Hospitality Consumer Behaviour: Decision-Making Process and Marketing

This report delves into the intricacies of consumer behaviour within the hospitality sector, specifically focusing on the consumer decision-making journey and path to purchase, using Crowne Plaza as a case study. It contrasts the hospitality decision-making processes in B2C and B2B contexts, highlighting the importance of customer relationships, decision-making influences, and marketing strategies. Furthermore, the report evaluates different market research approaches, such as digital audience research, quantitative and qualitative methods, and tele-depth interviews, for understanding the decision-making process. It also assesses how marketers can influence the various stages of the hospitality decision-making process, from need recognition to post-purchase behaviour, emphasizing the role of advertising and personalization in attracting and retaining customers and the importance of customer satisfaction in increasing profits and competitive advantage. The study also makes use of the Pareto principle, and the importance of internal research to improve the customer experience.

HOSPITALITY
CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
INSIGHT
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
(Covered in ppt)..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 2 ..........................................................................................................................................3
P3 Consumer decision making Journey and path to purchase....................................................3
P4 Important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision-
making.........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................5
P5 Compare and contrast the differences of the hospitality decision- making process in B2C
and B2B.......................................................................................................................................5
P6 The different approaches to market research for understanding the decision-making
process.........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
The consumer behaviour is the study of the behaviour of consumers related to the process
they use to choose the product or service, consume and dispose the product (Walmsley, 2015). It
includes the consumer's mental, emotional and behavioural towards the products. Hospitality
industry is the growing industry and the business operations are changing with the change in
technology. The online hospitality has make it easy for the customers to experience the service
whenever they want. The chosen organisation is Crowne Plaza which was founded in 1983 in
UK and has more than 3600 hotels. The report includes different factors that influence the
behaviour of customers, trends and consumer decision journey, market research and its effect on
consumer behaviour.
TASK 1
(Covered in ppt)
TASK 2
P3 Consumer decision making Journey and path to purchase
Consumer decision making-Consumer decision making is a process which helps the
consumers to identify the need and satisfy the need. The decisions are made on the bases of the
problem consumer has and the path to purchase (Borgardt, 2017).
 Recognition of the need- It is the awareness of the need which is the difference between
what customer has and what he wants to achieve. The working professionals are
transferred for the business purpose for 7 days which will drive him to find the hotel in
the city.
 Information search- The information related to the problem is searched by customers
internally with the experience or externally searching online. The customers will find the
best hotel in UK for a 7 day stay and will get many alternatives. The information search
will give them many alternatives.
 Evaluation of alternatives- The buyers analyse the alternatives and selects on the basis
of what is most important for them and which will satisfy their needs. They will search
for luxury hotels and choose Crowne Plaza as it is giving better facilities to customers.
They will take the luxury room at the best location but the prices of Marriott International
is less so the evaluation of it is done on factors which are important to them.
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 Purchase decision- The consumer will make the decision to buy as they have analyse the
alternative and Crowne Plaza is satisfying the needs. Their purchase decision is based on
the quality of service and attractive discount on online booking.
 Post purchase behaviour- The behaviour of the consumer is based of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction by the service provided by the organisation. The consumers act when they
avail a service of the organisation. Crowne plaza satisfies the needs of customers and
they give good rating. There is a coordination of housekeeping with other departments
and provides good experience to customers (Bai, Wu, and Cheung, 2019).
Path to purchase- The consumers have a series of process which motivates them to
purchase. They are the influencers to purchase products and services of the organisation.
 Awareness- The awareness of products and service is important to increase the sale as
they will help customers to consider the organisation when making the decision. The
recognition of the problem of finding hotel for 7 days business stay will make customers
recall Crowne Plaza.
 Consideration- The consumers make a list of the organisations they search internally or
externally. They will collect the information on different hotels and consider the factors
which are important in making decisions.
 Conversion- The purchase decision is made and the consumers are converted. The
factors which increases the conversions for hotels is multiple payment modes, online
advertisement, etc. The consumer will choose Crowne Plaza hotel as the processes are
attractive.
 Evaluation- The post purchase behaviour of the customer helps the organisations to
evaluate its services. The good experience of customer is important in increasing profits
of the organisation (Thi Xuan Mai and Ottar Olsen, 2016). Crowne Plaza is serving
customers with best quality products in hotels so that they get the good experience.
P4 Important for marketers to map a path to purchase and understand consumer decision- making
Path to purchase and consumer buying decision help organisations to understand the
behaviour of customers and the decisions they take when they purchase the products from the
organisation. The consumer evaluates various alternative and make the purchase decision.
 Customer interaction with the organisation- It helps the organisations to identify the
interaction customer does and the number of decisions he made to make the purchase.
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The digital marketing is helping the hospitality industry to grow as they can track the
customers and analyse the search which make it easy for hotels in promotion.
 Monitoring and controlling- The marketers map the path to purchase to analyse
experience customers get and the gap between what they desired and they received. The
hospitality industry will improve their facilities when the factors affecting profits will be
analysed. Crowne Plaza makes good relations with customers so that they are satisfied
with the services provided by them.
 Personalization- The organisation satisfy the customers when their services are to give
good experience to customers (Ung and et.al., 2018). Crowne plaza provides
personalization to the consumers by providing them easy check and check out, they have
a different menu for bar and food and they can have it n their phone. They have use
technology in increasing their facilities and providing them good experience.
 Attracting customers- The organisations maintains relations with customers and
provides them discounts. Crowne Plaza will have their contact details which will used by
them to inform them and connect the consumers (Yadav and Pathak, 2016 ). They will
contact them for benefits and customers will consider them when they will make a
purchase.
TASK 3
P5 Compare and contrast the differences of the hospitality decision- making process in B2C and
B2B
The marketing strategies of the organisation differs for the different types of customers.
The business to business selling is important for the organisations to maintain the long term
relationship and business to customers focus on increasing the sales of an organisation. The
marketing communication for the type of organisations is important to understand because the
strategies will be made to attract the customers.
 Customer relationship- The B2B businesses focus on personal relationship with the
customers to maintain the long term relationship. They are important for the business
cycle and strategies will be made to satisfy the customers. Crowne Plaza has business
hotels which are for the business purposes and they have deals with them for better prices
and the services are fixed by the organisations (Young and et.al., 2017). The B2C will
provide the transactional selling to customers and provides the service to increase profits.
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Crown Plaza wants to increase the sale of its hotels so they give discount to customers on
booking.
 Decision making- The decisions of customers can be influenced by effectively using
information about the behaviour of customers. The B2B has open communication with
customers as they are big organisations and involves in businesses for long term and
involves cost so Crown Plaza is transparent with them to provides products and services
to satisfy the needs. The B2C customers can be attracted by providing them information
which they want to have. They want to increase the sales and do not focus on long tern
business with the customer. Crowne Plaza identifies what consumers want and provides
flexibility to customers.
 Marketing strategy- The B2B decisions are based on the calculation of the cost as the
amount is paid by the organisation for their employees in the hospitality industry. The
type of service depends on the organisation which will be provided to employees. The
employees do not pay so that marketing strategies will be for the organisations and they
should include conference room and facilities related to organisations. The B2C will have
different marketing strategies. The industry of luxurious hotels prefer quality over
quantity and customers are willing to pay when they will get services which are satisfying
the needs.
 Post purchase behaviour- The post purchase behaviour of B2B customers are important
than B2C customers because they help Crowne Plaza in increasing profits. The long term
relationship with customers are important so customers should help the organisations to
increase the competitive advantage (Liu and Mattila, 2017). They will help customers to
in the hotels and coordinate the departments so that best services are provided to the
corporate customers as the business of customers are related to business of the hotels.
P6 The different approaches to market research for understanding the decision-making process
The market research is important in an organisation as it provide the information which is
accurate and can be used to make the strategies. It is important to collect and analyse the
information and use it to improve the process of the organisation. It is important for increasing
the efficiency of the organisation and helps in proving quality services.
 Digital audience research- The customers are connected with the organisation on social
media like facebook, instagram, etc. and they are considered as the digital audience for
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the hotels. The organisations need to identify the needs of customers and to satisfy them.
The organisations have to analyse market so they can make strategies to satisfy the online
customers. Crowne Plaza will identify the customers who are connecting with them on
social media and are interested in their service and will make the strategics for them to
attract customers (Acikdilli, Ziemnowicz and Bahhouth, 2018). The segmentation of
customers is important so that the marketing strategies are focussing on increasing
profits. This help the organisations to promote the products according to the need of
customers.
 Quantitative and qualitative research- The organisations want to have the accurate
information of products and services which will be provided by the quantitative research.
They want to know how many customers like it, how many want to have it, etc. It helps
them in making strategies. Qualitative research is important in the hospitality industry as
they are determined by the factors which are important in the decision making of
customers.
 Tele-depth interview- The organisations use tele depth interview to understand
customers needs. They are communicating with customers on telephone because
customers of Crowne Plaza are worldwide. It involves less cost and the organisations can
use it.
 The Pareto Principle- It is based on the information that 80% of the output is based on
the 20% of the input. The organisations use this as 20% of the employees give 80% of the
productivity. The organisations should conduct internal research as the employees are
important for making the strategies and the decision of customers will be based on the
performance of employees in an organisation. The organisations should increase profits
by providing better services.
P7 Evaluate how marketers can influence the different stages of the hospitality decision-making
process
Consumer decision making involves certain decisions regarding the activities and
experiences which will satisfy their needs and wants. The activities of the consumers involve
acting, using and disposing products and services of the organisation. The marketing strategies
are based on the decision-making process of the consumer and influencing the behaviour to
attract the consumers.
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Influence of marketer in the recognition of need
The marketers at the need recognition will involve in the advertisement as this is the right
stage to take the attention of customers. They will try to sell the products by making an image of
it in the mind of customers (Dobscha, 2015). The marketers in the hospitality industry will focus
on placing the advertisement where the consumers can look at and give the priority. It is the right
stage as the consumers can attracted and they can consider the brand when they are making
decisions.
Influence of marketer in the information search
The customers at this stage is looking for options and the marketers can influence them
by responding to the needs of customers. The marketers in the hospitality industry will make the
brand available to customers when they are searching online and get the attention of customers.
The organisation can increase their chance by promoting extensively and making customers
search for their options.
Influence of marketer in the Evaluation of alternatives
The customers have options and they want to decide what is important for then which
will satisfy their needs. Hospitality industry has to help the customers in decisions by having the
competitive advantage and making customers feel that they are important. There are many
competitors and they provide similar services, what is best is evaluated by customers.
Influence of marketer in the purchase decision
This is the most important stage in the consumer decision making process. This is a
chance to organisation where they will either make profits or loose. The customers in the
hospitality industry should be give information which is important for making a purchase
decision. The marketing manager has to promote their products and can influence customers
(Kucuk, 2019).
Influence of marketer in the post purchase decision
The consumer will come to this stage when they purchase the products or service and this
is different than others as the marketers influence the behaviour of customers differently.
Hospitality industry will have a strong relationship with customers when they are satisfied with
products and services.
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CONCLUSION
From the report it is concluded that the marketers need to find the moments that matter in
the decision making of customers and they need to have an impact on the customers so that they
can increase profits. The customers has to take decisions because they will pay of the services
and it is not easy to get the money out of customer's pocket so they need to satisfy the needs of
customers.
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REFERENCES
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