Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism
This group project is being developed for HTM3121 - a level 3 subject at the School of Hotel & Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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REMEMBER
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SUGGESTED TABLE OF CONTENT FOR THE PROJECT REPORT
You need to covert your Wiki Project into a printed report for submission. The report should be type-written in 12-point font and 1.5 line-spaced. It should not exceed 20 pages (approximately 5,000 words). The report should be properly referenced by using APA format. You should include a cover page indicating the name and student ID number of all group members, date of your presentation, and the title of your project. The report should be numbered. Your report should be printed and stapled on the top left corner with the cover page on top. If you choose to bind the report, please use ring-binding on the left hand side of the document. Please DO NOT put your report into clear plastic folder.
The following are the suggested content and organization for your report:
1)Executive summary: This is a one-page document summarizing the study, the theories being applied, and a highlight of the important findings. [THIS NEEDS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO OTHER STUDENTS AND YOUR TUTOR DURING THE DAY OF YOUR PRESENTATION. PLEASE MAKE ENOUGH COPIES FOR DISTRIBUTION.]
2)Introduction: This section provides background information about the project and specifically describes the objectives of the study.
3)Theoretical background: This section presents the theoretical background of your study by summarizing results previous studies on the particular topic understudy. What are the similarities and differences of the results of those studies? How are they related to your study?
4)Methodology: This section describes how the study was being conducted and what was being studied. This may include information about the research approach adopted, population and sample of your study, instrument you used to collect the data, data collection method, and the data analysis methods. Limitation of the study should also be acknowledged.
5)Findings: This section will allow you to present the results of your study. You can make use of tables, charts, and diagrams, etc. to illustrate the results.
6)Discussion and conclusions: Based on the findings of your study, discuss their relationships with similar previous studies and the managerial implications. Provide recommendations for marketers and managers. Make sure the recommendations are relevant and supported by the results of your study.
7)Reference: Provide the list of references you have used in this study.
8)Appendix: This section includes relevant supporting material such as questionnaire you used in the study, photographs of the location of your study, etc., newspaper cuttings related to the topic of study, etc.
Working with your team
From PolyU Learn to Learn Guidelines [1]
1. Set ground rules
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It is important that the group members agreed on the following:
- What ground rules are necessary?
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You will find it very helpful to review the group process regularly, e.g. every two week or every month
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Why are we asking you to do your own assessment?
- To deepen your learning experiences by helping you to evaluate and assess your own work and the work of others
- To give you a deeper understanding of SHTM assessment processes, in particular Criterion-Referenced Assessment
- To help you become a more independent learner by developing the skills of reflection, evaluation, review and assessment
- To help you develop Management skills, as evaluation and assessment are an important part of the manager's skillset
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In many disciplines, student numbers have grown, and with large class sizes tutors are hard-pressed to maintain the quality and quantity of feedback which they once used to give to students about their tutor-assessed work. While feedback from fellow-students may not be as authoritative as from an expert tutor, there is much to be gained by having a lot more feedback. When a large amount of peer feedback is combined with a restricted amount of tutor feedback, students can benefit from both quality and quantity.
HOW SHOULD YOU PEER-ASSESS OTHERS?
Here are the assessment criteria:
A. Assessment of project by tutorial group and by tutor
Your tutorial group and tutor will assess your project using the following criteria:
- Very well-organized - with a clear structure, headings, logical arrangement and cohesive.
- Extensively covering the issues, and a thorough discussion of the issues
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- Your conclusions or recommendation should be very clear and well-supported by factual arguments.
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You will assess your team members using the following criteria:
- How well your team members initiated tasks and produced new ideas
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YOU NEED TO SUBMIT YOUR PEER ASSESSMENT REPORT TOGETHER WITH YOUR WRITTEN REPORT. PLEASE REFER TO YOUR SCHEME OF WORK FOR THE ASSESSMENT FORM.
Introduction
1.1 Background
Hong Kong has experienced a dramatic growth of international visitors in recent years. According to Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) total visitor arrivals were 25.2 million in 2006, in 2007 the number had reached 28.2 million, the total visitor arrivals in 2007 experienced 11.6% increase from 2006 (HKTB, 2007). Thus, tourism industry is very important to Hong Kong, it is one out of four key industries in Hong Kong economy contributed approximately 3.2% of total GDP (Census and Statistic Department, 2006).
Tourist behavior keeps on changing by various attributes such as motivation, past experience and attitude. Understand that behavior is determined by the individual’s intention to act, which in turn is determined by the individual’s attitude towards the behavior and his or her subjective norm (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). When apply this theory to tourism industry, tourist’s attitude towards the behavior and subjective norm is important for their revisit intention. Therefore, this study aimed to examine inbound tourist revisit intention to Hong Kong and to investigate how attitude toward visiting Hong Kong and subjective norm influence their revisit intention.
1.2 Problem Statement
Repeat visitation is essential for most destinations since it represents an attractive, cost-effective market segment. In 2005, 85% of total visitors intended to revisit Hong Kong again in future, the proportion changed to 90% in 2007 (HKTB, 2007). According to Lau and McKercher (2004), repeat visitors not only represent source of revenue but also act as information channels that unsurprisingly link network of friends, relatives and other potential travelers to a destination. This showed that repeat visitors play an essential role in the development of Hong Kong’s tourism industry. Therefore, it is significant to study the attitude of travelers towards Hong Kong and their revisit intention. Failure in understanding visitors attitude and revisit intention would resulted in deciding inappropriate marketing strategy for destination which would have a consequence of wasting of resources and time for Hong Kong tourism development.
1.3 Objectives:
1) To investigate traveler’s attitude towards visiting Hong Kong by applying the Theory of Reasoned Action Model
2) To identify the similarity and differences of tourist attitudes and how they are formed
3) To compare the important of traveler’s attitude with the influence of significant others on their revisit intention
4) To provide insight to destination marketer and tourism service provider based on findings
Literature Review
In order to have a deep investigation of tourists’ attitudes towards visiting Hong Kong, the Theory of Reasoned Action model has been applied and tested. This model is used to show tourists’ attitudes, possible external influences, and the relationship with behavioral intentions and behaviors. Besides, the Theory of Planned Behavior model is a similar model but added the variable of perceived behavioral control in an effort to predict intentions and behaviors (Albarracin, Johnson, Fishbein & Muellerleile, 2001). In the following, these two models will be discussed.
2.1 Theory of Reasoned Action
The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was developed to predict and understand individual behavior in a social context (Yu & Wu, 2007). TRA is a well-established general theory of social psychology which asserts that specific beliefs influence behavioural perceptions and actual behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). According to TRA, behavior intention is the immediate antecedent of an individual’s execution or carrying-out of a piece of behavior (Yu & Wu, 2007). Besides, TRA specifies that behavioural intention is a function of two determinants: a personal factor termed “attitude toward the behaviour” and a person’s perception of social pressures, termed “subjective norm” (Yu & Wu, 2007).
Attitudes are made up of the beliefs that a person accumulates over his lifetime. Some beliefs are formed from direct experience, some are from outside information and others are inferred or self generated. However, only a few of these beliefs actually work to influence attitude. These beliefs are called salient beliefs and they are said to be the "immediate determinants of a person's attitude" (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980). Moreover, an attitude is a person’s salient belief about whether the outcome of his action will be positive or negative. If the person has positive salient beliefs about the outcome of his behavior then he is said to have a positive attitude about the behavior and vice versa.
Furthermore, subjective norms are beliefs of what others will think about the behaviour. It is the perception that important others think that one should or should not perform the behavior in question and is typically measured by items such as “People who are important to me” (Yu & Wu, 2007). Besides, it is important to note that subjective norms are formed only in relation to the opinions of persons considered to be significant or important.
However, the TRA has some limitations. For example, the greatest limitation of the theory is from the assumption that behavior is under volitional control (Taylor, 2001). The theory only applies to behavior that is consciously thought out before hand. The irrational decisions, habitual actions or any behavior that is not consciously considered cannot be explained by this theory (Taylor, 2001). Moreover, to overcome the problems aroused by the theory, Ajzen proposed the Theory of Planned Behaviour.
2.2 Theory of Planned Behavior
Theory of reasoned action was criticized to be too narrow; since most behaviors are not voluntary (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993). Thus, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is an extension of Ajzen and Fishbein’s TRA. Its main goals are the prediction and understanding of human behavior (Huh, Kim & Law, 2008). This theory is the same with TRA except for the addition of the Perceived Behavioral Control component. Perceived Behavioral Control refers to one’s perception of control over the behavior and people's perceptions of their ability to perform a given behavior. Also, it reflects an individual’s perception of internal and external constraints on behavior (Ajzen, 1991). With the inclusion of this new factor, TPB proposes that perceived behavioral control can influence behavior directly (Albarracin et. al., 2001). Furthermore, people with higher perceived control are more likely to form intentions to perform a particular action (Albarracin et. al., 2001).
Attitude towards visiting Hong Kong
Overall speaking, all respondents possess positive attitude towards visiting Hong Kong, mostly because of the convenience transportation system and friendly attitude of Hong Kong people, however, some of them also has negative attitude towards Hong Kong as a travel destination, and the main reason are serious air pollution and overcrowding.
4.1 Similarities and differences of attitude towards visiting Hong Kong
Although all respondents show their positive attitude, similarities and difference can also be found from what aspects makes them has such positive attitude.
i. Convenience transportation When asking about what they like about Hong Kong as a travel destination, except respondent F, rest of respondents expressed their feeling that transportation system in Hong Kong is very convenient, make them easily to reach to the place they want to go. For example, as suggested by respondent A and D
“…I can get to most of the tourist spots by public transportation…”
“…it’s easy to get around in HK by using different means of transport…”
Respondent B and C further explained why they think transportation in Hong Kong is convenient.
“…Every Where I go I can travel by MTR, Its connection is very convenience…”
“…convenient to get around with taxis and subways….”
A destination with convenience transportation is very important to tourist since they have no or little knowledge about a new destination, convenience transportation helps them to get to a place they want to go easily. Beside, convenience transportation also means that attractions in a destination are highly accessible which means help they to save time and go to more places they want to go, at a result, positive image of destination will be developed. The answer of respondents shows that they are satisfy with the transportation and therefore also implicate them developed positive image towards Hong Kong as a travel destination.
ii. Friendly local people Apart from convenience transportation, the friendliness of Hong Kong people towards tourist also is appreciated by respondent B, C, D and H. For example, as suggested by respondent D and H
“…people here are nice and friendly. They will help you when you need help…”
“…local people and they have kindly told me that they are willing to help me…”
Respondent B and C also suggested why they think Hong Kong people are nice to them
“…Hong Kong people are good in communication in English… “
“…a lot of people could speak English…”
As discussed before, tourist has no or little knowledge about a new destination, information provided by local residents is very important to them. On the other hand, the process of tourist asking information to local people and local resident deliver information to tourist means that there are interaction between tourist and local resident, according to King and Jago (no date), this interaction is able to enhance tourist travel experience and therefore produce positive image. From the respondents’ answer, since they think Hong Kong willing to offer help to tourist and even can use English to interact with tourist, then positive image towards Hong Kong produced.
iii. Variety in shopping and dining Among all respondents, A, C, D, E and H shows their agreement in Hong Kong having great variety in shopping and dining, like what respondent A said
“…I have tried out different kinds of food, not only Chinese food but Asian such as Thai, Indian food and I have tried Western food here.”
Respondent D also expressed her positive feeling about shopping in Hong Kong
“…I can buy things easily because there are shops everywhere…”
Indeed, although diversify in tourism product is very important for the sustainability of Hong Kong tourism to compete with destinations nearby like Macau, Hong Kong is still a shopping and dining paradise for many tourist. From the report of Audit Commission released in 2007, in order to retain the position of shopping and dining paradise, HKTB spent over HKD23 million for Shopping Festival in 2006.To attract more tourist to shop and dine in Hong Kong, HKTB already did very well in terms of promotion and other affiliate policy like Quality Tourism Service Scheme also being implemented for a long time. Great choice of shopping and dining and quality assurance policy not only shows Hong Kong is a multicultural and reliable city, but also create positive image towards HK as a travel destination by tourist.
Although all respondents show their positive attitude towards Hong Kong as a travel destination, negative attitude also held by some respondents simultaneously and their suggestions are quite different.
i. Serious air pollution When asking what they don’t like about Hong Kong as a travel destination, respondent B and H also shows their concern in the air quality of Hong Kong.
“…it has been polluted comparing with other countries.’
“…The air quality is poor from all the pollution…”
According to the survey conducted with tour guide by Friend of the Earth in 2006, 38% tour guide received comment from tourists that air pollution in Hong Kong is serious (Friend of the Earth, 2006). Many news reported that Hong Kong people feels air quality is poor, it’s not difficult to imagine tourist cannot take it. A campaign for improving air quality in Hong Kong ‘Action Blue Sky’ has been launched for 2 years since 2006, but respondents still have feeling of poor air quality, does it implicating Hong Kong still not done enough for improvement? And therefore respondents developed negative image in this aspect.
ii. Not nice to mainland Chinese tourist One of the respondents is come from mainland China, and she reported that she was treated impolitely by Hong Kong people.
“…Not every person nice to the people from mainland China…”
Hong Kong is a multicultural city, but for mainland Chinese, it seems like not welcome by some of Hong Kong people, the respondent did not further explain how she was treated impolitely but if this is really a case, her answer is implicating there was a possibility for the respondent was discriminated by Hong Kong resident. Good interaction between tourist and local people can enhance tourist travel experience, but for bad interaction between them, it’s not difficult to guess the tourist will develop negative imagine towards a destination.
4.2 The formation of tourist attitude towards Hong Kong as a travel destination
According to the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), attitude towards the behaviour is base on consumers’ beliefs about the consequence engaging in the behaviour and the consumer’s evaluation of these consequences. When applying in the question of whether respondents visit Hong Kong or not, it means that their impression about Hong Kong before they make a visit and what their expectation while traveling Hong Kong will create an attitude whether they will visit Hong Kong.
To investigate how respondents create their attitude towards visit Hong Kong, first of all, analysis of whether they have positive or negative impression before they visit Hong Kong will be conducted.
i. Positive impression (belief) about Hong Kong When asking about their impression about Hong Kong before they make a visit, among 8 respondents, 3 respondents was impressed by Hong Kong is a shopping paradise, 6 respondents reported that they think Hong Kong is an international, lively and multicultural city and also 2 of them recognized the beautiful night view of Victoria Harbour.
Answers of respondent shows that their impression of Hong Kong is mainly comes from what they can see and play in Hong Kong, which match with the promotional tactic of HKTB, also, all their impression about Hong Kong is positive, which create a favorable condition for develop a positive attitude with their evaluation of expected outcome while traveling Hong Kong which will discuss about in the next.
ii. Expectation on travel to Hong Kong
Regarding what they expect to do when travel to Hong Kong, 4 respondents expressed they want to do shopping here, 3 of them want to go Disneyland, 5 respondents shows they want to know more local culture and make local friends and 2 of them want to enjoy great variety of cuisine in Hong Kong.
From their response, what they expect to do is quite similar with their impression about Hong Kong and what they expect will be seen in Hong Kong are also positive. However, since ‘attitude’ in TRA model not only formed by tourist belief and their evaluation of outcome while traveling Hong Kong, but the ‘attitude’ itself also consist the meaning of cognition which means their experience also affect their attitude towards visiting Hong Kong as well. Since all respondents reported that their expectation has been met and they all also has positive image about Hong Kong as a travel destination as discussed in first part, together with their positive belief and positive expectation, therefore, base on the TRA model, it can be concluded that all respondents has positive attitude towards visiting Hong Kong.
Subjective norms
Subjective norms mean a group of people which is important to you, such as friends and family. Subjective norms whether is important or not is determined by is there any significant other, and how much and how important that people listened to their subjective norms opinions and whether it motivated them to took their referents’ opinions into consideration.
According to the interview result, subjective norms play an important role in the decision making and planning process. Among 8 interviewees, 5 of them showed subjective norms were important, 1 said very important, 1 though quite important and only 1 said no influence. For the interviewee said no influence, she will come to Hong Kong no mater her friend will come here or not, so her plan to Hong Kong was not influenced by anyone. For the interviewee said significant other was quite important, she also listened to her significant others’ opinions, but she was the one to motivate her significant other to come to Hong Kong.
Regarding to the interviewees said important, they will listen to their subjective norms and took their opinions into consideration when planning the trip. For some interviewees, they had friends and relative lives in Hong Kong, so they asked their advice and even their subjective norms plan the itinerary for them.
Moreover for the influences in future revisit intention, all the interviewees revealed they will come to Hong Kong again. However only 3 of interviewees showed that they will come to Hong Kong because of subjective norms or they will put the subjective norms under consideration when planning revisits Hong Kong. 2 of the them said they will come to Hong Kong again but need to see whether their boyfriend have time to go later and 1 interviewee said she will come to Hong Kong to visit her friend. The rest of the interviewees will come to Hong Kong again based on they have positive attitude and not influenced by significant others.
Subjective norms also play an important role in the future revisit intention, however based on the result, attitude is more important than significant others. Therefore, it can conclude that, revisit intervention is because interviewees has positive attitude and subjective norms weighted little influence.
Theory of planned behavior
When asking whether they will revisit Hong Kong again, all respondents show they have this intention as discussed in part 4, however, their intention not only affected by their attitude towards Hong Kong and subjective norm , there are also other factor influence their intention that Theory of Reasoned Action model (TRA) could not fully explain. Like what respondent H said
“…I’m already 70 years old, I don’t know whether I’m physically capable to visit Hong Kong again.”
Respondent H’s concern is his physical condition constraint which obviously out of the influence of attitude and subjective norm, in order to offset the narrowness of TRA for only measure one’s attitude and subjective norm, then Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied to illustrate respondent H revisit intention and his health concern could be classified as ‘perceived behavioural control’.
Implications
After knowing that traveler’s attitudes towards visiting Hong Kong play more important role in revisit intention than significant others, the majority of the implications applied in this chapter would mainly focused on how destination marketers reinforce positive attitude and how negative attitudes could be improved. It would be more reasonable for destination marketers to create positive attitudes by enhancing visitor’s impression and meeting their expectation. Therefore, the implications below mostly would be related to impression creation and enhancing visitor’s actual experience.
7.1 Comprehensive guidebook of 18 Districts
With reference to the result of the interviews and findings, nearly all the respondents stated that they enjoyed shopping and food in Hong Kong. Actually, Hong Kong is famous for its shopping and gourmet paradise. Many tourists are attracted to visit Hong Kong mainly for shopping and enjoying the food in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is suggested that Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) should strengthen the existing superiority of Hong Kong and cooperate with different local parties like District Council to promote the dynamic images of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong should promote its dynamic images. Since there are attractions, shopping center and traditional as well as international food in different parts of Hong Kong, HKTB can cooperate with the 18 Districts Council to do promotion. Recently, some of the districts are finding their own unique attractions and food stores to do promotion to tourists as well as locals by themselves. They formulated a guide book including all the attractions and traditional and local food of the particular district. It is successfully implemented by providing a useful guide to tourists and locals to explore the unique things in different parts of Hong Kong.
Therefore, it is suggested that HKTB can cooperate with the 18 Districts Council by adopting the concept which some districts are currently using. Each district should find its own unique and distinct attractions, shops and food stores and input into the guide. After summarizing all 18 districts information, the booklet can provide a comprehensive guide for tourists to explore different parts of Hong Kong. As a result, tourists may not only visit the main tourist spots in Hong Kong like Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay etc. They can really experience the local culture. Also, the guide book can suggest the traveling methods in order to teach people how to reach certain places. It can be another way for tourists to explore and experience different traveling experience in Hong Kong too.
7.2 Enhance eco-tourism in Hong Kong
Based in the findings, most of respondent mentioned that Hong Kong is quite polluted comparing with other destinations. This problem might be out of destination marketer’s hands as it needs the public contribution and government’s action. However, this could be done by improving the negative image of Hong Kong in term of air pollution in order to enhance visitor’s impression about Hong Kong. At the same time this could change the basic motivational function of tourist as Hong Kong has only been seen as a famous metropolitan city and its major attractions are commonly shopping and dining. This could be done by delivering messages to tourist that there were a numerous of interest and a vast of eco-tourism-based activities developed and organized in Hong Kong.
Hawkins (1994) mentioned that the main factors contributing to the boom in eco-tourism included an international consciousness of global ecological realities, the desire among a rapid growing and relatively affluent segment of the industrialized world’s tourist to have nature-based experience, and the developing world’s conviction that natural resources are finite and must be conserved for future generations. HKTB should take a consideration in promoting eco-tourism seriously in order to reduce the image of serious air pollution in Hong Kong and on another hand diversify its tourism products. Corporations of government with local tour operators and oversea travel agents could be made to organize extensive itinerary related to eco-tourism. Moreover, education can be another way to support eco-tourism by providing more guidance to travel agents and environmental organizations. For example, a comprehensive and compulsory training course can be provided to train and develop professional eco-tour guide who are seriously lack of in Hong Kong. As a result tourist may find more confident and value for money in joining ecotours in Hong Kong.
7.3 Strengthen cultural learning activities promotion
Lee and Pearce (2002) stated that people with high travel experience level gave more emphasis to motivations such as self-development through host-site involvement and nature seeking. Whereas people with less travel experience stressed other factors namely stimulation, romance, nostalgia, security, recognition, self-actualization and personal development (Lee and Pearce, 2002). Therefore, people have less travel experience will be more likely to join all-inclusive package, itineraries includes sight-seeing with shopping and dinning probably could fulfill their needs and wants. However, as more and more people traveling nowadays and increasing travel experience. Mr. Steve Huen, executive director of EGL Tours Company limited stated that traveling become a necessity instead of luxury goods (Career times, 2008). Also in order to attract tourists revisit Hong Kong, it is not strong enough only selling Hong Kong as a shopping and gourmet paradise and it might no longer cater their needs and wants.
In regard to the interview result, it was found that majority of the interviewees visit Hong Kong because they think Hong Kong is a multi-cultural city so they would like to explore and experience the culture. As high travel experience tourists would like to have host-site involvement. Participate in local events and festivals, providing learning experience such as simple cooking class, tea culture class could be appealing to the high travel experience travelers.
According to Hong Kong Tourism Board, they actually do provide cooking class, Feng Shui class and Tai Chi class etc., to the tourists. However it is not well promoted, tourists might not know about it or they need to have some research to find it out. It is suggested that Hong Kong Tourism Board would strengthen this kind of promotion, not just promoting Hong Kong is a Shopping and gourmet paradise, tourists would also have a cultural learning experience as well.
Conclusion
To sum up, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) is appropriate and could be applied in hospitality industry. With reference to the result, subjective norms play an important role in decision making and planning process. Also, it showed that visitors’ future revisit intentions are mainly based on whether they have positive or negative attitudes, subjective norms have relatively less influence. Furthermore, the result of this finding is matched with the previous studies discussing that intention is driven by attitudes to a greater extent than by subjective norms (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993).
However, TRA has limitations that it is from the assumption that behavior is under volitional control which means attitudes and subjective norms are not enough to explain the individual behavior and there maybe other factors will affect the behavior as well. Therefore, the Theory of Planned Behavior was developed.
According to the result, similar reasons to visit Hong Kong and both positive and negative attitudes toward traveling to Hong Kong were identified. Positive attitudes including they enjoyed shopping and dining in Hong Kong. Whereas negative attitudes consist of air pollution and overcrowded. Consequently, implications and recommendations were drawn out to enhance positive attitudes and reduce negative attitudes. The implications consist of enhancing eco-tourism, strengthen the promotion on cultural learning activities and develop a comprehensive guidebook for tourists.
Finally, it is hoped that findings and implications will give some insights to the tourism marketers to develop Hong Kong as a preferred destination.
References
Ajzen, I. and Fishbein, M.(1980), Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,Inc.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 50 (2), 179-211.
Albarracin, D. Johnson, B. T. Fishbein, M. & Muellerleile, P. A. (2001). Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior as Models of Condom Use: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Personality, 127 (1), 142-161.
Audit Commission ( 2007 ). Hong Kong Tourism Board: Planning, execution and evaluation of marketing activities. HongKong: Audit Commission
Census and Statistic Department. (2006). The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy. Retrieved Nov 25, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hong_kong_statistics/four_key_industries/index.jsp
Eagly, A.H., and Chaiken, S., (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Harcourt Brace and company, Orlando.
Friend of the Earth (2006). Air pollution harming tourism, poll warns. Retrieved 15 October 2008 from World Wide Web : http://www.ecotourism.org.hk/other%20files/News/Tourism_pollution.htm
Hawkins, D. (1994). Ecotourism: opportunities for developing countries. In Theoblad, W. (Ed.), Global Tourism: The Next Decade (pp.261-273). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hong Kong Tourism Board. (2008). Cooking class. Retrieved 15 October 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/touring/experiences/ta_expe_138498.jhtml
Hong Kong Tourism Board. (2007). Hong Kong Tourism Statistics in Brief 2007. Retrieved Nov 25, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://partnernet.hktb.com/pnweb/jsp/comm/index.jsp?pageContent=%2Fjsp%2Frso%2Frso_pub.jsp&charset=en&rso_cat_id=3633&rso_doc_sort=from_date+desc#3633
Huh, H. J. Kim, T. & Law, R. (2008). A comparison of competing theoretical models for understanding acceptance behavior of information systems in upscale hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28 121-134.
King, B & Jago, L (no date). A Tale of Two Cities : Urban Tourism Development and Major Events in Australia. Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Research. Victoria University.
Lau, A.L.S., & McKercher, B. (2004) Exploratory versus acquisition: A comparison of first-time and repeat visitors. Journal of Travel Research, 42(3), 279-285.
Lee, U-I. & Pearce, P. L. (2002). Travel motivation and travel career patterns. In Proceedings of First Asia Pacific Forum for Graduate Students Research in Tourism, 22 May, Macao (pp. 17-35). Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Ocean of opportunities. (2008). Career times, February 15. Taylor, B. (2001). The Theory of Reasoned Action. Retrieved November 26, 2008 from http://www.ciadvertising.org/student_account/fall_01/adv382j/brent/yes.html
Yu, T. K. & Wu, G. S. (2007). Determinants of Internet Shopping Behavior: An Application of Reasoned Behaviour Theory. International Journal of Management, 24 (4), 744-764.
1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
Hong Kong people usually travel outside Hong Kong for the main purposes of leisure and relaxation as Hong Kong is a fast-paced city and people easily suffer from high working pressure. To travel outside, all-inclusive package tours are the most popular travel mode for Hong Kong travelers (Mok and Armstrong, 1996). Most of the Hong Kong travelers purchase the all-inclusive package tours by the travel agencies. And every individual has different decision making on purchasing the package tours by different travel agencies. The most common decision making process which includes three steps: (1) need recognition; (2) prepurchase search, and (3) evaluation of alternatives (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007). It is important to know the consumers’ decision making process recently as the marketing managers of the package tours needed to understand the consumers’ behavior to cater the fast changing needs and tastes of the consumers in Hong Kong.
1.2 Problem statement
As the all-inclusive package tours are still the major travel mode taken by most of the Hong Kong outbound travelers, it is necessary to understand the selection criteria towards making decision on purchasing an all-inclusive package tour. Previous studies investigated the selection criteria that Hong Kong residents use to select outbound package tours in 2002 (Wong and Kwong, 2004). However, no previous studies are found to specifically investigate the decision rules the consumers used. Besides, the consumer decision making towards the package tours is always changing. It is going to know the consumers’ decision criteria and how they come up the decision to purchase the package tours in recent years. In this study, it will be focus on finding the criteria the consumers considered when making the decision on a purchase of leisure all-inclusive package tours and determining the decision rules the consumers used to choose the all-inclusive package tours. Therefore, a qualitative in-depth interview to 8 people who have the experience of making a purchase of leisure all-inclusive package tour will be used. A better understanding of the selection criteria and the prevailing decision rules allows the tourism marketers and travel agencies to have a better marketing and promotional strategies. By doing this study, the travel agencies not only can tailor-make more effective marketing strategies to cater for the Hong Kong travelers’ preferences in selection criteria, but they can also enhance their competitiveness and the attractiveness to lure the existing and potential customers joining the all-inclusive package tours as well as gain much more profits.
1.3Objectives of the study
The specific objectives of this study are: (1) to examine the decision making criteria in purchasing a leisure all-inclusive package tour; (2) to determine the decision rules used by the consumers; (3) to compare the decision rules used by the consumers and (4) to provide suggestions to the marketing managers of package tours in tourism industry.
2. Theoretical background
The theoretical background is divided into two parts. The first part provides the definition of terms. The second part summarized the criteria of choosing all-inclusive package tours.
2.1 Definition of Terms
2.1.1 Consumer decision rules
Consumer decision rules have been classified into two categories including compensatory and non-compensatory decision rules. In the following, compensatory decision rules mean a consumer evaluates brand or model options in terms of each relevant attribute and computes weighted or summated score of each brand. The computed score reflects the brand’s relative merit as a potential purchase choice. The assumption is that the consumer will select the brand which scores highest among the alternatives evaluated. A unique feature of a compensatory decision rule is to allow a positive evaluation of a brand on one attribute to balance out a negative evaluation on some other attributes. Unlike the compensatory decision rules, non-compensatory decision rules do not allow consumers to balance positive evaluations of a brand on one attributes to balance out a negative evaluation on some other attribute. There are three non-compensatory decision rules including conjunctive decision rule, disjunctive decision rule, lexicographic decision rule and affect referral decision rule. The definitions and meaning of the following rules are quoted from Schiffman and Kanuk (2007).
Conjunctive decision rule
The consumer establishes a separate, minimally acceptable level as a cutoff point for each attribute. If any particular brand or model falls below the cutoff point on any one attribute, the option is eliminated from further consideration. The conjunctive rule can result in several apply an additional decision rule to arrive at a final selection.
Disjunctive decision rule
The disjunctive rule is the ‘mirror’ image of the conjunctive rule. In applying this decision rule, the consumer establishes a separate, minimally acceptable cutoff level for each attribute (which may be higher than the one normally established for a conjunctive rule).
Lexicographic decision rule
A lexicographic decision rule, the consumer first ranks the attributes in terms of perceived relevance or importance. The consumer then compares the various alternatives in terms of the single attribute that is considered most important.
Affect referral decision rule
A simplified decision rule by which consumers make a product choice on the basis of their previously established overall ratings of the brands considered, rather than on specific attributes.
2.1.2 All-inclusive package tours
All- inclusive tours are standardized, quality-controlled, reputable offers comprising transport, accommodations, food, destination attractions, other facilities, and services that are sold to consumer as a comprehensive package for a single price (Fay, 1992, Middleton, 1994).
2.2 The criteria of choosing all-inclusive package tours
Since the majority of outbound travelers in Hong Kong purchase all-inclusive package tours through travel agencies, it is important that marketing managers of travel agencies realize what criteria are used by prospective outbound travelers to select these package tours.
Price is a major consideration for people to select all-inclusive package tours. Quiroga (1990) agreed that price is a factor to be considered in the evaluation process before prospective travelers make their final decision to purchase. Some unusual factors affecting purchase decisions include operating hours, assistance during non-business hours, availability of evening services, early-bird or group/family discounts (Heung & Chu 2000; Kendall & Booms 1989), and the hidden costs in the total cost of a trip (Burke & Resnuk 1991). Touche Ross (1975) stated that overall convenience and tour economies are the most frequently cited reasons for travelers purchasing a package tour.
Apart from the price, there are still many factors will influence people when they purchased package tours. Travelers normally expect package tours to be the best method of seeing as much as possible combined with comfort, scenery and experienced tour guides (Duke & Persia, 1993). Some previous studies also found that it is reasonably assumed that travelers on all-inclusive package tours prefer high-quality restaurants, accommodation, transportation, guided tours, and visiting attractions and scenic spots (Heung & Chu 2000, Hsieh, O’Leary & Morrison 1993– 1994, Philips & Webster 1983, Quiroga 1990, Wang, Hsieh & Huan 2000). Enoch (1996) indicated that a package tour is a rational and effective way for tourists to visit the largest number of sites on a trip in a given period, to travel in a relatively safe way to faraway countries with strange cultures, to avoid unreliable transportation and doubtful standards of hygiene, while being usually less expensive than taking an individual trip to the same destination.
Departure date is a concern for people in choosing the package tours. Dellaert, Ettema & Lindh (1998) noted that tourists may be restricted by holidays when choosing the period in which to travel; therefore, it is difficult to alter a tourist’s travel schedule if he/she is traveling in a group, in which timing is mutually agreed upon. Dellaert et al. stated that a guarantee of a promised departure date for the tour is very important for the participants of the tour. Similarly, Quiroga (1990) indicated that a traveler’s choice of tour package depends on the convenience of the departure dates. With convenience in planning and departure dates, economic pricing, friends’ recommendations, and the desire for specialized activities and experience, tourists can literally sit back and enjoy their trips by taking package tours (Cohen, 1972; Middleton, 1991; Hsieh, O’Leary, & Morrison, 1992, 1994; Liberson, 1994).
Previous studies have found there to be a significant relationship between perceived quality and company image (Gronroos 1982, 1984, Lam & Zhang 1999, LeBlanc 1992). Conceptually, an image is an overall impression of a company perceived by customers based on the evaluation of characteristics deemed important by them (Kotler 2003). Heung and Chu (2000) have found that interactive agent quality, formal communication, overall convenience, pricing, product features and image affect customers’ perception of a travel agency in Hong Kong. A survey conducted by Holiday Which (2001) showed that accommodation, convenience of travel arrangements, value for money, brochure description and services of a representative are the five important considerations for consumers choosing their tour operators.
3.Methodology
In this research, a qualitative approach, an in-depth interview was being used in analyzing data. A total of 8 interviewees completed the interview. The data collected in the interviews would then be interpreted and analyzed.
Firstly, a screening question will be asked the interviewees that if they have purchased the all-inclusive tour package for their most recent purchase experiences to ensure all interviewees are qualified. Then, a total 10 questions (shown in appendix 1) in the interview are guided by a checklist of questions which ensure the consistency and reliability. Those questions are set neutral as to prevent influence or leading effect on the interview. The interviews are open-ended took on “a life of their own” rules. Interviewees were selected by convenience sampling method. During the interview, interviewees are encouraged to talk and express their views, feelings, opinions and experiences. The data are hoped to show the in-depth insight of their decision rules on purchasing their all-inclusive tour packages.
The data will be analyzed by using content analysis. Data given by the interviewees will be summed up and categorized. Data display in a tabular form is used to identify and categorize information obtained. All interpretation is based on the information given by the interviewers at the interviews.
4. Findings
The demographic profiles, the most recent trip profile and the process of interviewees’ decision making will be summarized and described by using tables in the followings. Then, a number of decision making criteria and other external influences affecting in the consumers’ decision making will be summarized and described from the interviews with eight interviewees.
4.1 Demographic profiles of the interviewees
The following table summarized the demographic profiles including age, gender, marital status, educational level, occupation and annual household income of eight interviewees.
4.2 Most recent trip profile of the interviewees
The following table summarized and described the most recent trip profile of eight interviewees. It included the people who accompanied you in the most recent trip, travel agency chosen and the all-inclusive package tour purchased.
4.3 The Process of interviewees’ decision making
It is found that all interviewees had their travel needs’ recognitions and they had pre-purchase search before making the package purchasing decision.
For the need recognitions, all interviewees stated that they travelled for leisure or personal interest. All interviewees searched the information by external search such as friends, family, travel agents, newspapers and internet.
4.4 Decision making criteria of the interviewees
From the interviews, it is found that the following criteria (i) price, (ii) itinerary, (iii) accommodations, (iv) meals, (v) transportation, (vi) departure date and time, (vii) Hotel facilities, (viii) reputation and brand of travel agency are the main criteria affecting them to make the decision in purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
i) Price
Interviewees A, B, C, E, F and G considered the price as one of the criteria in their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee A said that price was the least important factor affecting her to purchase the package and the price must be below HK$6,000.
Interviewee B said “price is less important” and the package must be below HK$10,000. Interviewee C said that price was the chief consideration when purchasing the package and stated that the package tour must be below HK$2,800.
Interviewee E said that she highly concerned about the cheaper price of the package which was below $3,000 and she purchased the package because she said the price was the cheapest among other travel agencies.
Interviewee F considered price as a factor in decision making process but she said that the price of the package she purchased was higher but other items in the package were generally better.
Interview G considered the price as a factor in purchasing the package. As she said she needed to pay the package by herself, she would like to choose the package tour as cheap as possible.
ii) Itinerary All interviewees considered the itinerary as one of the criteria in their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee A stated that “the itineraries are very important for me!” and “the tourists sports must be satisfied my need and want. If not, I won’t choose the package”. It can be seen that she considered itinerary as one of the factor affecting her to purchase the package.
Interviewee B said that she needed to consider the itinerary which could fulfill her son’s needs.
Interviewee C considered itinerary as a decision making criteria but she said that it was not the major consideration when she purchased the package tour. Also, she stated that having free time in the itinerary was needed when making the decision on the package tour.
Interviewee D said that she did not think that the itinerary was a main concern but she mentioned “the tour must include admission fee to the attractions”. It showed that she also considered it as a factor for purchasing the package.
Interviewee E considered itinerary as a criteria in decision making. She said “the itineraries of most of the travel agencies were more or less the same” and she said that the itinerary including the attractions and activities were those she wanted to visit and was interested in.
Interviewee F also considered itinerary as a decision making factor and she wanted to have the itinerary with more attractions each country in the package tour.
Interviewee G said that itinerary was one of the important factors in choosing the package. She mentioned that she would choose the package with more attractions and activities.
Interviewee H said that itinerary was an important concern in her decision making.
iii) Accommodations
Interviewees A, B, C, E, F and H considered the accommodations as one of the criteria in their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee A said that she really concern the quality of accommodation when purchasing the package tour. Interviewee B also concerned the accommodations and the hotel facilities in the tour.
Interviewee C said that “clean room is okay”. It showed that she considered accommodation as a factor in her decision making.
Interviewee D mentioned “simple room is alright”. It can be seen that she also concerned accommodations when purchasing the package.
Interviewee E considered the accommodations that she mentioned 3-star hotel rooms were alright in the package.
Interviewee F stated that she preferred the hotels with higher quality and 4 to 5-star hotels in the package. It showed that she considered it when purchasing the package.
Interviewee H said that she cared the comfort and the accommodation environment of the hotel.
iv) Meals Only Interviewees D & F mentioned in the interview and considered meals as one of the decision making criteria.
Interviewee D said that “all meals must be included in the price” and it showed that she regarded it as a decision making criteria.
Interviewee F considered the meals provided in the package tour as she mentioned the “the lunch in Wing On Travel was not provided every day in tour but the other one provided all meals every day”.
v) Transportation
Interviewees A, B, F and H considered the transportation as one of the criteria in their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Both Interviewee A and B said that she really concern the airline used in the package when purchasing the package tour.
Interviewee F considered the airline used in the package. She stated that she chose British Airways as it was a famous airline and she thought it is better because she usually took British Airways to travel.
Interviewee H mentioned that she concerned the reputation of the airline included in the package as she thought that it would affect the safety and service quality of the airline.
vi) Departure date and time Interviewee A, B, C and E considered the price as one of the criteria in their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee A said that “the departure date is important element for me” when making decision.
Interviewee B said that “the departure date must be in between 25 March to 10 April 2008” and showed that she considered it as one of the decision making criteria.
Interviewee C pointed that “the tour must leave Hong Kong early and return at evening hours”. It can be seen that she purchased the package with this factor.
Interviewee E considered the departure time in her decision making. She mentioned that she could has much more time to hang around, have sightseeing and go shopping when the plane left Hong Kong in the morning and departed in the evening included in the package.
vii) Hotel Facilities
Only interviewee B considered the hotel facilities as one of the criteria in her decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee B mentioned that the hotel facilities must be provided with Spa services and Hot Spring.
viii) Reputation and brand of travel Agency
Interviewees C, G and H considered the transportation as one of the criteria in their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee C said that she chose travel agency with good reputation.
Interviewee G stated that she would only choose the travel agency with a longer operational history that would enhance her confidence of purchasing tour package.
Interviewee H thought that the reputation and the brand of the travel agent that might affect can the quality of the package and services provided by the travel agency. 4.5 External Influences affecting in consumer decision making
i) Family and friends influences Interviewees A, B, D, F, G and H had the family, friends and colleagues influences to their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee A said that she would listen to their friends and family’s advices or recommendations of the package.
Interviewee B considered opinions from friends and family would also affect her to purchase the package.
Interviewee D mentioned that her husband influenced me a lot because he is the decision maker.
Interviewee F pointed out that my friends and colleagues referred two package tours to her before making the decision.
Interviewee G stated that her decision was depended on the opinion of family members.
Interviewee H noted that her decision was made by her husband.
ii) Marketing and promotions by the travel agencies Interviewees D, E, G and H had the influences of marketing and promotions by the travel agencies to their decision making on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
Interviewee D she mainly read the newspaper advertisement for information search for purchasing the tour package.
Interviewee E pointed out that attractive advertisement in newspapers with reasonable price.
Interviewee G stated that the Korean TV dramas and travel programmes shown in Hong Kong TV channels had aroused me the desire to visit the destination.
Interviewee H mentioned that she chose the tour package was because of the promotion and advertisement shown on the newspaper.
5. Discussion, recommendations and conclusions Based on the findings mentioned above, the decision rules used by the interviewees were determined and summarized as follows. It is found that both compensatory decision rule and non-compensatory decision rules could be applied and were used by the interviewees. Discussions and implications of the findings will be provided and a number of recommendations will be given as well.
i) Compensatory decision rule
It can be concluded that Interviewee F and G were both used compensatory decision rule to make a purchase decision of the all-inclusive package tour.
From the interview with Interviewee F, it can be seen that she used compensatory decision rule to purchase the East Europe package tour from Wing On Travel. She said that she had been hesitated between two East Europe all-inclusive packages of Wing On Travel and Morning Star Travel. As can be seen from the transcript and Table 1, she evaluated the attributes of the East Europe packages in terms of price, accommodations, itinerary, transportation and meals of the packages. She selected and purchased the East Europe package tour by Wing On Travel by weighting all attributes with higher overall scores. She thought that the price of Wing On Traval package was higher and it did not include all meals in this package. However, she preferred the higher quality of accommodations when living outside Hong Kong so she purchased the Wing On Travel one which had 4 to 5-star hotels. And she said that she preferred taking British Airways as well as visiting more attractions. Therefore, she evaluated the attributes of better accommodations, more itineraries and activities as well as more famous airline could compensate the price and meals attributes. Thus, Interviewee F made the decision and purchased the package from Wing On Travel rather than Morning Star Travel.
Table 1: Compensatory decision rule by Interviewee F
From the interview with Interviewee G, it can be seen that she used the compensatory decision rules to evaluate each brand in terms of each relevant attribute and then select the brand with the highest weighted score.
According to the transcript with Interviewee G, she said that she had compared all the attributes in the tour package of each travel agency. The main attributes included the content of the package program with free admission fee included, the price of the package, quality of accommodation and the choices of airline.
Based on the criteria of Interviewee G, she finally chose the package by Morning Star Travel Agency referring to Table 2. The reasons were because Morning Star not only fulfilled the decision criteria of the quality of accommodation and the choices of airline, but also outperformed other travel agents on the decision criteria of the content of the program, free admission fee for visiting the attractions, and the price of the package.
ii) Non-compensatory decision rules
1) Conjunctive decision rule
From the findings, both Interviewee C and D were determined to use the conjunction decision rule in making their purchase of all-inclusive package tours.
Based on the interview with Interviewee C, it is found that she applied the conjunctive decision rule in the decision making process. As can be seen in Table 3, Interviewee C stated that price and transportation were the two chief considerations. The price of the all-inclusive package tour to Thailand must be below HK$2800. And the tour must leave Hong Kong early and return at evening hours. She did not consider the travel itinerary of the tour as this was the first time to her to travel Thailand. She thought that the all-inclusive package tours to Thailand were similar among the travel agencies. She only chose the travel agency with good reputation and brand. Besides, the quality of accommodation and the clean room is alright. The price of Wing On Travel could not meet the criteria so it was eliminated.
After interviewing with Interviewee D, it is found that she applied the conjunctive decision rule in the decision making process. Interviewee D stated that all meals must be included in the price. Also, the tour must include admission fee to the attractions. She did not consider the price whether it was expensive or not. Also, she did not consider the travel itinerary of the tour as this was her first time to her to travel Western Europe. It showed that she eliminated some attributes from further considerations, for example, the meals could not meet the expectation of interviewee D so she chose Miramar Travel.
2) Disjunctive decision rule
It is resulted that both Interviewee B and E used disjunctive decision rule when making purchase decision.
From the interview with Interviewee B, it could be seen that she used disjunctive decision rule. In refer to the transcript of Interviewee B, she established a minimally acceptable cutoff point for each relevant product attribute. Besides, she also stated at the questionnaire “I will go through each criteria, if all are qualified, then I will choose package”. It revealed that she used the disjunctive rule in her decision making. From the Table 3, it compared the selection attributes between Wing On Travel package and Hong Thai Travel Package, the final decision made by interviewee B was Hong Tai Travel Agency. It was because all criteria met with the minimally acceptable cutoff point of Interviewee B.
From the interview with Interviewee E, it is found that she used the non-compensation rule by which positive evaluation of the Thailand all-inclusive package did not compensate for a negative evaluation on other attributes. Disjunctive decision rule can be applied to Interviewee E as she said that she considered the price, itineraries, accommodations, transportation as the attributes of the Thailand all-inclusive travel package. She established the minimally acceptable cutoff point for her each attributes. She stated that her minimum requirements for the package tour were that the price of the package must be below $3,000 and the itineraries must include the interesting and exciting attractions and activities she wanted to visit, the hotel must be at least 3-star, the flight schedule must leave Hong Kong in the morning and return home in the evening. And she finally purchased the package tour from Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd. as the price among other packages she saw was the cheapest and other factors were reached and fulfilled her minimum requirements.
3) Lexicographic rule
Interviewee A and H were found to use lexicographic rule to make the decision in purchasing the all-inclusive package tours.
From the interview, interviewee A’s decision rule could be identified as Lexicographic rule. In refer to the transcript of Interviewee A and Table 7, she firstly ranked the product attributes in terms of importance and then compared the brands in terms of the attributes considered most important. Firstly, she stated that “the itinerary is the most important to me”. Secondly, she said that “the departure date is important element for me”. Thirdly, she pointed that “I do really concern the quality of accommodation, then, airline used in package”. Fourthly, she mentioned that “price is the least important”. Besides, she also stated at the questionnaire “I will prioritize the factors”. It revealed that she used the lexicographic rule for the decision making. As can be seen in Table 4, the final decision of Interviewee A chose Sunflower Travel. She ranked each product attribute and compared one by one. The ranking of the importance of the attribute in decision making were (1) Program and Itinerary, (2) Departure Date, (3) Accommodation, (4) Airline and (5) Price. However, the departure date of Hong Tai Travel Agency was 19 Nov, 2008 which was not qualified the minimally acceptable cutoff point of interviewee A (must be in between 21 Nov- 28 Nov, 2008). Thus, interview A chose Sunflower Travel instead of Hong Tai Travel Agency.
From the interview with Interviewee H, lexicographic decision rule could be applied in her decision making. From the transcript and Table 8, she ranked the product attributes in terms of importance and compared brands in terms of the attribute considered most important.
For the interviewee H, she stated that, firstly, the most important factor was the reputation and quality of travel agents. The second important factor would be the program and itinerary involved in the tour package. The third factor would be the quality of the accommodation and followed by the choices of airline included in the tour package.
Interviewee H ranked each product attribute orderly which were (1) Reputation and brand of travel agents, (2) Program and activities, (3) Accommodation, and (4) Airline. Since the Interviewee H rated the highest importance on reputation and brand of travel agents which the travel agent must be a longer history in operation and the brand was in a good reputation, and compared with the Hong Thai Travel, Miramar has a longer history of establishment, so Interviewee H finally chose the Miramar Travel Agency no matter other criteria were the same as the package of Hong Thai Travel package.
By understanding more about the decision making criteria they considered and the decision rules the interviewees used, it is recommended that the marketing managers of the all-inclusive package tours should realize that which criteria are more considered by the Hong Kong outbound travelers in order to retain the customers’ loyalty to purchase and re-purchase the all-inclusive package tours. The results in this study found that price, departure date and time, accommodations as well as transportation these product attributes were considered as higher concerning factors from all the interviewees.
The travel agencies and the marketing managers should have better pricing strategy by doing more market researches, adjusting the prices based on the market situation especially during the outbreak of the economic uncertainty recently, and monitoring the prices of the all-inclusive package tours regularly.
Besides, marketing managers should also pay attention to the itineraries and programs in the all-inclusive package tours. They should satisfy their needs by personalized products and services such as updating more attractions and activities more often and adding value to the itineraries.
Also, they should diversify more all-inclusive package tours catering for different market segments so as to attract more existing and potential consumers.
The results also showed that the external influences like the company image and branding was considered as one of the decision making criteria by most of the interviewees in this study. Therefore, the travel agencies should have better branding strategies to develop its branding such as creating innovative slogan and logo, branding itself by involving more community services and being more socially responsible.
To conclude, the four decision rules including compensatory, conjunctive, disjunctive and lexicographic decision rules were determined and discussed above for all interviewees and they were mainly affected by the attributes of the all-inclusive packages. There were no interviewees choosing affect referral decision rule as it might be due to the limited sampling size. The results in this study showed that price, itinerary, accommodations, departure date and time as well as transportation these product attributes were considered as higher concerning factors from all the interviewees. Moreover, this study also found that there were other external factors affecting the some of the interviewees’ decision making like the family and friends influence and marketing and promotions by the travel agencies were considered as the criteria when making decision on purchasing the all-inclusive package tours. In addition, it cannot be seen that the interviewees tended to make decision by using particular decision rules as different consumers might have different decision making criteria and rules. However, the results conducted in this study could be a valuable reference for the marketing managers of tour packages and numbers of recommendations were made in the study as well.
The limitations of the study are, firstly, the limited number of interviewees could not fully represent the whole and the Hong Kong outbound travelers purchasing all-inclusive package tours. Also, due to the shortage of time and resources, this study could not be extensive and comprehensive. Some of the decision making criteria might be neglected.
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