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Understanding the consumer
Chapter 3
© Hudson & Hudson. Customer Service for Hospitality & Tourism
‘At Your Service’ Spotlight: Joe Nevin – Bumps for Boomers
Ski For Life™
o Senior travel market
• Lucrative and unique (e.g. not tied to seasonal travel)
• Growing - 115 million 50+ in the US by 2020
• Zoomers (boomers - born between 1946 and 1964) with zip
o Aspen location
• Luxurious resorts (e.g. sidewalks with underground heating)
o Tailored training techniques
• Peer groups and age-peer instructors
• Skiers grouped by pace
• Best practices
• Personal touch (visit each group of students)
Service providers and expectations
o Customer expectations• May vary within a sector (e.g EasyJet vs. Singapore Airlines) • May change over time
o Includes three components• Expected service• Desired service• Adequate and predicted service
o High quality service
• Expectations meet or exceed expectations • Customer loyalty
Figure 3.1
EXPECTED SERVICE
Desired Service
Zone
of
Tolerance
Adequate Service
Personal Needs
Perceived Service Alternatives
Self-Perceived Service Role
Situational Factors Bad Weather Catastrophe Random Over-Demand
Perceived Service
Explicit Service Promises Advertising Personal Selling Contracts Other Communications
Implicit Service Promises
Tangibles Price
Word of Mouth Personal “Expert” (Consumer
reports, publicity, consultants, surrogates)
Past Experience
Predicted Service
GAP 5
Factors influencing customer expectations of service
Customer tolerance and delight
o Zone of tolerance• Extent to which customers willing to accept variations
in service • Tolerance levels may vary over time• Service outside range results positive or negative
reactions
o Customer delight• Positive affect resulting from unexpected pleasure,
elation• Exceeds customers’ expectations to a surprising
degree • Does not necessarily lead to loyalty.• Effective for connecting emotionally with consumers
Customer experience
o Physical environment e.g. Ambience, multisensory impact, space and function, signs and symbols
o Human interaction
e.g. Service consumption in the presence of staff and other customers
o Personal characteristicse.g. Cultural differences
o Trip-related factors
e.g. Social and intellectual needs versus physiological needs
Blueprint for Overnight Hotel Stay
Arrive at
Hotel
Give Bags To
Bellperson
Check-in
Go to Room
Receive
Bags
Sleep
Shower
Call Room
Service
Receive
Food
Eat
Check Out and
Leave
Process Check Out
Deliver Food
Deliver Bags
Process Registration
Greet and Take Bags
Take Bags to Room
Take Food Order
Registration
System
Prepare
Food
Registration
System
Hotel Exterior Parking
Cart for Bags
Desk Registration Papers Lobby Key
Elevators Hallways Room
Cart for Bags
Room Amenities Bath
Menu Delivery Tray Food Appearance
Food Bill Desk Lobby Hotel Exterior Parking
Line of Interaction
Line of Visibility
Line of Internal Interaction
(On
Stag
e)
(Bac
k St
age)
SUPP
ORT
PRO
CESS
CO
NTA
CT P
ERSO
N
CUST
OM
ER
PHYS
ICAL
EV
IDEN
CE
Figure 3.3
Snapshot: Welcoming the world at the London
Olympics‘‘…we can effect a cultural change in the perception of the warmth of the UK welcome, which currently lags far behind other countries’
o The People 1st Training Company mandated• To train the 70,000+ volunteers • Address bad publicity (e.g. 2011 riots)• Tradition of poor service (e.g. second-class occupation)
o World Host™ provided ‘toolkit’ • Modules e.g. service across cultures • Workshops ‘beyond service with a smile’• Holistic customer service delivery
Importance of emotions
o Provides opportunity for differentiation
o Consumption emotions have an impact on behavioral intentions (e.g. Word of mouth)
o Consumers often highly emotional and intuitive in behaviors
o Measures of consumer emotions
• Consumption emotion scale
• Perceived service fairness
• Service personnel’s appearances, attitudes, and behaviors
• Positive displays of emotions predict consumer emotions
• Cognitive theory of emotions
Brand-infused causal loyalty model
Figure 3.4:
Experience points
Brand essence
Rational motivation Emotional motivation
Loyalty
Business results
Finding the causal pathways
Operationalizing the findings
Impact of rational and emotional motivation across regions
Figure 3.5
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
North America Latin America Europe Asia Total
Impact of rational motivation Impact of emotional motivation
Impact of rational and emotional motivation on B2C and B2B
Figure 3.6
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
B2C B2B Total
Impact of rational motivations Impact of emotional motivation
The Lovemark Grid
Figure 3.7:
RESP
ECT
LOVE
lovemarks High Love
High Respect
BRANDS Low Love
High Respect
FADS Low Love
Low Respect
PRODUCTS High Love
Low Respect
Understanding cross-cultural differences
Human culture is generally defined as the meaning and information system shared by a group and transmitted
across generations
o Five dimensions of cultural variability Hofstede (2001)
• Individualism Versus Collectivism
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Masculinity
• Long- Versus Short-Term Orientation
o Cultural globalization, Western consumption and lifestyles
o Important cross-cultural differences for customer service remain
Global trends in consumer behavior
o Experiences• Services as stage, goods as props, to create memorable
event o Ethical Products
• Responsible tourism as a significant trend
o Health-Consciousness• Influence of the baby boomers
o Customization
• Personalized vacations o Convenience and Speed o Service Quality
• Differentiate services, products and build competitive advantage
Case Study: Bruce Poon Tip, G Adventures
‘‘….I launched G Adventures with the belief that other travelers would share my desire to experience authentic adventures in a responsible and sustainable manner.’ o 4 levels of service
• ‘Basic’ - authentic, local • ‘Standard’ – in keeping with destination• ‘Comfort’ - upgraded• ‘Superior’ - topnotch
o You Only Live Once program
o Life-time deposits o Bear-an-Tee
