2.4 Consumer Behaviour & Holidays
In this task you consider how consumers approach buying a holiday. You look at some of the theoretical approaches in this area and apply them to the purchase of holidays.
The project will help you:
To recognise the concept of the business organisation operating within the parameters of a changing external environment. * To describe a range of theories related to consumer buyer behaviour and their role in analysing markets * To appraise your own and others’ motivation in the light of a range of theoretical perspectives of how people behave in groups and organisations
Read the case study and answer the questions set at the end.
You have the following help available:
* Lecture slides and your notes from the consumer behaviour lecture in Phase 2 Week 3. * The chapter on consumer behaviour in the textbook
* The additional notes provided with this case
* Lecture slides on referencing
* Material on referencing in the Referencing folder on BREO. * Feedback on how you tackled the Silverjet case study
What We Are Looking For
The best assignments will demonstrate:
* An ability to go beyond simply re-stating what is presented in the case. In particular avoid repeating at length the individual cases set out in the case. * A good understanding of consumer behaviour theory, as presented in the textbook. * A careful reading and understanding of the case study provided * The application of theory (likely to include the FCB grid) to the case. * Accurate and complete referencing. There is no need to reference material presented in the case but the additional notes on the FCB grid should be referenced. * An ability to analyse how consumers buy holidays. Analysis means to use theory to help you explain why something happens as it does. * Clear logical expression.
* Answers directly addressing each of the questions set.
* Work count guidelines are 300 – 400 words each question, totalling 900 – 1200 words for the entire submission.
You submit on BREO before your first pod session in Phase 2 Week 4, which is the first session after the Christmas break.
Remember that we have now covered referencing and plagiarism so you need to meet the rules on this (and all assignments).
Decision-making: an adaptable and opportunistic ongoing process
Adapted from a case study by Alain Decrop, University of Maumur, Belgium in Consumer Behaviour A European Perspective by Michael Solomon, Gary Bamossy, Soren Askegaard and Margaret K Hogg Third Edition FT Prentice Hall
Consumers have traditionally been portrayed as rational and risk averse in their purchase decision making. As a consequence, consumer decision-making has been presented from a problem-solving or information processing perspective. Models such as the Consumer Buying Decision Process (textbook) and the FCB Grid (lecture notes) start from the assumption that any consumer need or desire creates a problem within the individual. The consumer undertakes to solve that problem by deciding a course of action in order to satisfy this need or desire.
An alternative view has seen consumers’ decision-making as a hierarchy of cognitive, affective and behavioural responses (ie the C-A-B sequence).
Within the context of these two main approaches, existing models of holiday decision-making have seen it as:
* a rational process implying high involvement, high risk perception, extensive problem-solving and
* information search and a sequential evolution of plans which starts from the generic decision to go on holiday.
Study of Holiday Decision-Making
The objective of this case is to show how consumer decision-making – within the context of going on holiday – may vary from these traditional models. We followed the holiday decision-making process of 27...
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