Consumer Behaviour: Target Market and External Influences in Tourism

This report provides an analysis of consumer behavior within the Australian cruise tourism industry. It identifies the psychographic profile of the target segment, focusing on demographics, geographic preferences, behavioral patterns, and lifestyle choices of potential cruise passengers. The target market includes individuals aged 35-40 and those over 70, belonging to upper-middle and high-income classes, primarily residing in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. These consumers prioritize leisure and typically undertake at least one cruise trip annually. Furthermore, the report examines external influences affecting consumer decisions, such as pricing strategies, brand reputation, entertainment attributes, promotions, safety concerns, environmental and cultural factors, and cuisine options. These elements significantly impact the decision-making process of cruise passengers in the Australian market. Desklib provides students access to this report and many other resources to assist in their studies.

RUNNING HEAD: Marketing Consumer Behavior
Marketing Consumer Behaviour
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Marketing Consumer Behaviour 1
Part 1: Psychographic Profile of Target Segment
The evaluation of the target market segment on the basis of segmentation of people present in
tourism industry in Australia are discussed below:
Basis Consumer Profile
Demographic Segmentation The variable in the case of demographic
segmentation are age, gender, occupation,
nationality, income level, race, family size etc.
So, on the basis of these factor, the
segmentation for the industry are people who
starts from middle income level people in the
society and ends at high income level people.
These are the two categories which the
company should target on the basis
demographic segmentation. Further, on the
basis of age, the companies should target
people who mostly belong to the age group of
35-40 and more than 70. These people are
more involved into living their lives
luxuriously. Lastly, there is no differentiation
in gender and companies should target people
that mostly live in nuclear families
(McCaughey, Mao, and Dowling 2018).
Geographic Segmentation The geographic segmentation is based on the
aspect that divides the market on the basis
geographies. The potential customers present
in the market are divided into the geographies
present in the country Australia. Looking at the
figures, it can be clearly said that the company
present in this industry should target the people
living in New South Wales, Queensland and
Victoria. These three regions have maximum
demand of cruise in Australia.
Behavioural Segmentation The decision in case of behavioural
segmentation is based on the option that relates
to the behaviour of people to make choices in
the environment. This segmentation targets the
people on the basis of their decision making
pattern and frequency of usage of products and

Marketing Consumer Behaviour 2
services in market (Soulard, and Petrick 2016).
So, according to this type of segmentation, the
companies should target the people who loves
travelling and are always up for luxurious
travelling like cruise etc. Young people and
retired people should be mainly targeted under
this case.
Psychographic Segmentation The psychographic segmentation divides the
market on the basis of lifestyle of people. It
talks about the buying behaviour of people in
the society that relates to their lifestyle and
social standing as well. So, under this case, the
companies should target upper middle class
and high class people that prefer luxurious
travelling rather than trekking or hiking. These
people are the people that usually make upto
minimum one trip in a year (Del Chiappa, and
Abbate 2016).
Source: (CLIA 2016)
So, on the basis of above mentioned segmentation of the cruise line industry of Australia, it can
be clearly assumed that the company should target people that that belongs to the age group of
35- 40 and more than 70. These people belong to upper middle class and high class people in the
society who usually travels for leisure. These people definitely make one cruise trip in a year.
Consumer Psychographic Profile

Marketing Consumer Behaviour 3
Source: (By Author)
Part 2: External Influence affecting Decisions of Consumers
The external factors that shift the decision making process of Cruise passengers are discussed
below:
Pricing Strategy: This is one of the most important external influences that highly affects the
decision making process of the consumers in the target market. Let’s face the fact that travelling
in cruise is not everybody’s cup of tea because it is expensive. So, the middle income level
people keep this fact in mind while looking searching for the best option that the cruise is
available to them at a comparatively economic price. Thus, the pricing strategy and additional
perks on board attracts the customers to travel with the company (Mason 2015).
Brand Reputation: This is another major aspect that affects or fluctuates the decision making
process of the customer in the target market. This industry works on the brand loyalty that the
companies have made in market, like if a customer had once travelled with Carnival Spirit
Company then they would again go for the same organization if they had great experience last
Age group: 35-40 and above 70
Prefers leisure over adventure
Upper middle and high income level
Mostly lives in NSW, VIC and OLD

Marketing Consumer Behaviour 4
time. Thus, it is very important for the companies to manage to create a brand reputation so as to
attract more and more customers at cruise.
Entertainment Attributes: Entertainment is very important for people as it is a reason due to
which people are travelling at cruise. It is important for the organizations to effectively market
the activities that they perform on cruise so as to attract people. High level of facilities along
with good entertainment and events automatically attracts the customers to travel with the
company. The cruise should provide sports, recreational activities and some activities for the
children too (Whyte 2017).
Promotions and safety: Promotion plays a lead role in changing the mind of the customer while
looking for cruise. The better the promotional activity, the more the people will get attracted
towards it. As this industry is a part of the premium industry so people always look for high class
services and promotional activities in the market that defines the status of the cruise. Apart from
this, the people while taking decision in the market also consider safety aspect. Every person will
go with the organization on which they rely because there is major safety risk while travelling in
cruise.
Environment and culture: It is very important for the organization to maintain friendly
environment at cruise then only people will come. Customers are going to live for few days at
cruise so they make sure that the staff is friendly and culture is pleasant for them otherwise they
might attain dissatisfaction from the services. Cooperative staff automatically increases the level
of satisfaction of the customers (Bahja 2017).
Cuisine and Dining: Lastly, cuisine and dining also plays an important role in shifting the
interest of the customers in the market. People living in Australia cannot happily eat Thai or
Mexican food regular for ten days. They need to have some dishes of the taste that they like.
Further, if a customer is paying high amount then they will prefer fine dining and positive
ambience at cruise as well. This highly fluctuates the decision making process of the target
segment present in Australia.

Marketing Consumer Behaviour 5
References
Bahja, F., 2017. Evaluating the Relative Importance of Influencing Factors on Cruise Vacations:
A Conjoint Analysis [online]. Retrieved from <
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.co.in/
&httpsredir=1&article=7874&context=etd> [accessed on 18 Oct. 18].
CLIA., (2016) Cruise Industry Source Market Report [online]. Retrieved from <
https://www.cruising.org/docs/default-source/research/australia-market-report-2016.pdf?
sfvrsn=0> [accessed on 18 Oct. 18].
Del Chiappa, G. and Abbate, T., 2016. Island cruise tourism development: a resident's
perspective in the context of Italy. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(13), pp.1372-1385.
Gibson, P., Lim, W.M. and Holmes, M., 2016. Keeping the Customers Happy: The Importance
of Morale on Cruise Ships. Tourism in Marine Environments, 11(2-3), pp.136-145.
Mason, P., 2015. Tourism impacts, planning and management. UK: Routledge.
McCaughey, R., Mao, I. and Dowling, R., 2018. Residents’ perceptions towards cruise tourism
development: the case of Esperance, Western Australia. Tourism Recreation Research, 43(3),
pp.403-408.
Soulard, J. and Petrick, J.F., 2016. Messages in the Bottle: Customers' Reactions to Expertise,
Blame, and Compensation After a Severe Cruising Crisis. Tourism in Marine
Environments, 11(2-3), pp.192-200.
Whyte, L.J., 2017. Understanding the relationship between push and pull motivational factors in
cruise tourism: A canonical correlation analysis. International Journal of Tourism
Research, 19(5), pp.557-568.