Tourism & Consumer Behavior PDF

LESSON 4 Tourism & Consumer Behavior Learning Outcome: At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. define what a market is; 2. identify the three steps to target marketing; 3. enumerate the characteristics of a good market segment; 4. discuss the market coverage strategies and pos...

LESSON 4 Tourism & Consumer Behavior Learning Outcome: At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. define what a market is; 2. identify the three steps to target marketing; 3. enumerate the characteristics of a good market segment; 4. discuss the market coverage strategies and positioning; and 5. distinguish the new and emerging markets in the Philippines.  Consumer Behavior is the process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing products and services to satisfy their needs and desires. Factors that Influence Consumer Bahavior Personality & Self Reference Concept Motivation Groups Life Cycle BUYER Culture Lifestyle Age & Gender Social Class Motivation  Motivations are inner drives that make people take a specific plan of action to satisfy their needs.  Need is the gap between what customers have and what he would like to have. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs  Push and Pull Factors (Dann 1977)  Push factors are those that make you want to travel.  Pull factors are those that affect where you would want to go. PUSH FACTORS PULL FACTORS (Sociopsychological Factors) (Cultural Motives) Travel is motivated Novelty by a "going away Escape from mundane environment Exploration and evaluation of self from" rather than Education Relaxation "going toward" Prestige something. Regression Enhancement of kinships/ relaxations Facilitation of social interaction Culture  Five Dimensions of Culture 1. power distance 2. individualism/collectivism 3.masculinity/femininity 4. uncertainty avoidance 5. long-term and short-term orientation 6. indulgence versus restraint Culture is the collective mental programming of the human mind which distinguishes one group of people from another. (Hofstede) Age And Gender  Age pertains to the number of years a person has been living.  Gender also influences consumer behavior. ( Male, Female, Gay) -The female market is steadily increasing and has been observed to be more discriminating than its male counterparts. -The gay market is also being seen by marketers as having a set of preferences different from male and female markets. Social Class  The socio-economic status of individuals is still being considered as one of the most important external factors.  Social Class is one's position within the society. Lifestyle  A Lifestyle is a person's pattern of living as expressed in one's activities, interests, and opinions. Life Cycle  Life cycle refers to the stages an individual goes through their lifetime.  Reference Groups  Reference groups are known to be a set of people who have a direct or indirect influence on other people's attitudes or behaviors. Personality and Self Concept  Personality refers to distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring response to the environment.  A consumer's self concept refers to his personal mental picture.  The Buyer Decision-Making Process Need / Problem Recognition Information Search Alternative Evaluation Decision Purchase Decision making is made after thorough evaluation of Post-purchase Evaluation alternatives. 1. Need Recognition - Needs are triggered either by internal or external stimuli. -Promotional strategies are creatively developed to make people think that they need our products. Successful business owners are those that have thought to satisfy a need even before consumers have articulated such need. Information Search -Information may be obtained through personal and commercial sources and the Internet. -Internal and external information search (classification) Internal information search is nothing more than retrieving decision-relevant information stored in an individual's long- term memory. External information search focuses on acquiring information from outside. Evaluation of Alternatives -This stage allows prospective customers to make detailed comparisons of different product or service providers. -Based on the resources which are available to them at the time of purchase, they are close to making a decision on which product or service to buy. Purchase Decision -This is the stage most awaited by tourism marketers. This is when consumers actually make the purchase decision. -Distribution networks should be made available and access to the products easy and fast. Post-purchase Evaluation -It is extremely important for products and service providers to ensure that customers have a good experience with the product. Satisfaction - a person's feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product's perceived performance in relation to his expectations.  Customer Satisfaction through Service Quality  Service Quality is defined as an assessment of how well a delivered service conforms to the client's expectations. BENEFITS of SERV QUAL 1. Customer Retention 2. Avoidance of Price Competition 3. Retention of Good Employees Repeat Service Satisfaction Purchase 4. Reduction of Cost Quality Referral to Friends  Organizational Buyer Behavior The organizational buying process is a more formal version of the consumer buying process. Organization are more complex and there is a greater demand for a variety of products and services.  Typologies of Tourists 1. Plogs Tourist Motivation Model Allocentrics - prefer what is new, unstructured, exotic, unusual. Psychocentrics - prefer structured and familiar Midcentrics - portray characteristics of both allocentrics and psychocentrics depending on the situation or seaon 2. Cohen's Model Organized Mass Tourist - buys all-inclusive tour packages and ensure everything is planned Individual Mass Tourist - more autonomous prefers to travel independently Explorer - seeks new areas but would sometimes opt for the comfort of familiar accommodations Drifter - free spirit who avoids any kind of traditional tourist establishments 3. Stewart's Theory of Holidaytaking Bubble Travelers - low travel experience and observe foreign culture from a bubble. Idealized-experience seekers - have more affluence and a base of overseas travel experience Wide horizon tarvelers - greater confidence and more travel experience, Total immersers - do not seek to merely observe but to be exposed fully to another culture's 4. The Non-Users a. Ex-users who stopped using the product b. Aware of the product bu need to be pursuaded to pruchase c. Not aware of the product Though it is more expensive to acquire new customers , a company needs to have a steady flow of new customers for it to survive and eventually flourish. Assignment:  Interview a friend or relative who frequently travels out of town or out of the country. Ask about the factors that influence his/her travel destination choices. Write a 500-word essay about his/her consumer behavior. (Make sure to have a photo of your conversation / interview)