Understanding the
Consumer: Travel
Motivations and Buyer
Behavior
Objective: Discussing the meaning of and marketing
implications of buyer behavior for travel and tourism.
Individual Motivations and Buyer
Behavior
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Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying
behavior of the individuals and households who
buy goods and services for personal
consumption.
Individuals make their choices among various
vacation destinations and particular types of
products based on several factors.
It is necessary for marketing managers to
understand how internal or psychological
processes influence travelers.
Understanding needs and wants
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What are people looking for when they visit
different destinations?
Why would a tourist choose to holiday in Florida
rather than Spain – what variables are at work
apart from cost?
Why would he choose to travel with British
Airways, but not with Lufthansa?
Why would he buy an independent inclusive
tour, but not a group tour?
Need Satisfaction Theory
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All consumer purchases, including choice of
travel destination, are made to satisfy a need of
the consumer. The individual has a desire for
something?????
Do people travel just to travel?
People do not travel just to travel. Travel fills
some need in each consumer. Travelers’ needs
differ.
Do we really need?
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Often people talk about what they need, say a
new television set, a new dress, or a holiday. But
do they really need these things? Or are they just
expressing a desire for more?
Due to today’s increased material consumption
patterns, it is becoming difficult to distinguish
wants (e.g. reference group influence) from
needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Self-actualization
(e.g. self-fulfillment, etc.)
Ego needs
(e.g. self-respect, status, success, etc.)
Social needs
(e.g. affection, love, friendship, etc.)
Safety needs
(e.g. security, protection, etc.)
Physiological needs
(e.g. food, water, air, etc.)
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According to Maslow, the more basic needs have
to be satisfied (satisfied according to the needs
of our cultural group) before our interest will
focus on higher level needs.
However, according to Alderfer, and his ERG
(existence, relatedness, and growth needs)
theory, (1) more than one need may be operative
at the same time, (2) if the satisfaction of a
higher level need is frustrated, the desire to
satisfy a lower level need increases.
The Main Motives for Travel and
Tourism
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The psychological or internal infleunces affecting
individuals’ choices are named as motivations.
Motivation for travel and tourism can be categorized as;
 Physical motivations
 Cultural motivations
 Personal motivations
 Prestige and Status motivations
(Mathieson and Wall, 1993)
Physical motivations
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refreshment of body and mind (rest and
relaxation) – beach holidays, lakes and mountains,
etc.;
for health purposes (i.e. either medically
prescribed or undertaken voluntarily) – spas, etc.;
for participation in sports – skiing, canoeing,
safari parks, ponytrekking, etc.;
pleasure, - fun, excitement, romance and
entertainment, to shop.
Cultural motivations
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curiosity about foreign countries, people and
places;
interests in art, music, architecture, folklore –
music festivals, theatre visits, etc.;
interest in historical places (remains,
monuments, churches);
experiencing specific international and national
events - Olympic Games, Oktoberfest, etc.
Personal motivations
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visiting relatives and friends;
meeting new people and seeking new friendships;
seeking new and different experiences in different
environments – sailing etc.;
escaping from one’s own permanent social environment
(i.e. desire for a change)
personal excitement of traveling;
visiting places and people for spiritual reasons (i.e.
pilgrimages)
traveling for travel’s sake
Prestige and Status motivations
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pursuit of hobbies – craft or painting holidays
etc.;
continuation of education or learning- study
tours etc.;
seeking of business contacts and professional
goals – fairs, etc.;
conference and meetings;
ego enhancement and sensual indulgence;
fashion
Model of Buyer Behavior for Travel
and Tourism
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How do consumers respond to various
marketing efforts that the company might use?
The company that understands how consumers
will respond to product features, prices,
advertising has a great advantage over its
competitors.
According to the “model of buyer behavior”,
marketing (4Ps) and other stimuli
(environmental) starts the response model.
All these enter into the buyer’s head (black
box) and then turn into responses as product
choice, brand choice, dealer choice, purchase
timing, and purchase amount.
Process 1 – Stimulus inputs
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The marketing stimuli consists of the 4Ps –
product, place, price and promotion and other
stimuli including major forces and events in the
buyer’s environment (economic, technological,
political and cultural) motivate individuals.
Dozens of tour operators offer holidays
packages in dozens of destinations to attract
travellers’ attention.
Process 2 – Communication
channels
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Both formal communication channels or media
(advertising, brochures, sales promotions, the
internet etc.) and informal information received
from family and friends and reference groups
(word-of-mouth) influence behavior, in other
words, the purchase decision.
Process 3 – Perception filters in the
buying decision process
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Perception may be defined as the process by which an
individual selects, orginizes, and interprets information
to create a meaninful picture of the world.
It is a function of attitudes, motivations, experince and
learning related to a previous purchase.
All the information and stimulus inputs pass through a
perceptual filter. This filter may suppress much of the
information, highligh or distort some parts of it.
A motivated person is ready to act. However, how that
person acts is infleunced by his/her perception of the
situation.
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As a result, in the same situation, two people
with the same motivation may act differently
based on how they perceive the situation. While
one person may perceive the staff of an X
restaurant helpful and friendly, another may find
them unprofessional.
People form different perceptions of the same
stimulus because of three perceptual processes;
selective exposure, selective distortion, selective
retention.
Process 4: Buyer characteristics, the
decision process and motivation
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Perception is largely determined by individual’s
characteristics and attitudes.
The intercation of (1) with needs, wants and
goals, (2) socioeconomic and demographic
characteristics, (3) psychographic attributes
(personality traits), (4) attitudes, and (5)
motivation determine an individual buyer’s
disposition to act in certain ways. They provide
or reinforce the motivation or act as constraints
upon purshase decisions.
Process 5: Purchase
choice/decisions/outputs
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Action on purhases is linked directly to
motivations which is in turn influenced from
buyer characteristics.
Buyers make their decisions regarding which
type of product, what brand, what price, at what
time and though what distribution outlet to
purchase.
Process 6: Post-purchase and postconsumption feelings
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The relationship between consumer
expectations and perceived product
performance determine postpurchase
satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
The experience of consumption will affect all
future attitudes.
If the product is satisfactory, the probability of
repeat purchase and positive word-of-mouth is
high. If the experience is unsatisfactory, the
opposite will occur.
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Consumer learns that satisfaction or
dissatisfaction is associated with that purchase.
Almost all major purchases result in cognitive
dissonance or discomfort caused by
postpurchase conflict. Companies need to take
steps to reduce dissonance.
Useful Links and Sources
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Kotler, P.; Bowen, J. and Makens, J. (1999).
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism (2nd ed.).
Prentice Hall. NJ.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2006) Principles
of Marketing (11th ed.). Prentice Hall. NJ.
Middleton, V.T.C. (2004) Marketing in Travel
and Tourism (3rd ed). Elsevier. Oxford.
http://www.hotelsmag.com
http://www.tourism.bilkent.edu.tr/~eda