Feb 28, · Understanding consumer behavior is a pursuit that answers why, when, how, and where people buy or do not buy products. Consumer behavior is an area that combines topics such as economics, media studies, sociology, and psychology. Predicting and understanding consumer behavior is a challenge for experts and novices alike Consumer Behavior And Consumer Behaviour. Words | 9 Pages. Consumer behavior definition Consumer behavior refers to the behavior of consumers when they buy and consume economic goods and services. The behavior during the purchase of goods consists of, the purchase planning, purchase negotiations, the purchase completion, which still has contractual nature, to post purchase behavior is Consumer behavior is rational, as it proposes certain objectives and is guided by self-interest. When the customer is selecting the goods, he or she is also limited by the budget constraint. Model of consumer behavior is unrelated to general principles of consumer behavior in the market, including, above all, maximization of the total utility, the law of diminishing marginal utility and budget constraint. The
Consumer Behavior – Essay Example
This paper critically focuses on Consumer Decision-making Process models of purchase and post-purchase in relation to the hospitality industry. The paper shall determine the extent these models are vague and all-encompassing, consumer behavior essay, especially when applying to postmodern hospitality industry with the fragmented nature of consumer behaviour, and emerging trends in the global provision of products and services.
Gordon and Saunders have identified six of such stages that involve passive and active consumption phases or sequences Foxall, They identify these stages as emerging needs, active consideration, researching, short-listing, purchase and post-purchase.
Smith also supports these stages in his work. A part from these scholars, other scholars have also offered different perspectives on consumer decision-making process Kotler, consumer behavior essay, Bowen and Makens, ; Chambers, Richard and Lewis, consumer behavior essay, Robert, ; Onkvisit and Consumer behavior essay, ; Howard and Sheth, However, critics argue that such models are vague and tend to be all-encompassing.
Critics have noted that this definition is vague and not practical. From this definition, we can learn that consumer behaviour is a technical issue to describe precisely. They further explain how consumers choose products and services using a model of Consumer Decision-making Process CDP. This model indicates how consumers make decisions before undertaking any purchase decision and post-purchase decision.
Consumers make their purchase at the fourth stage after undergoing all other previous stages. Consumers look at the value of the products or service they have purchased against the satisfaction derived or fulfilled from using the product.
This experience is fundamental for defining the fifth stage, post-purchase evaluation, which takes a mental evaluation of the value of the purchase. We have noted that depending on the CDP model consumer behavior essay may not provide the necessary information when applied in a marketing environment.
This is because there are other various factors that influence every process of CDP. Understanding factors that influence stages of CDP model may help markets persuade consumers who intend to use their products or competitors. Consumers are likely to purchase services or products that have solved their problems in cases of recurring needs.
This is a purchase they know. At the individual level, we consumer behavior essay attitude, resources, motivation, personality, consumer behavior essay, and knowledge. For instance, we may consider how consumers who are conscious environmental behaviour towards purchasing green products or services in the hospitality industry. Hospitality industry mainly caters for tourists or visitors have that need a unique range of services and products. We can group these services and products as packages e.
accommodation and meals, or stand-alone products such as catering, consumer behavior essay entertainment, among others. We shall focus on a combination of services and products at the hospitality industry so as to enable us to understand the consumer decision-making processes when making such purchases.
This sector largely deals in provisions of services. According to marketing studies and theorists, services are intangible purchases. Thus, such purchases never really result into any ownership. In this regard, they offer various characteristics of services as follows.
The hospitality industry offer services that are intangible. We can never touch, see, taste, or even smell them before we make the purchase. Marketers in the consumer behavior essay of hospitality offer images of their services, such as accommodation locations and the surrounding environment to make such services appear real to the consumer.
This is a means of overcoming intangibility. However, such techniques do not necessarily overcome intangible characteristics of such services as tourists have to care when purchasing such services in the hospitality industry. Services in the hospitality industry also have inseparability characteristics between production and how the service works during consumption, consumer behavior essay.
Consumers may link the service to the provider together with the performance, and change consumer behavior essay purchasing pattern if the services do not meet their expectations. Services also tend to be heterogeneous in nature. This means services providers at the hospitality industry may find it difficult to offer the same service to every consumer when their needs arise.
Different aspects like emotional status of the customer may also affect how he or she perceives the service at a certain time. It means that consumers of hospitality products and services may not be able to predict the quality of services they may receive at their favourite places. In addition, consumers cannot depend on past their experiences in order to make subsequent purchase decisions regarding the same services or products. There may be inherent changes in the services, service providers, or the consumers themselves that may affect the quality as well as experience of services offered.
Services also lack ownership, at least to the consumer. Consumers only experience the service through their purchases and access. Consumers will not own the consumer behavior essay. Thus, services serve the purpose of a need satisfaction rather than tangible ownership. Therefore, purchases of services will have significant effects on emotional aspects of the consumer.
The above characteristics are just some of the aspects that may influence consumers of the hospitality industry. Marketing pundits also look at the distinction between convenience goods and shopping goods.
Convenience goods tend to have low prices and high frequencies of purchases, unlike other goods that have high prices with low frequencies of purchases. We can note that consumers will spend a lot of time in order to understand complex issues of services they are about to purchase in the hospitality industry.
The acts of choosing tourism destinations and subsequent service providers involve high-level purchases that require consumers to search for information and make informed purchases. It requires a high-level of consumer behavior essay, time, consumer behavior essay, and significant spending.
Thus, Middleton and Clarke observe that such influences result into low brand loyalty and expectations of repeat purchases, and low chain of distribution Middleton and Clarke, Consumers involved in purchasing hospitality products and services usually experience some technical issues.
Most products and services in the hospitality industry need a high degree of involvement in making purchase decisions and a high degree of consumer commitment. This is due to the nature of products and services that consumers wish to purchase. Thus, there are no routine or similar behaviour patterns when making such decisions, consumer behavior essay. Consumers consider every purchase unique and need different approaches in making purchase decisions.
Consumers in the hospitality industry must first carry out a thorough marketing research before settling on a given decision. In turn, consumer behavior essay, decision-making processes tend to take longer than when purchasing other products or services. Factors that may influence consumers at this stage may also set in, such as a holiday destination, type of holiday, individual preferences and among other factors, consumer behavior essay.
Consumers link intangible services and products to high levels of insecurity in the purchasing process. The challenge is that consumers cannot have a test of the product before they make any purchase.
In this case, most consumers only rely on the assurances from the services or products vendors. The level of insecurity involved results into complex behaviour patterns where consumers collect information from several sources, including agencies, consumer behavior essay. Thus, there is a considerable level of emotions involved.
Holidays restore physical health and provide a chance of escaping the routine of workplaces. Holidays are expensive. This implies that the decision to take a holiday may affect other members of the family, or colleagues in cases consumer behavior essay where companies cater for such packages. This calls for compromises at some points, especially with regard to a holiday destination. There may also be some pressing needs such as purchasing new items, car, improving a home.
Thus, family members or colleagues may consider such an expensive holiday a waste of resources. Consumers who wish to purchase hospitality products and services normally experience strong influences from other people such as family members, colleagues and reference groups.
The study of behaviour patterns that are under influences from diverse aspects is extremely difficult. At the same time, such opinion leaders also have tendencies of changing their beliefs and opinions over time.
Most decisions consumers make about visits are long-term decisions that take a considerable amount of time to plan, consumer behavior essay. The challenge is that people may be at different statuses of their minds when they plan their visits, and when they actually go for such visits.
Such decisions depend on aspects of the future that they might not be able to predict. The dynamic nature of the tourism industry may affect such decisions depending on the cost variations, climate changes and lately security. Purchases made in the hospitality industry involve high levels of search for information.
Factors such as emotions and individual preferences may determine the extent to which a consumer will seek for such information, consumer behavior essay. There is a wide consultation of different sources of information, consumer behavior essay, and the final choice depends on such information gathered. There consumer behavior essay a high level of complexity involved as people search for information and make decisions. It may also mean that decisions can change abruptly depending on the new information discovered, consumer behavior essay.
The complex nature of making purchase decision-making processes in a hospitality industry is different from making purchases of other routinely used goods. The intangible nature, uncertainty of the future and unpredictable of service standards make the process of purchasing services and products a complex experience for consumers.
This implies that marketers in may have difficulties when promoting their services and products to such consumers. The decisions consumers make to buy products and services in the hospitality industry are due to complex processes involved. These factors relate to the consumer, and other external factors that consumer behavior essay or she may not be able to control when making a decision of purchasing a service or product without prior experience.
In addition, the nature of products and services in the hospitality industry also make purchase decision-making process a complex affair. For instance, in choosing a holiday destination, consumer behavior essay, consumers consider such factors as the destinations itself, mode of travel, type of accommodation services, the length of the holiday period, the time of the holiday, package of the holiday, and agent to provide tour services.
These are among many factors that may influence the decision-making process of a consumer when choosing a holiday package and subsequent purchase. We can note that the scope and number of such factors are wide and numerous. We also realise that consumer behavior essay the destination alone is not enough and not an end in itself. There are issues and activities to engage in once in a holiday destination, consumer behavior essay.
Visitors will also make further decisions regarding how to spend their time, what meals to take, and where to take them among others. We can notice that these decisions look simple. However, they form part of the complex decision-making processes that tourists must critically look before making any purchases.
What is Consumer Behavior?
, time: 2:16Consumer Behaviour Essays: Examples, Topics, Titles, & Outlines
Consumer behavior is rational, as it proposes certain objectives and is guided by self-interest. When the customer is selecting the goods, he or she is also limited by the budget constraint. Model of consumer behavior is unrelated to general principles of consumer behavior in the market, including, above all, maximization of the total utility, the law of diminishing marginal utility and budget constraint. The Feb 28, · Understanding consumer behavior is a pursuit that answers why, when, how, and where people buy or do not buy products. Consumer behavior is an area that combines topics such as economics, media studies, sociology, and psychology. Predicting and understanding consumer behavior is a challenge for experts and novices alike Consumer Behavior And Consumer Behaviour. Words | 9 Pages. Consumer behavior definition Consumer behavior refers to the behavior of consumers when they buy and consume economic goods and services. The behavior during the purchase of goods consists of, the purchase planning, purchase negotiations, the purchase completion, which still has contractual nature, to post purchase behavior is
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