Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour in the Hospitality Sector

This report delves into the multifaceted aspects of consumer behavior within the hospitality industry, using Travelodge as a case study. It explores various factors influencing consumer choices, including cultural, personal, psychological, and social influences, and how these factors impact purchasing decisions. The report examines the impact of technological advancements on consumer behavior, highlighting the role of digital platforms and online reviews. Furthermore, it analyzes the stages of consumer decision-making, from recognizing needs to post-purchase evaluation, and emphasizes the importance of consumer mapping in understanding and meeting customer expectations. The report also compares and contrasts the decision-making processes in B2C and B2B contexts, offering practical examples. Finally, it evaluates different market research approaches and methods used to understand consumer behavior and how marketers influence the hospitality decision-making process. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty for the success of hospitality businesses.

Hospitality Consumer
Behaviour and Insight

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Various factors influencing consumer behaviour in hospitality industry.......................3
P 2 Impact of consumer behaviour in technology changes...................................................5
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P 3 Stages of consumer decision making ........................................................................6
P 4 Importance of consumer mapping ..................................................................................7
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P5 Compare and contrast the key differences of the hospitality decision-making process in the
context of B2C and B2B, using specific hospitality examples..............................................8
P6 Evaluate the different approaches to market research and methods of research used for
understanding the decision-making process...........................................................................8
LO 4.................................................................................................................................................9
P7 Defining the marketers influence the hospitality decision making process......................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is the industry which provides their services to its customers and the
customer are the main and essence in their hospitality industry. Travelodge is the second largest
brand in hospitality industry in united kingdom. In this project main emphasis on the customer
review, mapping process and buying behavior of the consumer in the hospitality industry
LO 1
P 1 Various factors influencing consumer behaviour in hospitality industry
Consumer behavior is process where one person or group of person select, buy, choose
goods and services to satisfy their needs and want, it is called as consumer behavior. Basically
whatever consumer see, like and buy according his or her need and want is consumer behavior.
There are some different factors that affect the behavior of the consumer are as follows:
Cultural factors- in this world there are different culture, beliefs and these beliefs and
cultures is followed by different people all over the world(Clark and Wood, 1998). Consumer
follow different types of ideology and different cultures which impacts on the consumers buying
behavior. Cultural is a part of society and the want is the important factor for the consumer's
behavior. Culture varies from different country to country and in the hospitality industry the
consumer behavior is the most important factors which influence the sales of the hospitality
industry. travellodge is not a biased with culture of the customer they serve every customers
equally. Tarvelodge respects the beliefs , values and the culture of the consumers and also try to
do marketing. According to travelodge also evaluate the cultural needs which help them to be
more effective. travelodge provide the demanded rooms by the customers as per their needs so
they divided the culture factor in sub- culture and social class factors. Sub culture is the culture
in which people can identify on the basis of same values based on the same lifestyle in general.
Sub culture is group of individuals who lives in the same location with similar beliefs and
culture background theses group of individuals are from different country religion, nation or
tribe. Social culture people are divided on the basis of living standard and the income but carry
same belief and culture.
Personal factors
Personal factors are those factors which are individual factors which affects in decision
making of the consumers. Personal factors are based on the single or individual who carry their
different perception and behave according to it(Wan L. and Chan E. 2019). Personal factors

derives from one person to another person. Which is based on the lifestyle, age, occupation,
qualification of the individuals. Age is the factors where consumers are separated in different
parts like from 20 to 40 have different perception towards product and services from 50 and
above it have different perception. Age is the factors where youngsters have different taste,
preferences. It is very obvious that the consumers purchase will change according with the time
and it will never be the same. The consistency is product taste will change according to the time
and changes made in the product. Income of the consumer will play a major role in the decision
making for the customer. Where customer having middle income which will bound him or her to
buy certain goods, if income is low then he or she will buy less and if the consumer have high
level of income then there is no problem with the income this factor will not affect there
behavior towards the product. Consumers occupation is the factor which also has a influential in
customer behavior process if the doctor book a room then he or she will look for hygiene of the
service provided and hygiene of the rooms. With different people there is different lifestyle they
follow like if room is booked by the youngsters he or she will definitely look for the pool, bar
and high music as on contrary side if any room is booked by the elders person they will look for
the peace, beautiful view so the lifestyle also have different impact on the different age .
Tarvelodge analyze all these factors if a person to come up with the services they provide with
the average ratio of the factor present in the same geographic location. Company in hospitality
industry always focuses on the service satisfaction and that is notice and judge on the basis of the
feedback form after the checkout of the customers.
Psychological factors
These factors are based on the psychological aspect of customer. Customer affected by
the purchase decision which includes learning, beliefs, perception and attitude and decision
making is influenced by others as well as the psychological factors(Meng F 2010). The
perception process of the consumer may vary as the level of perception may change the way of
watching and seeing things with different perspective how they react on the different products.
Some people influence by their purchasing power or services as some needs give the consumer
motivation to satisfy them, thus changes the behavior of customer need is completed. The
behavior of the customer may influence or also get affected by the knowledge, skills, values.
Social factors

social factors are those which are family, group of friends etc. a social role are the roles
which are the set of attitudes and activities that an person is supposed to have and these
references groups may include family members and close friends etc. travelodge will always
emphasis on the customer satisfaction and serve them the best among all. Tarvelodge will
analyze market on the basis of the needs of the customers and also focus on the feedback taken
from customers. If a customer Is a bachelor its focus will on the drink, pool and gym customers
wants more lavish rooms, if customer is newly married then he or she will look for peace and
more non disturbance rooms with good services.
P 2 Impact of consumer behaviour in technology changes
As times changes and trends are set for a new market change in the technology being new
changes in the customer behavior. Customer after the change in the technology in hospitality
industry. According to the survey it is cleared that customers are more attracted with the to the
use of new technology.
Digital technology
Technology in these days most used in every sector of the business. Technology changes
in hospitality industry has now improved the whole industry to grow more fast and rapid changes
in the market has made, now the social media network are grown and make a mark in the market
everywhere where this helps the customer as well through this digitization of booking provides
customers a platform to book and see the clear picture of the hotel. Here hospitality organization
showcase their products and services to them with some exciting offers with attracts customer
and it also gives easy access to the consumers. These websites also work them as a travel agent
and these travel agents gives all the information related to the location. Which Impact customers
mind strongly(Stephen, 2016). The technology which Is normally used by the travelodge has also
helped customers behavior about the services which is provided by the hospitality have taken
through the help of applications and travelodge also come up with review system on websites
there is a specific comment and review box about their experience how much they like the place
and they can also rate them and if someone has nay query they also have special chatroom
section for there help and give guidance to them.

LO 2
P 3 Stages of consumer decision making
Consumer decision-making is the complex function where consumers have to decide and
choose to buy the product and services which helps business owners to analyze their marketing
strategy according to the process.
Evaluating wants of the consumers
this is the first step of the consumer decision making process according to this step the initial
step of the decision making process of customer in this evaluation of needs and wants of the
consumer what are the need of the customers on what mind they start evaluating, purchasing of
particular good and services to satisfy the needs of the customer(Rana and Paul, 2017).
Customer purchase on the basis of income, culture, gender and preferences of the consumer. The
company will evaluate the sales and purchase of the product or services on which they evaluate
the wants of the consumers with the help of feedback , online questionnaires, reviews.
Accumulating data of consumers
after the evaluating the wants of the customers the second stage of the process is the
accumulating data of the consumers. Taking data from the market to exact notice what are the
exact need of the consumers on the accumulated data. Consumers will find all the resources and
collect the data from the friends group, family and from public.
Finding the best option
from the best among all, consumer will find in his or her opinion available in the market.
According to the information collected from the resources(Stephen, 2016). Consumers will also
choose the best and cost effective product where consumer need to pay less and get more
commodity and satisfaction as well.
Locking the product or services to spend
now in this stage of consumers will select the product and after all his or her researches
consumer will buy the product or commodity. This needs consumers to buy the [product and
induce them to buy the product on the promotion where they get attracted by the products
specifications(Council, S.C). Tarvelodge is also very intensive promotion of their hotel chains
and in a manner to entice the consumers and they have also increased the efficiency by the
services.

Post usage of product or services
In this step consumers evaluate and review the product how much they like the product
and will they buy this product again (Zhang and Benyoucef, 2016). Consumers are satisfied with
the product they purchase or no. suggest others if they like the product or services to use and
refers to another person. Travelodge also emphasis on the customer satisfaction specially there
existing customers they also provide after sale services to their consumers, which separates
Travelogue its brand image from others in hospitality industry.
P 4 Importance of consumer mapping
It is process which shows the consumers or depicts consumer behavior stages while
purchasing and interacting with a company from buying products at internet or online and
grievances of customer's is called as consumer mapping.
The main goal of hospitality industry is to give the best experience of their hotel and its services.
To give them the best holidays they have ever experienced.
In consumer mapping following steps are involved
Achieving customer loyalty
By providing the customer the best experience of their life which they will remember as
best moments of their life and if they gain their loyalty of customers
they will improve their brand image as well because brand image will increase their market share
and the business. Tarvelodge is the most famous and preferred brand in UK as itb has maximum
no. of shares in his pocket.
Fulfilling the Promises made
Any organization who promise something or who make stand when they promise
something to customers this shows a company's ethics and social values which will blend the
customers to the organization on long run.
Getting feedback
Feedback from the customer is important part of any hotel industry. Feedback is the
review which shows the actual opinion of the customer wich they wrote in the feedback.

LO 3
P5 Compare and contrast the key differences of the hospitality decision-making process in the
context of B2C and B2B, using specific hospitality examples.
Business to customer is the most appropriate process which is used nowadays. It refers to
a process where business s directly connected with the customer's from business iteself is called
as B2C business. Travelodge focused on customers needs and budget hotel market for the
customers Travelodge focused on customer needs and budget hotel market for the customers.
Though, the company opened its first lodge in 1985 but now in present everyone has heard of
this brand name. But over the past 15 years the competition in budget accommodation sector has
increased but travelodge has 25% of the market to itself. To gather more customers the business
is investing more on the internet to make the customers aware of the booking of rooms and
discounts\offers (Williams, 2019). Mails related to offers, thank you for staying and feedback
mails are sent out to the loyal customers so that they can keep the loyal customers to visit them
again and again. The hotel always faced a lot of booking in the peak time when the business and
customers booking are in the numbers(Zhang, 2015). There is an involvement of wholesaler and
retailer or wholesaler and manufacturer that relationship process is called business to business
(B2B). The business will have a direct relation with another business and not a customer is
business to business process. Business to business, a company when purchases a raw material for
manufacturing purpose from another company is B2B but when the finished product reaches its
customers it will come B2C if the company directly sells its products to the customers
P6 Evaluate the different approaches to market research and methods of research used for
understanding the decision-making process.
Primary data- it is that data which is collected directly from the sources or the main
source of the business. In hospitality industry the primary data plays an important role like
location of the hotel, rooms of the hotel, occupied room sin the hotel and the price of the hotel
room and food price all is provided on the official sites of the hotel(Slivar and Bayer, 2017).
Taking all cautions or survey of the location of the hotel has to keep properly in mind with the
merits and demerits of the hotel.
Secondary data- collection of the data from other than the user or business or
organization data which is been collected by others for other research is called secondary
data(Salvioni, 2016).since the hotel booking and room booking is very easy as the shift of

technology on the online and Travelodge here provide all hotels of London best rated and
provide every single information for the customer to the rates, rooms and charges and the
opinion in the review box of the customer who has their feedback on the sites(Lim, Y., 2016).
The reviews and information about the industry should be well established on the online sites
because nowadays most of the people prefer the data and information.
LO 4
P7 Defining the marketers influence the hospitality decision making process.
Consumer decision making process includes the consumers to analyse their gather
information, needs, appraise alternatives and make their buying decision. Behaviour of consumer
is resolved by both psychological factors and economic factors motivated by environmental
factors. It is the complicated procedure, it include activity from the problem recognition to post
purchase activity. There is one method used by the marketers for determine and tracing the
decision making process of a consumers from starting to an end. Various stages of the consumer
decision making process is described below :
 Need recognition : This stage is occurs when the consumers completely resolve their
needs, consumers feels like they are missing out something and to fill the gap needs to
address this issue when business are able to determine. Marketers influence consumers
when the marketing or advertising of the product is done by them(Gupta., 2019).
 Information search : Under this stage of the consumer decision making process
consumers needs more different information or reviews related to the product and
services which helps them to satisfy their needs there are the various method for getting
information related to the particular brand product and services. Under this stage
marketers can influence the consumers by providing them information related to the
product through the advertising and providing them recommendation from peoples who
have experienced with the product earlier. The marketers also influence the consumers
through providing necessary details or advantage of the product and services by posting
them social media sites , newspapers , magazine and radio.
 Evaluation of alternatives : This stage of the consumer decision making comes after
the recognition of the consumer needs and information search . This stage states that
making available different alternative to the consumer which satisfy their needs . As per
this stage of the consumer decision making process the marketers can influence the

consumer after knowing the taste and choice of the customer and providing them the best
alternative of there product and make them differentiate with there quality of product
and price of product. Or showing the positive reviews of the alternative product.
 Purchase decision : This stage of the consumer decision making comes after above all
the stages successful passed under this stage consumer have decided to make a
purchasing decision. Marketers influence the consumer by providing them a knowledge
of the product through advertising(Wood., 2017).
 Post purchase behaviour : This is the last stage of the consumer decision making
process under this stages the purchase of the product is followed by post purchase
evaluation consider which refers to analysing as the product is useful for the consumer or
not. All the stages in the consumer decision making are playing important role. This
stage is the last stage but not the least. Under this stages if the product is matched with
the expectation of the customer then it is treated as the brand ambassador. Marketers
influence the consumer which will increase the customer base of particular
brand(Yeung., Brookes and Altinay., 2016).
CONCLUSION
We find that Travelodge has a large share in the market as in the hospitality industry from
last 15 years. Travelodge was the first budget hotel who promotes itself on the T.V. And also get
75% more customers and also had large profit as surplus after promoting. This brand company
has few disadvantages and drawbacks which is now worked upon with effecting planning and
consumer mapping.

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