Tourism Consumer Behaviour and Insight

Tourism Consumer
Behaviour and Insight
1

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Investigate the different cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence
consumer behaviour and attitude within a tourism context.........................................................3
P2 Explore how consumer trends are changing due to the impact of digital technology............5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Examine the stages of the consumer decision-making journey and map a path to the
purchasing for a given tourism service........................................................................................6
P4 Explore why it is important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand
consumer decision-making in the tourism sector........................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Compare and contrast the key differences of the hospitality decision-making process in the
context of B2C and B2B using specific tourism examples.........................................................8
P6 Evaluate the different approaches to market research and methods of research used for
understanding the decision-making process................................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P7 Evaluate how marketers can influence the different stages of tourism decision-making
process giving specific tourism examples.................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
2

INTRODUCTION
Consumer behaviour can be defined as the study of individual and group of consumers with
respect to buying, consuming and disposing of products and services for satisfaction of needs
and wants (Solomon and et. al., 2017). This project report aims at understanding the different
aspects of consumer behaviour and gathering insights which can help an organisation to make
better sales and revenue. The company selected for the purpose is TUI UK which is one of the
largest tour operator headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It provides travel and tourism
services including hotels, air travel, cruises etcetera (TUI Group, 2018). The report also
evaluated the importance of mapping customer purchase journey and how marketers can
influence the different stages of tourism decision-making.
TASK 1
P1 Investigate the different cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence
consumer behaviour and attitude within a tourism context.
Consumer behaviour and attitude in any industry or market sector is essentially influenced
by various personal, cultural, social or psychological factors. In the context of tourism industry,
the primary factors that shape the consumer attitude and behaviour and should be evaluated by
the management of TUI UK are being discussed as follows:
Cultural Factors:
Culture represents the set of values, notions, attitudes and norms that an individual
accumulates through constant interaction with the society and peers. Primary factors under this
category that influence the behaviour of consumers include culture, sub-culture and social class.
Culture connects to the values and norms of a group of people in the wider context influencing
their behaviours and attitudes. Sub-culture refers to the distinct styles and attitude within a larger
cultural group which may form the basis of smaller segments and divisions. Social class refers to
the permanent divisions made in the society where members share similar interests and attitudes
(Ramya and Ali, 2016). Behaviour of an individual is widely influenced by the above mentioned
elements. For example, cultural values of people influence the decision to visit any particular
place for holidays and people may restrain visiting places that have conflicting cultural values. In
a similar manner, time and money devoted by an individual to travel and tourism depends largely
on social class. For example, a person belonging to the upper layer of social class often devotes a
3

significant time to travel and tourism and the means of transport includes luxurious business
class air flights and premium cars influencing the attitude and behaviour. Hence, the
management of TUI UK should consider the important role cultural factors play in determination
of consumer attitudes and behaviours in tourism context.
Social Factors:
Social factors influencing consumer behaviour and attitude in tourism context include
reference groups, family, roles and statuses. Reference groups include formal and informal
groups that an individual belongs to and most of the times, a buying decision or behaviour is
most likely to be influenced with a desire to be recognised with the group (Regan, Carlson and
Rosenberger III, 2012). Family members of an individual is the strongest reference group for any
individual. Individual roles and status is also very likely to determine the consumer attitude in
tourism context which needs to be considered by the management of TUI UK. For example, an
individual belonging to the group of businessmen will prefer business class flights over economy
class due to his social group and individual role. Similarly, tourism destination also depends a
great deal on the social affiliation, likings of family members and the individual status in the
society that has to be considered by management of TUI UK.
Personal Factors:
Personal factors such as lifestyle, age, occupation, income and financial circumstances
etcetera have a very significant influence on the consumer behaviour and attitude in tourism
context. For example, a person with achievement lifestyle may decide to visit a tourism
destination that offers more than just scenic beauty. Similarly income of a person determines the
complete tour and travel package and behaviour of the consumer. A person with high income
may visit an expensive city or country but a person with medium-level income might choose
domestic travel as a better option (Cohen, Prayag and Moital, 2014). Hence, personal factors are
the most important factors influencing the consumer behaviour and attitude in tourism context
and customer persona using these personal factors should be prepared by the management of TUI
UK to increase effectiveness of targeted marketing.
Psychological Factors:
Psychological factors determine the perception of a particular product and service for an
individual which influences consumer behaviour and attitude. It includes motivation, beliefs,
learning etcetera. Intrinsic motivation affects the consumer behaviour and attitude in tourism
4