External Factors That Prompt Tourists to Purchase Certain Products or Services - Essay Example

Name Student number Name of the unit Name of the unit coordinator 4046 words Introduction Consumer decision process refers to a decision process which is undertaken by buyers regarding potential market transaction prior to, during as well as after buying a particular product or service. Consumers buying decisions can be grouped into economic models, psychological models and consumer behavior models. Primarily this paper will focus on tourism consumer behavior. Understanding consumer’s behavior patterns as well as factors, which influence their purchase, tourism firms need to fully understand when they need to take part in the process so that they can get maximum results. Market segmentation plays an instrumental role in determining consumers buying behavior. Market segmentation entails dividing large homogenous market into different groups of people with similar wants, needs or demands. Market segmentation is pertinent since it helps in offering the basis for establishing marketing mix, which will correspond perfectly with the expectation of clients in a targeted segment. This implies that market segmentation is a type of consumer classification instrumental in providing support for marketing function in tourism organization. Undoubtedly, segmentation is aimed at improving the work the four Ps of marketing mix (Product, Price, Promotion, and Place). There are several types of market segmentations that have been explained in this paper, for instance, geographical segmentation, socioeconomic segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, behavior segmentation. This paper has also explained motivators in the decision making process in tourism, connection between market segments and motivators, timing of purchase decisions in tourism, determinants in decision making process in tourism, determinants that influence group travel, role of travel agents in consumer decision making process. The paper also explained external factors that influence purchase of products or service, they include; social class, family and cultural values. Consumer decision process refers to a decision process which taken by buyers regarding prospective market transaction before and after buying a particular product or service. Generally, this is a rational process of choosing a specific course of action among many options. Decision-making is considered a psychological construct, this implies that even though one cannot “see” the decision he is making buyers infer from the discernible attributes, which a decision is made. Consequently, one can confidently conclude that psychological action called “decision making” has occurred. Decision-making can be considered a construction, which features obligation to a specific action. There are three main approaches of evaluating buyers purchasing choices: economic models – these refers to approaches that are fundamentally quantifiable and centered on suppositions of reasonableness as well as near flawless knowledge. A purchaser is considered to capitalize on their utility. Psychological models – these refers to simulations that quintessence on psychological as well as rational processes, for instance, motivation as well as need appreciation. Psychological prototypes are qualitative rather than quantifiable and they develop on sociological elements such as family influences and cultural influences. Consumer behavior models – these refers to practical models that marketers use when they are marketing their products (Alexandra, 2013). Recently, neuroscience has turn out to be an instrumental device as well as a basis of theory development as well as testing customer’s business decision-making research as well as using neuroimaging devise to examine consumer behavior, which is developed under Neuromarketing (Donna, 2010). What is happening in a buyers mind is measured through diverse neuroimaging as well as biological correlates, for instance, hormones along with genes can give novel understandings and novel approaches to test theory, as a result this is an inordinate opportunity for decision-makers scholars (Weijermars, 2011). Pertinently, tourism managers need to do research as well as recognize approaches regulars make choices and aspects that prompt tourists to make specific purchases. When evaluating tourist consumer actions firms should deliberate on their habits and needs, consumers preferences and customer’s requirements, tourism segmentation as well as motivational aspects such as individual, cultural, physical, personal development and status (Kaye Sung Chon, 2012; Alexandra, 2013). Consumer behavior is primary to foundation of marketing activities conducted in order to determine, advertise as well as sell tourism products (Peter Graham, 1998). Achievement in any marketing activity occasions comprehending consumer’s decision-making procedure to purchase or use tourism products. Understanding consumer’s comportment patterns as well as features that affect their purchase, tourism firms should fully comprehend when they are to participate in the process so that they can have supreme outcomes. This will aid the firm to influence buyers to buy products, which satisfy their necessities and anticipations (Alexandra, 2013). It is worth noting that tourism has taken place for many years, consequently, the industry is grouped into classes such as, health tourism, social tourism, educational tourism business tourism, cultural tourism, special interest tourism, visiting relatives and friends as well as hedonic tourism. All these have been included in the two main groups – international and domestic tourism, with subdivision together with an outbound and inbound tourist issue. Market segmentation has an instrumental part in defining consumer’s business behavior (Louis E. Boone, 2009). Market segmentation occasions dividing large consistent market into different clusters of people with analogous wants, needs or demands. Market segmentation is pertinent since it helps in offering basis for forming marketing mix, which will correspond perfectly with expectations of clients in a directed segment. Subsequently, market segmentation is a form of consumer classification instrumental in supporting marketing function in tourism organization (Alexandra, 2013). Segmentation purposes to meet needs of marketers (Havaldar, 2010). Undoubtedly, segmentation is designed at improving the work the four Ps of marketing mix (Price, Product, Place and Promotion). However, businesses need to take into account that efficacious marketing does not only entail one segmentation technique, it is pertinent to use and combine the five types of segmentation for positive results (Alexandra, 2013). Geographical Segmentation This kind of segmentation is about gathering and evaluating information according to customer’s physical location (Alexandra, 2013). This category of segmentation categorizes markets into unalike geographical aspects by country, region, climate, population. For instance, a tourism firm can segment its clienteles as countryside or town consumers, clienteles in north-west countries or precisely near mountains, etc so that they can have perspective profile of the target audience (Strydom, 2005). Socioeconomic Segmentation This approach aims at subdividing market in different socioeconomic variables. For example, in United Kingdom the society is pigeonholed into six groupings based on profession and is explained by letters A,B,C1,C2,D and E (Alexandra, 2013). Socioeconomic aspects are characterized by job, income, lifestyle, education, price sensitivity, as well as brand preference, for instance, a tourism firm can be engrossed in examining a target group who get products from a competitor, tourism product procured by clients with a middling income or target group that would prefer spending some time away from urban turbulence (Alexandra, 2013). Demographic segmentation This kind of segmentation centers on various features and is pertinent for travel agents to recognize their clienteles when they are planning for a trip. For example; a) Age- tourism firms splits market into three main groups: older generation, adults and young teenagers. b) Sex – women are known to love shopping and men love sports c) Religion – mission or expedition market d) Family status – “ teenager would like to spend their holiday in areas that they get fun and separate from their parent and appreciate independence, and families with small children prefer to spend their vacation in places that provide their children with the necessary utilities, and also enable them to relax under superfluous budget” (Alexandra, 2013). Psychographic Segmentation This category of segmentation is a contemporary approach, which has begun affecting different areas, for example, food, clothing, cars, drink, tourism, perfume, and cars (Swarbrooke & Horner, 2007). This method centers on the inkling that essentials such as lifestyle, opinions, attitude and personalities of individuals aid in defining how consumers behave. For example, socializers will relish hedonistic outing (sun, sand, sea) and on the other hand, hermits will relish spending their holiday on an island far away from crowded regions, whereas spa holidays usually target customers with penchant towards healthy lifestyle. “Finally tourists who are after relaxing trip usually prefer visiting museums and understand the local culture of the country visited” (Alexandra, 2013). Behavior segmentation This approach entails the connection between consumers themselves as well as product. In Swarbrooke & Horner (2007), the method integrates several variables; for example, use status (regular user, first-time user, ex-user, never used), readiness stage (aware, unaware and interested, intent on purchasing, desirous of purchasing, planning to buy immediately); and attitude towards product (enthusiastic, hostile, indifferent). Others include “benefits sought (status, good service, new experiences, economy, make friends, excitement); loyalty to product (none, partial, total); purchase occasion (once-in-a lifetime purchaser, regular purchaser)” (Alexandra, 2013). Instigators in Decision Making Process in Tourism There are various aspects, which motivate consumers to purchase tourism products and make detailed purchase decisions. Consequently, there are two primary groups of motivators: ones that inspire an individual to go for holiday and ones that prompt a person to take a specific trip to a certain destination at a specific time. Motivators can be classified into physical (relaxation, health, sustain), cultural (experience novel cultures, sightseeing), personal (make friends, visiting relatives and friends, need to fulfill others), status (obtaining a big deal, exclusivity), personal development (learning new skills, increasing knowledge) (Alexandra, 2013). Connection between Market Segments and Motivators Different individual have different motivator; different market segments also have different motivators (Martin, 2008). Some scholars are confident that segments are based on demographic method. “They assume that in demographic segmentation tourists are grouped in three primary groups. These are elderly who would like comforting and tranquil activities, parent who are more concerned with ensuring that their children are happy and safe, parents/ guardians who would like to escape from time to time from parental tasks; young people who would like to party, relax, dance, have fun, enjoy their independence, and make many friends” (Alexandra, 2013). Another great role in motivating tourist is illustrated in cultural segmentation. People in the northern European nations as well as northern states of US are always motivated by the necessity to relax and get suntan. Nonetheless, countries that are such as Saudi Arabia or India, they prefer holidays in cold places so that they can escape the heat as well as change climate. Moreover, another example is spiritual holidays. The aim of such a trip is to get spiritual fulfillment, this type of trio is common among Muslims compared to Christians (Alexandria, 2013). Timing of Purchase Decisions in Tourism Motivators vary according to when a decision to purchase holiday is made and the sources they acquire information (Carroll, 2011). Regarding time of purchase, last-minute booking can reflect a desire to get discount, intent to surprise a partner, or response to stress at place of work. On the other hand, vacation, which is booked early in advance, could be because of desire to take part in famous annual or international event, visit friends or relatives or just to have everything in place and control all trip details. Lastly, holidays illustrates a compromise between various motivators, therefore a tourist has two options: to buy services which include partly all motivators which he wants or focus on a dominant motivator (Alexandra, 2013). Factors in the Decision Making Process in Tourism Determinants can be grouped into two main categories: variables that determine whether one will be able to go for holiday and factors, which determine the kind of vacation, providing that the first group of determinants give way to a holiday. Factors can be grouped into external and personal (Alexandra, 2013). Some of the personal determinants of tourism behavior include leisure time, disposal income, health, circumstances, work commitments, family commitments; and knowledge of price differences among contending organization. Others include endpoint, availability of various products; perceptions and attitude: perceptions of tourism organization and destination, political views preferences for specific cultures and countries, attitude to standards of tourist behavior; experience of: different destinations, type of holidays taking trip with specific groups or individuals (Dimanche, 2009). The determinants differ among tourist and will depend with time. Different individual perceive certain factors to be imperative compared to others, based on principles, personalities, past, experiences and fear. Factors also vary in one individual depending on facets such as family state, prior experiences as a tourist as well as change in age. Additionally, personal elements can characterize market prospect for tourist industry (Alexandra, 2013). Since recession has hit many parts of the world administrators are prompted to work hard and expand their products and services. This can be attributed to increased weekend breaks as it can meet the necessities of tourists after short expeditions or would like to have a break from regular work environment. From an economic perspective, it is beneficial for destination tourism (Chon, 2012). Additionally, external factors among tourists are characterized by: political factors – government program and legislature, visa necessities and immigration limitations, terrorism and civil disorders, taxation policy, nature of political system, taxes policy; media – non-travel media (tour operator’s brochures, foreign destinations’ advertising campaigns and travel agent’s special promotions and travel media (promotion through guidebooks and mass-media) ((Alexandra, 2013; Moutinho, 2011). Usually, tourist behavior is driven by external causes or his personal elements, depending on their routine and persona (Woodside, 2010; Alexandra, 2013). People with a lot of interest in outdoor activities, environment as well as social tasks are more talented to deliberate on external influences when they making a decision to buying travel package, whereas introverted persons can be affected by various internal factors. It is worth noting that these factors can be restraints or facilitators through tourists who would like to change their desires and motivations into reality. Determinants that Influence Group Travel Determinants are very multifaceted and vary among groups in which the tourists belong to, whether it is a friend or family. Persons have their own elements, nevertheless in the case of a group its determinants can differ depending on overriding aspects. To realize the demands of a group, it is pertinent to accomplish each individual in the group, which is intricate. According to Swarbrook & Horner (2007), the resolution to this kind of condition is to make a compromise each group members. Conversely, a strong group can have a magnificent determinant, for instance, fear of height, on group members (Alexandra, 2013). In such a state, even though some group members prefer to travel in airplane, some of them will have to be compromised and use different means of transport. Briefly, the last decision is arrived at by considering needs and wants of the majority of the group (Alexandra, 2013). Role of Travel Agents in Consumer Decision Making Process Tourism has a key role of satisfying factors of tourist behavior (Higham, 2011). For instance, it develops products so that it can be able correspond with determinants of some tourist behavior, provides all information required by the potential tourists, develops promotional offers, gives tourist confidence regarding the product being offered and provides possibility to tourist to purchase tourism product on credit basis. Travel agents play an instrumental role towards contributing to growth in the tourism industry. The travel agent act as a link between customers and service producers (Alexandra, 2013). Information provided by travel agents helps in determining holidaymaker expectations. The travel agent has means of creating precursors of failure or success of a holiday. In addition, travel agent focuses on having travel preparations on behalf of contracting entities. Travel agent services can be very pertinent, for example, travel agents have hotel deals, cheap fares, as well as travel advantages that consumers cannot get when they are on their own. Travel agents can be freelancer or part of larger travel agency. Some of the travel agencies specialize in some fields such as exotic travel, business travel or honeymoon arrangements. Furthermore, customers ask for travel agent’s opinion so that they can know what he recommends since he may have useful opinion owing to his previous involvement in the field. Subsequently, travel agent can give their customers a complete package of services which twinsets their demands or the agent can only handle specific trip details, for instance, transportation means or accommodation (Alexandra, 2013). An agent can be instrumental when making decisions since most holidaymakers make choices independently, for wrong reasons, when influenced by different determinants. Therefore, this is when a tourism organization becomes involved; more specifically tourism organizations need to have understanding of mistakes as well as outdated factors of tourist behavior when they are planning any activity (Alexandra, 2013). Information provided becomes instrumental in determining vacationer’s expectations. Travel agencies have means of developing experiences of failure or success of a trip. Thus, unprepared travel agency with inadequate information or gives deceptive advice can determine whether a tourist can buy or avoid the service or further influence or give negative opinion of a tourist’s holiday destination to relatives, friends and acquaintances (Alexandra, 2013). Other External Factors Determining Consumer Buying Decisions Decisions by a consumer to purchase a particular service or product is not only made after recognizing a problem, assessing alternatives, searching for information regarding the product or service but also spontaneously, according to habits, moods and situation. External factors also force consumers to make decisions. Consumer behavior model aid an entrepreneur to understand his consumer better as well as know his selections (Charles Lamb, 2010). A common simplified consumer decision-making process is illustrated by Delta Bitta (1993). The model helps in illustrating consumer decision-making stages by explaining both internal and external factors. Usually, entrepreneurs are interested in having an impact on consumer’s decision to buy in both decision-making stages as well as internal and external channels because it affects their profit and turnover (Charles Lamb, 2010). The key external elements include social class, culture, family, influence group, etc. fundamentally; consumer behavior is influenced by the consumers family. According to Urbanskiene (2000), family structure has an impact on consumer’s behaviors in different ways. Family expenses and needs are dependent on demographic aspects, income, number of family members, ages of family members, average income disposed by a family member. According to Zostautiene (2010), in some nations, a family is closely and very strongly related unit that makes its decision unanimously. When an entrepreneur knows the influence of family on consumer he can easily manipulate family values, appeal to feeling as well as attempt to psychologically convince consumer to buy a particular good or service though it does not meet the requirements or needs of the consumer or it is not necessary to the consumer. Additionally, manipulation by an entrepreneur can be considered to be advertising (Charles Lamb, 2010). Family has a great impact on consumers purchasing behavior since their parent of the family has the son or daughter to purchase a particular product or service since it is good or he has used it before. Family has a great impact on one’s decision-making. Apparently many people today are where they are because of the influence of their family in decision-making. The influence of family members shapes how consumers look at what the market provides compared to what other social effects have on consumer purchasing (Charles Lamb, 2010). After family, consumer’s behavior is the determined by influence group. Influence group refers to person or groups influencing consumption decision on an individual. Members of a group communicate frequently, respect each opinion of other members, and make consumption decision by considering current group opinion. By understanding the relevance of influence group on consumers an entrepreneur can take that chance to sell the product or service that does not meet consumer’s needs. Influence of influence group is felt strongly when advertising. One ought to consider the best alternative when making a decision. In most scenarios there are more than one alternative to choose (Ullman, 2006). This therefore implies that a decision-maker carefully examines available options. A consumer can calculate the cost of making a decision against the projected benefits of the decision. Since, some decisions to buy specific products may look promising but they have little benefit (Charles Lamb, 2010). On the other hand, some decisions to buy particular products or services may be unworkable but they are very viable. For instance, a company may intend to replace its manual labors for automated machines (Griffin, 2006). The cost of automation may appear to be costly compared to what the company spends on payment of its labors. However, the company will be in good position to cut on its costs in future. Some of the benefits may be concealed, for instance, the company will reduce on the amount of work-hours spent by its workers. A company management will have made a good decision by adopting automation consequently, increasing its profits. It is therefore essential for decision makers to select the best alternative (Brezina, 2008). Social classes – this refers to homogenous and long-term hierarchically arranged social classes established based on position in society and they are characterized by similar behavior of members as well as recognized values. Pikturniene & Kurtinaitiene (2010), states that consumers follow purchase parameters typical to their social class. In most cases consumers always feel that they need to be exclusive and belong to a specific social class. Thus, consumers select products/ services that suit their social class. For instance, a consumer can decide to buy Ford vehicle because it has hundreds of large distribution and facilities that are spread throughout the world. It has high employee productivity this helps in low production costs. It has a strong brand portfolio, for instance, in the US the vehicles are mostly used by middle-class people since they are affordable. It was one of the early market entrant as well as oldest car manufacture globally. It has made efforts to go green therefore it is preferred by consumers since it is economical. It produces fuel-efficient vehicles (Mulally, 2012). Ford products are environmental friendly therefore many consumers prefer it. It has diversified its market towards China and India so that it can increase its revenues. It was restructured so that it can improve its performance. There is increasing demand for dual fuel vehicles this makes it sell more vehicles. Culture has an impact on customers buying decisions. The impact of influence on culture on consumption varies. Culture has an impact in determining whether a particular product will sell or not sell in a particular geographical location (Charles Lamb, 2010). Different geographical locations have different cultures therefore what can sold in particular geographical locations does not necessarily mean that will sell in another location. For instance, pork is consumed in most parts of the world it cannot be consumed in the Middle East since Muslims believe that it is a dirty animal that should not consumed. On the other hand, among Christians pig are bred and also consumed as food. Additionally, Asians believe that cow is their god consequently they cannot eat meat while Christian do not have such believes and they consider it to be food. Briefly if a product cannot conform to the needs of the local culture it will have consumers. On the other hand, if a product conforms to requirements of the local society it is likely that the product or service will have buyers. It is significant to note that the influence of external factors on consumers to buy products or services is considerable. By understanding the relevance of external factors to consumers, an entrepreneur can take its take advantage and attempt to influence how they will buy (Charles Lamb, 2010). Conclusion Briefly, the paper has centered on external factors that prompt tourists to purchase certain products or services. The main external factor that prompt tourist to purchase certain products according to this paper is travel agencies. The paper has elucidated how travel agencies can prompt a tourist to order for their products or services. According to the paper it is clear that travel agencies attain this objective by advertising what they offer and what are the benefits of buying their products. 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