Social Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour In Tourism

Introduction to Tourism

Tourism can be defined as ‘Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided or individuals or groups traveling away from home’

Macintosh and Goeldner

But however Tourism has no one proper definition but it can be clarified as Mass, Niche and special interest tourism (‘What Is Tourism? A Definition Of Tourism | Lifeasabutterfly’ 2019)

A mass tourism is defined as many people visiting one destination at a time to spend a vacation/ leisure. Mass tourism has grown over time with the help of new technology, Making researching and finding places much easier and convenient for tourist/ potential seekers(‘What Is Mass Tourism Tourism Essay’ 2016).

And there are two different types of tourism which are domestic tourism and international tourism. Domestic tourism plays a main role in tourism, domestic tourism refers to when residences in a country travel to one place to another within the country, it can be a family vacation to different regions of the country or even the same region. International tourism means flying to another country, it can be for a family vacation, leisure,for business matters and etc.

Introduction to Consumer behaviour

In the modern society a consumer’s behavioural pattern (buying behaviour) and decision-making process is mainly guided by social factors. Factors such as family members, groups of various sorts, social networks, word of mouth influence and buzz marketing and role and status are highly influencing a consumers’ behaviour.

Nicole (Skubal 2017) states “As of 2010, the global travel industry contributed 9.2 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. People travel for work, to visit family and friends and for pleasure. When it comes to making choices about where and how to travel, multiple factors influence travel and tourism consumer behavior.”

Social factors affecting Consumer behaviour in Tourism

Religion, Ethnicity, Family and children, Physical attributes, Economic status, Education, Locality, and the political system are more demographic, physiological and social factors which may affect a tourism consumers’ behaviour.

Social factors, such as culture, family or social level have a great influence on behaviour because they define the individual.Culture refers to traditions, taboos,values and basic attitudes of the whole society within which an individual lives. It is a framework in which individuals and their life-styles develop. Cultural norms can be defined as rules of behaviour. Family, with its moral, religious, political norms, is the social factor with the highest impact on an individual. The preferences, for example for sport or culture, for resting or movement, for risk or safety, all develop in the family. It influences a child’s perception of the world, and this influence lasts to adulthood. In a family, attitudes and opinions regarding different forms of tourism, destinations, tourism agencies etc. are very easily transmitted.

An individual’s needs are likely to change as he or she goes through life. For example, an individual moving from a bachelor stage to one with small children makes the individual to reconsider its priorities, reflecting a different set of needs.

An individual’s behaviour is influenced by the phases of the family life cycle.

Figure 1 : The influence of life cycle on tourism consumption.

URL:http://webbut.unitbv.ro/BU2011/Series%20V/BULETIN%20V%20PDF/20%20fratu%201%20BUT%202011.pdf

Family members are more of an internal source for a customer to gather information about a product or a service which will more likely influence his/her buying behaviour. It is also a more direct approach. Example: Son asking for recommendations of a travel agency his parents have used before to go on trips to Bangkok.

Online social networks may be the largest place/space which is most likely to have a high influence on a consumers’ behaviour as people not only have access to product information, but also reviews and ratings made by customers who have used the product before, therefore influencing the consumers behaviour which results in lesser doubts of the product or service. Example: Facebook page of a travel agency which has a five-star rating and a 98% guaranteed customer satisfaction voted by customers themselves.

Word-of-mouth influence and buzz marketing are quicker and somewhat impulsive in a consumers’ buying behaviour. Example: Friend influencing you in a mall after passing a travel agency’s discount board saying you should buy this package as he heard it’s a once-in-a-lifetime great offer.

Role and status of a consumer are key internal factors which has the biggest impact within him/herself as it brings out the desired standard of a product/service expectation which impacts consumers behaviour heavily. Example: Coming from a rich status family background the consumer might seek for the best of the best, therefore when it comes to a travel package, he/she would prefer a “Gold package” instead of a “Silver package”.

As we can see a Consumers behavioural pattern also relies on social factors as explained above.

Figure 2 : Explaining social factors in decision making

URL : https://www.slideshare.net/TANZEELABDUL/factors-affecting-consumer-behaviour-grade-11-marketing-project-66736038

In tourism, consumer behaviour is one of the most researched areas where it shows as to why a person chooses a specific travel destination and what are the factors which helps influence his decision to do so. A major factor as we discussed, being the social factor immensely alters tourist behaviour. “A few social factors such as a person’s social network, which provide first had information that can alter a person’s decision of visiting or not visiting a particular place.”(‘Tourism Management – Consumer Behavior – Tutorialspoint’ 2019).

Through Social media and the internet, people have more instant access to view reviews and opinions about travel destinations and accommodations worldwide, airplanes and car rental agencies etc. Nowadays, more and more people tend to turn to the internet to research about potential travel destinations and seek out the best offers and bargains. Thus, social media and the internet can influence the tourism consumers behaviour and travel choices.

When tourists wish to visit a place they first look at some key factors, especially when travelling with families and children. This can vary from checking if the desired location has political instability and if its a common place of drug abuse and crime related activities are taken place. Naturally, the majority of the people choose to omit such tourist locations as the consumer behavioural patterns compare and contrast many factors and comes to a sensible decision. Travel and tourism can also affect the rights of human beings in a certain area as certain levels of interactions with the tourists

There are also positive advantages to having tourists visiting a community. The economic gap between rich and poor gets reduced due to the visit of tourists in a particular area. Tourists who get good treatment in the community to spread awareness and the social outlook also gets changed due to tourism. As most of the tourists travel to be away from the chaos it is an opportunity for the hosting community to make an enjoyable experience.

Another aspect of tourism that has a negative influence worldwide is the problems associated with child labour. Children are often employed in hotels and other food processing industry associated with the tourism industry in certain areas of the world.

Buying process of a tourism consumer;

Problem recognition – Mr. X cannot think of anywhere to go with wife and kids in the upcoming holidays.

Information search – Mr. X visits an online site of a travel agency and looks at offers for travel packages.

Evaluation of alternatives – Mr. X looks online for the best choice along with the reviews and ratings of other customers.

Purchase – Mr. X purchases a family package trip with flights and accommodation to Bali for 6 days.

Post purchase evaluation – Mr. X and family is satisfied with all facilities and experience provided by the travel agency.

References :

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