Critical and Contemporary Issues in International Hospitality Management

6LI007

Done by: Nguyen Truong Khang

ID: 1331988

Lecturer: Mr. Ken

Table of Content

1. Introduction

2. Literature Review

a. Consumer behavior

b. Branding

3. Melting the expectation of different hospitality consumers

4. Consumer demand and implication for company

a. Consumer demand

b. Implication for company

5. Strategic responses to changing trend

6. Conclusion

7. References

8. Appendix

a. Appendix 1: Mood board

Introduction

Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore is the headquarter of Pan Pacific Hotels Group a hotel subsidiary of Singapore-listed UOL Group, one of Asias largest hotel and property companies with a diversified portfolio of investment and development properties.

As the leading brand in the Asia and the Pacific Rim, Pan Pacific Hotel consists of many hotels, resorts, serviced suites, restaurants, bars, etc and one of them is the 10 at Claymore restaurant, a Pan Pacific Orchard's signature restaurant and serves contemporary cuisine.

10 at Claymore 10@Claymore74 is located at Claymore Road, Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore, Singapore 229540 and on the lobby level of the hotel. This restaurant is known as a modern bistro grill serving contemporary cuisine and where meat lovers can satiate their appetite with a variety of quality flame-grilled steaks and ribs available on the la carte menu. The restaurant is also winning the hearts of buffet fanatics with the popular Plates of Pleasure la carte buffet concept, where guests can enjoy unlimited servings of premium meats and other seasonal specialties presented in petite portions and served la minute.

The ambition of this research is to make a presentation of a portfolio that illustrates your ability to develop an innovative gastronomic product offering, which can accommodate diverse consumers.

Literature Review

This section mention about two points: consumer behavior and branding.

1. Consumer behavior:

Consumer behavior has been always of great interest to marketers. The knowledge of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand how consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products, brands and the like and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference groups, family, and salespersons and so on. A consumers buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Most of these factors are uncontrollable and beyond the hands of marketers but they have to be considered while trying to understand the complex behavior of the consumers. Consumer is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon, 1995). According to the quote, consumer behavior is a process of choosing of customers to achieve what they need in the products. There are many factors can influence their choices and producers must understand to satisfy their needs and desires even it is individual or group select. This is a very huge and difficult mission because most of the influenceable factors are uncontrollable and can be changed from time to time.

All marketers can prot from understanding how and why consumers buy. In fact, not understanding your customers motivations, needs, and preferences can lead to major mistakes (Kotler, 2011). The article of Marketing Management highlight the importance of understanding consumer behavior and the ways of their choices. This can be a very big advantage in any competition.

2. Branding

Branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. It is a promise to the customers to provide what the customers expect from brands products and services. Brand is also a symbol to tell differentiates from different competitors.

There are two strategies for branding: high-cost, high-quality option or low-cost, high-value option. Depend on the target market, company needs to choose one option that their chosen target market wants them to be. The company cant choose both, there is no way to satisfy all customers: high-cost, wide range of target market that can influence the quality of products, etc.

According to Kapferer (1997) Companies wished to buy a producer of chocolate or pasta; after 1980, they wanted to buy KitKat or Buitoni. This distinction is very important; in the first case firms wish to buy production capacity and in the second they want to buy a place in the mind of the consumer. In other words, branding is about to make products for customers then make faith in customers mind. For example, McDonald and KFC is all about fast food. Coca-cola and Pepsi is all about generic soda. But why do people want to choose one from both? Maybe it is because McDonald mainly serves burger and beef instead of fried chicken like KFC. For personal and psychological reason, people think Coca-cola is tasty than Pepsi that they choose McDonald which is serving Coca-cola instead of KFC which is serving Pepsi.

To sum it up, making a brand is to make people believe in the products that it isnt just a product but it is something else, something that they put their faith into it.

Melting the expectation of different hospitality consumers

Customer expectations are simply what the customer expects in the goods and service levels they will receive in the future. It is the customers who are seeking for their needs and requirements that they think they desire to have. Customer expectations is a way that lead to customer satisfaction.

Satisfaction is as a judgment following a consumption experience - it is the consumers judgment that a product provided (or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment (Oliver, 1997). It is a result of customers feeling after receiving your goods and services. It is importance to know their satisfaction level for long-term benefit.

Types of customers: 1. Internal customers:-People with whom we work.2. External customers:

-International tourists.-Families.-Business travelers.-People with disabilities.-Difficult customers.

A difficult customer is somebody who is a challenge to serve because of their personality. They are the one who is never satisfied with your services even your services is perfect. They have many own issues such as:-Rude.-Impatient.-Confused.-Silent.-Fussy.-Talkative.Servers should have skill to deal with these kinds of customer, especially handling complaints skill and an ability to solve the problems depend on situation. In this section, different hospitality consumers have different expectations but in a buffet meal, they all have one consensus is to have an unlimited food services with a high quality. Even they are tourists, business men, family, etc they also want to try different foods and beverages in a buffet, enjoy a meal that desire the amount they has paid.

There are a list of different things:

Atmosphere.

Product quality.

Service quality.

Facility.

Emotional factors.

and the restaurant should avoid factors that influence customers mood. The restaurant must has enough servers with proper skill to help customers when they are in need.

As an award-winning restaurant, 10@Claymore will satisfy customers who are in love with modern food. A menu with huge kind of food such as: seafood, meat, dessert, an la carte menu. The materials are from different suppliers with good reputation also make customers have no worry about the quality. A suitable atmosphere even for business, chit chat or simply enjoy a good meal.

This cuisine is suitable for every generation, culture, nation, etc. Even if there are something that customers dont like or simply cant touch, there are also alternatives for them. This is why buffet meal is the most suitable meal for a restaurant to provide for a multinational culture.

Consumer demand and implication for company

1. Consumer demand

Consumer demand is demand for goods and services that comes from individual people rather than from companies. In other words, it is what customers want to be served. To generate demand, the companies need to do research, find what consumers needs are and prove your products worth.

Strategy to generate consumer demand:1. Pay attention to market research: the restaurant need to figure out what food that customers need and want through test group, feedback. If there are issues popping up, the restaurant need to find solutions right away.2. Produce stellar content: the restaurant need to promote its products and prove that its product will satisfy the customers. It should inform customers about the value of the products. A video about buffet meal is good.3. Feature customers' reviews: nothing good as customers review. People may not believe in the restaurants advertisement but they have faith in other customers judgment even it is right or wrong. So make sure the restaurant is featuring customers review. Maybe a review function on official website or a link to customers review blog.4. Give new customers a deal: there are always new customers who never step in the restaurant so a promotion or special offer is really effective to make demand become wide.5. Create an exclusive club: there are also regular customers that prefer to the restaurant rather than any competitors. These customers should be rewarded to make them feel appreciated. Make them a member card or give discounted will lets them become a royal customers that give the companies a long-term benefit.

2. Implication for Company

10@Claymore, as an award-winning restaurant in a best hotel group, is running properly by creating the best place for cuisine. By doing what are told above, the restaurant will be improved from time to time. Foods become more diversified and tasty, services quality keep increasing, facility is more convenience, etc. And in the future when people talk about 10@Claymore restaurant, it is known as the very good place in the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. If this services is good then so do the hotel trend. People choose Pan Pacific because of 10@Claymore and they choose 10@Claymore because of Pan Pacific Hotels.

Strategic responses to changing trend

Trend is apatternof gradualchangein acondition,output, orprocess, or anaverageor generaltendency of a series ofdatapointsto move in a certain directionover time, represented by a line or curve on agraph. So what are current trends? According to Innova:-Waste not want not: cutting food wastes.-Origin label: consumer trust.-Home cooking: back to basics, simple food.-Small player: small-scale rise up.-Holistic Health: all about nutrition. Follow what are written above, the trend changing strategy is to change the food taste with original quality and meet the requirement of nutrition. The processing stage must make sure food waste is limited, which mean the restaurant must calculate carefully the quantity and the customers must satisfied with the quality.

Changing food taste from season, supplier is also a good strategy to keep customers as well as refresh the restaurant. For example: -change Canadian oyster to another oyster or mix them together.-use US beef then change to Australian beef the next week/month.-offer different la carte menu in different season.

The trends can be changed from time to time so the restaurant must be sure of following the trend on time. Missing anything of it will decrease customer trust.

Conclusion

Creating a buffet meal is not a very hard mission. Understanding consumer behavior will lets the restaurant have a clear way to move. Smart branding will create a well-remembered image in customers mind. Determine customers expectations and satisfactions help the restaurant plan a proper strategy. Following the trends will keep the restaurant as fresh as it just opened yesterday.

Follow the right step, the restaurant fame will keep improving and earn benefit not only for 10@Claymore but also for the whole Pan Pacific Hotels Trend.

References

1. Solomon, M.R. (1995) Consumer Behavior, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall.

2. Kotler (2011) Marketing Management (14thedition), London: Pearson Education.

3. KAPFERER, JEAN-NOL (1997), Strategic Brand Management, Great Britain, Kogan.

4. Oliver, Richard L. (1997) Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer, New York: McGraw Hill.

5. Business Dictionary. Available from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trend.html.

6. Innova predicts top five food industry trends for 2014. Available from: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Market-Trends/Innova-predicts-top-five-food-industry-trends-for-2014.

Appendix

Appendix 1: Mood Board