Buyer behaviour and marketing in relation to amsterdam assignment

Tourists bring money to a destination and use the different facilities there in order to keep the businesses running. This even applies to voluntary and non profitable organisations. “ If no one comes to its performances or uses its facilities, then how can it justify spending the money. ” (Morgan, 1996) This is why marketing is increasingly become vital in attracting new visitors to an area. Travel is becoming easier all the time. Air travel is becoming quick and inexpensive and as a result more tourist destinations are opening up to people. This means that destinations are experiencing increased competition. Kotler et al, 1993) discusses how places are “ increasingly competing with other places to attract their share of tourists, businesses and investment. ” With the competition increasing all used well it can help to transform the popularity of a destination. One major factor that needs to be considered when designing a destinations marketing in which segment area to aim it’s marketing towards. Segmentation Why segment a market? Segmentation is vital in marketing, with the amount of people travelling and using visitor attractions around the world it would be impossible to advertise affectively without narrowing the market.

Segmentation is the process in which a destination chooses a target market which it will aim to sell a particular product. Without market segmentation destinations would be trying to please too many different types of tourist. “ The total market for tourism products is huge. ” (Briggs, 1997) It would simply be impossible to try and reach everyone. “ Not every tourist is interested in a particular destination. A place would waste its money trying to attract everyone who wants to travel. (Kotler, 1993) Instead destinations segment the market and try to reach the target market that would be most beneficial to them. the core advantage of segmentation is that customers will be more satisfied with the product because it has been designed with their needs in mind. ” (Morgan, 1996. ) Morgan (1996) also talks about social benefits to market segmentation. She says that people “ will be mixing with people like themselves and avoiding other incompatible types. ” If an organisation knows exactly which target market it is hoping to reach it can also use its marketing to its full effect. It can advertise in media most likely to be seen by the target market and save time and money on mass-marketing which could prove ineffective.

Every time a person makes a purchase they under take what has become know as the buyer decision process. This process varies considerably from person to person and depending on the purchase they are making. When it comes to a tourist making a decision they will try to find the destination or attraction that will be most beneficial to them. They will assess a variety of different factors including price and enjoyment. Kotler et al (1993) says that the buying process begins when a person “ recognises a problem, need, or opportunity and takes some action. They may start the process by gathering information on the destination or discussing it with others. Before a purchase is made though there are many factors that can influence. For example people can be influenced by family and friends. People tend to trust to opinion of those close to them and may visit a destination based on a recommendation. From this they will narrow down their choices to ones that they think they would like to visit. At this evaluation stage they can still be influenced by “ attitudes of others” or “ situational factors. (Kotler et al, 1993) In both of these cases the buyer may change their decision, if something unforeseen happens in their life that can have an effect on where they would like to travel or indeed if they would like to travel at all. There are however many factors that can have influence on a buyers decision, and each person will be influenced differently. How destinations can effect buyer behaviour In the case of marketing a destination you need to keep in mind the buyer decision process. The destination needs to appear to be the best option to its target market and try to ensure that a purchase is made.

Morgan (1996) explains that the tourist “ is really buying an experience” not always a physical product. In this case you need to market the experience correctly As you “ cannot handle or test it before purchase” (Morgan, 1996) you need to ensure that in marketing you create a distinctive and desirable image of the destination. People will often look for the opinions of others before they decided to visit so you need to try and ensure that customers are satisfied and so will only pass on positive comment on the destination.

They also need to try and create an attractive image of the destination so that it can appeal to a large market and increase the amount of tourists who are visiting. Segmentation and buyer behaviour are important considerations when designing marketing and they should both be researched before the marketing is created. Bibliography Briggs, S. , 1997. Successful tourism marketing. London: Biddles Ltd. Kotler, P. et al. , 1993. Marketing places. New York: the free press. Morgan, M. , 1996. Marketing for leisure and tourism. Essex: Prentice Hall. Page, S, J. , 2009. Tourism management, managing for change. Third edition. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.