Consumer behaviour in the hospitality industry

Consumer behaviour in the

hospitality industry

Abstract

This article reviews the literature relating to consumer behaviour in foodservice and investigates the decision making process of ‘hospitality customers.’ The study generally offers an increased understanding of the complexity of customer’s decisions and how much hedonism behind these decisions is. This paper considers the connection between consumer behaviour, decision making and marketing. It also demonstrates how marketers appeal to hedonistic characteristics of individuals to sell their goods and services. The paper shows that people make decisions not only to satisfy a need, the decisions are more and more influenced by lifestyle, identity and status. Keywords like Hedonism and Irrationality need to be considered because they appear more and more in sense of consumer behaviour.

Keywords: hospitality, consumer behaviour, motivation, decision making, marketing, hedonism, consumption

Introduction

The study of consumer behaviour potentially deals with all of the ways people may act in their role as consumers (Schiffman and Kanuk, 1991), but in practice tends to focus upon behaviours related to searching, buying and using products and services. Consumers may be treated as groups, typically market segments, identified by geodemographic characteristics and assumed to have common attitudes and behaviour. Alternatively individual, subjective perspectives may provide an insight into behaviour patterns. (Johns 2002)

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Solomon (2006) supports this with his definition. ‘It is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.’

Why do we and how do we make our decisions?

Consumers are constantly faced with the need to make decisions about products and services. Some of these decisions are very important and entail great effort, whereas we make others on a virtually automatic basis, some are hedonistic others just irrational. The decision-making task is further complicated because of the sheer number of decisions we need to make in a marketplace environment. (Solomon 2006) Wilkie (1994) goes in the same direction and suggests that implicit in the idea of a decision process is an element of staging or procedure, and argues that this view has become the dominant perspective on consumer behaviour in the last twenty years. As such it is assumed that the decision process involves a series of key stages.

Most studies on consumer behaviour refer to five stages in the decision making process:

1. Identification of needs

2. Information gathering

3. Evaluation of alternatives

4. Process of choice

5. Post purchase processing

In all our decisions, we make, every day, we run through this process, deliberately or not, we do it. For Solomon (2006) the first step is called ‘Problem recognition.’ A problem occurs whenever the consumer sees a significant difference between his or her current state of affairs and some desired or ideal state – a need is identified. If a need is aroused, the consumer wishes to satisfy it. From a psychological perspective we speak about motivation. In other words the buyers’ decision process starts when they recognise a need that can be satisfied by acquiring, in the hospitality industry, it could be the services offered by a restaurant. Smith (1998) created an often used model of the Decision Making Process:

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Fig. 1.1 Smith’s model of the Decision Making Process

Motivation asks the question why? About human behaviour, a small word perhaps, but an enormous question (Statt 1997 quoted in Williams 2002) The dictionary of Psychology describes motivation as an extremely important but definitionally elusive term. While Williams (2002) defines it as ‘a general term for any part of the hypothetical psychological process which involves the experiencing of needs and drives, and the behaviour that leads to the goals which satisfy them.’ Evans et al. (2006) described motivation as the driving force within individuals that moves them to take a particular action. Motivated behaviour is activity that is directed towards the attainment of a goal or objective. But Williams (2002) argues that it is important to realise that motivation is only one of the elements that contributes to consumer behaviour. We may be highly motivated to consume a McDonald’s hamburger, however, if there is not one in our locality or if it is closed when we are motivated to consume, motivation cannot lead to behaviour.

Pizam and Mansfield (1999 quoted in Crouch et. al 2004) asserted that motivation is one of the factors that influence consumer behaviour but that other factors such as perception, learning, personality and attitudes should be taken into account.

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If we speak about motivation, we have to mention Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The perhaps most widely cited theory of motivating. Maslow’s proposition is that needs at one level must be at least partially satisfied before those at the next level become important. Maslow argues that if an individual is deprived in terms of satisfying a need, this dominates their behaviour until the need is met.

Fig. 2.1 Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs

On the basis of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Williams (2002) linked in the hospitality industry. If we think of the needs of a ‘hospitality consumer’ the hierarchy could look like this:

Level 1: physiological needs – accommodation, food, drink Level 2: safety needs – securities Level 3: self-esteem – luxury goods, 5 star plus, butler service Level 4: social – members only clubs Level 5: self- actualisation – conferences, seminars

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