MKT Consumer Behavior Strategy

Demographics, Psycho-graphics, and Attitudes

Vanessa Pizarro, Jessica Del Valle, Josue Gonzalez

MKT/435 - Customer Behavior

University Of Phoenix

September 18, 2015

Prof. Enrique De la Cruz-Otero

Demographics, Psychographics, and Attitudes

In every organization, we need to know and recognize our typical consumer. So in the marketing area you could get to them very easy. In this part of the work, we will have to be, focus in our consumer’s profile. We will be determining Hilton Worldwide demographic and psycho-graphic profile. After this, we will analyze if our typical consumer is our ideal consumer and why? For last, we will establish how our profile demonstrates the beliefs and attitudes to relate with our services and products.

The organization of Hilton Hotel Worldwide have Hotel all around the world. When looking at it from a close view with Hilton Hotels & Resorts all together around the world they have in 78 different countries a total of 540 locations.  The customers that visit these hotels have a lot of different profiles, but there are some specific ones that identify some of these customers. These customers that visit a Hotel, specifically Hilton Hotel & Resort are categorized by genders.These genders are age, tourist,  local clients, business person, civil status, university degree, single tourist, couples with no children or the group of people like families.

Backpackers are not the type of customers that visit the Hilton’s hotels they like or rather low prices over amenities, luxury, comfort, and service.  Another demographic characteristic of the hotel industry is a customer that gets to Hilton as a culture. They go just because their parents used to go there when they were kids and them now as adults are loyal and rather the Hilton’s over anything else. This type of behavior goes as consequences or experiences that they have. They like quiet premises, high-quality bedding, a candlelit restaurant. Hotel like Hilton gives newlyweds packages to attempt to make their honeymoon a wonderful experience. These clients with no children lean more to have or request luxury, an important detail that they can easily find in Hilton hotels.

Families have a different type of needs when is time to stay in a hotel. They are looking for some entertainment, on-site as play areas for their kids and some discount as packages that can make their trip less expensive. When whole Families are staying in hotels with their kids, parents and other civilians they always look for inexpensive restaurants and areas that are family friendly. These families’ haves different needs as changing station, booster chairs and open space for their children especially for those parents with loud kids. But one the biggest present of customers are business, travelers.

There are also customers that are willing to pay higher room prices. Some surveys say that these group of clients can be 48 percent of the guest that reserve in hotels. These group of people rather spend their time in the room working or just relaxing. They would pay extra for a room with high-speed Internet, they pay extra for room upgrades with better quality of bedding and many time they ask a desk to work as it is mentioned before.   

Part of the analysis is psychographic  of clients. It is very important to know how their behavior and what they have in their thoughts. Psychographic is better described as market research or statistics classifying population groups according to psychological variables (as attitudes, values, or fears); also variables or trends identified through such research Merriam webster. (2015). The typical consumer at the Hilton’s Hotel would be the consumers that come for vacations and many others too are work related. The ones that come for business would be looking for a good time after work and some fun with great service. These consumers come either in relaxing mode or work mode. At the end of the day, they all will talk about the same thing “their experience”. The bottom line is that psychographic of travelers would cover their experience on a verbal expression. They will talk about what they did, what kind of food they ate and their favorite part of the trip or vacation. These people call vacation travelers influencers. Some people will be talking about their experience more than others, and these conversations will become an advertisement for free. The important part here is what kind of advertisement? Positive or negative. These consumers that have a strong perspective of the hotel brand can become an asset by generating positive impression of the hotel and create free positive endorsement for the brand. Psychographics travelers leaders have created Hotels brands. For example, Hotel brands measured by GfK MRI's "Survey of the American Consumer" can be grouped into the six categories routinely used by hospitality marketers to segment their industry:

Premium Tier: Luxury brands such as Fairmont, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, and W.

Second Tier: Extremely upscale brands such as Doubletree, Hilton, Hyatt, and Westin.

Third Tier: Upscale brands such as Courtyard by Marriott, Crowne Plaza, and Wyndham.

Fourth Tier: Mid-range brands that have restaurants, bars, or offer food services such as Best Western, Holiday Inn, and Ramada Inn.

Fifth Tier: Mid-range brands that do not offer food services such as Comfort Inns, Hampton Inn, and La Quinta Inns.

Sixth Tier: Economy-oriented brands such as Days Inn, Motel 6 and Travelodge Paul, G. (2011).

These six categories are the once that define the hotel market nowadays. A consumer that is used to the Premier tier and has the financial potential to pay for it would not go to a six tier. They would not see the value of their spending and would find everything low quality. Premier (luxury) clients would pay for their comfort and peace of mind. They are all about their standing and being surrounded by people that they can share their experience and live style.

It is considered that the typical consumer in hotels is the third tier ones. The consumers that come to the Hilton are the once of the second tier. The second tier consumers are more profitable than the third tier, which is good for Hilton's business. The second tier has a better financial status than most of the others. This tier gives the Hilton Hotel the flexibility of having a variety of reasonable prices, with a purchase good value in the consumers eyes.

People’s attitudes and beliefs towards a certain place, food or activity can strongly influence how they will perceive it. For instance, golf is identified with elderly rich men, whereas marathon and racing can be identified with young, energetic men and women. In our case, the Hilton Hotel is associated with different customers. However, they all have one common characteristic. That is, they are wealthy. It makes the Hilton hotel a second tier hotel. Hilton Hotel is not a cheap hotel; their customers are wealthy, and they pride themselves with a good life, luxury and comfort (Sidney, 2011). The different profiles, in this case, are categorized by age, gender, local clients, civil status, a university degree and tourists among others.

These second tier profile demonstrate beliefs and attitudes that relate to Hilton hotel. The age of a person is a determinant when deciding to visit the Hilton hotel. The younger generation will be inclined towards fast food joints and restaurant and places that play loud music. They would rather go out to bars and restaurants than to enjoy the quiet, peaceful, serene environment that is provided by the hotel. However, the older generation would rather visit Hilton for their luxurious restaurants where everything is done in low tones. The older generation is associated with wealth, and they would rather have excellent services at a high price. This enables them to hold meetings and conversations without having to scream at the top of their voices. Also, the older generation prides itself with a serene atmosphere where they can think and sometimes have alone.

People have beliefs that individuals with a civil status are more prone to visiting the Hilton hotel than the middle class individuals. Reason being, this second tier customer profile is believed to be wealthy and can afford the meals and services provided by the Hilton hotels. Moreover, the society is made in such a way that they will not appreciate a person with high civil status visiting restaurants that the common individual can attend. Therefore, these civil individuals with a status would rather enjoy the ambiance of the hotel than the other hotels. Furthermore, the celebrities find themselves constantly running into people, being asked for autographs. To avoid this, they seclude themselves in the Hilton hotels because only people of their status and class will come in this places.

These hotels offer a lot of services. They have the conference rooms where business people can meet and have discussions without being bothered by anyone. The hotel also provides gardens where people could have parties such as engagement and also other ceremonies can be conducted. The hotel has bars where people can listen to soft music as they drink and restaurants where people can have dates and enjoy their meals. All these also extend while they enjoy the peaceful ambiance that is provided by the hotel (Sidney, 2011). With all these, local clients and business persons will find this hotel a great place to relax and hold meetings. Here, they know they will not have to move from one restaurant to another looking for different services. Hilton hotel provides all these services so that one may only change rooms without necessarily having to drive.

The Hilton hotel prides themselves with amazing packages. These packages offer discounts to their clients. Such that, if a couple were to wed in the hotel's garden, they would have a discount on the suites they will spend in. Or, if they had a birthday party and used their caterers, they will still get some discounts. Therefore, these beliefs and attitudes attract people with parties they want to hold.

In conclusion, the second tier customer profile prides themselves with getting the value for their money. They do not mind spending a lot of money for excellent services. The Hilton hotel also prides themselves with great services and meals. Therefore, the customers with an arc for excellent services will stream in the hotel. Hence, these customers that visit the Hilton hotels always come back for their excellent services.

References

Merriam webster. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychographics

Paul, G. (2011). The Psychographics Of Vacation Travel Influencers. Retrieved from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/146405/the-psychographics-of-vacation-travel-influencers.html

Wilner, Sidney H. (2011). Hilton hotels limited. Gale Ecco, U S Supreme C

Allegrini Robert V. (2005). Chicago’s grand hotels. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub

Glover, John Desmond, Edmund Philip and Moss Arthur B. (1958). Hilton Hotels Corporation. Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration

Joseph Richard, (2001). Hilton Hotels around the world. Travel guide

Opening Hilton Suites (1999). The cornell Hotel and Restaurant administration Quarterly, 32(1), 14