Hospitality And Consumer Behaviour Insight : Assignment

Hospitality And
Consumer
Behaviour Insight

Table of Contents
P3 Stages of consumer decision-making journey in hospitality sector........................................3
P4 Importance for marketers to understand consumer decision-making in hospitality sector....4
P5 Key differences of the hospitality decision- making process in the context of B2C and B2B
......................................................................................................................................................4
P6 Different approaches to market research and methods of research used for understanding
the decision-making process........................................................................................................6
P7 Evaluating the ways in which marketers can influence the decision-making process in
hospitality industry.......................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality consumer behavior refers to the study of individuals, groups or organization.
It includes all the activities of the consumer related to the purchase , use and disposal of good
and services in the hospitality,it analysis that how attitudes, emotion, preference impact on the
buying consumer behavior in the hospitality. Under this report taken Hilton hotel as a
organization. Hilton hotel is a global brand of full service hotel, it is a brand of Multinational
hospitality company, it was founded by the Conrad Hilton in may 31 ,1919. Its headquarters are
in McLean, Virginia, US. Under this report briefly discussed or provide brief knowledge related
to the hospitality. Whole report was divided in two part. Under part A discussed about the
different cultural , social and psychological factors which impact on consumer behavior under
the Hilton hotel, how consumer trends are influencing due to change in the digital technology
and part B of this report covers and provide brief knowledge related to the different stages of the
consumer behavior, different method of the research used for understanding the decision making
process of the consumers, and how the marketers influence the different stages of the consumer
decision masking process.
MAIN BODY
P3 Stages of consumer decision-making journey in hospitality sector.
The consumer decision-making process is affected by various psychological, economic
and socio-cultural factors and it involves various steps until the final decision is made regarding
the purchase of goods or services. The decision-making process of consumers while purchasing
hospitality services are:
 Problem recognition: The first step is concerned with consumers developing a need or
want for a product or service as they feel that something is missing and its is the duty of
the hospitality company to identify the needs and wants of the target consumers.
Consumers face problems related to accommodation when travelling to certain
destinations which makes it imperative for Hilton hotels to solve their problems by
establishing a hotel at the particular location (Scott, and et.al., 2016).
 Search process: Once the problem has been identified, the consumers then look for
various products or services that can satisfy their needs and wants adequately. Consumers

look for various hotels and resorts on internet and identify the best one by reading
customer reviews and feedbacks. Also, they take recommendations from friends, family
and other people who have faced the same situation in the past and then the hospitality
service selected by them therefore it helps consumers in searching for their potential hotel
most effectively and efficiently.
 Evaluating alternatives: Once the consumers have identified a list of hotels and resorts
then they select the best alternative on the basis of various factors like price, services
offered, location and reviews. These factors help in selecting a potential hotel that can
fulfil their needs and wants.
 Selection stage: Selection stage is the stage of purchasing the services of a hotel and it is
important for a consumer to analyse all the facts and finally arrive at a logical decision.
 Evaluation of decision: Once the decision has been made and the hotel services are
consumed, the consumers must evaluate their decision and compare it with the set
standards. The main objective of hospitality companies does not involve one time
consumers but a repeating lifetime consumers. Therefore, it is imperative for the hotel
companies to provide the best possible services to their guests in order to establish brand
image and a loyal customer base.
P4 Importance for marketers to understand consumer decision-making in hospitality sector
It is imperative for every company to understand the consumer behaviour and decision-
making process as it would help the organization in marketing their products or services to the
target consumers accordingly. Also, the decision-making process helps in identifying the needs
and wants of the customers and thus can help the business in developing the products or services
adequately. In the view point of Choi, Jang, and Kandampully, (2015) Hilton Hotel uses various
marketing strategies and digital technology in order to understand the buying behaviour of
consumers, their decision-making process and the major factors analysed by them before
selecting a hotel. There strategies have helped the hospitality company in achieving competitive
advantage and thus contributed towards the incessant growth in the market share and profitability
of Hilton Hotels.
In accordance with Yacout and Vitell, (2018) understanding consumer decision-making
procedure also helps the marketers to make future decisions with the help of technology like big

data as it helps the companies in forecasting the demands of consumers and the changes in their
decision-making process and developing unique services accordingly.
P5 Key differences of the hospitality decision- making process in the context of B2C and B2B
B2B is concerned with business to business and it includes the products and services sold by one
business to another business like supplying raw materials, advertising and web hosting.
B2C is concerned with business to consumers and it is the process where the goods and services
are sold by the business directly to their customers. The B2C cycle is much shorter as compared
to B2B cycle.
The key differences in hospitality decision-making process in the context of B2B and B2C are
Basis B2B B2C
Problem recognition The decision-making process
in hospitality sector begins
with hotel company
identifying their non core
activities and deciding to
outsource it to other company.
It is imperative as it helps the
hotel to focus on its competent
operations that contribute
towards profit maximization.
It is concerned with
customers identifying the
problems that needs to be
fulfilled in order to satisfy
their needs and wants. It is
the duty of hospitality
company to identify these
problems and then develop a
product or service
accordingly to ensure
maximum consumer
satisfaction.
Search process The search process involves
hotel company searching for a
particular area or field that the
company can outsource to
another organization like
information technology,
laundry and finance related
activities so that it can focus
The search process involves
consumers searching for
hotels through various
mediums like newspaper and
internet and identifying the
potential hotel by reading the
reviews, feedbacks and
customer suggestions. Hilton

on the growth aspects of their
business.
Hotel provide excellent
services to their guests in
order to establish their brand
image in the market.
Evaluating alternatives Once the hospitality company
has decided the area which
they wish to outsource to
another business then it
involves evaluating different
alternatives and potential
business on the basis of
pricing, quality of work and
location and the finalizing a
suitable alternative(Sahelices-
Pinto, and et.al., 2018).
The consumers evaluate the
alternatives among different
choice of hotels on the basis
of price, quality of service
and location. The Hilton
Hotel follow competitive
pricing strategy in order to
attract large consumer base.
Selection stage Selection stage in business to
business-relationship is
concerned with selecting a
suitable alternative and finally
appointing them to perform
duties on behalf of the
company. Hilton hotel has
outsourced its software
development services to
Accenture company.
Selection stage in business to
consumer is concerned with
final selection of a suitable
hotel that fits their
requirements and solve their
problems (Zulariff Latif, and
et.al., 2018).
Evaluation of decision The hotel company
continuously evaluates the
performance of other business
and ensures that its actual
Consumers also evaluate
their decision of selecting a
particular hotel and then
compare it with the set

services and operations meet
the set standards.
standards of hotel. Hilton
hotels provide excellent
services to its customers in
order to establish brand
image and loyal customer
base.
P6 Different approaches to market research and methods of research used for understanding the
decision-making process
Market research is concerned with identifying the viability and potential of new product or
service by conducting research with potential customers. It also helps the company to discover
their target market and get reviews and suggestions from customers regarding their choice of
services. Hilton Hotel perform different approaches in order to understand the decision-making
process of its target customers. It includes:
 Surveys: The hospitality chain conducts surveys in order to identify the customer needs
and wants, satisfaction level and the changes required by them in the services provided
by Hilton hotels. The surveys are generally conducted through social media as it is
inexpensive and attracts the highest number of audience. According to the Stankevich,
(2017) the social media also provides unreliable and unauthentic information therefore in
person surveys are more appropriate as they provide more realistic information which can
be used by the Hotel group to understand the decision-making process of target
customers.
 Personal interviews: Hilton Hotels usually conduct personal interviews as they provide
more subjective and detailed data as compared to surveys. The personal interviews are
recorded and analysed by the Hotel group so that further improvements can be made in
their services. According to author, the personal interview has helped the company in
identifying customer problems therefore they reduced the tariff rates and started
providing other complimentary facilities which helped the company in increasing their
revenue (Taylor, Snipes, and Barber, 2018).

P7 Evaluating the ways in which marketers can influence the decision-making process in
hospitality industry.
The marketers can influence the decision-making process in hospitality industry by
identifying the factors affecting consumer decisions. Some of these factors are:
 Socio-culture: The socio-culture factors include the attitude, values and beliefs of the
consumers. Many consumers prefer to stay in a hotel that offers pure vegetarian food,
some customers prefer to accommodate in a hotel that only offers services to married
people etc. Therefore, it is imperative for Hilton Hotel to analyse the socio-culture factors
of the target customers and then offer them services accordingly.
 Buying behaviour: Buying behaviour is concerned with the purchasing capacity of the
consumers and their income level. The Hilton Hotel attracts high and middle income
based guests and if the company wishes to attract more customers than it must offer
services at a more competitive pricing as it would increase the market share of the
organization and will be beneficial for the organization in the long run(Chang, Ku, and
Chen, 2017). Level of technology: The decision-making procedure of many customers also get
influenced by the level of digital technology used by the hotels. Hilton hotels use modern
and latest technology like artificial intelligence, keyless entry in order to enhance the
customer experience and provide them maximum satisfaction. Technology is a major
factor that provides competitive edge to Hilton Hotels over other players in the market
and influence the decision-making process of consumers while selecting a hotel (Gupta,
2019).
CONCLUSION
From the above file it can be concluded that, Hilton Group is an international chain of
hotels and resorts that provides unique services to their customers. Also, the report emphasized
on different factors that influenced the consumer behaviour while choosing a hotel. There are
various stages involved in consumer decision-making process and it is imperative for a company
to analyse the decision-making procedure so that the consumer's choices can be influenced.

Thus, it can be said that it is important to identify consumer decision-making procedure in order
to contribute towards the incessant growth and success of the Hilton Hotel company.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Chang, Y.C., Ku, C.H. and Chen, C.H., 2017. Social media analytics: Extracting and visualizing
Hilton hotel ratings and reviews from TripAdvisor. International Journal of
Information Management.
Taylor, D.C., Snipes, M. and Barber, N.A., 2018. Indicators of hotel profitability: Model
selection using Akaike information criteria. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 18(1),
pp.61-71.
Stankevich, A., 2017. Explaining the consumer decision-making process: Critical Literature
review. Journal of international business research and marketing, 2(6), pp.7-14.
Zulariff Latif, and et.al., 2018. Consumer Decision-Making Process in Purchasing Packaging
Products in Malaysia. Canadian Social Science, 14(7), pp.23-27.
Scott, T and et.al., 2016. Reconceptualising the consumer journey in the digital age–an
exploratory study of the United Kingdom retail sector. Innovation, Entrepreneurship
and Sustainable Value Chain in a Dynamic Environment, pp.2495-2498.
Choi, H., Jang, J. and Kandampully, J., 2015. Application of the extended VBN theory to
understand consumers’ decisions about green hotels. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 51, pp.87-95.
Gupta, V., 2019. The influencing role of social media in the consumer’s hotel decision-making
process. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.
Yacout, O.M. and Vitell, S., 2018. Ethical consumer decision‐making: The role of need for
cognition and affective responses. Business Ethics: A European Review, 27(2), pp.178-
194.
O'Rourke, D. and Ringer, A., 2016. The impact of sustainability information on consumer
decision making. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 20(4), pp.882-892.
Sahelices-Pinto, C and et.al., 2018. Social commitment or self-interest? Effect of responsible
practices performance motivations of firms on the consumer decision-making process.
Journal of Marketing Communications, 24(3), pp.304-319.
Online
[Online]. Available through: <>