Executive Summary
Consumer behaviour clearly defines the position of the customers in the market and gives the idea that is needed in order to comprehend with the preferences of a consumer towards a specific product. Market values are important for understanding the expectations of the customers for a specific industry such as the hospitality industry that largely focuses on doing business with people interaction. It consists of the factors that are visible in hotels and other hospitality industries through the kind of customer service that they provide and the level of satisfaction that they meet. Responses to the demands of the customers start initiate loyalty of the customers and thus result to their resistance to change service providers as the brand where they can invest into. Discussion of the market values should be made to be able to analyse and evaluate consumer behaviour more.
Introduction
Looking into a market which is comprised of different individuals that accords to their status and profession depicts a diverse set of consumers. Each individual represents their own characteristics of how consumers act as a buyer in a market and respond toward a particular product. There are ways to determine the consumer differences of a market though and analyse each perspectives according to the implications of the values that the consumers signify in a market. Basically, consumers play a major role in understanding the market values of an organization. As such, Hospitality Industry can be a good example for the evaluation of market values offered in the firm.
The importance of decision making also reflects throughout the concept of consumer behaviour and the influencers with regard to each individual’s role as a consumer (Foxall, 2005). It is largely seen that the consideration of the market values and an extensive comprehension should be done in order to know what market values are offered in a Hospitality Industry.
Consequently, Hospitality Industry are comprised of three sections namely; the management, kitchen workers and the servers. Each role makes sense in developing the organization and maintaining a good operation of the hospitality business. Associating market values in a Hospitality Industry is quite broad because it depicts the behaviour of a consumer towards the industry likewise, market values may mean something different like the prices that needs to be considered in a market. The determination of market value in line with the individual value using different ways of production is difficult to understand taking for account the facts that are needed to identify.
Body
Market Values
Consumer behaviour comes in the way of understanding the values that the consumers seek towards a particular business. Market values that are sought by users, payers and buyers depict the distinction among the roles of each individual in the market circulation. Market values that are sought by the users are more into the sense of looking for a good customer service and meeting the demands of the customers (Haenlein, Kaplan and Schoder, 2006). Payers are more likely the ones who do not concern much about how much they pay but to the core benefits of the product or a service. Market values that are sought by the buyers portray the role of being a good decision maker on choosing which products or services to buy (Foxall, 2005). The distinction therefore among the three is seen on the ways of how they manage to select the products that they want to buy. As a user, the description for it is into the benefit of the product. Explicitly, users are up to the products that will benefit them and respond to their needs and wants. Another thing is, they differ from the payers and buyers because a user directly acquires something for the use of a product needless to say on what purpose it will be. A user can either be an industrial user or an ultimate consumer though. A payer caters to the sense of paying the products regardless of his purpose for paying such products and services and does directly have a relationship with the market. A payer seeks for the market value which is worth the money. A buyer is somehow similar yet different to a payer because it describes the role of a user and a payer. A buyer buys something for a purpose and seeks for a larger scope of market values.
Values are said to be instrumental, dynamic, hierarchical, synergistic, and role-specific and depends on the classification of customers. The diversification of customer values boosts with the hierarchy and depends on the level of each value which are the universal, group specific and individual specific. Universal level caters to the global sense of values that are practices not only applied to a specific group or an individual. Hence, group specific and individual specific level of values pertains to the particular group or an individual consumer that significantly defines the behaviour of the consumers (Cline, 1999). Accordingly, the nine market values are the following; Performance Value which is sought by users, Price Values sought by payers, Service Value sought by buyers, Social Value, Emotional Values, Credit Value, Financing Value, Convenience Value and Personalisation Value.
Being described as instrumental, values create a way for the consumers to give a hint to the organizations what they expect in order to meet customer satisfaction and customer service. It varies and values have their own distinct characteristics that imply a good response by the organizations. Hierarchical means the level of market value which specifies the roles of the consumers in a market. Take for example the purpose of buying a product and the kind of industry where an organization belongs. There is a significant role by which the market values are applied and identifies the role of the consumers in particular. However, distinctions should be made according to the decisions of a consumer and generally adopts the way of providing proper customer values (Haenlein, Kaplan and Schoder, 2006).
Examples of Market Values offered by Hospitality Organisations
Values are also regarded as the end states of a business like customer goals that depicts consumer behaviour. In a hospitality industry, it is very much obvious that customers’ satisfaction is given importance in order to maintain customer as well as target new customers. Also, it is what the customers look for when they enter a hotel, a restaurant and the like. Hotels in particular give a full accommodation that guarantees the satisfaction of a customer and giving the best quality of customer service. In that sense, the level of market value is reflected on the individual where in the hotels pay much attention to the needs of each guests. They exert a lot of efforts through a relatively high standard for service and attempt to be different from any other hospitality industry. This can be done through focusing in the customer values that they provide. For example, Hotel Windsor in Melbourne offers a good accommodation for their guests. Specifically, one of their accommodation strategies includes the pillow menus of the hotel which other hotels rarely prioritizes. Thus, Performance Value which is sought by users is the kind of market values that can be depicted through the Hotel Windsor which highlights the quality or functions of one of their products. This may influence the decision of the guest for checking in the hotel because the expectation of comfortableness is visible. (See appendix I)
In this industry, buyers account for those who buy the services of a hotel for a purpose but it does not mean that they will use it. It depicts the decision of acquiring the services but not the total experience. For example, businessmen buy the hotel service as a venue for staff training and in this case, businessmen are not the direct users of the service. On the other hand, users of the guest are those who directly use and enjoy the hotel services but not necessarily purchased by them. The experience here is direct to the users regardless of the idea of acquiring the service at their expense (Cline, 1999).
Market values that are sought by the users appeal to the industry because this kind of industry prevails be dominated by the services that they offer. Thinking of a specific picture that happens in a hospitality industry, usually the team responds to the needs of the guests in order to get their loyalty (Butcher, Sparks and O’Callaghan, 2001). These industries handle customer value through the making the hotel accommodations of high quality and this becomes a vital strategy of the organization. Hence, values largely trigger loyalty of the consumers toward a company. Offering the values sought by different types of customers result to the start of commitment that customers may give to a particular company as well as a strategy to broaden the target market (Butcher, Sparks and O’Callaghan, 2001). Consumer behaviour is now treated as one of the considerations for the strategic rules in the relationship marketing. Also, the factors on this idea came from the economic evaluation and product quality that a company offers. Particularly, Price Values sought by payers which reveals that a company has reasonable price that the customers can afford in buying something. For example, The Hotel Windsor offers a Melbourne Affair Package which basically relates to the worth that a guest will spend for a room. (See appendix II)
Maintaining the guests through meeting their satisfaction is very important because it develops loyalty. And loyal customers mean more value rather than satisfied customers. Normally, loyal customers are those who do not give more importance to the prices as they seek the values that they expect for an organization in which they have experiences an extraordinary service (Butcher, Sparks and O’Callaghan, 2001). Over time, they refuse to go along with the alteration of service providers and stick to the previous company that they thought made them experience a full accommodation. Through these values, customers now identify themselves with the name of a particular hospitality industry and maintain their personal choice against any other companies.
Hotel managers have to fully comprehend with the value drivers of the guests and assess the significance of the values that are created. Values are determined to be varied as mentioned earlier and it may depend on the purpose of trip, the culture, sociodemographic characteristics, revenue and many more (Cline, 1999).
Conclusion
The market values generally appear to be an important characterization of consumer behaviour which evaluates the relationship of the consumers and the company. Significantly, market values are the drivers for the industries to determine the appropriate strategy to maintain customers and apparently result to the loyalty of each customer. Satisfaction and excellent customer service are the main focus of these values and largely prevails among hospitality industry because they represent a business for people. Quality of products and services are very important for the customers of hospitality industries because it accounts for the total experience that may trigger the buying behaviour of consumers. Consideration of the important levels of market levels should also be put on a highlight because it determines the kind of services intended for a specific group of consumers.
References
Butcher, K., Sparks, B., & O’Callaghan, F. (2001). Evaluative and relational influences on service loyalty. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 12(4), 310–327.
Cline, R. S. (1999). Hospitality 2000—the technology: Building customer relationships. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 5(4), 376–386.
Foxall, G. (2005). Understanding Consumer Choice. Baingstoke. Palgrave Macmillian.
Haenlein, M, Kaplan, A. M., Schoder, D. (2006), “Valuing the Real Option of Abandoning Unprofitable Customers When Calculating Customer Lifetime Value,” Journal of Marketing, 70 (3), 5 – 20.
The Hotel Windsor. Web.
Appendix I. The Hotel Melbourne
One of the Hotel Accommodations that depicts a performance value sought by users.
 The Hotel Windsor Pillow Menu | Pillows are a personal thing. The Hotel Windsor offers a selection of pillows for the needs and comfort of each guest. |
| Aroma Therapy Pillow: If you’ve ever needed a cure for a sleepless night, this is it – a mini pillow filled with soothing herbs such as lavender and rose petals. Simply place it next to your head on top of your pillow and feel yourself drift into slumber. Bath Pillow:A long soak in a steaming bath is the perfect tonic for a night of slumber. Bath pillows will enable total relaxation – careful you don’t fall asleep in the bath! Anti-Snore (Silent Knight):The Silent Knight is the original anti-snore pillow and was the winner of both the silver and bronze medals at the prestigious Geneva Salon of Inventions. What’s more, it is said to stop or reduce snoring in 70% of people. Caress:The pillow that massages you while you sleep! Imagine 600 foam fingertips gently massaging your skin as you move naturally during your sleep. The foam fingers (created from simulated latex) allow free air-flow between your face and the pillow for a refreshing night’s sleep. This pampering pillow also helps to prevent sleep lines. Big V Pillow:Allow the “arms” of this V-shaped pillow to wrap around you and support your head and neck while resting. Big and fluffy – perfect for pillow fights! Feather Light: A tiny fluffy down with small balls which move freely and mould around your neck and shoulders to create a soft feathery feel. Feather Light is non-allergenic – the filling is approved by the Asthma Foundation and the Allergy Association. Firm Feel:This pillow is perfect for extra head support. It features a foam core which provides a firmer feel. Posture Perfect:Total support for your neck and spine. Designed by a leading spine specialist and osteopath, this pillow is designed with a cervical extension to support the vital upper vertebrae of your spine to reduce stiffness and tension. Made from contoured simulated Latex foam. Low Profile Contoured Pillow:If you prefer a lower pillow or usually sleep on your back, this pillow is for you. The two raised sides provide individual contours to fit your neck and shoulders. High Profile Contoured Pillow:Ideal for those who prefer a higher pillow or usually sleep on their side. Also features raised sides to better fit neck and shoulder. |
A hotel package and offer that depicts a price value sought by payers
 Melbourne Affair Package | Traditional rooms from $290 per night, including breakfast for two and valet car parking. |