Unit 8

MARKETING COMMUNICATION TOOLS USED IN

CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR IN TOURISM INDUSTRY
The final part
of the
marketing mix
– promotion – Promotion is used by organizations to affect the way in which
is the way in consumers behave and it is therefore a vital motivator for any tourism
which the organization. Tourism organizations use a variety of methods for
tourism marketing communication which are summarized in Figure 13.10.
organization The methods of marketing communication that a tourist organiza- tion
communicates uses depend on the type of product, the aims of the campaign and the
in an effective market characteristics. The definition and aims of the main types of
way with its promotion are explored in Figure 13.11.
tar- get It can be seen from Figure 13.11 that there are a variety of marketing
customers. communication techniques, which will have different effects on con-
sumer behaviour. The tourism organization will use press or public re-
Unit 8 lation techniques when it wants to create a favourable impression of the
organization in the consumer’s mind. An example of this type of

Advertising Brochures

Sponsorship Press or
public relations

Point of Sales
sale material promotions

Direct Personal
mail selling

Figure 13.10
Methods of marketing communication
 Type of marketing Definition
communication
Advertising Any paid form of non-personal
communication and promotion of
ideas about goods or services by an
identified sponsor (Kotler, 1994)
Brochures A catalogue or video to show the
images of the holiday destination or
hotel (Horner and Swarbrooke,
1996)
Press or public Non-personal stimulation of demand for a
relations product, service or business unit by
planting commercially significant news
about it in a published medium or
obtaining favourable presentation of it on
radio, television, or stage, that is not paid
for by the sponsor
(Kotler and Armstrong, 2004)
Sales promotion Short term incentives to encourage
purchase or sale of a product or service
(Kotler and Armstrong, 2004)
Personal selling Oral presentation in a conversation with
one or more prospective purchasers for the
purpose of making sales
(Kotler and Armstrong, 2004)
Direct mail Communicating directly with customers
without the aid of marketing inter-
mediaries such as retailer or agents
(Horner and Swarbrooke, 1996)
Point of sale A sales promotion method that uses
material items such as outside signs, window
displays, and display rails to attract
attention to inform customers, and to
encourage retailers to carry particular
products (Dibb et al., 2001)
Sponsorship The financial or materials support of an
event activity person, organization,
or product, by an unrelated organization or
donor. Generally funds will be made
available to the recipient of the sponsor- ship
deal in return for the prominent exposure of
the sponsor's name or brand (Dibb et al.,
2001)
Figure 13.11
The definitions and aims of the main types of marketing communication in relation to con- sumer behaviour
Comments on consumer
behaviour
* Targets large consumer groups
with strong visual images
* Effective for mass-market high-
volume products
* The consumers and potential
consumer can be targeted with
repeat message
* Reassures consumer of what to
expect
* Allows the consumer to
differentiate and discriminate
between different offering
* Gives consumers or stakeholders
favourable impression of the
organization or product
* A high profile image is lodged
in the consumer's mind
* Raises awareness of new products
and services in potential consumer's
minds
* Encourages the consumer to try the
product/service for the first time
* Encourages consumer loyalty
* Persuades or coerces potential
consumers, or existing consumers to
buy more
* Give consumers favourable
impression linked to customer
services
* To bring potential consumers into
the market
*To encourage past consumers to
repeat purchase
* To appeal to consumers using
customized offering
* To encourage consumers to
purchase a product/service
* To encourage the consumer to
purchase more within a particular
setting
* To raise awareness in the con
sumer's mind of product/services
* To gain positive images of an
organization in potential
consumer's minds
* To raise awareness of a product in
consumer's mind when
restrictions apply elsewhere
* To associate products with
popular individuals in the
consumer's mind
activity is the long-running public relations campaign for British Airways as the ‘World’s
Favourite Airline’.
A brochure is used by tourism organizations when they are trying to initiate sales. The
brochure should be used to reassure consumers about the product offering, which is
particularly important in a market where there is a high spend feature. A very good example
of a tourism organ- ization using a brochure to inform and reassure potential customers of
their products is the technique used by Thomson, the tour operator in the UK, where they
show customer ratings for every aspect of the holi- day, e.g. food, accommodation and
location, based on market research with returning customers from the previous year.
Advertising is used by tourism organizations when they want to reach large audiences in an
efficient manner. Television advertising is often used by tourism companies at the beginning
of the booking season to encourage early interest and bookings. Advertising is often used to
repeat the marketing communication messages in an attractive and appealing manner. The
logic here is that repetition of messages will have a greater positive effect on the consumer.
Sales promotion is often used by tourism organizations to try to en- courage the potential
consumer to buy the product for the first time, or to repeat purchases. The package holiday
companies in the UK have used sales promotion technique extensively in their marketing pro-
grammes to influence consumer behaviour. Sales promotions such as ‘free child places’ target
certain market segments at the beginning of the season and produce frenzied purchasing
behaviour because places are strictly limited.
Personal selling is very important in tourism because services, by their very nature, involve a
high degree of face-to-face selling activity. Personal selling is used by tourism organizations
either directly or indirectly to ini- tiate sales or encourage consumers to buy more. The large
exclusive ho- tels, for example, use personal selling at reception and throughout the hotel to
sell the guest more products and services during their stay.
Point of sale material will help the tourism organization to encourage consumers to enter the
market or to buy more of the particular product or service. It is very important that the point
of sale material and mer- chandising material in general meets consumer expectations. Styling
and colouring of the material should be attractive to the consumer and should reflect the
organization’s image and brand identity. It is also im- portant that the styling of materials
should be updated with new themes and colours according to customer perceptions. The
theming of public houses in the UK by the big breweries on an Irish theme is one example of
point of sale and merchandising activity. It is likely that the Irish theme will become
unfashionable over time, and re-styling along another theme will be necessary.
Direct mail is the final technique which organizations can use to com- municate with
consumers. This is being developed extensively by tourism organizations because the use of
sophisticated databases will allow the development of customized promotional offerings. The
large hotel chains, for example, can talk directly to their corporate clients. They
 may even communicate directly with individual business clients to in-
form them of new products and services on offer within their operation.
The intangibility of services means that the promotional techniques
which tourism organizations use often have special characteristics.
Tourism organizations often use symbols to stress the nature of the serv-
ice to the consumer. This makes it easier for the consumer to identify
with the organization and to recognize its products and services. The
symbols developed by organizations are often linked to strong brand
identities. The holiday company Thomson, for example, uses the brand
name and the bird in flight symbol to help the consumer to identify with
feelings of freedom associated with their holiday products.
The link of promotion to lifestyle has been extensively developed in
markets such as alcoholic drinks and the car industry. There are signs
that the tourism industry is beginning to develop similar styles of
advertising to reflect consumer lifestyles. The tour operator brochures,
for example, are becoming more like designer lifestyle magazines. The
authors predict that this type of development will continue in the
future. The development of niche tourism products designed to appeal
to distinct market segments will mean that these types of selective
promotional literature based on consumer lifestyle will become in-
creasingly popular.
However, the Internet is now also a crucial part of the promotional mix,
as even people who will not buy products on-line see it as a major
source of information. Destination websites are a popular source of
information for tourists, but they are often very weak, being static and
with little concrete information or links to sites where tourists can ac-
tively buy products.
Company websites again can also often be rather static without mov-
ing images or sound, or updated information, which negates the advan-
tages the Internet has as a promotional tool. Many tourism organization
sites also lack a reservations facility so that tourists can book on-line.
At the same time, tourism organizations need to be aware that their
product will also be featured on other people’s websites over which
they have no control. For example, sites like this have customer reviews
of hotels and Skytrax for airlines. These are well used by trav- ellers but
are largely beyond the control of tourism organizations and their
marketing departments.

Conclusions
In this chapter we have looked at the key issues involved in the devel-
opment of each part of the marketing mix in relation to consumer be-
haviour. It is important to remember that there are some general points
which can be made about the design and subsequent manipulation of
the marketing mix:

1 Tourism organizations should consider each element of the market-

ing mix separately and evaluate the relationship of each part to con-
sumer behaviour.
 2 The tourism organization should ensure that the different compo- nents of
the marketing mix interact effectively to produce the desired effect on the
target consumers and their behaviour patterns.
3 The tourism organization should consider how its total portfolio of
products has an effect on its consumer’s behaviour patterns. Construction
and manipulation of an effective marketing mix to re- flect consumer
behaviour patterns is vital for tourism organizations.

Tourism organizations need to recognize the importance of the Internet, which by potentially
combining promotion and distribution in one transaction, theoretically turns the four Ps into two Ps,
and a combined Internet category which combines ‘place’ and ‘promotion’. However, it is also
important to recognize that the use of the Internet is not the same all over the world. In many
countries, people are still con- cerned about on-line security while in others they simply do not have
access to the Internet.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the Internet will become an in- creasingly important part of the
marketing mix for tourism organizations.

Discussion points and essay questions

1 ‘Customers purchase benefits not products.’ Discuss this statement in

relation to the design and implementation of effective marketing mixes for
tourism organizations.
2 Outline the role of promotion within tourism marketing, particularly in
relation to consumer behaviour.

Exercise
Choose one tourism product or service. Consider how each element of the marketing mix for the
chosen product or service has been designed to reflect consumer wants and needs. Are there any
improvements that could be made to any element of the marketing mix, in your opinion?