Consumer Behavior in Hospitality: Factors, Trends, and Decision Making

This report delves into the intricacies of hospitality consumer behavior, examining the various cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors that shape consumer attitudes and drive purchasing decisions, with a specific focus on the practices of Marriott. It explores how digital technology is transforming consumer trends, including service automation, fixed mobile convergence, and location-based services. The report further analyzes the stages of the consumer decision-making journey, mapping the path to purchase and evaluating how marketers respond to the decision-making process. It also compares and contrasts the hospitality decision-making process with other industries, examining different market research approaches and methods. Finally, it assesses how marketers can influence each stage of the hospitality decision-making process, providing insights into effective strategies for attracting and retaining customers in a dynamic market.

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Unit Title and Number: Hospitality Consumer Behaviour and Insight (Unit 19)
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Activity A........................................................................................................................................3
The different cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence consumer
behavior and attitudes..................................................................................................................3
How consumer trends are changing due to the impact of digital technology..............................7
Analyze how cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence consumer
behavior and attitudes are changing and driving trends in hospitality........................................8
Critical analysis of the emerging trends in consumer behavior and attitudes.............................8
Activity B.........................................................................................................................................8
The stages of the consumer decision-making journey and map a path to the purchasing...........8
Important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision-making
...................................................................................................................................................10
Evaluation of how marketers respond to the decision-making process.....................................11
Theories, concepts, and models that influence the decision-making process of consumers.....11
Activity C.......................................................................................................................................12
Compare and contrast the key differences of the hospitality decision-making process............12
Different approaches to market research and methods of research used for understanding the
decision-making process............................................................................................................13
Evaluation of how different factors influence hospitality decision-making and buying behavior
...................................................................................................................................................14
Activity D......................................................................................................................................15
How marketers can influence the different stages of the hospitality decision-making process 15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
Consumer behavior is the process through which marketers and management of companies such
as Marriott has been able to serve in market and meet up with their needs and wants. In order to
conduct it successfully they have conducted research and work as per the emerging trends so that
they launch services which match their perspective as well as their services. Marriott
International, Inc. is an American multinational diversified hotel chain company that franchises a
broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. It was founded by J. Willard Marriott,
currently their business is now led by his son, executive chairman Bill Marriott. This report
contains information such as different cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that
influence consumer behavior and attitudes. Consumer trends are changing due to the impact of
digital technology. Stages of the consumer decision-making journey and map a path to the
purchasing. It is Important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer
decision-making. Compare and contrast the key differences of the hospitality decision-making
process. Marketers can influence the different stages of the hospitality decision-making process
(Nusair, Butt and Nikhashemi, 2019).
Activity A
The different cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence consumer
behavior and attitudes
Psychological Factors are concerned with the approach and mindset of people and it means that
in order to satisfy them it is necessary to understand their mindset. Every consumer has a
different approach which is difficult for companies such as Marriott to analyze. If they assess
them in the right manner then they can convince them into buying their services. For instance it
is important to take decisions which meet the approaches of people so that they can achieve their
goals and objectives.
Motivation- In order to convince them they need to motivate them by making them assure of
their basic and security needs.
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Perception- It is the perception of customers that sets their behavior. It is set on the basis of
information they have heard from the outer market or promotional strategies used by the
company. If this is done in the right manner Marriott can get more customers.
Learning- Many customers learn about their services when they have bought it for the first time
this is why management of Marriott have to make their experience better and increase their
awareness.
Advantages- In order to gain loyalty they need to influence the perception of customers so that
they can attain long term goals.
Disadvantages- Approach and perception of some customers are orthodox which makes it hard
to influence or manipulate them.
Social Factors argue that human beings are social creatures and it is their need to meet up with
the status of people around them. For instance- Company needs to target those people who
believes that spending more money will improve their lifestyle and status.
Family- If the family of the individual has chosen to prefer stays in hotel like Marriott then he
will prefer the same.
Reference Groups- This group works in relation and association of each other which makes
their behavior of buying same that is why hotel use same strategy for them.
Roles and Status- The behavior of buying for people who maintains status depends on the
lifestyle they maintain and that is why Marriott needs to target people on the basis of that.
Advantages- They will find many high end customers which are suitable as per their targeted
audience.
Disadvantages- Even if the target audience is high end needs of every individual is not same and
that is difficult for them to fulfill it.
Cultural Factors have influence on the perception of people as many people follow values,
needs, preferences that are learned from nearby and belonging people (Sanchez-Franco, Cepeda-
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Carrion and Roldán, 2019). For instance company needs to take decisions as per their beliefs and
culture so that they do not hurt it and they can maintain smooth operations.
Culture- It is the factors of culture that have influence over buyers. It is concerned with values
that people follow and their state of mind which is what management of Marriott has to take care
of. People are born into different environments and that is why they think with a different
approach.
Subculture- It is a part of cultural groups as there are many of them and many of them has same
beliefs and approaches. It is considered for a specific segment of customers which can be divided
on the basis of caste, geographies etc. hotel has to target different group or age of people as
different people from different environment have different needs.
Social Class- Other than income this aspect is also looks after other factors such as occupation,
background, education etc. and on the basis of that they set their audience (Tung and Law, 2017).
Different castes of people are from different environment so that they can target to poor and all
of them are from different background such as rich, middle class and poor. That is why company
offers their services to people on the basis of that.
Advantages- It helps the company to adapt change as per the trends and serve on the basis of
that so that they can fulfill their needs.
Disadvantages- It creates difficulty to set up operations as per new trends or things that requires
adjusting to the culture of people because many decisions have to be made in order to maintain
their base of customers any wrong attempt will lead to lose them.
Personal Factors
These factors are concerned with activities, goals, aim that is set by the individual on his own
and that will determine his level of satisfaction.
Age- is a critical factor for hoteliers as young audience will tend to book normal hotels due to
their income level whereas middle age person will buy out luxury hotels. For instance they need
to target middle age groups if they want to increase their base of customers.
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Income- This is the main aspect that sets the behavior of consumer as the people whose income
is high will be able to book the services of Marriott. On the other hand if income is low then they
will have to consider other options.
Occupation- This is another aspect which management of hotel needs to look for as their
occupation determines the level of dealings they will have with hotel. People who travel for their
business mostly tends to get into this category or companies that book it for their meetings or
conference.
Advantages- If they are able to earn the loyalty of customers then they will be able to maintain
relationship on a long term basis. This way they can also meet up with the speculations made by
the customers.
Disadvantages- Different customers have different needs and the list goes beyond a number
which states that no company can come up with up anything that satisfies every need of different
customers.
How consumer trends are changing due to the impact of digital technology
Service Automation- consists things such as checking in to the hotels with the help of their apps
or complies with the recognition services of facial scanners so that guest can use that and unlock
their room on their own. After that they get additional services which are done in order to
improve their experience. People want hotels to have services and equipment such as these as
they enjoy these services and feel safer around them. They are working on the development of
AI so that their guest can get the treatment as per their preferences. This means that when they
book the services of hotel another time they will get the room temperature on the basis of that
and other services such as drinks in bar on the basis of that (Jauhari, 2017).
Fixed mobile convergence- Nowadays every hotel offers services of mobile pad, PCs,
entertainment hubs etc. but with the revolution in time and advancement in other factors they
will be able to set the changes in the process of in room phone. Their vision is to use one phone
to take calls, order room service, set the temperature or lightning through that. They can even
receive notifications which are personal or professional so that they remain up to date. These are
the trends that have changed due to the impact of digital technology (Smit and Melissen, 2018).
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Location based services- This is different from just looking after the duties of guests while
checking in and checking out. They have to increase their efficiency so that they can keep track
of activities which are happening in the hotel such as conference center and other locations of
hospitality. They believe that if they have an insight about the current position of guests they can
improve their efficiency. They believe that with the help of that they can improve their way of
marketing such as offer them coupons at the right time. Also they can greet them at the right
time. Apart from that with the help of this aspect hotels such as Marriot have insight about their
employees which helps them to respond in a quicker manner. This makes it easier for them to
deliver any service as they know on which floor they have to go to.
Analyze how cultural, social, personal and psychological factors that influence consumer
behavior and attitudes are changing and driving trends in hospitality
These different factors are changing the trends in sector of hospitality because it is a service
industry which works on the approach of customer oriented and that makes it necessary for them
to work with those measures which satisfies the needs and wants of people.
Critical analysis of the emerging trends in consumer behavior and attitudes
Due to the trends that are emerging in market which is changes in technological and cultural
factors keeps on changing the behavior of customers.
Activity B
The stages of the consumer decision-making journey and map a path to the purchasing
Need Recognition- The first step of the consumer decision making process is to analyze the
need that customer wants so that they can fulfill it. Until they have analyzed their need
management of Marriott puts their focus on external stimulus such as marketing so that they can
spread awareness of their brand and get their trust on them. for instance display their services as
fulfillment of their needs such as luxury rooms and spa.
Information Search- This stage is concerned with looking of customers for information in
different areas so that they can find things that can fulfill their wants. For this they may research
the market or search the reviews online. In order to serve at this stage Marriott needs to make
sure that they are able to help their potential customers out by giving them access to information
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they are looking for. This can be done with the help of funnel or word of mouth as with the help
of customer reviews they will be able to make a purchase (Murphy, Gretzel and Pesonen, 2019).
Alternatives Evaluation- Till this stage consumers of the business are certain with their
expectations which they want as a service. Now they evaluate the offerings of competitors to
assess which one is beneficial to them. They may find some of the alternatives that are low in
terms of price which has additional benefits (Rather and Camilleri, 2019). It is important that
management of Marriott have the knowledge of this aspect and they have information about this
so that they can be prepared to propose their offerings to customers.
Purchase Decision- After gathering all the information that suits and match their preference they
will book the service of hotel. This way they convince their guests to make a decision of
purchase to their services. It is up to the management of Marriott to make them feel that buying
their service was the right decision for them (Rather and Hollebeek, 2019).
Post Purchase Evaluation- This part involves the reaction of both parties about the service
offered and the level of satisfaction the customer got by using their service.
Path to purchase
Awareness- In order to convince customers it is important that they have spread awareness for it.
This is because if consumer is not aware of the brand they won’t consider it. This is why
Marriott invests in awareness of brand.
Consideration- Every consumer has a list in their mind when buying out a service of hotel. It is
the duty of management of Marriott to be in the list of their competitors and prove that their
offerings are superior and better than them (Mariani, Borghi and Kazakov, 2019).
Conversion- This is considered as a crucial aspect for businesses because at this stage
consumers decides to make a purchase and companies have to offer as various multiple methods
as they can so that they do not lose any of the consumer.
Evaluation- It is important that they offer superior service because that will help them to get
loyalty and purchases. This is not considered as important measure but still with the help of this
they can get repeat purchases.
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Important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision-making
It is important that marketers of Marriott must have the strategy for mapping it. It helps them to
analyze what the expectations of customers are from the business. It will help the business to
offer them the right amount of service at each stage. By assessing and understanding the
personas of their target audience they can offer those sources as per their needs and wants during
their journey. It is important that company understand the importance of persona and find out the
desire and their expectations. This way they will be able to increase their value in the eyes of
customers. Process of mapping helps them to assess the areas which matters to customers the
most which they believe they can make better by finding solutions to the detection of problems.
Management of Marriott initiates this step so that they can improve their experience and earn
their loyalty. This way they can get more money out of them by buying of their services or
through other measures (Litvin, Goldsmith and Pan, 2018).
There are different stages in the process of customer journey mapping such as travel idea,
research, booking, stay at hotel and post stay. Different stages have different level of
communication with the customers they want to target as they believe that every customer will
take them on to a different goal. It is important that they have an insight about the behavior and
thought process of customers. This is because it is not easy for them to maintain the level of
engagement or develop a relationship with their customers. The only constant relationship they
will have is when guest is checking in to the hotel and it will be like that till they are staying
there. At that moment customer has to map it and improve their relationships with customers
which will help them to offer amenities as per their convenience. If management of Marriott does
not comply with the process of mapping they won’t be able to maintain the communication as
well as meet the needs of customers which will make them lose their many of the loyal
customers (Viglia and Dolnicar, 2020).
Evaluation of how marketers respond to the decision-making process
Marketers of Marriott are facing difficulty in assessing the process of decision making as
competition in market has increased and thought process of customers is getting difficult to
predict and work on.
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Theories, concepts, and models that influence the decision-making process of consumers
Economic/ Marshalling Model- This theory states that if price asked for services are high then
demand will be low and vice versa. This states that prices of Marriott are high people will
consider it when it is low.
Advantages- This way they will be able to increase their productivity and improve their
strategies which will help them to serve as per the needs of customers.
Disadvantages- Needs of human resources cannot be solved easily.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- This theory divides needs on different aspects such as safety,
social, basic, esteem and self-actualization. This will not stop until they have achieved it all and
that is why Marriott tries to meet their every needs.
Advantages-Marriott will be able to keep their employees motivated through which they will get
better outcomes.
Disadvantages-Many needs are complex which cannot be understood and that is why they are
left out.
Activity C
Compare and contrast the key differences of the hospitality decision-making process
Basis B2B B2C
Decision making
process
The decision making process in this
model of business is open so that
both customer as well as hotel can
remain satisfied. Marketers of the
company have to understand the
audience and then apply it (Khoo-
Lattimore and Yang, 2018).
This process of making decision
is done by focusing fully with the
intention of increasing their ROI.
On the top of that decisions in this
matter are also taken for
advertisements that are able to
influence consumers.
Targeting audience Hotels applying B2B model sets
their business in niche areas so that
they can assess the demographics
With the help of this method
businesses are able to cover up
large audience which increases
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by attracting them and working on
data in an accurate manner. In order
to do that they have to look for both
qualitative as well as quantitative
methods of research.
their target. Marketers of the
company have one focus and that
is to acquire more customers with
the help of marketing funnel.
Similarities between hospitality decision-making process in B2B and B2C
Basis B2B B2C
Customer service This model also focus on
offering best service to
customers.
B2C also focuses on offering
better customer service so
that they can retain them for
long.
Sales This model is customer
centric (Chang and Cheng,
2021).
As per the customer oriented
models they are able to drive
their sales.
Engagement They are engaged with their
customers.
They are authentic and
believes in engaging with
customers.
buyers Buyers are knowledgeable
and smart.
Same is in the area of B2C
sector.
Different approaches to market research and methods of research used for understanding the
decision-making process
There are two main methods through which businesses such as Marriott conducts their research.
Primary Research- This form of research will be conducted by marketers of Marriott or they
can hire third party business in order to do that. This is done by directly going to their target
audience so that they can get the viable information which is helpful to them. Methods that are
part of these aspect are interviews, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups etc. this research is
general and open ended and most of the time they have to interview them in a small group which
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is also known to be exploratory form of research. On the other hand one other way to work with
this form of research is to be more precise and is used to solve a problem that can be better than
exploratory research. The nature of this research is to be structured and work with interviews that
are formal. Management of Marriott needs to assess that cost of this method is more and the time
it takes to complete is also more but the results through this method are latest and reliable
(Buhalis and Sinarta, 2019).
Secondary Research- This form of research is not latest as it is taken from sources which have
already been published before management or marketers of Marriott considers this research
when they need to take it out urgently. Sources in this measure include agencies of government,
associations of trade or institutions. Usually business that maintains their operations on small
scale comply with this measure as they do not have the resource to afford primary research. They
can take the data through online platforms, journals, articles. One thing that needs to be keeping
in mind is that data taken from private companies will be charged but from government agencies
it will be free (Varkaris and Neuhofer, 2017).
Methods of research to understand the decision making process
Qualitative Marketing Research- This research involves do not dealing with numerical data.
This helps them to understand the figures that were valuable for them and the wastage of
investment in areas which were not able to achieve growth for them. In order to conduct research
with qualitative data there are different sources available such as interviews, focus groups,
observations etc.
Advantages of ethnographic research helps them to get better sources through which they get
easy visual through which they set their relationship with their candidates. On the other hand, its
disadvantages are spending too much time so that they can collect the data which creates
difficulty in selecting the data. Advantage for experimental research is that research done, and
data obtained from it is excellent, but it is a time-consuming process (Yaqub and Halim, 2018).
Quantitative Marketing Research- This research involves dealing with mathematics and
numerical data. With the help of this method they figure out the evaluation of funds in right and
areas that helped them to achieve growth. Also with this they can compare present and past
performance. Sources for this method are surveys and questionnaire.
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