HOSPITALITY

CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
Chapter 1: Introduction

Lecturer: Lê Hồng Trân

I: Introduction
■ Why? To optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing activities,
we must try to understand how consumers make their decisions to
purchase or use tourism products
■ Understand their behaviour patterns, then we will know when we need to
in- tervene in the process to obtain the results that we want. We will know
who to target at a particular time with a particular tourism product. More
importantly, we will know how to per- suade them to choose certain
products which we will have de- signed more effectively to meet their
particular needs and wants. An understanding of consumer behaviour is
therefore crucial to make marketing activity more successful.
■ Consumer behaviour is a fascinating but difficult subject to research. This
statement is particularly relevant in the tourism field, where the decision
to purchase by a consumer is of emotional significance.
■ Consumers are influenced in their decision-making processes by many
internal and external motivators and determinants when they choose
products. It is very difficult to research how these many moti- vators and
determinants affect the consumer when they are making their choices.
They may be affected in different ways, according to the type of product
or service that they are purchasing
I: Introduction
Define some of the key terms:
■Tourism is defined as a short-term movement of people to places some
distance from their normal place of residence to indulge in pleas- urable
activities. It may also involve travel for business purposes.
■Hospitality as ‘looking after guests well’. The term ‘hospitality’ is becoming
increasingly used in Europe to replace more traditional terms such as hotel
and catering.
■Leisure as a noun means ‘free time to do what you want’. Leisure industry:
companies which provide goods and services used during people’s leisure
time’. Includes holidays, cinema, theatres, visitor attractions, etc.
■Consumer behaviour in tourism: ‘Consumer behaviour is the study of why
people buy the product they do, and how they make their decision’.
■The process by which a consumer chooses to purchase or use a product or
service is defined as the consumer behaviour process
I: Introduction
Different market segments of tourism
■Business tourism is a tourist trip that takes place as part of people’s business
occupational commitment, largely in work time, rather than for pleasure, in
people’s leisure time
■Hedonistic tourism involves the tourist in seeking pleasurable activi- ties.
■Educational tourism involves the tourist travelling for education.
■Religious tourism is one of the oldest forms of tourism and involves people
travelling often as a sense of duty rather than for pleasure and leisure.
An under- standing of consumer needs, attitudes and decision processes will
allow marketing managers to improve their decision-making process. It will
allow marketing managers to forecast behaviour in the future and therefore
avoid being overoptimistic or underestimating consumer demand
I: Introduction
Role of consumer
■An under- standing of consumer needs, attitudes and decision processes will
allow marketing managers to improve their decision-making process. It will
allow marketing managers to forecast behaviour in the future and therefore
avoid being overoptimistic or underestimating consumer demand
■An under- standing of consumer behaviour is also important for the product
development of new tourism products and facilities.
■The development of effective and efficient advertising campaigns also
requires an understanding of consumer behaviour.
■Understanding of consumer be- haviour will allow a more effective
marketing planning process.
I: Introduction
Role of consumer
■An under- standing of consumer needs, attitudes and decision processes will
allow marketing managers to improve their decision-making process. It will
allow marketing managers to forecast behaviour in the future and therefore
avoid being overoptimistic or underestimating consumer demand
■An under- standing of consumer behaviour is also important for the product
development of new tourism products and facilities.
■The development of effective and efficient advertising campaigns also
requires an understanding of consumer behaviour.
■Understanding of consumer behaviour will allow a more effective marketing
planning process.
I: Introduction
Role of consumer
■An under- standing of consumer needs, attitudes and decision processes will
allow marketing managers to improve their decision-making process. It will
allow marketing managers to forecast behaviour in the future and therefore
avoid being overoptimistic or underestimating consumer demand
■An under- standing of consumer behaviour is also important for the product
development of new tourism products and facilities.
■The development of effective and efficient advertising campaigns also
requires an understanding of consumer behaviour.
■Understanding of consumer behaviour will allow a more effective marketing
planning process.
I: Introduction
Some examples of where this understanding helps include:
■Understanding why consumers currently choose products and services and
the benefits they seek, including their unique selling proposition (USP)
■Forecasting consumer demand which will bring efficiencies
■Targeting particular market segments
■Correct positioning of product
■Designing effective marketing mixes and reflection of consumer
■Behaviour in all elements–product, promotion, price and place (distribution)
■Reviewing how new products and services have been received and
■An exploration of this in relation to consumer behaviour.
Discussion points and essay questions
■ Discuss the reasons for tourism, leisure, and hospitality marketing
becoming increasingly blurred.
■ Evaluate the importance of the fact that consumers may make purchase
decisions for tourism products in groups, rather than as individuals.
■ ‘Tourism marketing relies entirely on the fact that consumers can be
persuaded to buy by powerful communication techniques’ (Horner and
Swarbrooke, 1996). Critically evaluate this statement.
■ Case Study 1: PGL adventure holidays. Page 241