Question :
This Assessment covers following questions:
- Evaluate the factors that influence hospitality consumer behaviour and attitudes.
- Demonstrate and evaluate the ability to map a path to purchase in a hospitality context, including the decision-making process attractions
- Explain relevant forms of research to understand influences on the hospitality consumer decision-making process.
- Evaluate how marketers makes impacts on various stages of the hospitality consumer decision making process.
Answer :
INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is dependent on the consumers and it is very essential for the business organization to understand the consumer behaviour as it helps the organization to increase its efficiency and maintain the productivity in the market. Due to increase in the growth in the demand of consumers it is necessary to analyses the factors which are affecting the behavioural patterns of the consumers in creating demand in the industry. Marketing of the services also help the business organization to analyses the tastes and preferences of the customers and design the services to increase the satisfaction level of the consumers. In this report there is a detailed study about Shift consultancy company which have to determine the factors which influence the behaviour of the consumers so that the company can evaluate the consumer behaviour to increase the efficiency of the inline business company.
ACTIVITY 1
Factors Affecting the Consumer behaviour
Consumer behaviour is the collection of information of any customer or group of customers which helps them to make decisions to select the products and services and also increase the knowledge to pay the price to satisfy their need and desires. There are some factors which shift consultancy have to determine to increase the efficiency of the business and improve the strategies to attract more customers.(Min, So and Jeong, 2019)
Cultural Factors
Due to change in the trends in the global market the cultural values of the customers have also impacted the most. (Kandampully, Zhang and Jaakkola, 2018)The customers which are connected to the cultural values are also made decision according to their beliefs. The cultural factors will also impact the purchasing power of the customers. As the customers have the beliefs which help to decide and attract them towards the products and services.
Social Factors
The social factor is also very major factor which impact the behaviour of the consumers. The social factors are in which the customer's buying decision is dependent on the family or friends, and they are the major part of their decision in choosing the products and services. So that the company have top make sure to increase the quality of their services which can increase the satisfaction of the customers and also attract more customers as they suggest them.
Personal Factors
In hospitality industry lifestyle, financial situation, personality is major aspect which help the customer to make the decision in choosing the appropriate services and products in the industry to increase the satisfaction level. This also help the business to formulate the pricing strategies ad marketing strategies to attract the various types of customers of these factors and this will help the business to increase the sales.
Psychological Factors
Shift consultancy also need to analyse this factor evaluate the effective strategies to increase the efficiency of the company. The behaviour of the customers in this, factors are dependent on the knowledge they have about the company and what they perceive from the services and the products. The brand image will also be part of the perception by the customers and this will impact the customer behaviour in the hospitality industry.(Ibrahim and Gomez, 2017)
Technological Trends in the Industry
There are many factors which increase efficiency of the hospitality industry and shift consultancy need to analyse the current and future trends of the technology to attract the customers and increase the efficiency of the company. The current trends of the industry is Smart electronic equipments which are replaced to increase the cost efficiency and provide best experience to the customers. Shift consultancy also need to analyse that the future trends of hospitality industry so that they can increase the efficiency and also maintain the quality of the company. This will help the company to achieve the competitive advantage and increase the profitability of the company.
ACTIVITY 2
Consumer Mapping Process
Shift Consultancy also need to process of the consumer decision-making process of the customers so that the company can increase the information database to formulate the effective strategies and maintain the position in the market(Mariani and et.al., 2018). It is the tool which enables the company to understand all the factors which increases and deceases the experiences of the customers and this also help the company to solve the issues and problems which the customers faced earlier.
Problem recognition
The first stage if to recognize the issues and problems which the customer have experienced in the using the services and products of the company. (Wrigley, 2016)
Information Search
The consultancy need to formulate an effective market research to analyses the factors which can increase the efficiency of the company. This also increase the satisfaction level of the company to maintain the competitive advantage.
Evaluation of Alternatives
After the market research the company need to identify the alternatives of the services which are available in the market so that it can increase the efficiency of the company and provide better experience to the customers to make them loyal and improve the quality of the company. The company also need top analyses the factors with the help of feedback and online questionnaire to increase the knowledge of the company.(Hollebeek and Rather, 2019) This will also help the company to understand and increase the efficiency to innovate top attract the customers.
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Outcomes
This is the last stage of the mapping process and in this step the company also formulate the effective strategies to increase the efficiency of the company and maintain the experience. The customers' satisfaction in the hospitality industry is also very important and it can only be effective if the strategies are made according to the customer's behaviours and demand of them. That will also make the loyal and increase the promotion of the company to the family and friends.
Customer Path Example
The customers are having a demand of the luxurious hotel rooms which are available in the market. The customers need to analyse the factors which can increase the satisfaction in the given prices so that the customers can improve the utility of the experience and also help the company to promote the services to their friends and family members. This will help the company to determine the customer behaviour which are very important to increase the services quality and also increase the productivity of the hotel to attract the customers in the hotel.
Pre purchase
The customers first need to analyse the need of increasing their satisfaction in the market, and then they need to identify the products and services which are available and can increase the level of satisfaction according to their wants and desires, this also help the customers to understand the quality of the services which the room is offering to the customers. The customers then analyse the prices of the services which are offered by the different hotel and which hotel is influencing the customers to increase the satisfaction.(Tung, Chen and Schuckert, 2017)
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Purchase
In this stage the customer choose the price range of the hotel room in which the customers are willing to pay. Then the customers will evaluate the different options in the market which are having the equal rates and different services. The customers have to choose which services are the best and which can decrease the satisfaction level. Then the customer pay for the room after choosing the right room.
Post Purchase
After the purchase is made the customers will evaluate the quality of services with the value for money paid so that the customers can also determines the worth of the services. As the satisfaction of the customers are directly related to the prices and quality of the services offered by the hotel.(Xie and So, 2018)
ACTIVITY 3
B2B and B2C Decision making Process
STAGES | Business to Consumers | Business to Business |
Identifying needs | The business identify the need of the consumers to increase the sales of the business. The business also do research to identity the behavioural patterns of the consumers. | In this the business need to identify the needs of the business which are ready for the services as they need to increase the sales of the company. |
Product Specification | The consumer has many options in the market which can increase the satisfaction of the company and provide better quality of the services. | The product which the business need is fixed and it focuses on the pricing so that It can reduce the cost and increase the profit of the company. Online travel agents have the need to buy the hotel services of the hotel to sell and earn more profits. |
Evaluate suppliers | The consumers need to analyse the suppliers to use the services of the industry to increase the satisfaction of themselves. The evaluation of different service providers will deliver better price offers and better services quality which the consumer wants. | The business need to evaluate the suppliers in the industry so that they can decrease the cost of the services to increase the profit margins and provide this services to the consumers.(Möhring, Keller and Schmidt, 2019) |
Purchase Decisions | The consumer only discusses their decision of buying with family and friends to getter better opinion. | This is along process as it involves a council which takes the buying decision and it also has to be determines due to large amount of capital is involved in the transaction. |
Post Purchase | It is very important to provide the after sales services to the customers so that they can also increase the satisfaction. This will also increase the loyal customers.(Ustrov, Valverde and Ryan, 2016) | The business also need to analyse the after sales services as hey are the long term buyer of the business and need to increase the quality of their services. |
Different Approaches To Market Research
- Secondary research- in this the information about the services and the consumers' behaviour will be collected from the sources which are already present in the market. This approach is cost-efficient but less effective.
- Surveys- in this the business need to gain the information about the consumers' behaviour with the help of interviews and questionnaires where the marketer have to interact with the consumers.(Jauhari, 2017)
- Focus Groups- In this approach the marketers need to collect the information of a small group as they represent the whole population.
- Observation- in this approach no interaction is requires the marketer need to observe and also should have the better experience to understand the behaviour of the consumers to make effective strategies.
ACTIVITY 4
Marketers’ Influence on the Consumer Decision-Making Process
Emotions of the people
If the marketers do not know the right methods to attract the right people in the company then it will be very influential for the company. The marketers must make sure that no one's sentiments are getting hurt in the process otherwise the customers which are coming in the hotel will not want to come because they have been hurt from a factor which the hotel industry has done.
Trends
The right measures must be taken by the marketers of the hotel industry which is if the company does not come online then the company will not be able to grow because it is the new trend which has come in the market and it is very important for the companies to go according top the trends in the company. The trends in the company keep changing and it is very important for the marketer of the company to be updated and make the company have a lot of profit in the market.
Update
The marketers must make sure that they are updating all the factors about the company online so that the customers can have a loyal bond with the industry and the customers feel more comfortable in the hotel. It is very important to have a transparent bond with the customers in the hotel industry because it is the objective of the company to make the customers comfortable and provide the customers with all the details they expect out of the hotel.
- The marketers have many problems in keeping the data secure as they are liable under data protection act. This can also decrease the efficiency of the business to make decision in the business,.
- Marketers also faces challenge in choosing the right customer to collect the information about them as that ca decease the efficiency of the strategies which is formulated from the research.(Kustos and et.al., 2019)
- Consumer mapping process can also be evaluated wrongly which can impact the effectiveness of the company to increase the satisfaction of the customers.
CONCLUSION
This report had a brief description about the different factors which affect the behaviour of the consumers in the hospitality industry. Shift consultancy also need to understand the behaviour of the consumer and appoint a marketer to analyses all the information about the consumer experience to increase and innovate the services.
REFERENCES
- Falk, M. and Vieru, M., 2018. Modelling the cancellation behaviour of hotel guests. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 30(10). pp.3100-3116.
- Hollebeek, L. and Rather, R.A., 2019. Service innovativeness and tourism customer outcomes. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
- Ibrahim, E. and Gomez, K., 2017. Factors Influencing Consumer Preference of Global and Local Brands in Hospitality Industry.
- Jauhari, V. ed., 2017. Hospitality Marketing and Consumer Behavior: Creating Memorable Experiences. CRC Press.
- Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Jaakkola, E., 2018. Customer experience management in hospitality: A literature synthesis, new understanding and research agenda. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 30(1). pp.21-56.
- Kustos, M and et.al., 2019. Using consumer opinion to define New World fine wine: Insights for hospitality. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 83. pp.180-189.
- Mariani, M and et.al., 2018. Business intelligence and big data in hospitality and tourism: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 30(12). pp.3514-3554.
- Min, S., So, K.K.F. and Jeong, M., 2019. Consumer adoption of the Uber mobile application: Insights from diffusion of innovation theory and technology acceptance model. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing. 36(7). pp.770-783.