Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3 Covered in PPT..........................................................................................................................3 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3 P3 : Stages of consumer decision making and path of purchasing for a hospitality service.......3 P4 Explore why it is important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision- making........................................................................................................5 TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7 P5 : Comparison between hospitality decision-making process in context of B2C and B2B. . .7 Decision making process in B2B and B2C................................................................................8 P6 : Approaches of market research and methods of research in decision making process.......8 TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9 P7 : Evaluation of how marketer influences different stages of decision making.....................9 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12 Online.............................................................................................................................................12
INTRODUCTION Consumerbehaviourisrelatedtotheinvestigationofconsumersperceptionand behaviour towards taking the advantage of goods and services. In order to get the higher success and growth it is essential for the organisations to understand the customers behaviour either it is at national or international level. As hospitality industry is concerned for providing a range of services like accommodation, food, drinks, spa and many other services due to which the study of consumer behaviour makes predominantly complex and crucial for them in terms to provide higher satisfaction to them. This following assignment is based on the Whitbread which is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company which headquarters are situated in UK and Dunstable. This report will cover about the different factors which have greatly impact on the consumers behaviour and importance of map a path to purchase for the hospitality industry. Along with this, how marketers have lead the impact on the each stage of consumer decision- making. TASK 1 Covered in PPT. TASK 2 P3 : Stages of consumer decision making and path of purchasing for a hospitality service Consumers decision making processis the most effective process through which a customers determine their needs, collect information about the availability of alternatives and then select a most appropriate product out of all alternatives. This procedure also helps marketers inmarketing their products in the marketplace(Ashman, Solomon and Wolny, J., 2015). This decision-makingprocessisgreatlyinfluencedbyvariousfactorslikeemotional,social, physiological and many others. This process contains various stages which are describing below:
Illustration1: Stages of Consumer Decision Making Process Source:Stages of Consumer Decision Making Process.2016. Need Recognition: It is the first stage in which customers identify their needs in terms to get fuller satisfaction. This is affected by all the internal and external factors which includes their expectations and the advertisement and reviews about the hotel. Searching and gathering information: Herein, customers collect information and data about the various hotels through their personal contact, social media, public resources, experimental resources and many other mediums(Banerjee, 2017). Evaluation the alternatives:After this, they will evaluate all the alternativesby analysing their positive and negative points which will enables them in choosing most perfect hotel for them on the basis of each aspect like cost, quality and services which are provided by them. Actual Purchase of product or services: Here customers will finally make decision related to purchase a product after evaluating all alternatives in order to satisfy their requirements or desires(Carpenter and Yoon, 2015).
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Post-purchase evaluation:This is last stage which occurs after taking the advantage of product or service. In this, customers will ascertain that the product is able to give them the satisfaction so that they can make decision related to further use in future or not. P4 Explore why it is important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision- making Consumers are the most integral part of a hospitality industry which makes it essential for manager to map a path of purchase as it will help them in determining that how they can increase customers experience and also ascertain the factors which has huge impact on the decision- making. Here are define four stage which needs to be considered by the manager of Whitbread in order to assess the consumers purchase path: Pre-purchase : In this stage, the customer will give their focus on gathering the information about the different hotels in order to select a most perfect for them. So it is essential for the markets of Whitbread to create effective brand image of their hotel so that chance of selection of their hotel can be increased. Purchase : This stage comes after determining the services or facilities of different hotel which helps them to select a best hotel for the which will be best suited as per the needs. Here marketers of Whitbread requires to have effective services at their hotel which helps them in attracting various customers towards their hotel(DA Tasci, 2017) Receive : Customers finally book the hotel and take advantage of their services. If they will satisfy from their facilities then customers will automatically become loyal towards the hotel which will provide the huge profitability and recognition to them. Post-purchase : This stages comes after taking the benefits of hotel services. If customer will react positively towards the hotel services then organisation will able to attain higher profitability and in other case it will be vice versa. Here are describe some of the points which will define about the importance of mapping a path of purchase for the marketers: Increases ROI :Thiswill help the marketers' in offering their products and services in the market as per the customers perception and needs which will help them in increasing their sales as well as revenue thus the increment of return on investment also will increase by rendering the personalise services to the customers'(Del Chiappa,Gallarza and Dall'Aglio, 2018).
Unified Customer Data and continued engagement: By mapping the path of purchase marketers will be able to arrange their customers data as per the target segment which will enables the in providing best services to the customers as per their choices and needs. With the of mapping the level of customers decision-making can be determined. These levels are given beneath: Extensive Problem solving :This type of decision-making is used when a customer purchase unfamiliar products which is high involvement product and take long time to taking decisions as it requires detailed information with the help of an appropriate research. Limited Problem solving: Herein, customers are aware about the products and their judgement is taken on the basis of alternatives products due to which higher level of efforts have to give them in selecting best option. Routine Problem solving: The decision-making is simple here as the customers already habitual of that products due to this the higher research does not required here(Di Foggia, G., 2015). Four views which are taken up with hospitality decision making are : Economic View :This model pertains that a customers will choose that products which is able to give them best service at lower price. Within the hospitality industry, customers will choose that hotel which is able to give them a range of facilities and services at affordable price. It helps the marketers of Whitbread in determining that they will only able to fascinate customers while they will provide number of quality services at low- cost. Passive View :It define that in order to attain higher attention of customers marketers needs to acquire appropriate techniques and promotional tools for their business. In this aspect, marketer of Whitbread needs to adopt social media tool so that they can aware more customers towards the destinations and services of hotel. Cognitive View :Here, customers will take decision as per their understanding, interest, perception and consciousness. Marketers attain the attention and interest of customers by providing them the packages of resorts as per their requirements and needs and increase their brand value in the marketplace.
EmotionalView :This refers to the situation when a customer take decision being emotional not practical. For example, it might happen that they will choose that hotel in which they are going since their childhood(Frederiks, Stenner and Hobman, 2015). Various factors are existing which have impact on the decision-making of customers. Some of them are as follow: Influence of heuristics:It is related to the emotions of the customers which also insist them to select a specific hotel. Influence of Elements of Marketing Mix:The factors of marketing mix like price, product, promotion, place andmany other have great influence on the decision-making as it might happen that feels that prices of the products if higher then the expectation. Influenceofnewtechnologies:Thenewtechniqueslikeonlinetransactions, personalised services media platforms have also lead impact on customers decisions. For example, if customers get the positive reviews from the social sites related hotel services then they will seek to take advantage of that hotel services. TASK 3 P5 : Comparison between hospitality decision-making process in context of B2C and B2B The comparison between B2B and B2C in the context of hospitality industry are : B2B and B2C are the two most appropriate model of doing the commercialisation transactions where B2B stands for the business to business and B2C place for business to customers transactions. In both of these the decision-making process is different which can be determined by following points: BasisB2BB2C MeaningHerein, the products and services sell totheotherbusinessorganisations. For example, a restaurant buy tissues direct from the distributors. Theproductsandservicesinthis direct deliver to the customers in order to satisfy their needs and wants. For instance, ordered food is direct supply to the customers. Purchasing decisions In this business formation the decision relatedtopurchaseproductofan organisationtakenafterseeingits Here, decision regarding to purchase a product in a predominant way as in thistheproductsandservicesare
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brandvalue,qualityandpricing strategy of them. deliver to the customers directly. Decision relatedto marketing strategy Anorganisationhereusingthe differentmarketingstrategieslike their personal contacts and organising eventsinordertoincreasetheir customer base(Gbadamosi, 2017). As in this the products are direct link tothecustomerssoherebusiness organisationadoptaggressive marketing strategy like advertisement, socialmedia,personalsellingand many more. Decision relatedto marketing size Here, an organisation consider small marketers and take their decision for wholeeconomyonthebasisof choices and demand of same people. In this, the main focus on a firm is to cover a big marketplace by offering a range of products and services in the marketplace. Decision making process in B2B and B2C The decision-making of B2B is more difficult as compare to B2C as in B2B the researcher have consider the secondary approach method which is difficult from the primary approach which have been considered by B2C. Other, in B2B all the employees taking participation which create delay in the decision related to business activities whereas, in B2C the decision is taken with the help of some of the people due to which they are able to come up with the best decisions. For example, in a B2B organisation they have to consider perception of several firms like some give their emphasis on quality, some on price, some on marketing which create problem for them. Whereas B2C like apple they are working on the basis of customers demand, attitude, behaviour , needs and expectations which enables them to take effective decisions. P6 : Approaches of market research and methods of research in decision making process Market research is an important for the organisation in order to operate their business activities as per the current market situation and customers perceptions. Consideration of an effective research is essential for the organisation in terms to remain competitive. In this aspect the various research methods are available which can be used by the B2B and B2C . These are given below:
Market Research approaches in B2B: As B2B is operating their business activities with other organisations, due to which they are using the secondary resources. In this the data or information is already collected by some other researcher which makes it easy for them to utilise the information in their decision-making. In this aspect, they can use various resources such as: Government agencies :The information or data which have been collected through these agencies is more accurate and relevant which helps them in taking decisions related to that they should deal with other companies or not by analysing their brand value or image(Gibson and Parkman, 2018). Public records:marketers can also gather information through magazines, newspapers, feedbacks about the other companies products and services value which enables the marketers in taking the decision to trade with other organisations. Market Research approaches in B2C :In this business formation, marketer gives their emphasis on collecting the information through the primary research method which enables them in making the proper authenticity in decision procedure. The various sources are available for gathering the primary data. Some of them are define underneath: Questionnaire :With the help of this method, researcher will be able to ascertain the demand and needs of people regarding the quality, price, features of services. Interviews :It increase the open-end interaction which refers that a researcher in this is able to change their questions as per the different customers which enables them to understand the dynamic customers perceptions. TASK 4 P7 : Evaluation of how marketer influences different stages of decision making Consumers for the business organisation are the most important part as the success of the business depends on them. Due to their higher importance it is essential for the marketers to assess the consumers behaviour with the help of various approaches like behavioural and cognitive. As the behavioural theory helps them in assessing the behaviour and attitude of customers towards their services whereas the cognitive theory will help in ascertaining the mindset and mentality of customers which help them in identifying that what products and services wants and on which price they wants from the organisation. On the behaviour of the customers culture and subculture have also greatly impacted as culture focuses on the entire
group of customers their belief, values, trust etc. whereas the sub-culture focuses on the some specific consumers who has same values and beliefs(Maniatis, 2016) In this aspect, leader plays an significant role as the opinion leader are those who has ability to impact on the behaviour of customers as they have some specific expertise in some fields which enables them in influencing the behaviour of the customers and their decision making process towards purchasing a product or service. Other, in order to operate the business activities as per the current market marketers needs to give their emphasis on implementing updated techniques so that they can provide unique services to their customers. For example, if marketer will establish a strategy related to provide a customize services in which they have provided services as per consumer requirements then they will be able to attain higher attention of customers. Other example, the hospitality industry also can influence the decision-making process of customers by providing them digital services like online booking services, look to websites opportunity and many others which will enables them to book their services easily by checking all the facilities or services of hotel. These all are the ways which Whitbread can use in order to attract a range of customers to take advantage of their services in term to get the best travel experience. All these efforts will provide attainment of higher customers' satisfaction and profitability in the business within a limited period of time.
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CONCLUSION From the above file, it can be understood that consideration of consumer behaviour within the organisation is essential in order to meet with the customers demand and requirements and to gain higher profitability. A consumer decision-making process related to purchase a product is affected by various factors like social, personal, technological and many others which need to be considered by the marketer of business. Along with this, it is necessary for the marketer of Whitbread to map a path of purchase of a customer so that they can deliver best service experience to their guests and can enhance their brand value.
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