CompanyThis assessment will cover the following questions:
- Intercontinental Hotel is the luxury hotel of United Kingdom. Identify the forces that influence hospitality consumer attitude and behaviour and its impact on the process of decision making.
- Differentiate between the Business to consumer(B2C) and Business to Business (B2B), with the help of specific example from the hospitality industry.
- Identify the various theories, approaches and methods that influences the decision-making process of the Intercontinental Hotel.
INTRODUCTION
CB, also known as Consumer behaviour, refers to the attitude and perception of customers or individuals regarding the purchase of products, goods or services. If the behaviour of the customers is good towards the offerings of the company, this means their business is performing well. The behaviour of consumers is associated with customer's actions in the marketplace and the reason behind those behaviours (Shih and Ke, 2014). This assignment report is prepared in context with Holiday Inn, an American-based hotel chain which is owned by Britain. This hotel is a subsidiary of Intercontinental hotel Group and headquartered in Buckinghamshire, UK. This hotel mainly serves the European, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific region. This report is going to mention different circumstances and their impact on the customer's behaviour along with their attitudes. Changes in customer trends due to digital technology are discussed. Also, stages to customer decision-making and appropriate purchasing paths will be explored. At last, the role of marketers in impacting customer decision-making is discussed.
TASK 1
P1: Describe Various Social, Personal, Cultural & Psychological Factors that impact the Attitude And Behaviour of Customers in the Hospitality Sector
(Covered in PPT)
P2: Mention How Trends of Customers Are Changing Due to The Influence of the Digitalisation of Technology
(Covered in PPT)
TASK 2
P3: Define Aspects Of the Customer Decision Making Process And Present Purchasing methods for Selected Hospitality Service
Customer decision-making is a process where individuals take decision if they are interested in buying an offering of a firm or not. There exist multiple factors and stages which have a deep impact on CB (Shaw, McMaster and Newholm, 2016). Below are mentioned some stages related to the customer's decision-making journey:
- Need Recognition: This is the foremost stage where consumers analyse as well as identify & acknowledge their needs according to their expectations.
- Searching and gathering information: After analysing their needs, clients will start collecting information about all those products and services that can serve their purpose through online, digital, and traditional media (Petersen, Kushwaha, and Kumar, 2015).
- Evaluation of the alternatives: Here, screening of all alternatives will be done so that the most desired service or product can be selected in terms of durability, time, and cost.
- Actual Purchase of Product: In this aspect, the customer will purchase the most suitable product so that their expectation can be fulfilled without any compromise.
- Post-purchase evaluation (PPE): It is the final stage in which the end user decides if purchasing a product or service of a company is useful or not. If the satisfaction level of customers is lower, they will not purchase the same product again in future.
There exist some stages which are followed by customers while mapping a purchasing path. These stages are discussed below:
- Pre-purchase: Here, the customers will identify those hotels where they want to stay for their vacations or business purposes. To collect information about different hotels, the Internet and newspapers can be used.
- Purchase: After analysing all the hotels, customers will select a hotel such as Holiday Inn as their utmost choice so that all their needs can be fulfilled properly. Holiday Inn is a four-star hotel which offers standardised service to customers (Nagengast et. al., 2014).
- Receive: Here, customers are using the chosen service or product. In the case of Holiday Inn, at this stage, customers will be staying there and demand services as per their choice and requirement.
- Post-purchase: In this stage, the consumers will identify if Holiday Inn is capable of providing expected services or not. If the hotel has provided satisfactory service to customers, then they will prefer repeat visits; otherwise, they will switch their preference to another hotel.
P4: Describe The Value For Marketers to Present a Purchasing Path And Acknowledging Decision Making of The End Users
The main goal of business firms is to increase the satisfaction level of customers at a higher scale so that sales and revenues are earned in an appropriate manner. It is essential for businesses in Holiday Inn to map a path to purchase. The importance associated with this aspect is mentioned below:
- Increases ROI: Map to purchasing path benefits in acknowledging expectations and purchasing patterns of customers. By this, targeting customers in the right manner is easy. This will help Holiday Inn earn high revenues and profits, due to which ROI will also increase.
- Unifying consumer information: Mapping the purchasing path helps Holiday Inn in arranging information and data of customers in a systematic manner. By this, aligning the needs of people in different sections is easy. By this, each customer can be given the expected service without any compromise (Mortimer, Bougoure, and Fazal-E-Hasan, 2015).
Also, mapping the purchasing path helps a company to understand different levels that are faced by customers at the time of product purchase. Some of these levels are discussed beneath:
- Extensive problem solving: Here, customers take the longest time to purchase products as they have no idea about the offerings of the company.
- LPS (Limited Problem Solving): In this, customers already know about entities with offerings of a firm and other present alternatives. Here, Holiday Inn needs to put in extra effort to grab the attention of customers (Mihaela, 2015).
- Routine problem solving: In this level, customers purchase a product a large number of times, and they don't require additional efforts from the company.
TASK 3
P5 Differentiate Decision-Making Processes Associated With B2B and B2C, Including Hospitality Examples
B2B and B2C are two ways by which an organisation can perform commercial transactions. In B2B, a company tries to sell their offerings to another company, whereas in B2C, an organisation tries to sell their maximised services and products to their customers. Comparison in B2B and B2C are stated below:
|
Basis |
Business to business |
Business to customers |
|
Meaning |
In this aspect, commercial transactions take place between two companies. For example, Holiday Inn purchases their linen and tissues from linen-making organisations.
|
Here, commercial transactions are carried out between the organisation and customers. For instance, Holiday Inn provides accommodation, meals, and beverages. Transportation facilities to their customers. |
|
Customer |
Potential customers in B2B are other organisations that require the products or services of Holiday Inn to manage their business more desirably (Iqbal, 2015). |
In B2C, targeted customers are the people who prefer to travel, business persons, families and other individuals who stay at concerned hotels or use their services. |
|
Relationship |
In B2B, the manager of Holiday Inn is needed to maintain relationships with the manufacturers, wholesalers and suppliers so that no shortage of materials and resources can be faced. |
Here, relations with customers need to be maintained so that the offerings of Holiday Inn can be sold properly and high revenues can be earned. |
P6 Mention Various Methods to Conduct MR And Different Research Methods to Understand Decision Making
Organisations cannot perform their functions as well as operations in an appropriate manner without MR. Market research is very essential for a company, as it benefits them to identify and acknowledge the changing demands & requirements of customers in a proper way. There exist different approaches and methods to conduct research. In context with Holiday Inn, these approaches are listed below:
Market research for Business to Business: In this kind of research, a company performs research to analyse the needs of other organisations so that a business contract can be signed with them. In this context, the manager at Holiday Inn can use secondary resources to collect information about other companies. With the help of secondary research, all information about a firm can be acknowledged. In this context, different sources to collect information are stated below:
- Government agencies: Collection of data via governmental agencies and officials is the best way to gather authentic information about another company. This source will help Holiday Inn in identifying trade and law-related information of different firms (Hofacker, Malthouse, and Sultan, 2016).
- Internet: By using the internet, the official website of a company can be checked so that all important data about them can be attained properly. Also, the internet will help the manager of the cornered hotel in analysing the reputation of another organisation so that they can decide if wooing them for business is beneficial or not.
Market Research for Business to Customers: In this research, responses and expectations of customers towards the offerings of the company are identified so that required changes can be carried out properly. Also, this research will help Holiday Inn identify the changing needs of customers so that they can be provided with modern products (Gargiulo, Natale, and Russo, 2015). In this context, the primary research method is best, as it helps in collecting the latest information about customers without any ambiguity. Sources in this context are written below:
- Questionnaire: This will help the manager in acknowledging the choice of customers from a group of alternatives. By this, the preference of maxinumber of mum customers can be given priority. This will help the hotel retain customers for a long time.
- Interviews: In this method, the marketing team of Holiday Inn will ask multiple questions to their customers via face-to-face meetings. By ththe is, the changing needs of customers can be identified, and they can be provided with the right products and services.
TASK 4
P7 Analyse How The Marketers Can Impact Various Aspects of Decision Making
In order to achieve expected success and growth, managing the behaviour of customers is essential for every organisation. This is because customers are the major earning source for an organisation. In the context of the hospitality industry, a marketer is needed to evaluate every business stage so that clients can be provided the right services and the overall profits of the organisation will rise. In the case of Holiday Inn, the marketer plays an essential role in influencing the decisions of the customers by implementing innovative strategies on a regular basis. The manager at Holiday Inn is already providing pick-up and drop-off facilities to the clients at airports and other travelling stations so that they can have a comfortable experience with the hotel. This strategy of marketers in Holiday Inn distinguishes the hotel from their rivals and helps them gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace (Gargiulo, Natale and Russo, 2015).
Also, a customised menu is offered to customers during their stay, which motivates the customers to make repeat visits. In this way, the marketer in Holiday Inn impacts the decision-making of customers and diverts it positively towards the concerned hotel. Hence, it can be said that the Marketing manager of Holiday Inn needs to adopt new strategies so that customised services can be offered to clients according to their requirements. By this, the right customers can be targeted for the right product. Getting the right product will allow the customers to think positively about the hotel. By this, DM of customers can also be affected positively and profit as well as revenue is gained by Holiday Inn.
Also Read: Consumer Behaviour and Decision Making
CONCLUSION
As per this assignment, it has been concluded that it is necessary for a company to check the attitude and perception of customers towards their products on a regular basis. Appropriate behaviour of clients will assure high sales and revenues to the concerned company. Different factors like cultural, social and psychological aspects, influence the mental state of customers in a high manner. Changing trends related to the hospitality industry are highly skilled staff, technological advancement, high activeness of customers, etc. Also, the best approaches to carry out market research are qualitative and qualitative approaches. Also, it is acknowledged that market research is essential for a firm as it assists in acknowledging the needs of end users appropriately.
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