HNC Hospitality Consumer Behaviour Insight Report Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of consumer behaviour within the hospitality industry, focusing on Marriott International as a case study. It explores the influence of various factors on consumer behaviour and attitudes, as well as the impact of digital technology on consumer trends. The report examines the stages of consumer decision-making, the path of purchasing for hospitality services, and the importance of marketers mapping these processes. It also compares hospitality decision-making in B2C and B2B contexts, and discusses market research approaches and methods. Finally, it evaluates how marketers can influence different stages of the decision-making process, offering valuable insights into consumer behaviour and marketing strategies within the hospitality sector. The report highlights the importance of understanding consumer needs and wants to gain a competitive advantage.

Hospitality
Consumer
Behaviour
Insight

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 : Influence of various factors on consumer behaviour and attitude.......................................3
P2 : Changes in consumer trends due to digital technology.......................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 : Stages of consumer decision making and path of purchasing for a hospitality service.......5
P4 : Importance for marketer to map a path of purchase and consumer decision making..........7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5 : Comparison between hospitality decision-making process in context of B2C and B2B . . .9
P6 : Approaches of market research and methods of research in decision making process.....10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P7 : Evaluation of how marketer influences different stages of decision making....................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Consumer behaviour is study of how individual customers, groups or organisation select,
purchase, use and dispose ideas, goods as well as services for satisfying their needs and wants. It
is related to the actions of consumers within marketplace and underlying motives for those
actions (Ashman, Solomon and Wolny, 2015). This report is based on organisation of hospitality
industry i.e., Marriott International which was founded in 1927 by J. Willard Marriott and Alice
Marriott. They are serving at worldwide level and products offering by them are Hotels as well
as resorts. Respective report will going to discuss various factors and their influence on
consumer behaviour as well as attitude. Along with, change in consumer trends because of
digital technology will going to discuss. In addition to this, stages of consumer decision making
and path of purchasing hospitality services will explore within this. By including importance for
marketer to map a path of purchasing and consumer decision making.
TASK 1
P1 : Influence of various factors on consumer behaviour and attitude
Covered in PPT
P2 : Changes in consumer trends due to digital technology
Covered in PPT
TASK 2
P3 : Stages of consumer decision making and path of purchasing for a hospitality service
Consumer decision making is the procedure which assist consumers in determining their
needs, gather information related to available alternatives, evaluation of all available alternatives
and then make purchasing decision (Wang and Yu, 2017). There are several factors which
influence buying decision of consumers like emotional, psychological and so on. Overall
consumer decision making procedure assist marketers in marketing their product in effective
manner because with the assistance of this they identified customer behaviour. Explanation of
these stages are as follows :-
 Need Recognition : In first stage need of customer's get identified and this will assist
marketers of Marriott International in formulating marketing strategy.

Illustration 1: Consumer decision making process
(Source: Stages of Consumer Decision Making Process. 2016.)
 Searching and gathering information : when needs get identified consumer gather
information related to available alternatives for satisfying their needs. Here, sources of
information gathering are personal contact, print media advertisements and many more.
 Evaluation the alternatives : one alternatives are identified, after that their negative and
positive aspects are analysed for getting best deals in term of quality, cosy, quantity and
services.
 Actual Purchase of product or services : In this stage after proper analysis the
consumer take decision regarding which product they have to purchase to satisfy their
needs and wants.
 Post-purchase evaluation : After purchasing products and services this stage comes. In
this stage the consumer evaluate the product purchase, its usefulness of the product,
satisfaction derived out of the product or service availed etc.
To map path of particular services Marriott international services are considered. Thus,
for mapping the situation considered consumer have to conduct conference for that numerous
people are invited. Value of mapping are as follow :-

 Pre -purchase – Within this consumer identify hotel in that they can conduct conferences.
It is important to select such hotel whose occupancy is satisfactory for meeting number of
guest attending conference.
 Purchase – After conducting research on number of hotels along with services providing
by them out of which they select one hotel which will fulfil their requirement such as
Marriott International (Xu, Frankwick and Ramirez, 2016). As it is 4-Star hotel with
conference centre and good number of rooms.
 Receive : The consumer will receive the goods or service. In this case they will receive
the services of the hotel for the conference. If the services fulfil their expectations then
they will became loyal for Marriott International.
 Post-purchase : At this stage customer will analyse the services so provided against what
was promised and thus will decide to avail such service again from same service provider
or not. In this case if conference is arranged well and guest were taken care well then they
may conduct conference in the same hotel.
P4 : Importance for marketer to map a path of purchase and consumer decision making
Every organisation motive is to satisfy customers, in this consumer decision making
procedure will assist marketers in determining factors which consumer are considering while
taking decision. Importance of mapping path of purchase for marketers are as follows :-
 Increases ROI – This assist in understanding customers intend as well as context with
which they purchase (Petersen, Kushwaha and Kumar, 2015). Marketers can target their
customers in easy manner and also position their goods and services which result in
enhancing their sales. Thus, they gain return on investment by offering more personalised
services.
 Unified customer data and continued engagement – mapping provide assistance to
Marriott International in arranging customer data which they are having but not properly
arranged. In addition to this, it help in aligning data of different customers within separate
targeted segment so that at particular time they can focus on specific customers.
In addition to this, mapping provide assistance in determining several level of decision
making for goods and services same level of efforts may not required. Various level are as
follows :-

 Extensive problem solving – It is the level in which consumer buy goods by whom they
are not familiar and take long time for making decision.
 Limited problem solving – In this level consumers are familiar with their products and
several available alternatives. Thus, for analysing differences within this extra efforts are
required to put.
 Routine problem solving – Within this level consumer purchase products several times
and they don't need required information (Banerjee, 2017). Simply they are necessary
products and services.
There are four views which have to be consider by Marriott International while taking
decision. These are as follows :-
 Economic view – Within this model major focus in on cost related to product and
services. Within decision making, consumer will identify cost of rooms and services
provided to them by numerous hotel which falls within their income bracket. Thus, it
assist in identifying that consumer select product which have maximum benefits.
 Passive view – It is completely opposite to economic view because in this consumer
make decision according to promotion activities which are conducted through marketer.
 Cognitive view – As per this decision are taken by consumer which is based on their
understanding and interest.
 Emotional view – In this model decisions are taken which based on emotion attached
like customer may prefer hotel in which they are going since childhood.
Various factors which influence consumer decision making explanation of these are as
follows :-
 Influence of heuristics : The consumer may take shortcut to take decision that can be
because of current emotions influencing their decision making.
 Influence of Elements of Marketing Mix : Several elements like product, price, place,
promotion can affect the decision making as the consumer may not like manner of
promotion, availability can influence the decision and so on.

TASK 3
P5 : Comparison between hospitality decision-making process in context of B2C and B2B
There are two ways through which organisation can do commercial transaction within
organisation and customers i.e., B2B and B2C. Thus, B2B stands for business to business
transaction and B2C for business to customers i.e., related to selling goods to customers.
Comparison within these two are as follows :-
Basis B2B B2C
Meaning In business to business transactions
goods and services are sold to other
business firms like Marriott
International purchase tissue papers
and napkins directly from distributors.
In business to customers, company
serve goods and services to consumers
for satisfying their needs and wants in
more effective manner such as
Marriott international serve food
directly to their customers according
to the order placed by them
(Karimi,Papamichail and Holland,
2015).
Customer Here, customers are companies such
as for hospitality industry restaurant
can be customers for hotels because
they provide food which served by
hotels to their customers (Pappas,
2016).
Within B2C end users are customers
thus, within hospitality sector
consumers are the only one who order
food for their own use. Same in hotels
rooms are booked by individual for
themselves.
Focus B2B focus on maintaining relation
with other business firms. Such as
hotel have to maintain relation with
restaurant because they fulfil
requirement of each other.
In B2C focus in mainly on product
which they want to sell to customers
like hotel focus on their services
which they offer to customers. On the
other hand, restaurant focuses on taste
of food they are serving to customers.

Relationship Relation within suppliers, wholesaler
and manufacturers is necessary.
Restaurant have to maintain relation
with suppliers of grocery, vegetables,
fruits and so on (Frederiks, Stenner
and Hobman, 2015).
In this relation is direct within
customers and retailers. Like Marriott
international maintain relation with
their customers who are staying inn.
P6 : Approaches of market research and methods of research in decision making process
Market research is important for an organisation as it help in identifying their existing
marketing situation as well as customer demand. There are several research methods as well as
approaches for B2B and B2C explanation are as follows :-
Market Research approaches in B2B- It is related to other business, so in this
secondary source will be uses for conducting market research. Different sources are as follows :-
 Government agencies – By gathering data from government agencies relevant
information derived in relation to other corporation because of economic condition that
will aids hospitality industry in minimising trade impact.
 Publication – Newspapers and magazines provide assistance to Marriott international to
decide upon modification which can influence their relation with suppliers.
Market Research approaches in B2C- It is related to direct relation with customer
because of that authenticity within data collected is must so primary source of data is better
(Maniatis, 2016). Some sources of collecting primary data are:-
 Questionnaire : By questionnaire the marketer can identify the needs and wants of the
customers. Also it assist in identify the factors which have impact on buying behaviours.
 Interviews : Through interviews they can gather detailed information by customizing the
questions to be asked to get the required information.
TASK 4
P7 : Evaluation of how marketer influences different stages of decision making
For hospitality companies consumer are main source of earning thus it is essential for
them to consider their needs as well as wants in order to gaining competitive place within market
area (Mihaela, 2015). Within this overall process marketers play significant role in driving

customers to purchase products and services. For understanding influencing power of marketers
below mention is instance which are as follows :-
Marketer of Hotel industry have to focus on implementation of new as well as unique
services that assist them in influencing decision making procedure of customers. Suppose
marketers of Marriott International establish strategy related to customised services for customer
according to requirement this will result in influencing customer decision making process. Like
customised services for customer can be if customer is planning for conducting meeting within
hotel than manager of Marriott should have to arrange conference room for the clients. So that,
they will feel special and able to conduct meeting in better manner. This will help the marketer
in influencing the customers decision to shift to another hotel.
CONCLUSION
From above discussion it has been summarised that, for an organisation it is crucial to
identify behaviour of their customers. Respective report will going to create understanding
related to customers reaction because of several factors such as family, social class from which
they belongs. In addition to this, there are several emerging trends which impact on organisations
working within hospitality industry like updation in system is required, more competent staff
members and many more. Moreover, it also has been analysed that market research is necessary
for company because it assist in identifying possible issues in advance that can rise in relation of
suppliers and customers both.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ashman, R., Solomon, M.R. and Wolny, J., 2015. An old model for a new age: Consumer
decision making in participatory digital culture. Journal of Customer
Behaviour, 14(2), pp.127-146.
Banerjee, S.B., 2017. Corporate environmentalism and the greening of strategic marketing:
Implications for marketing theory and practice. In Greener Marketing (pp. 16-40).
Routledge.
Frederiks, E.R., Stenner, K. and Hobman, E.V., 2015. Household energy use: Applying
behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and
behaviour. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 41, pp.1385-1394.
Karimi, S., Papamichail, K.N. and Holland, C.P., 2015. The effect of prior knowledge and
decision-making style on the online purchase decision-making process: A typology of
consumer shopping behaviour. Decision Support Systems, 77, pp.137-147.
Maniatis, P., 2016. Investigating factors influencing consumer decision-making while choosing
green products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, pp.215-228.
Wang, Y. and Yu, C., 2017. Social interaction-based consumer decision-making model in social
commerce: The role of word of mouth and observational learning. International Journal
of Information Management, 37(3), pp.179-189.
Xu, Z., Frankwick, G.L. and Ramirez, E., 2016. Effects of big data analytics and traditional
marketing analytics on new product success: A knowledge fusion perspective. Journal
of Business Research, 69(5), pp.1562-1566.
Mihaela, O.O.E., 2015. The influence of the integrated marketing communication on the
consumer buying behaviour. Procedia economics and finance, 23, pp.1446-1450.
Pappas, N., 2016. Marketing strategies, perceived risks, and consumer trust in online buying
behaviour. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 29, pp.92-103.
Petersen, J.A., Kushwaha, T. and Kumar, V., 2015. Marketing communication strategies and
consumer financial decision making: The role of national culture. Journal of
Marketing, 79(1), pp.44-63.
Online
Stages of Consumer Decision Making Process. 2016. [Online]. Available through:<
<http://www.businessstudynotes.com/marketing/marketing-management/stages-
consumer-decision-making-process/>

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