Dan Popescu

Hashtag Progress: The Digital Fingerprint of Web 2.0 on Tourism and Hospitality Industry Management—A Case Study for Romania

Internet evolution is rapidly changing the way we communicate, buy and behave on a day to day basis. The tourism and hospitality industry is strongly influenced by the dynamic development of web 2.0. Our main focus was to capture the online presence of top tourism organizations in Romania’s online market in terms of visibility and to get a customer feedback on the elements that influence the purchase of tourism services. The conclusions of the study underline the fact that a company’s lack of online activity negatively affects tourists trust in the organization. We also noticed the importance of social inputs in the purchase decision. The study also highlights the fact that even though the purchase funnel tends to be long, there vast online activity usually reflects in an offline purchase.

Empirical Study Regarding the Influence of Communication Upon the Purchasing Decision

Abstract The aim of the present study is to emphasize the influence of communication upon the customer’s purchasing decision. This objective is translated through determining the change of products in the sales’ structure using communication by omission. The study is focused upon the purchasing selection between two similar products by the subjects included in the study. The difference between the two products lies in the customers’ care for the environment. Thus, one of the two products does not pollute, in the conditions in which the application with care and attention is applied (this being expressed through a price difference compared to the other, polluting, product). The study has two phases in order to compare the sales structure in the situations in which it is used the communication through omission (in the second phase of the study) with the sales structure when the communication through omission is not used. The hypothesis according to which the purchasing process takes place according to the care for the environment and not necessarily according to the direct utility allocated to some apparently similar products has been tested through econometric instruments.

Applied Research on Strategic Management of SMEs in Romania in the Digital Age

Abstract Technological social and cultural changes generated by the digital age have a significant impact on both individual and society as a whole [1]. Is the context in which our research aimed at revealing the extent to which SMEs in our country are prepared to cope with these changes and can adapt to an environment increasingly turbulent and unpredictable [2]. Based on the three hypotheses of our scientific approach, the method used was the quota for proportional distribution by counties, respectively the optimal-layered model for the distribution by fields of activity. As a means of investigation we used a questionnaire with 26 questions answered by 598 SMEs, the purpose being represented by identifying, on the one hand, the used methods of strategic management and, on the other hand, the uptake of digital means by them. The responses from the distribution of the questionnaire were analyzed by various statistical and econometric methods. In a first stage we used descriptive statistics to identify peculiarities of respondents to compare different homogeneous groups. In the second stage of analysis to determine statistical deductive conclusions, we used the analysis of variance, correlation and linear regression and ANOVA using SPSS software for Windows 16.0. Following validation of the research hypotheses, in the end of the work we formulated a series of proposals to improve the strategic management of SMEs in Romania in the digital age.