Consumer Behavior in Tourism

 

Introduction

Consumer behavior can be defined as how consumer select goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. Consumer behavior is one of the most studied topics in tourism.  In tourism context, consumer behavior can be described as the study of why tourists choose a certain destination and the study of the factors affecting this choice. A tourist destination can be a city or a town or any other place with certain characteristics that attract a tourist. Consumer behavior can be influenced by various factors such as motivation. Motivation factors are divided into two intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsically tourism may be a way for people to satisfy their psychological needs, travelling being among these needs. The intrinsic factors of motivation are the attitudes, perception, value and beliefs and personality of the tourist. Extrinsic factors are the external factors that motivate a tourist; place of origin, family and age, culture and social class and the tourism market.

Geographical factors are another factor immensely affecting tourists’ behaviors, the climatic conditions of tourist destinations which is attributed to the geographical location of the destination can alter the decision making of the tourist (Swarbrooke, et al., 2007). Place of origin also largely influence consumer behavior a lot, for example tourists from North America love following their cultural framework while tourists from Korea and japan love travelling in groups.  The level of education of the tourist is another factor affecting the consumer behavior of tourists, education drives the decision-making process when it comes to choosing the destination (Juvan, et al., 2017). Consumer behavior is a vital aspect in every market, studying consumer behavior in tourism is important in explaining the reasons why different consumers make decisions to visit different tourist destinations.

Personal factors can be regarded as psychological factors, a tourist personality is made up of beliefs, convictions and habits. These characteristics are different in each of them.  Self-Image which is how an individual view themselves has a huge influence on how they behave.  Attitude helps the tourist answer to a tourism product favorably or unfavorably (Tichindelean, et al., 2010).  Perception is a complex process through which people make choices, organize and interpret sensory stimulation into a meaningful picture. The perception of a tourism destination is as a result of the interaction with the incentives of the place such as the shape and color and the factors similar to the tourist’s personality (Cohen, et al., 2014).  Therefore, one tourist destination will be perceived differently by various tourists since they all perceive the destination differently.  Perception improves with time depending on how many incentives about the destination a person perceives and the persons ability to put these stimuli in mind.

Motivations, Lifestyles & Personality

In tourism studying consumer behavior is an important step towards the discovery of the motivations that influence modern tourists. The study of consumer behavior in the tourism industry allows providers to understand the motives of tourists and be able to tailor products that will meet the long-term needs of tourists (Fratu, 2011). Factors that affect tourists’ decisions are dived into; motivation which are the factors pushing the tourist to desire to purchase a certain product; Determinants which are factors that determine the extent to which the tourist is able to afford the product.  Tourism is a product and a service, this is because of the tangible materials that include beds, hotels and food and it also intangible because of the various services. Tourists are the major component of the production process in tourism; therefore, their moods, beliefs, lifestyle and expectations heavily influence their travel experience.

There is a wide range of motivating factors that are tourism related. However, different types of motivators affect various types of tourism products differently.  These motivation factors can be sub dived into two; the motivators that push the individual towards taking a vacation and the factors that push the individual to take a vacation at a particular destination and time (Alvarez, n.d.).  The main factors that determine travel motivators are; personality, lifestyle, past experiences that one has as a tourist from different types of trips, past place of living that the tourist desires to revisit and perception. Life style is a personal factor that affects consumer behavior in the tourism industry, the life style of an individual is composed of interests, ideas and an individual consuming habit. Age is a physical discriminator of consumer behavior. For example, young people do not share the same taste and regards on products and services with the old.  The spending rate of the young is also higher compared to that of the old (Cuculeski, et al., 2015). The profession of tourists also has a great impact on the tourist destination preference.

There are internal and external motivation. For internal motivation individuals view tourism as a way of satisfying their psychological needs and desires such as traveling to different places, exploring new places and ideas, relax and have fun while exploring novelty and capabilities. Intrinsic motivation drives a tourist to opt to choose tourism as a result of intangible reward such as fun and to fulfil other emotional needs (Cohen, et al., 2014). Other internal factors that motivate tourists include, attitudes of tourists, the attitude an individual has is as a result of the knowledge the tourist has about a place. There are also external motives in tourism that influence tourists and pull them towards making a decision. While intrinsic motivation is as a result of the constant desire to have fun extrinsic motivation is as a result of external factors such as money.

External motivating factors include place of origin, the behavior of tourists may as well depend on the place of their origin. For example, in the list of preferential things to do for Indian married women tourism might come last when compared to their American counterparts who favor tourism more (Bhattacharya, et al., 2017).  Family is another motivating factor, family maters when it comes to the structure and the income. In the modern world families with a nuclear structure and earning a double income prefer to travel long distances and extravagant tourism while joint families and families with a single earning member prefer to visit tourist destinations domestically (Kasapi, et al., 2012).  Age is a physical factor as mentioned above and can act as a motivation that influence the behavior of consumers in tourism, for example tourists that fall between the age of 5 to 35 years might prefer to visit destinations such as Disneyland more than senior citizens.

Culture

Culture and social classes can also act as external motivation factors that influence tourists to pick various destinations. Tourists often prefer to visit place with different cultures compared to their places (Horner, et al., 2016).  The ever-changing variables that are constantly altering the tourism market often act as a motivation factor, these market changes include, currency value, political situations and also the economic wellbeing of a nation often goes a long way in influencing the decision of tourists. Social classes are formed as a result of the division that is undergone in the society on the basis of status and prestige. The level of education and one’s occupation are the determinants of social classes (Kozak, et al., 2018). Every social class is different from the other in terms of lifestyle, values, attitudes and perceptions (Cuculeski, et al., 2015). For example, many tourists’ destinations and among them ski resorts have a defined social class orientation. Cultural factors have major impacts on the consumer behavior. Cultural factors have the ability to influence the behavior of consumers through the norms and values set by society, over time culture has been known to influence the kind of cloths people wear and the service and products they purchase. Tourism is a service and culture will heavily influence the tourism activity an individual chooses.

Learning &Socialization

Learning can be termed as one of the factors influencing consumer behavior, in the modern world learning helps one acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of various destination and creates a further potential for human culture. For each individual learning has become much easier and as a result of the vast trends that are as a result of learning there are greater opportunities for tourism customers to gain more knowledge about their desired tourist destinations before they can make the actual visit (Cuculeski, et al., 2015). Socialization is defined as the process of interaction between new member of a society with the old members of the society. During socialization the new members of the society are forced to adapt to the habits, attitudes and norms of the people and embrace the knowledge of the existing members in order to be integrated into the social group of a wider community.  When tourist visit new destination they are the new members  that interact with the original member of the place to adapt their habits, belief, knowledge and norms in order to integrate with the society (Cuculeski, et al., 2015).Socialization plays an important role in influencing the behavior of consumers  in the sense that tourist will choose destinations where they are comfortable and can socialize with the people freely and a destination with people whose beliefs, attitudes and norms tune in with the beliefs, norms and attitudes of the tourists. 

Situational & Economic factors  

In addition to the social, physical and psychological factors affecting the consumer behavior in tourism there are situational factors that also largely affect the behavior of consumers.  The consumer behavior of tourists can also be influenced by the situation they find themselves in. The duration that is between the time a tourist makes a purchasing decision is very influential. For example, the tourists fail to pay much attention to the details when the time to make the purchasing decision is short (Pawaskar, 2016).  The physical environment such as the weather, climate and the beauty of the scenery influences the decision of the consumer when choosing a tourist destination (Cuculeski, et al., 2015). Economic factors also influence the behavior of consumers in all industries. These economic factors include the income of the individual, the price of the tourism products and services and the inflation rate. 

Determinants

Determinants are dived into two; those that determine if someone will be able to go on holiday and those that determine which type of vacation an individual will go on provided that the first set of determinants allow the individual to go on holiday (Pinky, 2016). These determinants can further be subdivided to those that are personal for the tourist and those that are external. The personal determinants include; the state of health, the amount of disposable income, leisure time available, the family and work commitment, the amount of knowledge on has about the tourism product and the availability of other alterative tourism products (Fratu, 2011). These determinants differ in various tourists depending on the time and as a result different individual view certain determinant more important compared to others based on their attitudes, personalities and previous experiences (Moutinho, et al., 2011). The external determinants are political factors, immigrant restrictions, visa requirements, taxation policies affecting tourists, terrorism and civil disorder (Alexandra, 2013). The behavior of tourists is driven by the personal and external determinants and the influence of personality and lifestyle of the tourist.  These determinants facilitate the transformation of motivations and desires into reality.

Tourists also have a tendency of travelling in groups, groups of families and of friends, the determinants of this kind of travelling are complex based on the type of group. While each individual has their own determinant the determinants of the whole group many differ depending on the on the most dominant factors. To satisfy the needs of a group it is important to satisfy the needs of each member of the group which could prove to be quite difficult (Alexandra, 2013). To satisfy the needs of a group the final decision is made by taking into account considerations of the majority of the group.

Leisure Constraints & Negotiation Strategies

Leisure constraints act as the negative determinants that deter a consumer from taking a vacation. Leisure constraints are divided into three intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural. Intrapersonal constrains are made up of the individuals psychological state, the attributes that affect one’s preferences and the attributed leading to the individual’s non-participation. Example of these attributes are; lack of interest, stress, religion and anxiety. Interpersonal leisure constraints occur because if the unavailability of other people to participate with in the leisure activities or as a result of other people not being able to understand one’s leisure preferences (Crawford, et al., 1991). Structural constraints occur by intervening factors between leisure preferences and participation, these factors are lack of time, money, information and access and the lack of opportunity.

 Negotiation strategies can be used to overcome leisure constraints. Having to understand the constraints of traveling is critical to tourism marketers and travel agencies. To overcome intrapersonal leisure constraints the negotiation strategy of changing people’s psychological barriers such as creating and arousing interest in perspective tourist is more suitable and preferred.  For interpersonal it is important that marketers and travel agencies develop package tours for singles, provide information to the consumers about the availability of a variety of holiday opportunities that appeal to different prospective tourists’ friends and families. To overcome structural leisure constraints, it is important to explain the accessibility of a place beforehand. The negotiation strategy of offering short packages and offering cheap trips is also helpful in overcoming structural leisure constraints (Crawford, et al., 1991). Negotiation strategies play an important role in overcoming constraints that deter tourists from taking vacations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the study of consumer behavior in tourism is a complex and vital process for the industry.  It is important to be aware of all factors that influence the behavior of consumers in the tourism industry. This behavior can be influenced by various factors that can be classified as physical, psychological, social and situational factors, these factors can either be motivators or determinants. There are internal and external motivators and personal and external determinants. Motivations, lifestyle, perception, beliefs, attitudes, determinants and culture play an important role in influencing the decision of tourists.  There are also leisure constraints that act as negative determinants that deter consumers from taking vacations. However, there are negotiation strategies that help in overcoming these barriers.  According to the research presented above culture immensely influences the decision of tourists, the culture of the individual influences the beliefs, attitude and even how one perceive things. Economic factors also play a vital part in influencing consumer behavior since consumers make decisions on how much to spend depending on how much they earn.  It is only by understanding the many factors that influence consumer behavior that one can identify an individual need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Alexandra V., (2013). "Consumer Behavior In Tourism And The Influencing Factors Of The       Decision Making Process," Revista Economica, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty   of Economic Sciences, vol. 65(2), pages 186-198.

Alvarez, M. D. (n.d) Consumer behavior in travel and tourism.

Bhattacharya, S., & Kumar, R. V. (2017). A RIDIT approach to evaluate factors influencing tourist             destination brand selection behaviour pertaining to Indian tourism sector. Journal of          Modelling in Management, 12(4), 583-602.

Cohen, S. A., Prayag, G., & Moital, M. (2014). Consumer behaviour in tourism: Concepts,           influences and opportunities. Current issues in Tourism, 17(10), 872-909.

Crawford, D.W., Jackson, E.L. & Godbey, G. (1991) A hierarchical model of leisure constraints.             Leisure Sciences, 13, p.309-320.

Cuculeski, N., Cuculeski, V., & Taskov, N. (2015). The influence of the factors of consumer        behavior in tourism. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.

Fratu, D. (2011). Factors of influence and changes in the tourism consumer behaviour. Bulletin of           the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 4(1), 119.

Horner, S., & Swarbrooke, J. (2016). Consumer behaviour in tourism. Abingdon: Routledge.

In Kozak, M., & In Kozak, N. (2018). Tourist behavior: An experiential perspective.

Juvan, E., Gomezeli Omerzel, D., & Uran Maravic, M. (2017, May). Tourist behaviour: An         overview of models to date. In Management International Conference (pp. 24-27).

Kasapi, I., & Koc, M. (2012). Changing Tourism Consumer Behavior: The Impacts on Tourism   Demand in Albania. Creative and Knowledge Society, 2(2), 16-34.

Moutinho, L., Ballantyne, R., & Rate, S. (2011). Consumer behaviour in tourism. Strategic          management in tourism, 2(2), p83-126.

Pawaskar, P. (2016). Consumer Behavior Analysis in Tourism Opportunities and Challenges for Goa.

Pinky, P. (2016). Consumer Behavior Analysis in Tourism: Opportunities and Challenges for Goa             (Doctoral dissertation, BITS Pilani).

Swarbrooke, J., & Horner, S. (2007). Consumer behaviour in tourism. Routledge.

Tichindelean, M., & Stanciu, O., (2010). CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN THE DIFFERENT         SECTORS OF TOURISM. Studies in Business and Economics. 5. 277-285.