Title: Communication and the Consumer Buying Process
1Communication and the Consumer Buying Process
2Model of Consumer Behaviour
Marketing Stimuli
Other Stimuli
Buyers Black Box
Buyers responsibility
Economic Technological Political Cultural
Product Price Place Promotion
Product Choice Brand Choice Dealer
Choice Purchase timing Purchase amount
Buyer Characteristics
Buyer Decision Process
3Buyers Black Box
4Factors influencing behaviour
Cultural
Social
Personal
Psychological
Culture Subculture Soical class
Reference groups Family Roles and status
Age/Life cycle stage Occupation Economic circumst
ances Lifestyle Personality and self concept
Motivation Perception Learning Beliefs
and attitudes
Buyer
5Factors influencing behaviour
- Individual attitudes are the sum of cultural,
social, personal and psychological influences. - If attitudes can be clustered and size,
accessibility and responsiveness criteria applied
these can be formulated into significant market
segments.
6Factors influencing behaviour
- Communication strategy can be based upon these
substantive consumer segments
7The Tourism Communication Gap
External communications to the consumer
Gap 4
Gap 3
Service delivery and physical presence
Translation into tourism service
Customer Needs
Gap 2
Management perceptions of consumer expectations
Perceived Service
Past experience
Gap 5
Gap 1
Expected Service
Adapted from Parasuraman, Berry, Zeithaml
8Gap 1
- Differences between consumer expectations and
management perceptions of consumer expectations - -Do heritage visitors want education or
entertainment
9Gap 2
- Differences between management perceptions of
consumer expectations and service quality
specifications. - - If the perception is that heritage visitors
want education (when some of them want to
entertained) then specifications for
architectural presentation may be irrelevant.
10Gap 3
- Differences between service quality
specifications and the service actually
delivered. - - How do you ensure that information about
architecture is given accurately by guides.
11Gap 4
- Differences between service delivery and what is
communicated about the service to the consumer. - - Nature of the communication can influence
expected service, actual service and evaluation
of service
12Gap 5
- Differences between the perceived and expected
service - Creates a problem for strategy definition e.g.how
to plan and communicate benefits of air service
to regular business traveller and infrequent
vacation traveller
13Consumer Behaviour
- Consumer behaviour is purposeful
- The consumer has free choice
- Consumer behaviour is a process
- Consumer behaviour can be influenced
- There is a need for consumer education
14Purposeful
- Purposeful but not necessarily rational can be
influenced by non product/service benefits e.g
image.
15Free Choice
- Consumers do not have to pay attention to
marketing communications
16Process
- Marketers must understand the process in order to
influence it
17Influence
- Once the process has been understood (through
research?) communication plans can be evolved
18Education
- Because of the complexity of many tourism
products consumers may need education via
effective communications
19Tourism Communication Mix
Advertising, Public Relations
- Creates awareness
- Creates image
- Strategic
- Difficult to check effectiveness
- General proposition
Tourism Product
Design Features
Consumer perceptions
- Tactical
- More direct link with sales
- Specific proposition
Merchandising, Sales Promotion Direct Mail,
Personal Selling
20Communication Mix
- Depends upon
- Stage in the corporate/operation life cycle
- Target Market
- Competition
- Strategic position including budget
- Social/economic/political trends
21Communicating Tourism Products
- Basic issue - to create a tangible/integrated and
straightforward proposition for the tourism
target market from a complex set of intangibles
22Communication in the Tourism Marketing Mix
Product Design, Packaging
Price Value for money Promotional pricing
Distributors Atmosphere of agencies
Location Neighbourhood Environment
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Personnel Presentation, sales
Customers Ambience
Administrative process Direct communication
23Communication in the Tourism Marketing Mix
- For established tourism organisations the key
marketing issue is to discriminate between
competitive offerings in the market place using
each aspect of the marketing mix as a
communication tool.
24Stages of the buying/decision process
PROBLEM RECOGNITION
INFORMATION SEARCH
EVALUATION
DECISION
POST PURCHASE DISSONANCE
SATISFACTION DISSATISFACTION
BUY
25Problem Recognition
- Consumers preference structure for a tourist
destination is influenced by internalized
environmental factors derived from, cultural
norms, family/reference groups, financial status
and social class
26 Information Search, Decision and Evaluation
- Develops the frame of reference by which future
tourism purchase intentions are established
27Post Purchase Dissonance
- Will determine the extent to which future
purchase of tourism products/services involves
straight rebuy or modified repurchasing behaviour