Chapter: 3

Consumer Buying Behaviour

Consumer behavior can be defined as the behavior that consumers
display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of
products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. Consumer
behavior focuses on how individual consumers and families or households
make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on
consumption-related items. That includes what they buy, why they buy it,
when they buy it, where they buy it, how often they use it, how they
evaluate it after the purchase, the impact of such evaluations on future
purchases and how they dispose of it.

While all consumers are unique; nevertheless, one of the most

important constants among all of us, despite our differences, is that we are
all consumers. We use or consume on a regular basis food, clothing,
shelter, transportation, education, equipment, vacations, necessities,
luxuries, services and even ideas. As consumers, we play a vital role in
the health of the economy- local, national and international. The purchase
decisions we make affect the demand for basic raw materials for
transportation, for production, for banking; they affect the employment of
workers and the deployment of resources, the success of some industries
and the failure of others. In order to succeed in any business, and
especially in today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving market place, marketers
need to know everything they can about consumers- what they want, what
they think, how they work and how they spend their leisure time. They
need to understand the personal and group influences that affect
consumer decisions and how these decisions are made. And, in these
days of ever-widening media choices, they need to not only identify their
target audiences, but they also need to know where and how to reach
them.

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 In its broadest sense, the term consumer behaviour describes two
different kinds of consuming entities: the personal consumer and the
organizational consumer. The personal consumer buys goods and
services for his or her own use, for the use of household, or as a gift for a
friend. In each of these contexts, the products are bought for final use by
individuals, who are referred to as end users or ultimate consumers. The
second category of consumer- the organizational consumer - includes
profit and not-for-profit businesses, government agencies (local, state and
national), and institutions (e.g. schools, hospitals and prisons), all of which
must buy products, equipment and services in order to run their
organizations.

Consumer Decision:
Every day, each of us makes numerous decisions concerning every
aspect of our daily lives. However, we generally make these decisions
without stopping to think about how we make them and what is involved in
the particular decision-making process itself. In the most general terms, a
decision is the selection of an option from two or more alternative choices.
In other words, for a person to make a decision, a choice of alternative
must be available. When a person has a choice between making a
purchase and not making a purchase, a choice between brand X and
brand Y, or a choice of spending time doing A or B, that person is in a
position to make a decision. On the other hand, if the consumer has no
alternative from which to choose and is literally forced to make a particular
purchase or take a particular action, then this single “no-choice” instance
does not constitute a decision; such a no-choice decision is commonly
referred to as a “Hobson’s choice”.

In actuality, no choice purchase or consumption situations are fairly

rare. If there is almost always a choice, then there is almost always an
opportunity for consumers to make decisions. Moreover, experimental
research reveals that providing consumers with a choice when there was
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originally none can be a very good business strategy, one that can be
substantially increase sales.

Consumer behaviour was a relatively new field of study in the mid-

to late - 1960s. Because it had little history and lacked much of the body of
research of its own, marketing theorists borrowed heavily from concepts
developed in other scientific disciplines, such as psychology (the study of
the individual), sociology (the study of groups), social psychology (the
study of how an individual operates in groups), anthropology (the influence
of society on the individual), and economics to form the basis of this new
marketing discipline. Many early theories concerning consumer behaviour
were based on economic theory, on the notion that individuals act
rationally to maximize their benefits (satisfactions) in the purchase of
goods and services. Later research revealed that consumers are just as
likely to purchase impulsively and to be influenced not only by family and
friends, by advertisers and role models, but also by mood, situation and
emotion. All of these factors combine to form a comprehensive body of
thinking and research about consumer behavior that reflects both the
cognitive and emotional aspects of consumer decision making.

The process of consumer decision making can be viewed as three

distinct but interlocking stages: the input stage, the process stage and the
output stage.

Input: The input component of our consumer decision-making

model draws on external influences that serve as source of information
about a particular product and influence a consumer’s product-related
values, attitudes and behavior. Chief among these input factors are the
marketing mix activities of organizations that attempt to communicate the
benefits of their products and services to potential consumers and the non
marketing socio cultural influences, which, when internalized, affect the
consumer’s purchase decisions.

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 Marketing Inputs: The firm’s marketing activities are a direct
attempt to reach, inform and persuade consumers to buy and use its
products. These inputs to the consumer’s decision-making process take
the form of specific marketing mix strategies that consist of the product
itself, mass media advertising, direct marketing, personal selling and other
promotional efforts, pricing policy and the selection of distribution channels
to move the product from the manufacturer to the consumer.

Socio-Cultural Inputs: The second type of input, the socio cultural

environment, also exerts a major influence on the consumer. Socio
cultural inputs consist of a wide range of non-commercial influences. The
influences of social class, culture and sub culture, although less tangible,
are important input factors that are internalized and affect how consumers
evaluate and ultimately adopt products.

Process: The process component of the model is concerned with

how consumers make decisions. To understand this process, one must
consider the influence of the psychological concepts examined. The
psychological field represents the internal influences (motivation,
perception, learning, personality and attitudes) that affect consumers’
decision-making processes (what they need or want, their awareness of
various product choices, their information gathering activities and their
evaluation of alternatives). In the process component of the overview of
the decision model, the act of making a consumer decision consists of
three stages:

Need Recognition: The recognition of need is likely to occur when

a consumer is faced with a “problem”. Among consumers, there seem to
be two different need or problem recognition styles. Some consumers are
actual state types, who perceive that they have a problem when a product
fails to perform satisfactorily. In contrast, other consumers are desired
state types, for whom the desire for something new may trigger the
decision process.
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 Pre-Purchase Search: Pre purchase search begins when a
consumer perceives a need that might be satisfied by the purchase and
consumption of a product. The recollection of past experiences might
provide the consumer with adequate information to make the present
choice. On the other hand, when the consumer has had no prior
experience, he or she may have to engage in an extensive search of the
outside environment for useful information on which to base a choice.

The consumer usually searches his or her memory (the

psychological field depicted in the model) before seeking external sources
of information regarding a given consumption-related need. Past
experience is considered an internal source of information. The greater the
relevant past experience, the less external information the consumer is
likely to need to reach a decision. Many consumer decisions are based on
a combination of past experience (internal sources) and marketing and
non commercial information (external sources). The degree of perceived
risk can also influence this stage of the decision process. In high-risk
situations, consumers are likely to engage in complex and extensive
information search and evaluation; in low-risk situations, they are likely to
use very simple or limited search and evaluation tactics.

Within the context of consumer decision making, the evoked set

refers to the specific brands a consumer considers in making a purchase
within a particular product category. (The evoked set is also called the
consideration set). A consumer’s evoked set is distinguished from his or
her inept set, which consist of brands the consumer excludes from
purchase consideration because they are felt to be unacceptable (or they
are seen as “inferior”), and from the inert set, which consists of brands the
consumer is indifferent toward because they are perceived as not having
any particular advantages. Regardless of the total number of brands in a
particular category, a consumer’s evoked set tends to be quite small on
average, often consisting of only three to five brands.

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 The evoked set consists of the small number of brands the
consumer is familiar with, remembers and finds acceptable. It is essential
that a product be part of a consumer’s evoked set if it is to be considered
at all. The five terminal positions in the model that do not end in purchase
would appear to have perceptual problems. For example, (1) brands may
be unknown because of the consumer’s selective exposure to advertising
media and selective perception of advertising stimuli;

Criteria Used for Evaluating Brands: The criteria consumers use

to evaluate the alternative products that constitute their evoked sets
usually are expressed in terms of important product attributes.

When a company knows that consumers will be evaluating

alternatives, it sometimes advertises in a way that recommends the criteria
that consumers should use in assessing product or service options.

Output: The output portion of the consumer decision-making

model concerns two closely associated kinds of post decision activity:
purchase behaviour and post purchase evaluation. The objective of both
activities is to increase the consumer’s satisfaction with his or her
purchase.

Purchase Behaviour: Consumers make three types of purchases:

trial purchases, repeat purchases and long term commitment purchases.
When a consumer purchases a product for the first time and buys a
smaller quantity than usual, this purchase would be considered a trial.
Thus, a trial is the exploratory phase of purchase behavior in which
consumers attempt to evaluate a product through direct use.

When a new brand in an established product category is found by

trial to be more satisfactory or better than other brands, consumers are
likely to repeat the purchase. Repeat purchase behavior is closely related
to the concept of brand loyalty, which most firms try to encourage because
it contributes to greater stability in the market place. Unlike a trial, in which

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the consumer uses the product on a small scale and without any
commitment, a repeat purchase usually signifies that the product meets
with the consumer’s approval and that he or she is willing to use it again
and in larger quantities.

Post Purchase Evaluation: As consumers use a product,

particularly during a trial purchase, they evaluate its performance in light of
their own expectations. There are three possible outcomes of these
evaluations:

 Actual performance matches expectations, leading to a neutral

feeling;

 Performance exceeds expectations, causing what is known as

positive disconfirmation of expectations and

 Performance is below expectations, causing negative

disconfirmation of expectations and dissatisfaction.

The degree of post purchase analysis that consumers undertake

depends on the importance of the product decision and the experience
acquired in using the product. When the product lives up to expectations,
they probably will buy it again. When the product’s performance is
disappointing or does not meet expectations, however, they will search for
more suitable alternatives. Thus, the consumer’s post purchase evaluation
“feedback” serves as experience to the consumer’s psychological field and
helps to influence future related decisions. Although it would be logical to
assume that customer satisfaction is related to customer retention, one
study found no direct relationship between satisfaction and retention. The
findings show that customer retention may be more a matter of the brand’s
reputation- especially for products consumers find difficult to evaluate. A
study found that since today’s younger customers have involvement and
higher expectations of service; they are more likely to experience cognitive

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dissonance. This factor is something that store management should take
into consideration, because of its implications for salesperson training.

A satisfied customer is one who feels that he or she has received

“value”. As an outcome of an evaluative judgement, value implies the
notion of a trade-off of benefits- the features of a purchased item- versus
the sacrifice necessary to purchase it. Still further, as early as 1911 it was
suggested that one can view “consumption as voting”. Just as a consumer
influences a political election by the act of voting, that same consumer
influences the environment and society by his or her purchases.

Levels of Consumer Decision Making:

Not all consumer decision-making situations receive (or require) the

same degree of information research. If all purchase decisions required
extensive effort, then consumer decision making would be an exhausting
process that left little time for anything else. On the other hand, if all
purchases were routine, then they would tend to be monotonous and
would provide little pleasure or novelty. On a scale of effort ranging from
very high to very low, we can distinguish three specific levels of consumer
decision making: extensive problem solving, limited problem solving and
routinized response behavior.

Extensive Problem Solving:

When consumers have no established criteria for evaluating a

product category or specific brands in that category or have not narrowed
the number of brands they will consider to a small, manageable subset,
their decision-making efforts can be classified as extensive problem
solving. At this level, the consumer needs a great deal of information to
establish a set of criteria on which to judge specific brands and a
correspondingly large amount of information concerning each of the
brands to be considered. Extensive problem solving often occurs when a

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consumer is purchasing an expensive, important or technically
complicated product or service for the first time.

Limited Problem Solving:

At this level of problem solving, consumers already have established

the basic criteria for evaluating the product category and the various
brands in the category. However, they have not fully established
preferences concerning a select group of brands. Their search for
additional information is more like “fine-tuning”; they must gather additional
brand information to discriminate among the various brands. This type of
problem solving frequently occurs when the consumer is purchasing a
new, updated version of something that he or she has purchased before.

Routinised Response Behavior:

At this level, consumers have experience with the product category

and a well-established set of criteria with which to evaluate the brands
they are considering. In some situations, they may search for a small
amount of additional information; in others, they simply review what they
already know.

Models of Consumers:

There are several schools of thought that depict consumer decision

making in distinctly different ways. The term models of consumers refers
to a general view or perspective as to how (and why) individuals behave
as they do. Specifically, there are four models of consumers in terms of
the following four views:

An Economic View: In the field of economics, which portrays a

world of perfect competition, the consumer has often been characterized
as making rational decisions. This model, called the economic view, has
been criticized by consumer researchers for a number of reasons. To
behave rationally in the economic sense, a consumer would have to

 Be aware of all available product alternatives,

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  Be capable of correctly ranking each alternative in terms of its
benefits and disadvantages and

 Be able to identify the one best alternative. Realistically, however,

consumers rarely have all of the information or sufficiently accurate
information or even an adequate degree of involvement or
motivation to make the so-called ‘perfect’ decision.

It has been argued that the classical economic model of an all-

rational consumer is unrealistic for the following reasons:

 People are limited by their existing skills, habits and reflexes,

 People are limited by their existing values and goals,

 People are limited by the extent of their knowledge.

Consumers operate in an imperfect world in which they do not

maximize their decisions in terms of their economic considerations, such
as price- quantity relationships, marginal utility or indifference curves.
Indeed, the consumer generally is unwilling to engage in extensive
decision-making activities and will settle, instead, for a ‘satisfactory’
decision, one that is ‘good enough’ for this reason; the economic model is
often rejected as too idealistic and simplistic.

A Passive View: Quite opposite to the rational economic view of

consumers is the passive view that depicts the consumer as basically
submissive to the self-serving interests and promotional efforts of
marketers. In the passive view, consumers are perceived as impulsive and
irrational purchasers, ready to yield to the aims and into the arms of
marketers. At least to some degree, the passive model of the consumer
was subscribed to by the hard-driving super sales people of old, who were
trained to regards the consumer as an object to be manipulated.

The principal limitation of the passive model is that it fails to

recognise that the consumer plays an equal, if not dominant, role in many
buying situations- sometimes by seeking information about product

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alternatives and selecting the product that appears to offer the greatest
satisfaction and at other times by impulsively selecting a product that
satisfies the mood or emotion of the moment all is known about
motivation, selective perception, learning, attitudes, communication and
opinion leadership supports the proposition that consumers are rarely
objects of manipulation. Therefore, this simple and single- minded view
should also be rejected as unrealistic.

A Cognitive View: The third model portrays the consumer as a

thinking problem solver. Within this framework, consumers frequently are
pictured as either receptive to or actively searching for products and
services that fulfill their needs and enrich their lives. The cognitive view
focuses on the processes by which consumers seek and evaluate
information about selected brands and retail outlets.

Within the context of the cognitive model, consumers are viewed as

information processors. Moreover, information processing leads to the
formation of preferences and, ultimately, to purchase intentions. The
cognitive view also recognizes that the consumer is unlikely to even
attempt to obtain all available information about every choice. Instead,
consumers are likely to cease their information-seeking efforts when they
perceive that they have sufficient information about some of the
alternatives to make a ‘satisfactory’ decision. As this information-
processing viewpoint suggests, consumers often develop shortcut
decision rules (called heuristics) to facilitate the decision-making process.
A recent study found that consumer decision making is more heuristic in
situations that involve spending time, rather than spending money. They
also use decision rules to cope with exposure to too much information (i.e.
information overload).

The cognitive or problem-solving, view describes a consumer who

falls somewhere between the extremes of the economic and passive
views, which does not (or cannot), have total knowledge about available

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product alternatives and therefore, cannot make perfect decisions, but
who nonetheless actively seeks information and attempts to make
satisfactory decisions.

Consistent with the problem solving view is the notion that a great
deal of consumer behavior is goal directed. Goal setting is especially
important when it comes to the adoption of new products because the
greater the degree of ‘newness’, the more difficult it would be for the
consumer to evaluate the product and relate it to his or her need (because
of a lack of experience with the product).

An Emotional View: Although long aware of the emotional or

impulsive view of consumer decision making, marketers frequently prefer
to think of either economic or passive models. In reality, however, each of
us is likely to associate deep feelings or emotions, such as joy, fear, love,
hope, sexuality, fantasy and even a little ‘magic’, with certain purchases or
possessions. These feelings or emotions are likely to be highly involving.
Several interrelated studies found that consumers’ superstitious beliefs
can play a meaningful role in their purchasing related decision making
when such beliefs were non-conscious in nature.

Segments, Lifestyles and Consumer Decision Making:

Mittal, et. al., have mentioned specific situations that trigger

consumer decision making. Replenishment of stocks, availability of
variants or introduction of new products may be important situations in
low- involvement categories. These situations are also affected by the
level of information search, place of information search, duration involved
in decision making and sources of information used in the decision
making. There are several ways in which a brand can get into the
consideration set of consumers. The consumer segment and the
respective lifestyle provide directions to the marketer. In the case of
consumer durables, Mittal and his colleagues suggest that the need can
be triggered by a new environment, a consumer experiencing a problem
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for the first time (in which he/she is involved), a replacement phase and
life cycle changes. These are important aspects for consumers in an
emerging market. Perceived risk experienced by the consumers when
they are new to the environment is also useful in certain situations.
Tourism industry is a promising market in India and millions of consumers
require value-based tour services in different geographical areas. Brands
like Thomas Cook (with franchise arrangements in several locations) have
the opportunity to address the perceived risk of consumers, especially
when they travel from their usual place of residence to their unknown
destination.

Tourist Decision Making:

Tourist decision making is the process by which a tourist decides on

buying a particular tour package, or books a particular type of room in a
hotel or even a travel ticket on a particular airline. What motivates the
tourist to choose a particular service is of the utmost interest to a person
studying tourist behavior. As any tourist who purchases a service and
uses it is a consumer, he/she will display consumer behavior and will go
through the consumer decision-making process while purchasing any
tourism service.

Process of Decision Making:

An understanding of how consumers decide on what to purchase is

critical to the success of a product or service. There are numerous
theories and models describing the consumer purchasing decision
process. The basic concept behind these theories and models are similar.
The customers go through a five-stage decision-making process in any
purchase. These stages are described below.

Problem Recognition: This is the first and most basic step in the
purchase decision process. The buying process starts with need
recognition. The need may be perceived or real. The problem recognition

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process occurs every time consumers decide they need something. The
need can be of new clothes, of a new sofa or of a new home or a vacation.
The marketers can effectively initiate a consumer’s awareness of a need
with the right advertising campaign.

Informed Search: In this stage the consumers gather information

on a prospective product. A consumer can obtain information from several
sources:

 Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbours, etc.

 Commercial sources: Advertising, salespeople, retailers: dealers;

packaging; point-of-sale displays

 Public sources: Newspapers, radio, television, consumer

organizations; specialist magazines

 Experimental sources: Handling, examining and using the product.

The extent of the information search is typically related to the cost of

the product or service and the consumer’s prior knowledge and
experience with the product or service category. If a consumer is
considering the purchase of an apartment, then they will collect
information and research the builders offering apartments. However, the
information search may be less extensive when the consumer considers
purchasing less expensive or daily-use items. Similarly, if a consumer is
planning his or her first trip abroad they will search for and collect more
information compared to the information collected for domestic travel.
Marketers can significantly impact the decision process by providing
product information. Detailed product information, available product
features/ attributes and benefits may satisfy potential consumers’ need for
information.

Evaluation of Alternatives: It is the process where consumers

determine what features they would prefer. Consumers evaluate and
assign a value to various product features and attributes. If a consumer

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plans to purchase an automobile, then he will evaluate its features and
decide on the purchase based on the features he desires in the
automobile. Since there is generally a cost associated with the various
features, consumers have to rank the features and decide which one is
most important to them. If the consumer is not satisfied with the selection
or the evaluation of the product criteria, they will revert to the information
search.

Purchase Decision: It occurs when the consumer actually makes

the purchase. It includes the service or product, method of payment,
package, location of purchase and all other factors that are associated
with purchasing the service or product. This step is directly influenced by
marketers. The marketing campaign is considered effective if the
consumer purchases a particular product or service; for example, he/she
choosing a particular five-star hotel among 10 five-star hotels in a city

Post-purchase Evaluation: The final stage is the post-purchase

evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to experience
concerns after making a purchase decision. Having bought a product, the
customers may feel that an alternative would have been preferable as they
do not understand whether they have made a good or bad decision.
Having used a service, customers will evaluate it against their expectation
from the service based on their information search. Marketers can manage
the post-purchase stage by never promising more than what can be
delivered. Monitoring customer satisfaction is very vital in the service
industry as it leads to increase in repeat customers and word-of-mouth
publicity. All the above stages of the decision making process are common
to any purchasing decision, including decisions regarding any tourism
related service.

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Factors of Consumer Purchase Decision:

A consumer’s evaluation of information and alternatives – and his

final decision – is affected by personal, psychological, social and cultural
factors. These are described below.

Personal Factors:

A buyer’s decision is influenced by personal characteristics such as

age, life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, personality
and self-concept.

Age:

Age determines the way people behave and the type of goods and
services they purchase. It can be easily seen that young people buy
fashionable dresses and accessories, seek excitement and adventure and
go in for junk food and on the other hand, seniors usually demand health
and convenient products and choose healthy and nutritious food.

Life-Cycle Stage:

Buying and consumption of goods and services is influenced by the

family life-cycle – the distinct stages a typical family goes through in its life.
Each stage is characterized by different consumption needs and patterns.

Occupation:

A person’s occupation affects his/her behavior and need for goods.

Blue-collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-
collar workers buy more business suits.

Economic Situation:

A person’s economic situation will affect their product choice. A

person with low discretionary incomes have less savings, do not frequently
eat out at restaurants and do not spend much on expensive vacation.
Those with higher discretionary incomes spend more on luxury goods,
luxury hotels and expensive vacations.

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Lifestyle:

Lifestyle refers to person’s specific patterns of activities, interests

and opinions (AIO) in areas such as work, leisure, politics and recreation.
Some people follow a very social lifestyle; they surround themselves with
friends and relatives. They travel with friends and relatives and for social
purposes such as visiting friends and relatives, attending weddings, etc.
while some like peaceful, nature-based activities such as walking, hiking
and bird watching, others like thrill/ adventure/ risky activities such as river
rafting, mountain climbing etc.

Personality:

Each person’s distinct personality influences his/her buying

behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics
that lead to relatively consistent and lasting response to one’s own
environment. People with different personalities behave differently and
have different needs. Fiske and Maddi (1961), who introduced the
activation theory of personality development, identified two major types of
personality: high activation (High energy) extroverts and low activation
(low energy) introverts. The high activation type needs a variety of
activities and alternatives to choose from, whereas the low activation type
seeks comfort, familiarity and fewer choices.

Self Concept:

Self concept refers to self image or mental picture of self. Self image
plays a determining role in how people see themselves and what they buy
to improve their self image. The notion of self concept or self image,
derives from Freudian psycho analytic theory and pertains to the concept/
self referential logic that the consumer believes characterize him/her.
Authors generally deal with two levels of self concept (Grubb and Stern,
1971):

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  The actual self image refers to the individual’s global perception of
the self (including his/her descriptions and evaluations).

 The ideal self image of the person’s perception of what (including

whom) he/she would like to be.

Psychological Factors:

A person’s buying choices are also influenced by five major

psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and
attitudes.

Motivation:

A motive is a primary factor driving a person’s behavior. It is

important to determine the motive for making the purchase. The needs a
person seeks to satisfy differ depending upon that person’s personal
characteristics. Yvette Reisinger states that this model does not apply to
those situations where needs are difficult to fulfill or when they can be only
partially fulfilled; for example, need for safety during war. Further, each
individual is different and unique as they have different abilities, skills
capabilities and expectations; therefore, they react differently to extrinsic
and intrinsic causes. This means each individual has a different reason to
develop- possibly the same- motive. The model of tourist motivation for
Philip Pearce’s (1998) is based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory.
Pearce postulates the existence of a ‘Travel Career Ladder’ where tourist
develops varying motivation of:

a. Relaxation;

b. Stimulation;

c. Self esteem and development;

d. Fulfillment

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Decision Making Process and Tourism:

Motivation is integral to the tourism decision making process. The

question of why people go on holiday is fundamental to the study of
tourism. Motivation acts as a trigger which stimulates the chain of events
in the tourism decision making process. Understanding tourist motivation
and decision making is important for two main reasons (Stephen J.Page
and Joanne Connel):

Planning considerations: All destinations require some form of

planning and management, and control of negative impacts- where it may
be appropriate to divert tourists or particular activities away from
vulnerable areas.

Economic considerations: Growth and development of the tourism

industry in a region or corporate growth and dependent on understanding
consumer behavior, particularly through market segmentation strategies.

Tourists as Consumers:

A consumer is an individual who obtains goods and services for

personal consumption through a process of decision-making. In basic
terms, such a process involves a ‘purchase’. However, in tourism, the
importance of experiencing a destination environment must also be
recognized where the tourist becomes a consumer of a place or culture as
well as a purchaser of tourism products. The tourist today is more
experienced, aware, discerning and demanding in relation to holiday
experiences. No longer are basic sun, sand and sea (3S) holidays
sufficient to meet the demands of the modern tourist- they are ready to put
together a more individualized quality product without the assistance of a
travel agent. Hogg (2003) outlines the various changes that have occurred
in the 21st century and paved the way for the new consumer and states
that consumers have become more knowledgeable, demanding and
thinking. Middleton and Clarke (2001) argue that the rise of a more

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demanding consumer has occurred globally over the past 20 years due to
a number of factors, some of which include:

 Increased affluence

 Better education

 More experience of travel, including international travel

 More culturally diverse travelling population

 Greater exposure to the media and other forms of information

Marketers in the tourism industry need to understand the buying

behavior of the customers within their target markets. Some of the
questions tourism marketers need to answer in respect of tourist buying
behavior include:

 Who are customers/tourists?

 What types of tourism products do they buy?

 With whom do they travel (alone, couple, family)?

 Which suppliers do they use?

 What are the needs they aim to satisfy?

 Where/ how do they buy their tourism products?

 When do they buy them (at the last minute or in advance)?

 How long do they go on holiday for?

 How often do they travel?

 How much are they prepared to pay?

 How do they decide which tourism products to buy?

 What influences their travel decisions?

 How do previous holidays affect future plans?

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Factors of Tourist Purchase Decisions:

The factors affecting consumer purchasing decisions also affect the

tourist decision making process. A few additional factors that affect tourist
decision making and purchasing behavior are family life-cycle, gender,
nationality and national identity, tourism and work, and risks associated
with tourist decisions. These factors are described below

Family Life-Cycle:

The different stages in the family life-cycle are characterized by

different interests, activities and opinions. These translate to different
holiday requirements at each stage.

Gender:

Gender as an influence on tourism decision making is not widely

researched or discussed. Clarke and Critcher (1985) argue in the context
of leisure participation that women have less leisure time than men,
undertake fewer leisure activities and spend a higher proportion of their
time in and around the home and family. Societal change has led to the
empowerment of women and the rise of the lone woman traveler. Indian
women travelling in groups are much in evidence these days. Safety and
security, as well as the travel group, is a deciding factor for women. The
deciding factors may differ for men.

Nationality and National Identity:

Leisure participation rates vary with ethnicity and nationality. These

patterns are influenced by socioeconomic and life-cycle factors. The
language barrier may act as a disincentive to overseas travel although, in
many cases, visa requirements prove most problematic. Tourism
marketers should understand each nationality and develop strategies
appropriate to the needs and aspirations of each of the major markets for
a country.

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Tourism and Work:

The nature of work is important influence on tourism, and not just in

terms of competition for time- tourism can be good escape from boring,
arduous and monotonous work. If work is enjoyable and exciting,
holidaying can be seen as a means to extend one’s work interests.

Risks Associated with Tourist Decisions:

There are many types of risk that prospective buyers may perceive
and experience during the process of purchasing and consuming the
tourism product. These risks influence the buyer’s decision to opt for a
destination. At times, religion also plays a role in the decision making
process. Any marketer trying to attract tourists to a destination or tourism
service should consider these factors while coming up with a service
product or advertisement campaign.

Gender and Tourism:

Gender study has been a ‘hot’ issue in social sciences

internationally. Research into gender issues in tourism started in the
1970s. From simple research focusing only on women to recent
comprehensive comparison of men and women, gender based market
segmentation comes extremely handy to recognise the needs of the
growing market of women travelers. Understanding the relationship
between gender and tourist behavior is important to tourist product
development and marketing. A historical perspective on tourism clearly
indicates that women, just as men, have been concerned travelers. Most
marketers who segment the market on the basis of demography land up
designing marketing strategies inclined towards men- a rather myopic
vision since it is factually proved that nearly half of the world population is
women. The 21st century is generally termed the era of the “woman
economy”. It is socially accepted that women of today like to travel, be it
alone, with friends, or with family. The newly developed modern world has

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created a new outlook and new concerns for women travelers. It is
immensely essential to explore the nature of women tourists in order to
recognise and appreciate women’s experiences. Within this market
segment, the holiday needs and motivations of different groups among
women, such as single, married, middle-aged women and senior citizens
need to be recognised, assessed and evaluated. Because of the
traditional male-oriented social value and the small proportion of women
tourists in the market, the researchers had not paid any attention to them
until the 1980’s, as women traveler became an important part of the tourist
market. Women - whether young, old, single, married, widowed- are
fuelling explosive growth in the travel industry. Many older women are also
experiencing this rite of passage. An increasing portion of solo women
travelers are Baby boomers and single mothers. The travel industry is just
waking up to the economic power of women.

Difference between Male and Female Tourists:

Gibson and Yiannakis have conducted studies over a period of 10

years for both men and women to understand tourist’s role preference
(Gibson 1989, 1994, 1996: Gibson and Yiannakis 1993; Yiannakis and
Gibson 1988, 192). They found that tourist’s role preferences not only
appear to be linked to life stage, but also that men and women vary in their
preference for different styles of travel at various stages in their life course.
These differences may be explained by the fact that women may differ in
the timing and the way in which they deal with socio psychological tasks
facing them at different times in their life course (Levinson, 1996).
Moreover, a woman’s position in society existing out of the interconnection
of gender, class, race and age may encourage or discourage certain
behaviour. In more women-centered work, Jordan and Gibson (1986)
found that among solo women travelers from the US and UK, life stage
and life transition underline not only choice of travel styles but sometimes
provide impetus to travel also.

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 This becomes more significant when it is appreciated that men and
women seek dissimilar experiences during their leisure time. Research
has been reviewed (Reisinger and Mavondo, 2002) that shows men
choose more passive pursuits (sunbathing, relaxing) and visits to purpose-
designed attractions, whilst women are more active (walking, shopping)
and prefer heritage and cultural sightseeing. Gender differences are also
manifested in the selection of destination services, with men focusing, for
example, on options for food and drink, with women more interested in
health and leisure facilities plus opportunities to shop, as well as broad
issues of cleanliness and hygiene.

Market Segmentation of Female Air Passengers:

All customers are not alike whether it is about their demography

capacity or other. A wise person once said that you can please some
people all of the time and all people some of the time, but you cannot
please all people all of the time. This is the basis for one of the marketing’s
core principles- Market segmentation. Market segmentation is a very
arduous task since the need to segment the market with respect to both
the client as well as the target. Market segmentation is the segmentation
of the markets into homogenous groups of customers, each of them
reacting differently to promotion, communication, pricing and other
variables of the marketing mix. A tourist travelling to India may be
considered as Inbound Tourist but all of them have distinct preferences.
Some may have chosen India for its monuments, some for beaches, and
many might be for business tour and so on. Further, inquiry may help to
understand which age group prefers which type of accommodation and it
will also vary. Though, market segment tourist with similar taste will be
grouped together in a segment. The similar taste on basis of segmentation
can be one or many.

Market segmentation is the process through which market segments

are decided. A market segment can be defined as a group of individuals,

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groups or organization who share at least one characteristic that causes
them to have similar need and want for product or service. The tourist
preferring adventure tourism makes a different market segment. Market
segment should be formed in such a way that the differences between
buyers with each segment are as small as possible. Thus, every segment
can be addressed with an individually targeted marketing mix.

There are two different steps in market segmentation

 Dividing the whole market into groups (market segments) with

common characteristics using specific segmentation bases.

 Selecting those market segments that the organization is best able

to cater (using set of segmentation criteria). This is known as market
segmentation analysis.

In market segmentation analysis one or more market segment is

chosen by organization to market their product or services. The segment
or the chosen segment is the one referred to a target market. Market
segmentation is the process of selecting these analysed segments of the
market, and then designing products/services to satisfy their needs. It is a
customer- oriented process that can be applied to almost any type of
market. Numerous methods have been used to segment markets. To
make a segment useful for marketing purpose three conditions must be
met:

 Each member of a segment must have one trait that links all
members of the segment together and which is absent for all
excluded members. In other words, there must be some common
binding characteristics that can be identified for each segment which
makes it unique.

 Each segment must be substantial. There must be enough

members with a common characteristic to make the segment large
enough for marketing purposes. Although there is no optimum size

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 that must be achieved before marketing commences, the general
rule of thumb is as profit margins for the goods offered decline, there
must be corresponding increase in the size of the segment.

 Each segment must be exploitable. Exploitable in this sense refers

to some way of reaching members of the segment in order to
expose them to the marketing program. Without a means to reach a
segment, there is no way to use marketing techniques to increase
their purchase of the product.

Market segment may appear as a tedious process yet this process

helps us reach the consumer we want. Marketing a product or service like
tourism to appeal to all customers is wasteful as there are customers who
are just not interested in buying any tourism services. The essence of
good marketing is to pick out the market segments that are most
interested in specific services and to aim marketing programmes at them.
The principal reason for segmentation is to focus effort and marketing
money in the most effective way. The basic principle of segmentation is to
limit the resources invested so that return on the investment can be
maximized. The market segments are created/ identified based on the
needs and wants of the groups. Thereafter various products or service
mixes are promoted to meet the needs of different segments. This
approach permits organizations to more effectively allocate source
marketing resources aimed at those market segments with the highest
probability of purchasing organisation’s products and services.

Market segment has become an integral part of Tourism Marketing.

Kotler stated that “the heart of modern strategic marketing can be
described as…segmenting, targeting and positioning”, with segmentation
being the essential first step in the direction of a ‘target marketing
approach”. The concept of segmentation was introduced by Wendell Smith
(1956, cited by Baker, 1991), based on the argument that “Groups of
consumers can be defined in such a way that their purchasing behavior

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would be relatively homogenous”. Middleton (1988) suggests that
segmentation may be defined as “a process of dividing a total market,
such as all tourists, into manageable sub-groups…(permitting) more cost
effective marketing, through the design, promotion and delivery of purpose
built products aimed at satisfying the identified needs of target groups”.
Similarly, Weinstein (1987, as cited by Loker and Perdue, 1992) explains:
“Good market segmentation research provides operational data that are
practical, usable and readily translatable into strategy”. The selection of a
relevant segmentation basis, i.e. the characteristic according to which
segments are distinguished, is essential for a useful structuring of the
market. A large range of variables have been suggested in the general
marketing (Kotler et al., 1999) and tourism literature (Mill and Morrison,
1992; Pender, 1999; Kotler et al., 1995). Generally socio-demographic
variables such as nationality, age, income or education have been
considered as quite usable, since they are easy to assess (Lawson, 1994)
and have also been identified as relevant determinants of tourist behavior
(Baloglu and Brinberg, 1997; Kastenholz, 2002; Gitelson and Kerstetter,
1990).

Guiltinan and Paul (1994) explain that “firms may find some
segments more attractive than others because of variations in segment
size, growth potential or competition”. In the case of tourism, one could
add “because of the existence of certain features of the destination, best
fitting the needs of specific segment and because of overall destination
development concerns” (Kastenholz, 2002). Beane and Ennis (1987)
state, in this context, that “segments can be perceived as opportunities. A
company with limited resources needs to pick only the opportunities to
pursue”. Mc kercher (1995) stresses the limited control tourism marketers
often have over the product mix and new product development and the
little flexibility of complex destination products, suggesting a need for
“managing the market-portfolio rather than the product portfolio”.
Consequently, segmentation may also be used as a tool for “managing
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demand”, which may be particularly useful within a strategy of sustainable
tourism development. Specifically, a destination may choose the most
interesting target segment(s), based on arrange of criteria that reveal the
segment’s attractiveness from a sustainability point of view, associated
with long-term economic profits, social, cultural and environmental benefits
versus costs (Kastenholz, 2004). Additionally, this analysis permits
directing diverse tourist groups within a large destination area and along
the year to enhance the overall benefits and minimize possible negative
impacts of tourism. The various variables and criteria for market
segmentation in tourism market may vary but the importance and
advantaged have been recognised by all marketers. In other words,
Market Segmentation is the division of the overall market for a service in to
groups with common characteristics.

Gender Based Market for Tourism Segmentation:

Gender sensitivity needs to be taken into account while using STP

(segmenting, targeting and positioning) in tourism marketing. Tourism
destinations are selected by men and women using different criteria. This
conclusion (Ryan et al, 1998) recognizes gender as a sufficiently strong
consideration to count as a driver of market segmentation and provide the
basis of a marketing strategy. As a genuine variable, gender based market
segment is categorized as substantial, and easy both to assess and
access. Gender also represents a ‘differential potential’ sufficient to justify
that a destination specifically draws attention to its qualities that separately
appeal to men and women. Gender marketing is most effective when it is
combined with lifestyle and other demographic information. These
variables are taken into consideration to segment the women tourist
market further. A number of divisions identified within this market are
elaborated further.

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Division based on Employment and Life Cycle:

One of the earliest empirical investigations on women’s travel

examined the patterns of working women versus non working women
during different stages of the life cycle (Bartos, 1982). Bartos identified
four sub segments.

 No husband, no chidren

 Husband, no children

 Husband and children

 Children, no husband

In her findings, Bartos shows that working women travel more often
than non- working women; further, single childless women take more
overseas trips than women with dependent children.

Division based on Purpose of Travel:

Women primarily travel for two reasons: leisure/ recreation and

business.

Leisure/ Recreation:

The destination choice of the leisure/ recreation segment largely

depends on the family life cycle. The various categories that can be
identified are described below:

 Young, single, employed women: They generally take weekend

breaks due to constraints of work, but since there is no family
responsibility they have time for short-haul leisure trips. They prefer
beach holidays with ample entertainment facilities.

 Married women without children: Usually, it is observed that such

couples indulge in short breaks and choose destinations depending
on financial and time availability. Joint decisions are taken
regarding the choice of destination.

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  Women with dependent children: Journeys made by such women
are hugely dependent on their children’s school breaks. Unlike
yesteryears, when all holiday decisions were taken by men, today
there is a marked shift with the lady of the family short listing
destinations to visit. She also enquires about the facilities
pertaining to entertainment and activities for the entire family and
other arrangements to visit the place. The final decision is taken on
the consensus of the family.

 Women with grown-up children: They are most likely to undertake

long trips and therefore emerge as the category that holds
maximum value to tourism enterprises. They have travel
companions in their partners and friends in similar positions without
any obligation towards children. According to an Adventure Travel
Trade Association Survey conducted in 2011, 52 percent of
adventure travelers were women. The survey of 157 tour operators
from 35 countries also found the average age was 45. This echoes
the findings of Gutsy Traveller, a website created by women’s
travel expert Marybeth Bond. “The average adventure traveler is
not a 28 year old male”, she writes, “but a 47 year old woman”.

 Senior women travelers: Women in their late 60s and 70s are
health conscious and many women have kept themselves in shape.
This category has all the time and money to travel.

Business:

Today, women make up 40-45 percent of overall business travel

market as compared to 1 per cent in the 1970s. A typical woman business
traveler is married and either childless or with children and she is over 40
years of age on average. She may be the secondary wage earner in the
family. This segment, sometimes also termed as the women professional
market, is regarded as the most high potential tourist market. This

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segment also has huge purchasing power. It is also a fact that women on
business trips are more likely to take a vacation day as compared to men.

Division Based on the Basis of Co-Travellers:

Three main categories can be identified each of which has distinct

characteristics:

 Female travelling with family: As already discussed earlier, the

destination choice decision depends on the family life cycle.
 Female travelling with friends: Recently, women have formed
clubs where they collect and interact. Many such clubs now
arrange leisure journeys where women can travel collectively with
friends. This activity is growing popularity as it provides an
opportunity for women to take a break from routine activities and
family pressures. They return feeling rejuvenated and the family in
turn recognizes the importance of this figure to the household.
 Solo woman travelers: Gibson and Jordan (1986) found that
among solo woman travelers from the US and UK, life stage and
life transition underline not only choice of travel style but sometime
provide the impetus to travel solo. Traveling solo is an enriching
experience and lands to the self-actualization process. Solo
woman tourists are growing in number, but their needs are to be
addressed by the tourism industry.

Marketing to Indian Women:

Indian women can by no stretch of the imagination be defined as a

homogeneous market – it is heterogeneous. And the distinction cannot be
made merely on the basis of their socio-economic status or the town class
they belong to. TNS – GEMS February 2012 issue has a very interesting
observation about a BoP (Bottom of Pyramid) 19-year-old girl, who saves
from her small lunch allowance so that she can buy a tube of her favorite
moisturiser. The Indian woman consumer indeed is changing

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behaviourally, and the marketers are trying their best to understand her.
The evolution is significant not just because women are waking up to
discover their identities, it is also because of the way the social order is
changing in our country – the place of women is enlarging in our families.
However it’s a dichotomous situation; it is happening and yet women are
trapped in difficult life situations of being dominated.” Truly, the Indian
woman has evolved, and the traditional boundaries are breaking – she is
taking charge of family shopping and expenditure across the board. Even
today, the pace of life is quite different in a metro like Delhi and a smaller
city like Agra. Does this mean that consumers in Delhi and Agra are very
different as far as consumer patterns are concerned? Punitha Arumugam,
Group CEO, Madison Media disagrees. She says, “More than segmenting
women based on geography, it is important to segment them by mindset
or aspiration or representative clusters. For example, a homemaker in a
small town in Karnataka and a homemaker in Mahim – Mumbai may be
very similar. However, despite being based in Mumbai as a geographical
unit, a homemaker in Nariman Point may be vastly different from the said
homemaker in Mahim. This dilution of geographies and convergence of
aspirations across borders has, to a large extent, been driven by mediums
like television and mobiles.” Women in smaller towns aspire to be like their
metro counterparts – however, the traditions are still stronger in smaller
towns, and the lifestyles differ as metros have more working women than
smaller towns. Divya Gupta, CEO, Dentsu Media elaborates, “A distinction
born out of the fact that a typical metro woman is more likely to work out of
home, leading to greater confidence, empowerment and equality coupled
with greater time pressures.” These factors have a direct influence on her
purchase decisions and behaviour. However, the aspiration to succeed is
universal. And media is a great equaliser; today product and brand
awareness is ubiquitous across towns big and small. The needs and style
might vary.” It is, nevertheless, important to understand, how different
actually is the middle Indian woman (marketers’ new muse) from the metro

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woman. While the traditional role of male has not really changed much,
but that of the woman has seen a change of several generations in one
decade – very similar to India’s economic growth story. Anita Kotwani,
Principal Partner – Client Leadership, Mindshare defines the middle India
woman succinctly stating, “She is the loving wife, the doting mother and if
working, she balances her home and personal life. She is committed to the
institution of marriage and family. She is conscious of the changing
environment, is aware of brands and is social online and off-line as
well. She realises the importance that technology is playing today and
wants to ensure that her kids today are internet savvy and ready for the
future. Anita Nayyar, CEO – India and South Asia, Havas Media, makes
an attempt to demystify her. Says she, “Yes, the psychographics of a
metro woman and a middle India woman are different. You will observe a
lot of differences emerging, interestingly portrayed in the GEC channel
soaps. Metro woman is modern and forward-looking, while middle India
woman is not so modern but is becoming forward-looking.”

As for what lies beneath the change, and how it has impacted the
women in middle India, Shubha George, Chief Operating Officer, South
Asia, MEC reflects, “The woman living in middle India is certainly more
evolved today as she has more access to information. They have greater
access to telecommunication, retail, media including the Internet and this
has begun to narrow the gap with metropolitan India, even if it is early
stages yet. Apart from the more obvious consumption pattern changes,
this information explosion has intrinsically made middle India women
aspire for more – especially when it comes to their children and what
opportunities they make available for their children.” Marketing to middle
India woman, has different sensitivities, though she might be very similar
to metro women on several fronts. Do the marketers need a different
marketing strategy to reach them or don’t they? States Anita Kotwani,
“One does need to have differentiated marketing strategy for women in
middle India. They are different in their values – what makes them tick
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might vary from the metro women. Their realities may be different
however; their aspirations and expectations might be similar.” While the
marketing strategy may need an element of differentiation, does the
communication strategy too need to be different? Ambika Srivastava,
Chairperson, Zenith Optimedia India and Chairperson, Vivaki Exchange
believes that it would be foolhardy to formulate a rule here and apply it
across brands and product categories. She says, “It depends on the
positioning of the brand, and insights the communication is based on. If
the communication is about the universal truth – or a specific emotional
need like safety, love, and need to nurture – it might work across the
board.” However, she cautions, “Context may need to change, dependent
on what the product or brand is. You have to be extremely relevant.” A
brand need to reach out to middle India women might vary in intensity
based on the product category it belongs to. While an up market
automobile brand might be happy targeting the metro women, in case of a
new detergent variant, it might not be the case. Especially in television,
GECs, celebrities, bollywood are the major contributors to overall media
spending.” Sudha Natrajan, CEO, Lintas Media, believes that television,
by far, is the best medium to reach the middle Indian woman. However,
she makes an interesting and accurate observation about men being
involved in the purchase decisions as well. She avers, “Out of home
entertainment avenues being restricted, they can be reached almost
completely through television. Also, where the evening primetime is
concerned, soaps have dual viewership of the husband as well as the
wife. It is important to reach the man of the house too, as he definitely has
a say, or even ends up purchasing items of daily or frequent consumption
in the house.” Marketers would thus ignore her in their marketing plans at
their own peril. As per a study, about 85 per cent of the purchase
decisions are taken by women in the United States of America. Our
experts, however, are unanimous that the percentage of women taking
purchase decisions in India is much lower. However, the numbers sure are

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increasing and across the categories. States Arumugam, “The era of
looking at women as decision makers only for low-cost FMCG products is
long over. Marketers across categories, be it finance, automobiles,
telecom, durables etc. have been targeting women as key influencers, if
not the actual decision-maker on their brand, for quite some time.” In
semi-urban and rural areas the story is a wee bit different – as the male is
still the actual buyer of products in most categories. In semi-urban and
rural areas, even FMCGs and groceries are bought by the man of the
house. Increase in the average income of working woman is indeed an
important factor. In addition to it, there are several other socio-cultural
factors that come into play, as explained by Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar
Universal. “With the change in household patterns, the decision making
process is changing too. Now we have far more nuclear families with no
senior citizens; smaller family sizes – DINKs and single child trend. Also,
what is observed is that women are staying away from home for education
and career and there has also been an increase in the divorce rate and
number of singles over the years. With smaller size families, the decision
process is also becoming more inclusive. Hence the traditional
demarcation or the edges are no longer sharp.” What does this augur for
marketers? Do they need to opt for gender specific marketing and
advertising, or does it not really matter? One can continue to put forward
assumptions or theories on gender specific advertising but there will
always be varied outcomes that will evolve. Divya Radhakrishnan, MD,
Helios Media, for one stresses on the need for gender specific marketing,
“Men are from Mars and women are from Venus”. The comprehension,
rationalisation and attention getting capabilities for women are very
different from men. Across age groups, there is a stark differentiation in
behaviour and therefore it is critical to have gender specific marketing
strategies. The differentiation begins right from Pink vs Blue to Barbie vs.
Nerf guns.” And she has an emphatic endorser in Madhuri Sapru, W-I-C,
Encyclomedia Networks. States Sapru, “There are numerous products

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being used by women that need to have a women centric marketing
strategy. It is very strange to see sales man selling female products such
as footwear; do men even know what women are looking for in footwear
other than to say the size is right, or even more strangely “when you will
regularly use it, it will loosen and fit you well!” – or even a script for a
telemarketer: they seem to have standard scripts which always address a
customer as “sir” – whatever happened to the purchasing power of
women?” Divya Gupta meanwhile opines that gender specific marketing
strategy is a given for product categories specifically meant for ‘her’ – like
makeup or skincare products. However, her involvement in purchase
decisions now goes much beyond that. She elaborates, “Responsibilities
and role-play between genders overlap; increasingly so today. Gender
specific marketing and strategy is restricted today to only those categories
meant exclusively for either gender. Our society is changing, more so in
the metros/ larger towns, where increasing number of women work out of
home. Given multiple responsibilities, pressure and paucity of time,
decision-making, be it purchase decisions or related to the children’s
education is now mutual and shared.” The belief is that it needs to be a
strategy of inclusion rather than exclusion of either gender for most
product categories – and it holds true especially in the case of metros and
larger towns. States Nandini Dias, “We have moved away from
demographic targeting to segmentation and relevance. In smaller towns
there will be certain instruments within the finance category, or computer
peripherals or cements etc. where the focus on women will be almost
negligible. But in larger towns, right from durables to finance to
education…women are expected to participate and hence are addressed.”

Since the last year-and-a-half, brands targeting women have

acknowledged the power of the internet. From Whisper sanitary napkins
and Johnson’s baby care to high-profile fashion designers, internet is
becoming an unavoidable tool to each and every marketer today. There is
a dogged optimism that in the times to come, internet consumption by
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Indian women would increase manifold, and there indeed is a need for
marketers to gear up. Anamika Mehta opines, “The ratio of women: men
users in 2001 was 10:90. From there on, today the ratio has risen to
35:65. Even in terms of time spent on internet, an average female user
spends more time and consumes more pages than the male counterparts.
With higher penetration of home PCs, their numbers are set to increase.
Women are indeed the growth drivers of internet usage today. Though the
user base is small at the moment, the percentage growth is quite
substantial. States Shubha George, “The year over year growth among
women is over 30 per cent whereas it is just 3 per cent among men.
Working and non-working women between age group 15-34 years across
metros and tier 2 cities are the primary reason for increase in internet
consumption in India. Of course, students constitute a critical chunk as
well.” However, the efficiency of the internet in reaching a wide target
female group is still questionable. There are other mediums that give
better ROI. This medium only reaches about 2-3 per cent of the total
female Indian population as of now.” Women and brands coming to the
most important questions of them all, what the brands need to do for
women to purchase their brands or influence their husband to do so?
Brands see women as caricatures of themselves as the woman who waits
for her husband’s smile or for children to say she is the best. No doubt
these are important payoffs in a woman’s life – but brands tend to make
simplistic associations. To truly earn their loyalty and advocacy – brands
need to understand the women more deeply. Understand their layered
dreams and unfulfilled desires, help her achieve than become her savior.

Adds Madhuri Sapru, “Other than for women’s personal products,

marketers have barely started “marketing” to women. We do not have any
media isolation opportunities created as yet, and hence it is difficult for
marketers to communicate to them in isolation.” Brands indeed
acknowledge the value of engaging female consumers – increase in their
purchasing and decision-making powers has not gone unnoticed. Last five
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years have seen a huge increase in product categories and brands
(beyond FMCG) specifically targeting women – including computers,
mobile phones and financial products.

Air Travel Segments:

In broadly defined categories there are two basic trip purposes: the
one taken primarily for business and the one taken for any number of non-
business reasons, such as vacation, school, personal business, visiting
relatives, etc. A trip is considered a business trip if the reason given is
business, combined business/pleasure, or convention, conference, or
seminar. All other reasons are considered non-business in nature.
Traditionally, the airlines have segmented the air travel market into
business and non-business classes and marketed their services
accordingly. In addition to trip purpose, airport planners have further
segmented the air travel market according to the geographic location in
which the air traveler resides. Whether a traveler is a resident or non-
resident of a region in which an airport is located has implications for the
type of ground access mode that will be used to reach the airport. The two
types of travelers make use of different access modes. Four market
segments result from classifying travelers according to where they live and
the purpose of their trip. They are resident business, resident non-
business, nonresident business, and non-resident non-business. The five
variables having some association with commercial air trips originating are
trip purpose, education, household income, gender, and household type.
The decision tree is built on a focus or “root” variable. In this case gender
is used as the focus variable. Trip purpose, household type, household
income, and education are used to divide air travel person-trips into
successively smaller groupings.

Nine market segments resulted from the segmentation analysis:

three business classes and six non-business classes (Addante, 2001).
The classifying variables are trip purpose, gender, household type and

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education. A small number of trips did not fit into any of the nine
segments. These trips are placed in a category termed “miscellaneous.”
The market segments are homogeneous classes of trips based on the
segmentation variables, but these variables alone do not provide sufficient
information about the individuals responsible for the trips in each segment.
Demographic variables, such as age and household income, that were not
significant in classifying air travel trips can be useful in helping to
understand the types of travelers that make trips. One of the segmentation
variables, “trip purpose,” divides trips into two classes, business and non
business. Business trips are then divided into three additional classes and
non-business trips into six additional classes. The term “educated” or
“well-educated,” used in the following market segment descriptions,
denotes an educational attainment of at least a 4-year college degree and
the term “lesser education” denotes less than a 4-year college degree.

Business Market Segments:

Business trips are divided into three classes of trips based on

“gender” and “household type” variables.

Segment 1: Business Trip by a Male from a Family Household:

The single largest market category, accounting for 31 per cent of all
commercial air trips from the region and 68 percent of business trips, is
composed of men from predominately married couple, family households.
Only 11 percent of the trips are by men from single-person or two person
non-family households. Fifty-one percent of the trips are made by an
individual from a family with children less than 18 years of age, 35 percent
by individuals from families without young children. Eighty percent of the
trips are made by men from households with incomes greater than
$60,000. This is the highest income distribution of any market segment.
Seventy-seven percent of the trips are made by an individual with an
education of a bachelor’s degree or higher. Almost 39 percent of the trips
are attributable to men between the ages of 40 and 49 years.
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Segment 2: Business Trip by a Female from a Single Person
Household:
This market segment accounts for 13 percent of business trips by
air. Female travelers from single person households account for 66
percent of the trips and the remaining 33 percent are either one-parent
family households (19 percent) or non-family households where the
female is living with another person (13 percent). Almost all of the trips are
made by a female who is either divorced or has never married. Seventy-
five percent of the trips are evenly distributed among each of three 10-year
age groupings, i.e., 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59. Eighty-four percent of the
trips are attributable to women with an education of a bachelor’s degree or
higher. Only 42 percent of the trips are taken by women with household
incomes exceeding $60,000.

Segment 3: Business Trip by a Female from a Family Household:

This market segment, accounting for 18 percent of commercial air

trips, is composed of women from married-couple, two or more person,
and family households. There is a concentration of 33 percent of the trips
in the 40 to 49 year age bracket and another 25 percent each in the next
younger (30 to 39) and older (50 to 59) age brackets. The women
responsible for trips in this category are almost equally divided into family
households with and without children under the age of 18. Almost two-
thirds of the trips are made by women with a bachelor’s degree or higher
and three-quarters of the trips are from households where the income is
above $60,000. Over 90 percent of the trips are made by women who are
married.

Non-Business Market Segments:

Non-business trips are divided into market segments based on

“gender” and “household type” variables. However, the variable
“educational attainment” is also significant in classifying non-business
trips. Six segments resulted from the classification process.

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Segment 4: Non-business Trip by a Well-Educated Female from a
Family Household:
Nineteen percent of non-business air trips from New England are
represented by this class. All but 11 percent of the trips in the category are
made by women from married couple, two or more person, family
households, two-thirds of which have no children under 18 present.
Slightly over half of the households are comprised of two persons, the
remaining proportion is made of larger sized households. There are no
trips by women from single person households in this group, but 11
percent of the trips are made by women living with another person in a
non-family household. Eighty-three percent of the trips are made by
married women with the remainder by women who have never married. All
of the trips are by women with at least a bachelor’s degree and 66 percent
of the household incomes exceed $60,000. In contrast to the business trip
segments, only 63 percent of the trips are by a woman who is employed
full-time, another 16 percent are employed part-time, and 14 percent are
full-time homemakers. There is a fairly even distribution of three-quarters
of the trips across the three age categories of less than 30, 30 to 39, and
40 to 49 years.

Segment 5: Non-Business Trip by a Well-Educated Male from a

Family Household:
The male counterpart of the previous class accounts for 22 percent
of non-business air trips from New England. The distribution of household
types is very similar to Segment 4. All but 8 percent of the trips are made
by men from family households, 58 percent of which have no children
under the age of 18 were present. There are no trips by men from single
person households in this group. Similar to Segment 4, 82 percent of the
trips are by married men with the rest by men who have never married.
Seven percent of the trips are by African American men. All of the trips are
made by men with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Household incomes

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exceed $60,000 in 70 percent of the cases. Twenty nine percent of the
trips are by men between the ages of 40 and 49.

Segment 6: Non-Business Trip by a Female with Lesser Education

from a Family Household.
This market segment accounts for 16 percent of New England non-
business air trips. The trips are made by women from family households,
63 percent of which have no young children present. There are no trips by
women from single person households in this group. Eighty-four percent of
the trips are made by women who are married and 13 percent by women
who have never married. The highest level of education achieved by
individuals in this group is less than that required for a bachelor’s degree.
Household incomes exceed $60,000 in only 45 percent of the trips taken.
The highest concentration of trips in this segment is in the age bracket of
over 60 years.

Segment 7: Non-Business Trip by a Male With Lesser Education from

a Family Household:
This market accounts for 12 percent of New England non-business
air trips. This class of trips is made by individuals who are the male
counterparts of Segment 6. The trips in this group are made by men from
family households, 65 percent of which have no young children present.
There are no trips by men from single person households in this group.
Eighty-three percent of the trips are made by married men and 12 percent
by men who have never married. Educational attainment does not exceed
“some college” for this group. Household income levels exceed $60,000 in
55 percent of the cases. As in Segment 6, there is a concentration of trips
by men over the age of 60 (25 percent).

Segment 8: Non-Business Trip by a Male from a Single Person or

Two Persons Household:
This segment accounts for 12 percent of New England non-business
air trips. There are a small proportion of trips (14 percent) by men who are
head of single parent family households with no children under the age

128
of 18. The vast majority of trips are made by men from non-family
households where they are living alone (43 percent) or living with another
person (42 percent). There is a concentration of 34 percent of the trips in
the 30 to 39 year age bracket. Household income exceeds $60,000 in 50
percent of the trips. Thirty percent of the trips are by men who are
divorced or widowed and 63 percent by men who have never married.

Segment 9: Non-Business Trip by a Female from a Single Person or

One Parent Family Household:
This group accounts for 17 percent of New England non-business
air trips. Women responsible for the trips in this category live in
predominantly single person households (59 percent), the remaining 41
percent of trips are made by women from single-adult family household,
(17 percent of these households have no young children and 24 percent
have young children present). Only 22 percent of the trips are by a woman
with a household income in excess of $60,000; 13 percent of the trips are
by non-White women, and about 5 percent by Hispanic women. Almost all
of the trips are made by widowed (25 percent), divorced (30 percent), or
never married (39 percent) women. About 44 percent of the trips are made
by women who have received a four-year college degree or higher.
Twenty-eight percent of the trips are by women over the age of 60. This is
the highest concentration of any market segment in the over 60-year age
bracket.

Indian Women’s Buying Behaviour:

Economic world is now thinking in favor of the fairer sex. Now-a-

days women are not only playing role of hardcore ‘housewives’, they are
also playing a different role of ‘chief purchasing officer’ and controlling 85
per cent of buying decisions. In today’s world, they are working as multi-
tasker by playing a role of house maker as well as professional women
with their hard work. With their new role as a professional, there has been
a gradual evolution in the status of women and now they are called as

129
marketers. As a professional India, women hold 25 per cent of jobs in
different sectors, although in 1980 it was only 10 per cent. An Indian
woman today has a greater sense of empowerment and economic
freedom, which indicates that their consumption pattern has changed. A
woman makes her values keeping whole family in mind rather than her
individual self. We can say a woman is likely to be less selfish. On the flip
side of this coin, this altruistic approach may prompt a woman to dictate,
values to persons she can influence. An example is of a mother striving to
be a follower of truth, feeling fulfilled only if her children also speak the
truth. Good moral behavior, compassion and simplicity can make a person
look great in her eyes. To a certain extent the male dominated society has
imposed upon her this behavior as it was convenient to the society if every
wife considered her father and husband as great human beings. Further,
evolution and nature have demanded that she likes all her children equally
and not just the prodigal child. This imposition by nature is a built-in
survival mechanism of the human species. If every mother did not favour
the ugly, weak and inefficient offspring, human evolution could have been
very different and full of cruelty. It is notable that even among some animal
species like lions and tigers where the weaklings are killed in infancy by
the parents it is the male who performs the cruel act. This brings up
another aspect of behavior that cruelty in any form and activities like
hunting and blood sports are less enjoyed by women. In male-dominated
societies, certain goods and services are decided or actually purchased
largely by women; these are food items, women's clothes, clothes for
children, jewellery, kitchen appliances and general household needs.
Along with the growth in population and in the consumer market, the
absolute volume of purchases decided by women is growing.

Values of a woman depend on her background, her education and

her living life style. This type of changes have opened a separate chapter
for women and treating them as a special object of study. Now, marketers
have been segmenting woman customers and targeting them for many of
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the products or services. It is not possible to list out all the aspects to bring
out if and how women behave differently in different situations as a
consumer. So, I take up only the broad areas where a marked difference
exists. It is hoped that recognition and analysis of these areas will help the
marketer in addressing these issues.

A lot of studies have been conducted by many researchers,

practitioners and professional on behavior of customers but only a few
studies have been conducted on specific for women customers’ behavior.
Martha Barlett suggests in her study “Marketing to Women” that compared
to the men, it is ideal to target the women, as it helps to enhance the
returns due to the loyalty and referral power of women in the long run.
Further, she opines that the natural behavior of women to talk and share
experiences adds fillip to the marketing process by the multiplier effect of
word of mouth. Fletcher and Keith (1988) present information on the
nature of problem recognition, the first stage of problem solving model of
buyer behavior. The problem solving approach stresses the view that the
consumer moves through a series of sequential and reiterative stages or
procedures in reaching or not reaching a consumption decision. It is
claimed that problem recognition is a two stage process; first, the problem
of whether to buy, and second, and the problem of what to buy. The first
problem is solved with little if any market searches over a prolonged
period of time, the second with limited market search over a shorter
period. The initial stages of a decision are generally accepted as
influencing the later informational requirements and the choice criteria
used to evaluate and discriminate between alternative products and, as
such, are of major importance to marketers. Precipitation circumstances
and enabling conditions do not operate in a clearly predictable way and
are often not open to influence by the marketer. Simintiras and Anotonis
(1997) attempt to distinguish evaluation outcomes of likely future
satisfaction from feelings or emotions prior to the act of purchase, and
assess the impact of pre-purchase satisfaction on the purchase behavior
131
of first time buyers. In their study after conceptualizing pre-purchase
satisfaction as the emotional outcome of anticipated satisfaction, it was
hypothesized that; pre-purchase satisfaction and anticipated satisfaction
are related but distinct constructs; and pre-purchase satisfaction levels are
higher for potential first time buyers who buy than those who do not buy.
The results provided support for both propositions, and suggest that
anticipated satisfaction and pre purchase satisfaction are distinguishable
constructs, and pre-purchase satisfaction is a predictor of the purchase
behavior of first time buyers. Shainesh (2004) presents that buying
behavior in a business market is characterized by long cycle times, group
decision making, participants from different functional areas and levels
and sometimes divergent objectives, and changing roles of the
participants during the buying cycle. The high levels of market and
technological uncertainty of services is the complexity in the buying
process. Despite all this, marketers have been remarkably remiss in not
looking at women as a separate segment.

Dr. M. Subrahmanian (2011) examined in his study “buying behavior

of the new aged Indian women” in the city of Chennai with respect to the
age, marital status, occupation, professional status factors, etc. to identify
the decision maker and the influencer for the purchase made by the
women. A sample of 200 women from the few distinct geographical areas
of the Chennai city was collected. According to this study the women’s
value perception is multi-faceted and they are more quality oriented. When
it comes to the price attribute women do not opt for the products even if it
is heavily priced or low priced but to the maximum prefer when it is
reasonably priced within the affordable range.

Gradually, the perception that women were looking for products

more suited to their physical and emotional needs and wants began to
gain ground. Such products should be introduced, where marketers in the
developed economies started recognizing this fact. However, the

132
developing economies are still reluctant to extend this to other products.
Thus, it is high time that the marketers and manufacturers realize,
understand and recognize women as a lucrative consumer segment and
start developing concepts and create products that are women centric,
which reap high growth potential.

According to a survey conducted to examine the buying behavior of

women in their purchase decisions and to know which area of purchase
has more influence to women behavior and how much they buy as in the
frequency. A sample of 500 Indian women from the few distinct
geographical areas of the Delhi-NCR was collected with the help of
structured questionnaire. With the help of the data collected the results
were analyzed. Results of the study indicated that out of total women
respondents, 51 per cent women belongs to salaried class, 2 per cent
business class, 11 per cent were self employed and 36 per cent women
were house wives. They belonged to different age groups, 30 per cent
were in 20-30 years age group, 40 per cent were in 30-40 years age
group, 20 per cent were in the age group of 40-50 years and 10 per cent
women were in the age group of 50 years and above. 10 per cent women
were falling in a income group of 0-120000, 33 per cent fell in 120000-
240000, 37 per cent fell in 240000-360000, 7 per cent women fell in
360000-480000 and 13 per cent women fell in 480000 and above. 24 per
cent women have an impulsive purchasing style and 76 per cent women
took time for purchasing. For buying the product 64 per cent women took
decision by their self, 22 per cent women involved their husband/father in
their buying decision and only 14 per cent women consulted with someone
else. Out of total women respondents 37 per cent women preferred
expensive/branded goods but 63 per cent women consumers bought
cheap product and they knew the value of money.

Therefore, most of Indian women take time in buying the goods.

They are not able to make prompt decision for the same. Although women

133
consumers buy cheap goods but they are loyal for same type of
commodity. Out of total women respondents 55 per cent women are loyal
customers and 45 per cent women are interested in switching over to
other products. Most of the women customers are influenced by their
mothers for their buying behaviour, because results of the study indicate
that 62 per cent women customers are influenced by their mothers, 8 per
cent are influenced by their fathers, 21 per cent are influenced by their
friends and only 9 per cent of them are influenced by someone else in
their buying behavior, while buying the goods most women bargain with
the shopkeepers. Analysis of the study indicates that 92 per cent women
responded in favour of it and only 8 per cent women do not bargain at the
time of purchase. They are also influenced by the advertisements which
they see on the TV, newspaper, magazines and from hoardings of the
companies. If the advertisement is offering any discounts on the goods,
they get influenced very much. When they make their buying decision then
they also consider corporate social responsibility, 54 per cent respondents
said that CSR activities affected the purchasing decision and 46 per cent
respondents said that CSR activities did not affect the purchasing
decision. If we concentrate on their purchasing frequency in a month study
found that only 2 per cent women shop once in a month, 23 per cent
women shop weekly, 41 per cent women shop in a gap of 14 days and 34
per cent women almost shop daily. On the time of shopping, if they see a
discount on any commodity they purchase the commodity in bulk. About
71 per cent respondents were in favour of the statement and 29 per cent
women purchased small quantities according to their needs and their
income. Now Indian women are more aware about the market as
compared to yesteryears. They also prefer shopping from the malls as
compared to the general store. Analysis of the study provides mixed
results. Results indicate that 31 per cent of Indian women say that their 20
per cent purchase comes from the malls, 18 per cent women says that
their 20-40 per cent purchase comes from the malls, 28 per cent women

134
says that their 40-60 per cent purchase comes from the malls, 12 per cent
women says that their 60-80 per cent purchase comes from the malls and
11 per cent women says that their 80-100 per cent purchase comes from
the Malls. The Indian Women, with her increasing financial power, has a
greater discretionary income and utilizes it to satisfy their wants. Her
criteria for family purchases have been modified by her increased
exposure to new ideas and information. Now she is playing a new role as
a facilitator. Previously, the Indian women concentrated on purchases that
were based on family needs and wants. Her only personal indulgences
were items of clothing and adornment. But now she is regularly moving to
the Malls for shopping and taking decisions herself. She has full freedom
to buy and bargain. She also takes interest in advertisements on TV,
magazines and newspaper for discount offers and new schemes on the
commodity.

Marketing to Female Travellers:

For the majority of scheduled carriers, revenues earned from

business class passengers represent a significant amount of income and
create a significant proportion of profits earned. Therefore, in order to
maintain competitive advantage, it is vital that airlines continuously
address the requirements of the business class passenger and update
their related market intelligence. It is the growth and gradual establishment
of a specific sub-sector of business class—the female business flyer that
requires special attention. Traditionally being viewed as an employee
working in the less elevated ranks of corporate life, the female is now
starting to break through into higher managerial positions. This
development has led to some sectors, typically those that have focused on
the male business traveller, adjusting to a tremendous growth in the
numbers of female business travellers. The hotel industry, for instance,
can be viewed as one such sector, which has realised the need to adapt
the services and facilities offered, in order to better accommodate its new

135
customers. In the U.S. it was predicted that female travellers will represent
50 percent of the business travel market by the turn of the century. In the
U.K. women represent 30 to 40 percent of business travellers. This is a
dramatic increase since 1980 when they accounted for only four percent
(Equality, 1996). Travel Weekly (1999) reported that a study by Travel
Research Centre, indicated that the percentage of female business
travellers on long haul routes from France and Germany has increased
from six percent in 1989 to 22 percent and 26 percent, respectively, in
1999. Such trends in the growth of the female business travellers market
raise several questions.

 Do airlines realise the potential of female business travellers

market?

 Do airlines offer any specific services targeted at the travel needs

of female passengers?

 What are female business travellers’ needs?

 Are there opportunities for airlines to capture market share by

improving the business travel experience for women?

Female Business Travellers:

The growth in the number of business women could provide a clear

explanation for the growth in female business travellers. It is evident that
as the percentage of women in the labour force continues to increase, it is
more likely that they will reach a level within the company at which
business travel becomes more frequent. Compounding this is an increase
in the number of females taking up business related courses at the level of
higher education. Fundamental changes in the industrialised world during
the past twenty years have encouraged more women to enter the labour
force. In the 1950s in the United Kingdom, for instance, women only made
up one-third of the labour force. However, in the 1990s this proportion has
risen to around onehalf (Hansard Society Report, 1990).

136
 Goffee and Scase (1985) believe that there are two major
phenomena that account for this dramatic shift. The first has to do with
demographic changes. As women now tend to live longer, marry later and
have fewer children, they are increasingly able to take up work. The
second is possibly more fundamental. This has to do with the restructuring
of women’s psychological expectations, shifting their motivations and self-
identities from one which has previously been marriage-related to one
which is far more work-related. Research in this area has shown that the
percentage of women engaged in professional occupations has leapt from
16 percent in 1991 to 20 percent in 1997 (Webb, 1998). In addition, female
membership of the Institute of Directors has risen by 60 percent since
1994. In addition to the evidence of the increase in the number of business
women as a whole, further statistics are available to support the growth in
female business travellers activity. It appears that a number of airlines
have recognised the growth in female business travellers market and have
started a few initiatives. In terms of offering safety advice, Delta airlines
have designed an executive women’s travel page on their website. This
provides general advice on safety issues relevant to the female, but is not
destination specific. Research undertaken by United Airlines indicated that
female business travelers are sometimes mistaken to be leisure flyers and
are not treated in the same manner as male business flyers. Based on
their findings, their flight attendants are trained with the emphasis on the
importance of treating female business flyers with the same degree of
respect and value as their male business passenger counterparts (United
Airlines, 1998).

In a study commissioned by Midway, it was found that women

tended to spend three times longer in the bathroom than men. Every
aircraft in the Midway fleet now has a women’s only restroom and a unisex
lavatory. The restroom has a carpeted floor, a full-length mirror, flowers
and automated sanitary toilet seat covers. Japan Airlines (JAL) decided to
introduce their ‘Ladies Elegance Rooms’ on its domestic fleet in 1996. As
137
a result of their findings that 35 percent of their domestic passengers are
female, JAL introduced separate restrooms which have additional features
such as an extra back mirror and a range of cosmetics (Kahn, 1997). One
area of prime importance to the female is her personal safety. In a survey
of women frequent travellers by Chambers Travel (Bevan, 1996) it was
found that 95 percent of its respondents stressed safety as being highly
significant. Research commissioned by Barclaycard revealed that car
parks were singled out by many women as places in need of safety
improvements (Chetwynd, 1998). Some hotels such as the Renaissance
and Choice groups both reserve spaces near the hotel entrance for
women. Copthorne has a policy of escorting female travellers to and from
its less well-lit car parks. Several hotels in Tokyo have dedicated check-in
desks for female business travellers and include amenities in rooms which
are more suited to women. They also have tried to alleviate female’s
concern over security in hotels by offering women rooms nearer the lift so
that they do not need to walk through long hotel corridors. A survey by
Swallow hotel group, on the more important considerations for female
travellers, has led them to devise a women’s charter (Travel Trade
Gazette, 1998). As a result of various surveys on female business
travellers by the hotel industry, an independent hotel booking agency,
Expotel, recently launched the “Woman Aware Initiative.” Based on their
scheme hotels are classed as “Woman Aware Hotels” if they meet certain
criteria based on the survey of 1,000 female business travellers carried out
by the agency (Anderson, 1999).

Passenger satisfaction in airline operations has become critically

important and Dennett, Ineson, Stone, and Colgate (2000) suggest that as
competition created by deregulation has become more intense, service
quality in the airline industry has also received more attention. Airline
companies also attempted to differentiate their services through the use of
computerized reservation systems which were also designed to create
customer loyalty in the distribution channels (Lee and Cunningham, 1996).
138
However, despite the airlines’ efforts to differentiate their services, an
extensive survey of frequent fliers conducted by Ott (1993) revealed that
consumers did not perceive any difference from one carrier to another.
Cronin and Taylor (1992) originate empirical provision for the idea that
perceived service quality led to satisfaction and argued that service quality
was actually an antecedent of consumer satisfaction. Bitner and Hubbert
(1994) determined that service encounter satisfaction was quite distinct
from overall satisfaction and perceived quality. Service quality will vary;
the definitions are all formulated from the customer perspective: that is,
what customers perceive are important dimensions of quality. Gronroos
(1982) and Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) were the pioneers in
the conceptualization of the service quality construct, these authors
maintained that the overall perception of quality was a disconfirmation of a
customer’s expectation and evaluation of a services delivered. Saha and
Theingi (2009) pointed out that the emergence of low cost airlines has
raised concerns on how satisfied are the customers with the services
provided. Doyle and Wong (1998) originate that successful companies
have a differential advantage in overall company reputation and
communicate it as quality to their customers (Solomon, 1985). Often, they
are able to command premium prices (Tepeci, 1999). It is found that the
most important criterion for customers selecting a bank is reputation (Boyd
et al., 1994; Darby, 1999) while Rogerson (1983) stated that good
reputation could increase an organization's sales, attract more customers,
and reduce customer departures.

Maintaining quality are the main concerns of business today.

Providing quality is not a concern of manufacturing companies alone. The
delivery of high-quality service becomes a marketing requirement among
air carriers as a result of competitive pressure (Ostrowski et al., 1993).
Chang and Keller (2002) argue that quality in airline service is difficult to
describe and measure due to its heterogeneity, intangibility, and
inseparability, and only the customer can truly define service quality in the
139
airline industry (Butler and Keller, 1992). Previous airline service studies
are concentrated in modeling the effect of perceived service quality at the
aggregate construct level, though examining the effects of individual
dimensions of service attributes has potentially great utility for airline
managers (Patterson and Spreng, 1997).The perceptions of airline service
quality are quite diverse and do not seem to fit any single existing quality
model such as the service quality (Haynes and Percy, 1994).

Consumer buying behavior towards airlines services is changing

rapidly as there is paradigm shift in civil aviation in India. The role of public
sector is diminishing while the share of private sector in civil aviation is
gradually increasing. Women passengers have emerged as an important
segment of air travelers in India. The needs and requirements of women
passengers are different from the needs and requirements of male
passengers. Therefore, gender lens is required to assess the quality and
outreach of air services and airport infrastructure.

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