Perceptions and Consumption Pattern7
customers’ expectations includes; transportation where the hotel can be accessed via, air, road
and water.
2.0 Theoretical Review
Customer perceptions and consumer behavior in the hospitality industry is a hugely
researched field. As earlier mentioned, perception is the way one views and believes about a
given aspect. Consumer perceptions are influenced by personal and social factors(Rajesh 2013).
As cited by Cohen et al. (2014), consumer behavior comprises of ideas, decisions, experiences
and activities that meet the needs and wants of the consumer. The consumer behavior is the
process used to search select, purchase, use, evaluate and dispose services or products with the
objective satisfying their needs and wants. Some of the factors that influence consumer behavior
in the hospitality industry include personality, perceptions, decision-making, satisfaction, values,
attitudes, expectations, and loyalty. (Cohen & Cohen.2012). All these factors have been
thoroughly researched either on their single impact or as a combination of several factors.
2.1 Consumer behavior models
2.1.1 Engel-Kollat-Blackwell consumer behavior model.
The first model that is analyzed in this study is the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell consumer
behavior model. This model has four stages. The first stage involves decision-making. According
to the model, there are five phases involved in decision-making; these are: a recognition of a
problem, alternatives searching, evaluating the alternative, purchasing and finally the outcomes.
The second stage is the information input. This is where the consumer obtains information from
different sources. External information also play a role influencing the consumer at this stage.
However, if the consumer finds the selected alternative not meeting his expectations, he may not
progress to the next stage. Information processing is the third stage. At this stage, the consumer