DIPLOMA IN HOSPITALITY

HOSPITALITY SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Ms A. PITSO-MBILI
LEARNING UNIT 4:

IMPORTANCE OF MARKET RESEARCH

 MARKET RESEARCH

Market research focuses on the analysis of markets and is a critical marketing

function. In Tourism and Hospitality sector, smaller organisations feel that market
research is costly and time-consuming. They also see research as something that
can be done when a major event is about to occur, introduction of new products,
the acquisition of new property or change in target markets.
CATERGORIES OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY

• Research on consumers
• Research on products and services
• Research on Pricing
• Research on place and distribution
• Research on promotion
• Research on competition
• Research on the operative environment
• Research on a destination
 MEASURING SERVICE QUALITY
Service quality can be measured by using research instruments such as

• Importance-performance analysis (IPA) - It identifies areas for service

quality improvements.
• SERVQUAL - It is used to measure the difference between consumer’s
expectations and perceptions of service quality
• Comment Cards - It is used to assess the consumer satisfaction, feedback
received
• Mystery Shopping - It helps to develop a richer knowledge of the
experiential nature of services
• Critical Incident studies - Assess perceptions of customers from different
cultures
• Lost customer research- It can identify failure point and common
problems in the service
• Online Research - Electronic surveys are used to
conduct research
 COMMON RESEARCH ERRORS

• Not including enough qualitative information

• An improper use of sophisticated statistical analysis
• Failure to have a sample that is representative of the
population
• Problems with Interpretation
 EFFECTIVE USE OF MARKET RESEARCH IN
DECISION-MAKING

Reasons should be conducted by every organisation,

whether large or small

- Assist in the task of practical decision-making at a

strategic level

- Acknowledged as important at the academic level for

its shedding of valuable light on the development of
tourism and hospitality on a global basis
 SUCCESS OF RESEARCH WILL DEPEND ON THE
FOLLOWING

1. Sufficient resources must be allocated to the job properly, both

in terms of time and money

2. Managers must be willing to believe the results of the research

when they become available, even if they conflict with the
management’s own preconceived views.

3. The results should be used

NEXT LESSON:

Learning unit: Building and maintaining customer relationships

• Relationship Marketing

• Importance of relationship marketing

• Retention strategies

• Benefits of relationship marketing to the company and the

customer