COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Consumer Behaviour in Hospitality course. This program will equip you with a solid understanding of how consumers make decisions within hospitality environments and how behavioural influences shape expectations, preferences, satisfaction, and loyalty. You will examine the psychological, social, cultural, and situational factors that guide choices in accommodation, food and beverage, tourism, and related hospitality services. This course also explores organisational buying behaviour within the hospitality industry, enabling you to interpret both individual and institutional decision-making patterns to support effective marketing, service design, and customer experience management.

This course begins by examining what is meant by consumer behaviour and the broad factors that influence how consumers think, feel, choose, and respond. You will explore the reasons to study consumer behaviour within hospitality, the external influences that shape consumer actions, and the internal influences such as motivation, perception, learning, personality, and attitudes. This section also examines the needs related to consumer behaviour and introduces Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a framework for understanding the motivations behind hospitality choices, from basic safety and comfort to higher-level desire for status, adventure, or self-fulfilment.

The next learning area focuses on changing consumer behaviour across the lifespan. You will explore consumer discretionary purchasing over the life span, the consumer adoption process, and the trends in individual behaviour that are affecting modern consumerism, such as digital reliance, sustainability concerns, and experience-seeking preferences. This section also examines diffusion and adoption across the product life cycle and identifies the various types of risks associated with the purchase of hospitality products or services, including financial, functional, safety, psychological, and social risk.

A further section explores the consumer decision-making model. You will examine the five key elements in the decision-making model and the consumer problem-solving processes that influence hospitality choices. This section introduces compensatory strategies, where consumers weigh up pros and cons, as well as non-compensatory strategies—including conjunctive, disjunctive, and lexicographic approaches—where specific rules or thresholds guide the selection process. You will also explore combination strategies and consumer problem-solving techniques, along with the distinctions between routine response behaviour, limited problem solving, and extended problem solving within hospitality contexts.

The program then explores organisational buyer behaviour and how it differs from individual consumer behaviour. You will examine the key characteristics of organisational buying in hospitality, the comparison between consumer and organisational buying, and how organisational buying units shape purchasing decisions. This section also explores the five specific roles within a buying unit—user, influencer, buyer, decider, and gatekeeper—and how each contributes to evaluation and selection. You will also examine the factors that influence organisational buying, including budget constraints, supplier relationships, product specifications, risk tolerance, and organisational priorities.

By the end of this course you will be able to analyse consumer behaviour in hospitality settings, recognise the key influences that shape decisions, interpret consumer and organisational problem-solving patterns, identify risk perceptions that affect choices, and apply behavioural insights to enhance service delivery, marketing effectiveness, and customer experience throughout the hospitality industry.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

·       What is meant by consumer behaviour?

·       The factors that influence consumer behaviour

·       The reasons to study consumer behaviour

·       The external influences on consumer behaviour

·       The internal influences on consumer behaviour

·       The needs related to consumer behaviour

·       Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

·       The consumer discretionary purchasing over a life span

·       The consumer adoption process

·       The trends in individual behaviour that are affecting consumerism

·       The diffusion and adoption across the product life cycle

·       The several types of risk that are associated with the purchase of a product or service

·       The consumer decision-making model

·       The five key elements in the decision-making model

·       The consumer problem-solving processes

·       The compensatory strategies that are used by consumers

·       The non-compensatory strategies including: conjunctive, disjunctive, and lexicographic

·       The combination strategies

·       The consumer problem-solving techniques

·       The routine response behaviour

·       The limited and extended problem solving decisions

·       The organisational buyer behaviour

·       The characteristics of organisational buying

·       The comparison between consumer and organisational buying

·       The organisational buying units that influence consumer purchase decisions

·       The five specific roles that has been identified for individuals constituting a buying unit: user, influencer, buyer, decider, and gatekeeper

·       The factors that influence organisational buying

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.