 803 economic units, respectively,hotels(December2017).As313hotelsparticipatedinthemarketingsurvey,theminimumsamplesize (260hotels)wasmet.Theanswersofrespondentstothequestionsbasedonthedeterminedconfidence level (95%) and confidence interval (5%) can be considered as relevant. In the case of a marketing survey,the questionnaire method was chosen; the questionnaires were distributed bye-mail.

The questionnaire consists of three parts. The first part is focused on the importance, benefits, and use of online marketing communication. The second part deals with the investments into online marketing communication and perception of the effectiveness of online marketing communication. The objective was to find out whether hotels were evaluating the effectiveness of online marketing communication tools, and whether they would be interested in the proposed methodology of effectiveness evaluation. The last part concerns the general profile of the respondent, i.e., class of the hotel, its size, lifetime, annual turnover, etc.

The method of statistical hypothesis testing was chosen for the research. It is one of the mostimportant statistical inference procedures. The role of statistical inference is to decide on the basisofinformationontheavailablechoiceswhethertoacceptorrejectcertainhypotheseswithrespect

to the basic sample set. In order to do so, we proceeded in accordance with the methodology of statisticalhypothesistesting[60].Becausetheprimarydatainthisresearchisofanominalnature,the test statistic is the Chi-square test of independence. Tocalculate the test statistic for the hypothesis, IBMSPSSStatisticssoftwarewasused.Thissoftwarealsocalculatesthecorrelationcoefficient.Inthis case,becausethenominalvariablesarebeingexaminedinthenumberof3+2+,itwasappropriate to investigate the strength of the dependence between the variables using the Cramer's V measure of association [51,60,61].

Thecorrespondenceanalysisisamultivariategraphicaltechniquedesignedtoexplorerelationships among categorical variables. When the study variables of interest are categorical, correspondence analysisisanappropriatetechniquetoexploretherelationshipsamongstvariableresponsecategories and can play a complementary role in data analysis [62]. The use of correspondence analysis must therefore be preceded by the testing of hypotheses on the independence of observed characters [63]. CorrespondenceanalysisisconductedusingtheIBMSPSSStatisticssoftware,too.Theessenceofthis analysisisthetransformationofpointsofthemultidimensionalspace,whichrepresenttheexamined categories,intoaspaceoflowerdimension,mostoftenintheplane(2dimensions).Thistransformation is unambiguous and allows us to focus on revealing a certain type of relationship between categories (variables). We evaluate the transformation quality based on the rates derived from the totalinertia.

1. Results

Mostly small businesses (74.4%) were involved in the survey to determine the level of use of onlinemarketingcommunicationactivitiesandtomaptheleveloftheevaluationoftheeffectiveness of these activities. In addition, 21.1% of medium-sized enterprises, 4.2% of micro-enterprises, and 0.3% of large enterprises participated in the survey.In terms of classifying the hotel, four-star hotels formedthelargestgroup(44.1%),followedbythree-starhotelsandmotels(39%),two-starhotelsand motels (10.9%), and five-star hotels (4.4%). Hotels and motels with one star (1.6%) had the smallest representation(1.6%).Intermsoftheperiodofexistenceofhotels,mosthotelsandmotelsexistfrom 11-15 years (46%) and 16-20 years(39%).

Toanswer the first research question, we asked the respondents whether they evaluated the effectiveness of all forms of online marketing communication,which they used in the practice. Theeffectivenessofallonlineformsisregularlyevaluatedby17.3%ofhotels,oftenin27.1%,sometimes 20.8%, and rarely 4.1%. Up to 30.7% of hotels do not evaluate the effectiveness atall.

The subject of research was also the reason for not monitoring performance and evaluating the effectiveness. Respondents stated reasons as high evaluation costs, current situation is sufficient, lack of resources (employees, funds, and process data), and evaluation of effectiveness only in some

formsofonlinemarketingcommunication.Subsequently,weusedtheprimarydatafromthisquestion to test the statistical hypotheses H1a to H1d. The results are shown inTable1.

Table 1.Chi-square test of independence of hypotheses 1a-1d.

Hypothesis	p-Value	Significance Level	Reliability Interval	Acceptance/Rejection of the Hypothesis
		0.01	99%	Rejection
H1a	0.3456	0.05	95%	Rejection
		0.10	90%	Rejection
		0.01	99%	Rejection
H1b	0.1172	0.05	95%	Rejection
		0.10	90%	Rejection
		0.01	99%	Rejection
H1c	0.1766	0.05	95%	Rejection
		0.10	90%	Rejection
		0.01	99%	Rejection
H1d	0.0793	0.05	95%	Rejection
		0.10	90%	Acceptance

The test proved there is no significant variable that would reveal the descriptive factor of the hotel, which more often performs an evaluation of the effectiveness of all forms of online marketing communication used. Only in the case of the size factor was the existence of the dependence of the examined variables confirmed, but only at a low level of reliability interval, which indicates a very low dependence.

Anotherexploredaspectofthesurveywastopointoutthebenefitsofevaluatingtheeffectiveness

of online marketing communication. Respondets perceive monitoring of effectiveness positively, as 59.1% of respondents perceive the significance of this activity,24.3% are in favour of the fact that monitoring of the performance and effectiveness is rather meaningless, and only 16.6% do not see it asmeaningful.

The resulting further aspect of the research was to find out the existence/absence of statistical dependencebetweentheperceptionofthebenefitsofevaluatingtheeffectivenessofonlinemarketing communication and the evaluation itself. The test statistics are presented inTables2and3.

Table 2.Chi-Square TestsHypothesis 2.

	Value	df	Asymptotic Significance
Pearson Chi-Square	177.391a	12	0.000
Likelihood Ratio	201.996	12	0.000
N of Valid Cases	313
Table 3.Symmetric MeasuresHypothesis 2.

	Value	Approximate Significance
NominalbyNominal Phi	0.753	0.000
Cramer's V	0.435	0.000

N ofValidCases 313

A significance level was determined at 0.05 and corresponded to a 95% confidence interval. Basedonthecomparisonofthesignificancelevelwiththep-value(AsymptoticSignificance),thenull hypothesiswasrejectedandthealternativehypothesisconfirmed,i.e.,thereisastatisticallysignificant relationshipbetweenthevariablesexamined.Theintensityofthedependenceofthevariablesaccording toCramer'sV(0.435)indicatesamoderatedependency.Therefore,wecansaythathotelsthatevaluate the effectiveness of online marketing communication have proven to be more aware of the benefits of doingso.

Toanswer other research questions, respondents were asked for information on their own evaluation method. Only those who stated that they were using a metric responded to the level of adequacy of its results. The most commonly used metric is ROI 26.2%. Other metrics are Google Analytics(20.1%),customersatisfactionsurvey(8.9%),monitoringstatistics(8.6%),andananalysisofdemandfortourismproducts(6.7%).Upto23.3%ofhotelsreportedmissingtheform(procedure)to assesstheeffectivenessofonlinemarketingcommunications,and6.2%didnotmonitortheeffectiveness of any online communication form. Subsequently, we used the primary data from these questions to test statistical hypothesis 3. The calculated test statistics are presented inTables4and5.

Table 4.Chi-Square TestsHypothesis 3.

	Value	Df	Asymptotic Significance
Pearson Chi-Square	44.014a	12	0.000
Likelihood Ratio	42.837	12	0.000
N of Valid Cases	217

Table 5.Symmetric MeasuresHypothesis 3.

Value ApproximateSignificance

NominalbyNominal Phi 0.450 0.000

Cramer'sV 0.260 0.000

N ofValidCases 217

A significance level was determined at 0.05 and corresponded to a 95% confidence interval. BasedonthecomparisonofthesignificancelevelwiththeP-value(AsymptoticSignificance),thenull hypothesis was rejected and we can confirm an alternative hypothesis, so there is a statistical dependence between the variables examined (types of metrics to assess the effectiveness of online marketingactivitiesofhotelsandtheirsufficientlevel).Theintensityoftheinterdependenceofvariables bytheCramer'sVmeasureofassociation(0.260)indicateslowdependence.Basedontheexistenceof dependencebetweenthevariables,itmakessensetoexaminetheinternalstructureofthecontingency table by the correspondence analysis. The results are shown inFigure3.

Figure 3.Correspondence map.

Tovisualize the correspondence map, it is necessary to reduce the extracted dimensions to only two,sothatthemapcanbedisplayedinatwo-dimensionalview.Interpretationofthecorrespondence map that we have obtained in this way is relatively simple. The position of the line and column categories indicates which categories are related (corresponding) to each other.The metrics, namely,the Questionnaire Survey of Customer Satisfaction, Monitoring of Statistical Data, and Analysis of Demand for TourismProducts are very similar in terms of satisfaction assessment. The metrics ROI and Google analytics are specific in this case. They are sufficiently distant from other metrics, so they do not show common characteristics in terms of satisfaction. As for the individual levels of satisfaction,onlytwoofthemaresimilar(YesandRatherYes),astheyareinacommonquadrantofthe map. Google analytics is captured on the map closest to the satisfaction category Rather No Strongly Disagree. The ROI is assigned to the category of satisfaction assessment at the level Yes.Thevertical

axis shows the distinction between the ROI and Google analytics from other metrics. This axis capturesthedistinctionofexpressingtotaldissatisfactionwithmetricsfromotherlevelsofsatisfaction. ThemostimportantresultofthecorrespondencemapisthattheROImetricclearlyshowsthehighest satisfaction rate.

In another question, respondents were asked whether they could imagine applying a particular procedureorformtoassesstheeffectivenessofonlinemarketingcommunicationintheiractivitiesifit existed. Up to 89.8% expressedinterest.

1. Discussion

In evaluating the effectiveness of online marketing communication, hotels identify and then examine results and explore opportunities for improving and modifying this effectiveness.

1. Benefits of Evaluating the Effectiveness of Online MarketingCommunication

Observingandevaluatingtheeffectivenessofonlinecommunicationtoolsleadstoidentification of how well hotels are implementing communication tools, and if something is wrong, it determines the barriers and possibilities to overcome this deficiency in the future[64].

Such information helps any hotel to understand whether online marketing communication is achievingitsgoalsandwhethertheimplementationofonlinecommunicationstrategyismovinginthe rightdirection.Thegoalsthatahotelcanachievethroughitsonlinecommunication,e.g.,areincreasing hotel awareness; improvingits image, awareness, and trust; increasingthe level of customer

satisfactionandloyalty;anddifferentiatingitselffromthecompetitionorincreasingthenumber

of hotel guests [65-67].

Many hotels consider forms of online marketing communication only as a pro-forma promotion without a return on funds. The survey conducted in conditions of Slovakia has showed that up to 30.7% of hotels do not evaluate the effectiveness of all used forms of online communication at all. Thisiscontrarytostudiesandsurveysthathaveshowedthatathoroughlyrefinedmarketingstrategy and an interest in innovations in marketing communications can bring hotels and other businesses a favourable financial outcome, long-term growth, and a stable position in the hotel productmarket.

Most (59.1%) of the hotels surveyed are aware of the benefits of evaluating the effectiveness of online marketing communication, namely,

• Itcontributestoamoreexhaustiveredesignofthemarketingcommunicationstrategyandleads to increased trust among marketingstaff;
• Itleadstotheintegrationofcommunicationbetweenahotelanditscustomers(sinceelaborated effectivenessassessmentproceduresleadtoeasiercommunicationandcreateaclearerpictureofabusinessstrategy),moreeffectivecommunicationwithcustomers,andbettertargetingofonline communication tools;
• It increases alignment with not only marketing goals but also business goals, marketingstrategy,and employeeloyalty;
• Itincreasestheshareofsuccessfullyimplementedchangesrevisedfeedbackwillnotonlyincrease the likelihood of success, but will also speed up the process of making the necessarychanges;
• It leads to better problem prediction and optimization of online communicationportfolios;
• It makes it easier for marketing staffto continuously perceive the impact of introduced changes on individual marketing processes, increasing the effectiveness of processes and workingtime.
  1. Identifying the Most Appropriate Metric for the EffectivenessEvaluation

Basedontheresultsofthesurvey,itcanevenbearguedthathotelsthatevaluatetheeffectiveness of online marketing communication are demonstrably more aware of thebenefits of doingso. The objective of the contribution was justified by the demonstration of these benefits. The hotels also showedanenormousinterest(89.8%)inimplementingthiskindofmethodologyintheiractivities.

Return on investment can be used as the most appropriate metric to measure the effectiveness of marketing activities,because it simply refers to the idea that something of value has resulted from an investment of time, energy,or money [68]. In the financial approach, ROI is usually reduced to a formula, which is calculated simply by subtracting the cost of an investment from the income received from the investment, divided by the same investment cost. ROI as a return on funds investedinmarketingactivitiescanbeconsideredasoneofthemostimportantmethodsofmeasuring marketingeffectiveness.Itcanbeassumedthatbusinessesstillpreferfinancialappreciationofreturn to non-financial appreciation [53,69]. Justifying the value of the intervention of companies in online environment and knowing what the usefulness or benefits are of marketing in this area have been prioritiesovertheyears[70].Asthistrendhasincreased,sellershavehadtomaketherightdecisions about key aspects of new forms of online marketing communication and determine how to measure theireffectivenessthroughreturnoninvestment[71,72].Duetotheparticularitiesofthetourismsector,ROIisconstitutedassuitableforthemeasurementoftheeffectivenessofonlinemarketingactions,since thesubjectivitythatrunsthroughtheentiretourismprocessencouragestheinclusionofmeasurement tools that take this fact into account[73].

WehaveidentifiedROIasthemostappropriatemetricfordevelopingamethodologybasedonthe attitudeofseveralauthorsdealingwiththisissue[49,52,56,59,74,75],asthismethodisthemostsuitable for measuring the success of communication activities. ROI should also be used as an optimization method [52]. Based on the survey,we have found that the most frequent response of respondents regardingthechoiceofmethodbywhichtheyassessthesuccessandsubsequentoptimizationofforms of online marketing communication is ROI (26.2%). Moreover, the assumption that the use of ROI clearly shows the highest hotel satisfaction is alsoconfirmed.

1. Methodology of Implementing ROI for the EffectivenessEvaluation

The proposed methodology uses the basic functions of Microsoft Excel to eliminate barriers to performance monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of online marketing activities reported by hotels in the Slovak Republic, namely,high evaluation costs, lack ofresources (employees, funds, and process data), and evaluation of effectiveness only in some forms of online marketing communication. Based on the non-confirmed hypotheses 1a-1d, this methodology is generally applicable in all hotels in Slovakia. The methodology is able to track all hotel-determined online marketing communication metrics and other data points in one visual, central locationdashboard. In this way,it provides a high-level view of working in the online environment, helping the hotel management to make quick decisions and keep up-to-date information on all online forms of communication used.

Thevisualnatureofthedashboardsimplifiesworkandcomplicateddata.Itprovidesanimmediate view of current status or performance in real time, as it is made up of tables, metrics, and numbers. Using a dashboard, hotel management can understand what works and what does not work, and proactively seeks to optimize every form of online marketing communications. The calculation model has a relatively simple structure (see Figure4), as it consists of only one sheet. This sheet titled "ROI Calculation" includes not only a partial return on investment of each online form of marketing communication, but also an overall return on investment for a hotel online marketing campaign. Inaddition,thissheetistheonlysheetinwhichhotelmanagementcanmakechangesandadjustments totheinputsandcalculationitemsusedineachformofonlinemarketingcommunication.Dashboard is divided into three parts: basic information; data about forms of online marketing communication; and input and output characteristics, including numericdata.

Figure 4.Methodology of implementing return on investment (ROI) for the effectiveness evaluation.

ThefirstpartoftheROIcalculationoftheonlinemarketingcampaigncontainsinformationabout the name of the online marketing campaign, respectively, about the goal that the evaluated forms of onlinemarketingcommunicationshouldachieve.Inaddition,thehotelmanagementneedstofillinthe dataaboutthetotalbudgetfortheonlinemarketingcampaign(cellC2),theaverageordervalue(AOV) (average amount of value generated by each online activity by an average customer (cell C3)), and the profit margin expressed as a percentage of a hotels profit from sales of its products and services (cellC4).Amongotherthings,hotelscaninserttheirownlogointhiscalculation,whichwillbeplaced to the left of the wording "Travelin Slovakia Good Idea" (a project funded by the European Union for thepromotionoftourismintheSlovakRepublicandthebrandSlovakia).ThesecondpartoftheROI calculationconcernsthedeterminationofthevariousformsofonlinemarketingcommunicationthat areidentifiedbyahotelsmanagement(line9,columnsCtoL).Inline10,managementwillindicate thespecificgoalofeachformofonlinemarketingcommunicationused.Insertingtheinputandoutput characteristics of selected forms of online marketing communication, including their numerical data, relates to the calculation of ROI for individual selected forms of online marketing communication overall. Column A (ROI calculation) lists the names of input and output characteristics, which were selectedonthebasisofseveralprofessionalforeignstudiesdealingwiththeissueofonlinemarketing communicationeffectiveness[30,43,46,47,50,56,59,76].Inaddition,inthecolumnB,theusercanidentifythe specific input and output characteristics of the forms of online marketing communication. The columns C to L (quantity depends on the number of the forms of online marketing communication used) contain numerical values of each input and output characteristic, including the relationships needed to quantify the ROI of these communication tools andoverall.

1. Conclusions

Duringthe21stcentury,theissueofmeasuringandevaluatingtheeffectivenessofonlinemarketing communication has become very topical and significant. Indeed, the harsh competitive environment of the hotel industry tends to influence hotels to use redundant marketing communication tools. Itisincreasinglynecessarytoreassesstheireffectiveness.Theevaluationofmarketingcommunication tools, especially their online forms, is no longer an option but a necessity. Since the phenomenon of theeffectivenessofmarketingcommunicationtoolsisundoubtedlyconsideredasaratioofreturnon marketingrevenuestomarketingcosts,theguidelinesfortheirmeasurementareinsufficientandfall short of the requirements of the modern hotelindustry.

In the light of the above, the main objective of the contribution was to propose a methodology suitableforevaluatingtheeffectivenessofonlinecommunicationactivitiesintheSlovakhotelindustry that would be a sufficient element supporting the decision-making process in the context of the sustainable development of hotels. In order to meet the objective of the paper,a marketing survey was conducted in which hotels in the Slovak Republic were the object of research, and its purpose was to determine the level of use of online marketing communication activities and to map thestatus of evaluating their effectiveness. Results of the research suggest that hotels in Slovakia perceive the importance of evaluating marketing communications in the online environment, regardless of hotel size,lifetime,budget,andclass.Theypreferfinancialmetricsdefacto,astheyareamanifestationofthe traditionalapproachtoinvestmentevaluation.TheresultsalsoshowedthatROIisthemostcommon metric for evaluating investments of online communication activities, and respondents expressed the greatest confidence in this metric as well. The results thus confirm that theories that emphasize financial appreciation and rank ROI as the most appropriate metric to measure the effectiveness of marketing activities are also applicable in the Slovak Republic. Additionally, from the perspective of theparticularitiesofthetourismsector,ROIisconstitutedassuitableformeasuringtheeffectivenessof onlinemarketingactions,sincethesubjectivitythatrunsthroughtheentiretourismprocessencourages the inclusion of measurement tools that take this fact into account.

Accordingtotheabove,thesuggestedmethodologytakesaformoftheproposedExceldashboard, andasthemostappropriatemetric,ROIwasidentified.TheperformanceofROIcalculationinthefield ofonlinemarketingcommunicationsisbeneficialnotonlyforhotelsbutalsoforotherbusinessentities for two primary reasons. Firstly, ROI is very well known among the management staffof various companies; secondly,the assessment of ROI in online marketing communication helps to determine notonlypartialreturnsbutalsooverallmarketingreturns.ROIensuresthemeasurementoftheresults ofonlinecommunicationactivitiesinaparticipatory way,thusextendingthegoalsofhotelmarketing communication.Itiscalculatedinawaythatincludesheterogeneoustypesofdata,dependingonthe specificformofonlinemarketingcommunication.Ithelpstoincreasetherelevanceandeffectivenessof theworkofanyhotelmanagement,asitallowsonetoconsiderhowparticularonlinecommunication activities contribute to achieving communication goals ofhotels.

Timeand geographical constraints can be considered as the main limits of the suggested methodology. These restrictions were especially reflected in the selection of respondentsonly enterprisesoperatinginSlovakiawerechoseninthestatisticalsample.Thislimitationcanberemoved iftheresultsoftheresearchareconsideredasarelevantsolutionandtheresultsachievedaresubjectto subsequentverificationintheinternationalenvironment.Ifthesebarrierswereremoved,resultsthat aremoreaccuratecouldbeachieved. Anotherlimitationoftheresearchistheestablishedscaleinsome issues.Theremaybesomedistortionsintheresponsestowhethertheyareusingdefinedfinancialand non-financial metrics. Therefore, it could be appropriate to apply the Likert scale. Other research in the field of measuring the effectiveness of marketing activities would be interesting to compare the relevance of solutions and the verification of the results achieved in the international environment. In addition to the international comparison, further research could be focused on another sector industryandthusfindoutinformationonevaluatingtheeffectivenessofmarketingcommunicationin other industries in Slovakia aswell.

AuthorContributions:Conceptualization,A.K.;Formalanalysis,G.L.andA.K.;Investigation,D.M.;Methodology, L.G.;Projectadministration,A.K.andJ.K.;Software,L.G.andM.N.;Supervision,G.L.andJ.K.;Writingoriginal draft, L.G. and D.M.; Writingreview and editing,M.N.

Funding:This contribution is a partial output of the project APVV-15-0505: Integrated Model of Management Support for Building and Managing the Brand Value in the Specific Conditions of the Slovak Republic.

Conflicts of Interest:The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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