Consumer behaviour

A number of academic and industry research papers into consumer behaviour and motivation for buying organic food are now available. The results so far have been inconsistent and, at times, contradictory. However, this may be due to the different methodologies used. 

Schiffman LG, Kanuk LL, Hansen H (2008) Consumer behaviour - a European outlook, Pearson Education limited 2008... 

In summary, it is clear that a substantial part of the increase in consumption of organic products has been demand led, the consequence of a positive shift in consumer attitudes to organically produced food. But part has also been supply driven, with consumer reaction to more competitive prices and increasing availability the main vehicle for increasing consumption. It is to these two features of organic consumer behaviour that we now turn. 

Wier M, Anderson LM and Millock K (2005) Information provision, consumer perceptions and values - the case of organic foods , forthcoming in Russell C and Karup S, Environmental Information and Consumer Behaviour, New Horizons in Environmental Economics Series, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. 

QDPI2003. Drivers of Consumer Behaviour. Organic Pood. Queensland Department of Primary... 

Additionally the term tourist behaviour is useful to both link and differentiate the material from the broader yet distinctively different literature describing consumer behaviour. The nature of these differences will be explored later in this chapter. 

There are several critical dimensions that create differences between tourist behaviour and consumer behaviour. One such major difference lies in the extended phases that surround tourist activities. Clawson and Knetsch (1966) identified five such phases. They noted (1) an anticipation or pre-purchase (2) a travel to the site segment, (3) an on-site experience, (4) a return travel component, and (5) an extended recall and recollection stage. 

Consumer behaviour, as a field of inquiry with its own journals, textbooks and courses, is centrally focused on the choices of products and the satisfaction with products (Bagozzi et ah, 2002 Schutte Carlante, 1998). In each phase of tourist behaviour outlined by Clawson and Knetsch, some differences from the standard consumer behaviour studies can be noted. In the first anticipation phase, many tourists plan for and fantasise about their forthcoming travel for months, sometimes years ahead. While this might be similar for the purchase of a motor vehicle, it is somewhat absurd when... 

For both the travel to the site and the return travel phases of tourist behaviour there is no sensible analogy in the consumer behaviour literature. Yet, the anticipatory elements of tourist experiences are heightened by the need to access the visited location and such travel is often an integral part of the total experience. Further, and from a business perspective, the pre- and post-travel phases are important subcomponents of the total expenditure that travellers must make to access the on-site experience. 

The peak and flow experiences of travellers occupy much attention in the tourism and leisure literature (Bammel Bammel, 1992 Mannell Kleiber, 1997). While there are clearly other services and intangible products studied in the consumer behaviour literature (education, for example, can be cast in this framework), the deeply personal reactions and sometimes the socio-environmental consequences of the tourists on-site behaviour are distinctive. 

Another marked difference between much consumer behaviour and tourist behaviour is that the latter is a part of a very social business. Tourism is a people-to-people business in both its consumption and its production. Tourists are frequently with others, and often jointly decide upon and frequently share their tourist experience. The businesses that serve tourists (the hotels, the airlines, the tour operators, the attractions) and the larger visited community (who are sometimes passive extras in the total tourism production) are inherently performers on a social stage (Crang, 1997). It is therefore important to treat models of consumer behaviour built on nonsocial modes of production and consumption with some caution if attempts to extrapolate them to tourist choice and satisfaction are attempted. 

A particular instance of this difficulty of extrapolating a consumer behaviour model to tourist behaviour lies in the treatment of expectations and their role in satisfaction. The topic will be pursued in more detail in Chapter 7 but it is sufficient to note here that the match is inexact. As de Botton observed when writing about arriving in Barbados ... 

The distinction between these forms of satisfaction is not trivial. It is central to tourist behaviour studies to emphasise that, along certain key dimensions, tourist behaviour is unlike other forms of consumer behaviour. This perspective was introduced in Chapter 1 but it is particularly appropriate to restate the distinction in satisfaction studies since models of consumer satisfaction are largely oriented toward instrumental attributes (Fuchs, 2002). This narrower focus has important implications when the conceptual models for understanding satisfaction are considered. 

There is one dominant tradition used to understand satisfaction and two emerging traditions that challenge its position. The established approach is called the expectancy/ confirmation/ disconfirmation or EDP model (Oliver, 1980). This adopts the position that customers compare the actual product and service performance with their expectations. The argument is that if customers expectations are met or exceeded the customer is well satisfied. Dissatisfaction will ensue if the expectations are not met. This perspective is the orthodox one that derives from the vast literature in the wider field of consumer behaviour (cf. Schofield, 2000). In many tourism settings, businesses use some form of this EDP approach to shape their thinking and mission statements. Some examples include We aim to exceed our customers expectations and More than you can dream (cf. Hanan Karp, 1989). These views of business success in the satisfaction sphere are then often translated into assessment practices, such as shown in Figure 7.1. 

Ahmed, Z. and Kron, F. (1992) Understanding the unique consumer behaviour of Japanese tourists. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 1 (3), 73-86. 

Bagozzi, R.P, Gruhan-Canli, Z. and Priester, J.R. (2002) The Social Psychology of Consumer Behaviour. Buckingham Open University Press. 

Pizam, A. and Mansfield, J. (2000) Consumer Behaviour in Travel and Tourism. New York The Haworth Hospitality Press. 

Schutte, H. and Carlante, D. (1998) Consumer Behaviour in Asia. London MacMillan. 

Are there difficulties with regulating chemical use in SME What about controlling professional or consumer use What consideration is given in Germany to environmentally proactive consumer behaviour ... 

Consider first consumer behaviour, in particular working[Pg.11]

Nelson, P. (1970). Information and Consumer Behaviour . Journal of Political Economy, 78 311-29. 

MOWEN, J.c. and minor, m. (1998) Consumer Behaviour, 5th edn, Prentice-Hall International, London. 

SHETH, J.N., MITTAL, B. and NEWMAN, B.l. (1999) Customer Behaviour Consumer Behaviour and Beyond, Harconrt Brace College Publishers, Forth Worth, Texas. 

For both equipment and replacement batteries, the annual acquisition rate (number of units acquired per year - purchased or received as second hand) is significantly higher than the annual quantity available for collection (number of units available for collection per year either as being taken back to a collection point or as being discarded in MSW). This is the consequence of the consumer behaviour with a reliable (long life)... 

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