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Aims - determining strategies Objectives - what we need to do reach aim Aim The aim is to research and examine the factors that influence consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions to help hotel operations plan in advance during the pandemic

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Aims - determining strategies Objectives - what we need to do reach aim Aim The aim is to research and examine the factors that influence consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions to help hotel operations plan in advance during the pandemic. Objective 1 To understand the role of consumer behaviour in influencing purchasing decisions from an academic perspective Secondary research` 1. Examine articles and research papers by the hospitality industry leaders 2. Examine guidelines and news related to the pandemic provided by swiss government Articles and research papers • Hoisington, A. (2017, May 31). How the hotel industry has changed over the past 20 years. Hotel Management. https://www.hotelmanagement.net/own/how-hotel-industry-haschanged-over-past-20-years. • Martínez, P., & Rodríguez del Bosque, I. (2015). Explaining Consumer Behavior in the Hospitality Industry. Handbook of Research on Global Hospitality and Tourism Management, 501–519. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-8606-9.ch025 • Dudovskyi, J. (2016, August 24). Hilton Hotels Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning - Research-Methodology. Research. https://research-methodology.net/hilton-hotels-segmentation/. • Bashir, S., Khwaja, M. G., Turi, J. A., & Toheed, H. (2019). Extension of planned behavioral theory to consumer behaviors in green hotel. Heliyon, 5(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02974 • COVID-19: Fast-changing Consumer Behavior. Accenture. (2020, April 28). https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/consumer-goodsservices/coronavirus-consumer-behavior-research. • Goldstein, J. (2020, November 04). Council Post: How To Prospect For Sales During A Pandemic. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2020/ 11/06/how-to-prospect-for-sales-during-apandemic/?sh=75b5ee6440fa • Andersen, P. et al. (2021, April 28). Leading Sales Through the COVID-19 Crisis. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/stabilizeincrease-sales-through-covid-crisis Objective 2 To analyse consumer behaviour and what influenced their purchasing decisions through data provided by internal management. List of potential interviewees • Rooms division manager- Evelyne Batur • F&B manager- Didier Ambeau • Accounting & Controlling- Susanne Berger Objective 3 Conducting primary research to understand the relationship between consumer behaviour & purchasing decisions and its application into the operational structure of the hotel. Primary research 1. Competitor insights: profile, pricing strategy. 2. Online survey customer purchasing decision during covid-19. 3. Focus group: small group consumers (if it’s possible) Business model: BCG Matrix: for in the new normal (covid-19 situation) Purchase decision model: to understand the customer behavior The 5 Stages of the Consumer Decision Making Process Thayer’s organizational Communication Model: Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs - organizational/management theory company can be used to understand the different levels of needs. Corporate Finance Institute. (2020, May 13). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - Overview, Explanation, and Examples. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/maslowshierarchy-of-needs/ Theory? 1. Henri Fayol's Principles of Management https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/henri-fayol.htm 2. Mayo's Motivation Theory https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2018/05/mayos-motivation-theoryhawthorn-effect/ Interview? 1. Interviewing Successful Hotel Managers: Peter Hildebrand, General Manager, W Hong Kong https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4064350.html 2. Interviewing Successful Hotel Managers: Michel Goget, GM, The RitzCarlton Sanya, China https://insights.ehotelier.com/news/2013/01/14/interviewing-successful-hotelmanagers-michel-goget-gm-the-ritz-carlton-sanya-china/ 3. Interviewing the GM of Shangri-La Hotel Paris, Stefan W. Bollhalder https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/interviewing-successful-hospitality-leadersstefan-w-bollhalder-lin Table of Contents Statement of Authorship 2 Introduction (500) What, Why, how we doing this project 1.1. Hotel Background 7 7 1.2. Rational (To better organize in advance) 8 1.3. Aim & Objectives 10 Literature Review (3000) 11 Pre & Post covid but focusing on Post covid situation Customer behavior (Pre & Post Covid) - What have been changed Purchasing decision (Pre & Post Covid) - What have been changed Factors that influence customer behavior and purchase decision (Pre & Post) Covid) • 2.1.Paragraph related to the 1st objective 11 • 2.2.Paragraph related to the 2nd objective 12 • 2.3.Paragraph related to the 3rd objective 13 Methodology (1500) • Research Approach • Pilot study • Data Collection Method • Interview • o Individual and focus group interview o Questionnaire Limitation o Interview limitation Analysis, Result and discussion (5700-6000) 1. Results of the interview done via social networking 2. • Current customer behavior • Common issues during pandemic crisis • Previous and future travelling experiences • Previous trends that were identified during the interview • Loyalty program • Last minute booking • Hygiene and Safety Focus group interviews Recommendations Conclusion References Appendix Introduction Introduction The topic of this project was introduced and explained by Hotel du Leman; a hotel that is located in the center of Vevey, Switzerland. The hotel asked us to research and analyze their operational subject related to internal organization and sales. Regarding how to influence the purchasing decision of their customers for offers that allows them to plan in advance during the pandemic crisis, in which the hotel must limit the number of places to guarantee distances. With the restrictions by the Swiss law and regulations, the maximum number of indoor dining spaces must be four people, while outdoor the maximum number is six people with a distance of 1.5 metres. Our research will be done with the latest trends in the hotel industry both pre and post Covid-19, to find out what are the factors influencing the purchasing decision of the customers, what have been the changing trends during the pandemic crisis, in order to attract new guests in the establishment, as well as to cope with the last minute bookings. In regards to the research, our team has conducted both primary research and secondary research. For example, interviews with the client, along with other members of the staff within the hotel in the different departments; Sales and Marketing, Human Resources, Communication, Food and beverage and Front office departments. We have also created questionnaires to send to the hotel clients, specifically to analyze their purchasing habits. In addition, the research that we have conducted will be discovered in the literature review section, and it will be based on the academic literature and hospitality articles. Our team will research and analyze the dynamics of customer behavior, supported by the literature review, based on the hotel’s existing customers. We will explore what factors are attracting both new and existing customers to book in advance, that would also allow the hotel to plan in advance, and deal with the future bookings. This project that we have conducted with Hotel du Leman, will be able to convince more local customers, but also targeting international consumers, which can be a competitive advantage among competitors. Rationale This project has been conducted to improve the internal organization, which can help to understand the customer behavior towards purchasing decision making. By ... Aims and Objectives Aim: The aim is to research and examine the factors that influence consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions to help hotel operations plan in advance during the pandemic. Objectives: 1.To understand the role of consumer behaviour in influencing purchasing decisions from an academic perspective 2.To analyse consumer behaviour and what influenced their purchasing decisions through data provided by internal management. 3. Conducting primary research to understand the relationship between consumer behaviour & purchasing decisions and its application into the operational structure of the hotel. e (Tripadvisor, 2021) Rational (Customer behavior) Rational behavior refers to a decision-making process that is based on making choices that result in the optimal level of benefit or utility for an individual. The assumption of rational behavior implies that people would rather take actions that benefit them versus actions that are neutral or harm them. Most classical economic theories are based on the assumption that all individuals taking part in an activity are behaving rationally. KEY TAKEAWAYS • Rational behavior refers to a decision-making process that is based on making choices that result in an optimal level of benefit or utility. • Rational choice theory is an economic theory that assumes rational behavior on the part of individuals. • Rational behavior may not involve receiving the most monetary or material benefit, because the satisfaction received could be purely emotional or non-monetary. Source: Rational Behavior Definition (investopedia.com) 1.2. Aim The aim is to research and examine the factors that influence consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions to help hotel operations plan in advance during the pandemic. 1.3. Objectives Objective 1 To understand the role of consumer behaviour in influencing purchasing decisions from an academic perspective Secondary research 1. Examine articles and research papers by the hospitality industry leaders 2. Examine guidelines and news related to the pandemic provided by swiss government Secondary research 1. Examine articles and research papers by the hospitality industry leaders 2. Examine guidelines and news related to the pandemic provided by swiss government Articles and research papers • Hoisington, A. (2017, May 31). How the hotel industry has changed over the past 20 years. Hotel Management. https://www.hotelmanagement.net/own/how-hotel-industry-has-changed-overpast-20-years. • Martínez, P., & Rodríguez del Bosque, I. (2015). Explaining Consumer Behavior in the Hospitality Industry. Handbook of Research on Global Hospitality and Tourism Management, 501–519. https://doi.org/10.4018/9781-4666-8606-9.ch025 • Dudovskyi, J. (2016, August 24). Hilton Hotels Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning - Research-Methodology. Research. https://researchmethodology.net/hilton-hotels-segmentation/. • Bashir, S., Khwaja, M. G., Turi, J. A., & Toheed, H. (2019). Extension of planned behavioral theory to consumer behaviors in green hotel. Heliyon, 5(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02974 • COVID-19: Fast-changing Consumer Behavior. Accenture. (2020, April 28). https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/consumer-goodsservices/coronavirus-consumer-behavior-research. • Goldstein, J. (2020, November 04). Council Post: How To Prospect For Sales During A Pandemic. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2020/11/06/ how-to-prospect-for-sales-during-a-pandemic/?sh=75b5ee6440fa • Andersen, P. et al. (2021, April 28). Leading Sales Through the COVID-19 Crisis. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/stabilize-increase-salesthrough-covid-crisis • Oktadiana, H., & Kurnia, A. (2011). How customers choose hotels. Binus Business Review, 2(1), 510-517. • Baruca, P. Z., & Civre, Z. (2012). How do guests choose a hotel. Academica Turistica, 5(1), 75-84. • Chaithanee, W. (2013). Consumer decision making styles in hotel selection in Phuket (Doctoral dissertation, Prince of Songkla University). • Foroudi, P., H. Tabaghdehi, S. A., & Marvi, R. (2021). The gloom of the COVID-19 shock in the hospitality industry: A study of consumer risk perception and adaptive belief in the dark cloud of a pandemic. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 92, 102717. • Li, Y., Yao, J., & Chen, J. (2021). The negative effect of scarcity cues on consumer purchase decisions in the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, 102815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102815 • Objective 2 • To analyse consumer behaviour and what influenced their purchasing decisions through data provided by internal management. List of potential interviewees • Rooms division manager- Evelyne Batur • F&B manager- Didier Ambeau • Accounting & Controlling- Susanne Berger Objective 3 Conducting primary research to understand the relationship between consumer behaviour & purchasing decisions and its application into the operational structure of the hotel. Primary research 1. Competitor insights: profile, pricing strategy. 2. Online survey customer purchasing decision during covid-19. Focus group: small group consumers (if it’s possible) • Literature Review 2.1. Market Segmentation One of the areas of strategic marketing is market segmentation, it occurs when a firm is seeking to take the opportunity in a changing marketplace while linking the diverse components with customers. In order to be successful, the business needs to follow the needs and values of their targeted clients and promote products and services accordingly. Market segmentation is a key concept in modern marketing, and is claimed to be one of the most talked about and acted upon concepts in marketing (Khan et al., 2018). Market segmentation is a concept that was first introduced in 1981 by Quality International (which later became Choice Hotels International Group) in the USA. The result of this group created different product levels of hotel services for customers (Khan et al., 2018). Marketing segmentation has as well been identified to be a theory that can signify activities conducted in a prearranged market, consisting of personal selling, advertisement, making hotel rooms available online, and other types of requirements (Khan et al., 2018). One of the key priorities for each guest in a hotel, are the exceeded services for a hotel to obtain satisfactory levels. Taking into consideration the various hotels available for the different market segments, instructing to classify the hotels so the guest expectations are met (Khan et al., 2018). The marketing procedure of a hotel company owning limited properties needs to be very on point and picking only the options with the best chances. The company will want to emphasize the influence on the tourist's demand, which can include advertising on the size, design, services, amenities, personnel and room rate of the hotel (Khan et al., 2018). Economy hotels, midscale hotels with and without F&B, economy, midscale, luxurious extended stay hotels, and upper scale and premium luxury hotels are the most widely used brand categories of the hotel industry (Khan et al., 2018). With the hospitality industry in further development and the role of branding present, the marketing strategies within the marketing mix have become more compelling than before (Khan et al., 2018). However, there are some controversies taking part, which includes unnecessary challenges to hotel organizations that are finding it complicated to compete in the modern business environment, due to the various brands that are related to a company portfolio (Khan et al., 2018). Hotels having several brands is a mutual marketing method used by hotel chains that are responsible for numerous sub-brands. To hotel organizations and visitors, marketing sub-brands may be challenging, as this misperception can soar due to various hotel brands being valued at distinct levels, while all such hotels are under particular major brands (Khan et al., 2018). Marketers practice the several terms like luxury, premium, five-star, up-market to elucidate the various hotel brands. Hoteliers use various methods like market segmentation, positioning and classification to sell numerous hotel brands at different price points (Khan et al., 2018). This adoption is resumed by groups such as Marriott, Hilton, Accor and Intercontinental Hotel Group. The domination of the major hotel chains in the global hotel market are now owning a share of 80% in the availability of the rooms in the USA (Khan et al., 2018). The use of social media modified customer behaviour analysis and customer relationship management in the hospitality industry, specifically hotels (Ahani et al., 2019). The use of social media has as well affected behaviorism in the tourism industry. Online sites such as TripAdvisor have become quite known in customers’ information search, evaluating and choosing tourism services, as it provides an accredited platform for tourism destinations and findings (Ahani et al., 2019). One of the main sources of data used both in the hospitality and tourism industry, which have been considered nowadays, and are demonstrating a more effective decision-making process are the social media platforms. These help understand and allow to perceive value in electronic word-of-mouth (Ahani et al., 2019). The approach of market segmentation consists in categorizing a marketplace into various segments of consumers with non-identical requirements, features or behaviors, which might demand a variety of marketing strategies (Ahani et al., 2019). This can assist hotels to observe customer preferences and needs, to diversify the strategies for targeted segments, by improving the satisfaction of the clients and increase the revenues (Ahani, et al., 2019). This diagram is highlighting the various categories related to market segmentation and is listing the various factors related to each category. This will allow us to give better ideas when needing to add more information in the literature review, but also go deeper in the research. Demographic segmentation Psychographic segmentation Geographic segmentation Behaviour segmentation Benefit segmentation Purchase Occasion segmentation Usage Incidence segmentation User Status segmentation Usage Rate segmentation Image segmentation Virgillito, D. (2021, February 26). What is Market Segmentation? Market Segmentation Definition. Oberlo. https://www.oberlo.com/blog/market-segmentation. (Ahani, A., Nilashi, M., Ibrahim, O., Sanzogni, L., & Weaven, S. (2019). Market segmentation and travel choice prediction in Spa hotels through TripAdvisor’s online reviews. International Journal of Hospitality Management,80, 52-77. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.01.003) KHAN, M. Y., Hakeem, S. A., & Naumov, N. (2018). THE USE OF BRANDING AND MARKET SEGMENTATION IN HOTEL MARKETING: A CONCEPTUAL REVIEW. JOURNAL OF TOURISM INTELLIGENCE AND SMARTNESS,1(2), 12-23. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329963428. 2.2. Purchasing Decision Customers Behavior According to Morrison (1996), customer behavior is the ways in which customers select, use and behave after they have purchased hospitality and travel services. There two types of factors influence the behavior of individual customers: personal and interpersonal. Personal factors are the psychological characteristics of the individual, whereas interpersonal factors represent the outside influence of other people. Personal and interpersonal influences are at play at the same time. Personal Factors • Needs, Wants and Motivation Customer needs are the base of marketing and satisfying them is the key to longterm success. If there is a gap between what customers have and what they would like to have, then a need will exist. For example, flying business class and staying in the most expensive resort hotel may be based on a need for esteem. Wants are the customers’ desire for specific satisfiers of their needs. For each need, there can be several wants. In order to satisfy the wants, customers need to be motivated. Motives are customers’ personal desires or drives to satisfy their wants. Marketers have to suggest motives to customers involving the use of objectives (Morrison, 1996). The relationship of needs, wants, motivation and objectives Source:Morrison (1996) One of the popular motivational theories is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Below are the samples of Maslow’s needs, the motives and wordings that can be used for advertisement. Maslow’s Needs and the Wording in the Advertisement • Perception Kotler, Bowen & Maken (2006) stated that perception is the process by which individual selects, organizes and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world. People can have different perceptions in the same situations because people as an individual, experiences a stimulus through our five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. When a customer visit a hotel that has a swimming pool, business center, banquet services, fitness and spa facilities, shopping arcades, coffee shop, lounge and fine-dining restaurant, the customer will perceive that the hotel is a luxury-typed hotel. When visiting a hotel that only provides rooms and a coffee shop, a customer will perceive that it is a limited hotel. Why people nowadays tend to book last minutes compared to previously? --use in text citation How hotel can deal with this kind of customer? (last minute booking)- find a model