Assignment

In the course of study E-portfolio Consumer behavior in tourism

Topic: Scientific reflection of the article Holiday taking decisions-The role of spouses by Kozak (2010)

Lecturer: Mike Peters

Author: Boyan Marchev

E-portfolio

Consumer behavior

Marchev, Boyan

Problem statement and research goals Families are examined by practitioners as a group that forms an important aspect of consumer behavior and which represents the basic customer portfolio within tourism, hospitality and in many other industries. It is also stated that families provide the greatest income source for the economy. The problem statement is related to the complexity of the group decision making and namely with focus on families and the nature of relationship between the spouses and how they react in situations where decision should be taken and each of them has a different point of view. It is stated that few scholars researched the influence of decision tactics within a group on the choice of product. The research goals are: the different tactics that occur in the decision making process of families to be investigated when it comes to vacations and dining out, the extent to which these tactics differ in the choice of products from different categories like the above mentioned two and also to investigate whether there is a connection between customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth recommendation and the nature of the decision tactics applied by the family members. The word-of-mouth communication between tourists is examined by researchers to be crucial for the service industries and that is the reason why the author tries to determine whether it is influenced by the other factors (Kozak, 2010; Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1993). The intention of the author to reach the three different research goals using two different products like vacations (infrequently purchased product) and dining (frequently purchased product) and the related interdependencies makes the scientific research outcomes not very reliable. In order for more reliable results and implications to be reached, a different research processes should be initiated to review each of the cases in details and using only one product. The aim of the author to find out the interrelation between the decision tactic applied, the consumer satisfaction and the word-of-mouth recommendation using two different products and one questionnaire seems to too ambitious. Research questions The three research questions are defined to be the same for the two products. A questionnaire is used to obtain the information which includes ten options of decision tactics and statements related to the tactics which respondents can rate on a scale from 1 to 6. The questionnaire is organized in a similar manner for the two different products. An additional section is created to examine the consumer satisfaction and the intention of word-of-mouth recommendation (Kozak, 2010; Su, Fern and Ye, 2003). As the products differ, a different approach to each of them in terms of research questions could deliver more reliable results in this case. The decision making process when planning a vacation and when planning a dinner at a restaurant differs. Nevertheless that the same tactics could be applied by the family members to take the final decision the products are still quite different. The questionnaires are designed on the basis of statements which should be rated and not based on different questions which makes the results subjective as in the decision making process different situations could occur which are not taken into consideration by the author who uses this general approach. Sample size and respondents The sample size of 226 respondents is large enough, but still its representativeness is doubtful about the outcomes of the research. Only married couples are chosen due to the cultural characteristics of Turkey where is not common the people to have children without marriage.

E-portfolio

Consumer behavior

Marchev, Boyan

These cultural differences of Turkey could make the research results not applicable to any other nation or area because of the type of answers given and excluding the couples without marriage. The demographic characteristics of the respondents is another obstacle for the representatives of the sample group as most of them are middle-aged and more than half of the participants in the survey are full-time academic staff and the greater majority possess at least university degree. This is a sample that excludes lots of people who are constantly taking decisions related to dining or going on a vacation. The majority of respondents have been married since 10 years or more which again converts the results into not representative (Kozak, 2010). Conclusion and implications The results of the questionnaire show that Turkish spouses make decisions in cooperation with one another regardless of the type of the product that they choose. Compromise and persuasion appear as the two dominating tactics among the respondents. The study also reveals that cooperative decisions lead to higher level of customer satisfaction with products and higher level of intention of word-of-mouth recommendations. The author states that still lots of research about the topic should be undertaken. In terms of managerial implications, it is stated that the ones ability to determine the influence of decision tactics on the decision of members of small groups like families when they choose a vacation place or place to dine out is an important point for tourism marketing. Service providers within the tourism industry would have better understanding of how conflict-resolving tactics work between partners and can develop strategies or products consistent with the complexity of the decision making process. The major results of the scientific research seem to be the determination of the two most common decision tactics and the conclusion stating that cooperative decisions are related to higher consumer satisfaction and willingness for word-of-mouth recommendations. The implications are too generalized and no particular managerial implication could be pointed out.

E-portfolio

Consumer behavior

Marchev, Boyan

References Kozak, M. (2010). Holiday taking decisions The role of spouses, Tourism Management , 31, pp. 489494. Su, C., Fern, E., & Ye, K. (2003). A temporal dynamic model of spousal family purchasedecision behavior, Journal of Marketing Research, pp. 268281. Zeithaml, V., Berry, L., & Parasuraman, A. (1993). The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 21(1), pp. 112.