Consumer Behaviour - Holiday Destination Choice - Example

Consumer behavior Name Tutor Course Date Consumer behavior Holiday destination choice Part A Introduction Life involves a lot of decision-making process whereby some seems to be less important while others are major and very crucial. The best example of a major decision in life is when a person wants to marry, choosing a wife, career, buying a house, vehicles and so on. An example of a minor decision is like should I buy these goggles? Should I eat a banana? When it comes to making decision on the holiday destination place, a person considers a number of important issues like the cost, weather, and tourist sites and many other things but above all, everything depends on the likes and interests of an individual. The decision may also be based on the personal characteristics of individual(s) and other personal influences such as learning, motivation, demographics, personality, culture and perception (Foxall, 1990). The ultimate aim of this paper is to outline some of the precious holiday destinations in the world where a person can spent the holiday and be contented with the experience. It also looks at the main aim of the tour and the expenses involved. All this are divided into method applied, results acquired, the analysis of the results and the and the recommendations and conclusion. The method employed in this sheet is the identification of the destination areas for six different people, use of decision matrix that gives the precise details of the activities in the field (Hall, 2002). Method Destination Areas Note that there are different types of people with different interests, hobbies and activities. An individual will choose a holiday destination place depending on his, likes and personal desires. The following is a list of different destinations for different people who have different likes and interests. Period Place Activity Events/items December New York Shopping Buying clothes, car, Summer Benidorm, Spain Beach activities Swimming, sand birthing, Summer Caribbean Entertainment Sailing in the Yacht Summer Italy Opera tour Attending the occasion Summer Tobago Island Adventure Sport fishing, tour island, snorkeling, waterfall and rainforest tour Summer England, London General tour Watch soccer, icon sights, west end musical winter Australia, Alps Skiing Skiing A decision matrix A decision matrix is used to show the specific interests and likes of an individual depending on the amount the person has or intends to spend, experiences, adventures, physical activities, the environmental concepts of the region to be toured and the physical and or psychological status. The following is a table showing the decision matrix for different people with the above specifications. Evaluative criteria The Trans-Siberian railway The Inca Trail in Peru Meridian Resort at the Gold Coast An Opera tour in Italy Price(per day) £97 $15 $178-$255 570 € Adventure Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory Acceptable Relaxation Soothing Comforting Soothing Consoling Cultural Experience Wonderful Good Wonderful Good Physical Activity Enjoyable Pleasant Pleasurable Pleasing Eco-friendly Favorable Errand Approval Approval Weather Favorable/pleasant Favorable Pleasant Pleasant Security/safety Safe secure Secure Safe Results Ranking the evaluate Criteria Three participants who attended holidays at different places did the ranking process on the evaluative criteria. The three participants came up with the following ranks. The first participant The first participant enjoyed the trips in all the places in the evaluative criteria. His suggestion concerning the Trans-Siberian railway was very interesting. The picture shows the Metal Truss railroad, Kama River near Perm city in Russia He praised the place greatly beginning with the price, which he said it was a bit cheap (Bryn, 2003). He really enjoyed sitting and relaxing in the train as he enjoyed viewing the lush forests of the Taiga and the train line was amazing as it is one of the world’s famous train lines. Therefore, his ranking on a scale of one to five was four out of five. The Inca trail in Peru was as well a fantastic and pleasurable place to be and this was the participants holiday destination choice (Travel web guide to Peru). It’s combination of lush cloud-forest, subtropical jungle, beautiful mountain scenery and the stunning Inca ruins, paving stones and tunnels were just marvelous. The final destination of the tour was at the Mach Picchu, which is well referred to as the lost city of the Incas. This is what makes the place unbeatable and being on the top five treks in the world. The ranking on it was also four out of five. The picture shows the stunning Inca ruins in South America . The meridian gold coast is one of the luxurious places he had ever gone. Its Meridian Tower luxury beachfront on the southern side of the Gold coast is one place he admitted never to forget. The environment was cool and the beach most fabulous and pleasant place. His ranking on this was five out of five. The Opera tour in Italy was also remarkable and one of the things that impressed this participant was the Scala Opera house, which is very beautiful containing many rooms with different events such as Tuarandot, Romeo et Juliette, Attila among others. These events were mainly drama and acting by the major comedians of Italy (Mervyn, 2005). The ranking on this however was three out of five. The picture shows the famous Scala Opera house in Milan, Italy. Second Participant The second participant also had interesting information concerning these holiday destinations but most of the things he praised are similar to those the first participant praised. For example, under the Trans-Siberian railway he also talked about the amazing train line and the lush forests of the Taiga. His ranking on this was three out of five. Concerning the Inca trail in Peru was the same though his emphasis was on the stunning Inca ruins thus he ranked it at four out of five (Travel web guide to Peru) The ranking on meridian gold coast was three out of five and his praise was mainly on the surfers paradise where he enjoyed the cool breeze and swimming. The picture shows the famous Surfers Paradise of the Meridian Gold coast. Concerning the Opera, he said that the place was not interesting as he thought and therefore he ranked it two out of five (Mervyn (2005). Third participant The third participant was a woman who had the very best information concerning the holiday destination places in the evaluative criteria. Every place was interesting and pleasant to her. She talked about many things concerning these places and therefore she ended up ranking all the sites at five out of five except the Opera tour in Italy where she ranked it at four out of five. Compensatory decision Model The chosen evaluative criteria holiday destination is The Inca trails which all the three participants rated highest. This is because it was the cheapest holiday destination of all and its sites were the best. It is known as the best hike in Peru as it combines stunning mix of lush cloud-forest, Inca ruins, mountain scenery and rich subtropical jungle (Hall, 2002). The place also contains more than two hundred and fifty Orchid species in the Machu Picchu historic sanctuary and various species of birds such as the majestic Andean Condor, hummingbirds and waterfowl. The sanctuary also contains a spectacular bear, which is a very introverted herbivorous animal that is rarely found as it is close to extinction. Indeed this is the best holiday destination that the individual participants would have chosen because it is the most attracting place in comparison to the other sites. Part B Analysis The difference between the compensatory decision model and the holiday destination the respondents would have taken is the sites and activities as well as the price. Personal characteristics leading to holiday destination choices Personal attributes contributes a lot when deciding on a holiday destination. Primarily, cultural beliefs will determine which sites to visit and which ones to avoid depending on the tourist’s beliefs as feeding modes, social ethnics and moral values. Islam’s do not allow free mixing of men and women; in addition to that, they will also avoid areas with pigs and pork. This means that the Islam’s will mostly of the time avoid visiting parks and national reserves that contain the pigs because that it against their cultural and religious beliefs. We also look at the income of the tourist (Barnes, 1945). This will enable the participant to decide on a destination that will suit his or her pocket. Fore instance, a tourist with a low income will choose to visit a cheep holiday destination. On the other hand, a tourist with a reasonable income will tour a destination that he is able to pay. In this context for example, the first participant greatly depended on the price of the site before he chose to go to Peru at the Inca trail. The price was only 15 and this was the cheapest sites of all the five destinations. Therefore, cost matters a lot depending on the status of the pocket of a person. Another very important factor in this case is the attractiveness of the destination and the quality of services offered. For example, the Inca trail in Peru had a lot of attractive sites and at a relatively lower price that really attracts tourists (Hall, 2002). It has Orchid species in the Machu Picchu historic sanctuary and various species of birds such as the majestic Andean Condor, hummingbirds and waterfowl. Other attractive sites include the mountain scenery and the Inca ruins. The quality of services at the destination place also matters. For example when the site contains cool, attractive and luxurious hotel(s) at a relatively lower prices and fabulous services from the employees at the centre, then this place will attract many people. It is important for such hotels to employ attendants and tour guides who are linguistically diverse in that they can speak more than one language fluently especially English. Besides, the family situation is also another dominant factor to be considered before selecting a holiday destination place (Mansfeld, 2010). This is because a family can have like five members and each member has his or her own preference destination, which he or she wishes to visit. This can bring about misunderstanding among the family members. Therefore, a family like that need to sit and decide one place that all of them can be comfortable with. The number of family members also matters in accordance to the family income. This is because a family can have many members and fail to afford to cater for all the members when organizing for a holiday destination place and this can make them end up visiting a place they are not fully comfortable with due to price issues. On the other hand, when the family comprises of two members or so, it can easily afford to visit the place of their choice since the cost of two people is not much as compared to five members. Another thing concerns family relationship in that if the members of the family are not in good terms they may avoid walking together and visiting same destination. When the family is in good terms, it is simple to discuss about the best and suitable place that they can visit together. The choice of holiday destination place may also be determined by the age of an individual. For example, the old people cannot visit a place like the beach because of swimming; they will rather choose cool educative places like historical centers where they do not engage in vigorous activities. On the other hand, the young people will mostly prefer places like the beaches and mountains where they can engage in swimming, skiing, surfing and mountain climbing, which are vigorous activities (Kurt, 2001). Such activities make the youth feel encouraged and socially contented since they mingle with other fellow youths. Therefore, the young men will prefer to visit a place like the Meridian resort especially at the surfer’s paradise where they can swim, surf and enjoy themselves. Conclusion The decision making process is important when it comes to determining a holiday destination place. This depends on the decision matrix of an individual whereby a person evaluates his or her income status, environmental issues, the physical activities and cultural beliefs before coming up with a destination choice. The three participants of the sites on the decision matrix chose their specific destinations based on their income, their interests and likes as well as their hobbies. Therefore, before choosing a destination place, it is important to consider the personal traits before making the decision. This should be accompanied by the environmental situation of the place to be visited like the weather because it may have some negative impacts on the body of an individual. Bibliography Abraham Pizam and Yoel Mansfeld (2010). Consumer behavior in Travel and tourism. New York. Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). Harvard Dictionary of Music, Second Edition. 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