ASSESSMENT OF TRANSCORP HILTON’S ADVERTISEMENT ON CUSTOMERS PATRONAGE OF THE HOTEL

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. 1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Advertisements play a role in influencing the taste and preference of customer’s choice. Customers are known to be rational with regard to their purchases, wanting to maximize their satisfaction when it comes to consumer goods. A consumer will prefer not to purchase a productwhich the price is above the additional satisfaction that he derives from the goods. The level of goods demanded, rely on the satisfaction the consumer derives from spending extra money on the good. Rational customers will spend on a good till their gains equal the cost they pay for the product. Thus, Advertising is the mass publicity of a product. It has to do with creating awareness of a product’s uses and benefits to others. A product is made available to those in need of them and this satisfies the needs of the advertiser; increasing sales. Advertising as an activity adopts  creative techniques to design persuasive communication in mass media that promote ideas, goods, and services in a manner consistent with the achievement of the advertiser‘s objective, the delivery of consumer satisfaction and the development of social and economic welfare (Cohen, 2012) . It can be found that advertising satisfies objectives; to magnify sales of the companies, to guarantee consumers a great deal of service and finally to ensure the social and economic welfare of society. Advertising is seen in various ways. Advertisement are mainly seen on television, magazines and newspapers, surfing the internet, and on the radio or even simply while walking down the street (Sharma and Sharma, 2009). Advertising therefore has a captivating influence on the purchasing attitude of the customers. Advertising are very effective on goods and services that have intrinsic qualities. These qualities are not seen at the time of purchase and it takes one to discover this upon using the product. Also, when there is a substantial chance of differentiating a product, it best suits to advertise on that product. Again, when strong emotional purchasing motive is present such as to protect health or enhance social position, it pays to advertise on such a product. The demand for the product is more inelastic as a result of these conditions. The more emotions consumer attach to a product, they more they tend to be insensitive to its price. This is of importance to firms as they can earn high sales in pricing their products (Borden, 2010). Consumers are not affected majorly by the advertisement on such items as they consume such products on a daily basis. The more the consumption of a product, the less effective is advertising on them. Advertising thus have a less pronounced effect on such items (P. Doyle, Nov., 2013) Advertising has a long term dynamic effect on consumers’ purchase and sales of producers. A firm’s reason for advertising is to create awareness of a product. Advertising has great effect on current and future sales of companies as consumers tend to respond to the awareness in the long run. This effect of advertising explains that companies usually advertise a product the most at the entry. (Sharma and Sharma, 2009). In recent times, advertising is a commonly harnessed type of communication and perhaps the one from which most things are expected. Advertising has become a vital phenomenon not only for producers but also, in a sense, for customers. Intense competition exists within all market sectors for attracting the interest of consumers to different or similar goods and for influencing their purchasing decisions. Accordingly, for institutions or enterprises, advertising is of great importance in drawing the attention of the customers and affecting their choices among numerous products (Oluç, 2012). On the other hand, advertising, from a customer’s point of view, is seen as a guide that helps consumer to choose the most suitable and rational product for him/her among the thousands offers on the market so as the best to meet his/her own choice of need. Advertising can be used for various purposes, such as the survival of the companies within this competitive environment, promoting the sale of goods or helping consumers in their choice, is of great importance in our lives. Advertisement plays a vital role in the success of many products and services. Advertisement is necessary for all business sectors around the world. The heart of any business success depends on its marketing. The hospitality industry is one of the most critical service industries that need to excessively put an effort in advertisement to create a strong brand name among competitors. Advertisement in hospitality industry helps in differentiating hotels’ products and services from those of competitors, and positions its brand. Advertisement is not enough to attract customers. Hotel needs to both acquire and retain guest to get their loyalty which is a critical key for every hotel. Advertisement helps companies in acquiring new customer’s patronage and retaining the loyal ones. When it comes to hospitality sector, advertisement is important to know if customers are satisfied with services provided which is the main goal for all hospitality and services sectors.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Advertising is essentially to fulfill the traditional desire of firms to reach the ever increasing population so that their products may receive optimum exposure. The role of advertisement; to increase sales revenue and profits of the company and increase the demand for goods, has been falling apart. (Sundarsan, 2012). Most decrease in product sales, especially, hotel industry have been attributed to other factors like taste and long term use. Advertising has been a subject for debate either on one pretext or another for decades at the beginning of the 19th century. People showed little interest but it later became a fertile topic for research at the turn of the 19th century. (Sharma and Sharma,2009). This study therefore seeks to find out the role advertising play in the customer patronage of hotels with emphasis on transcorp Hilton hotel.

1. 1. AIMS OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the assessment of transcorp Hilton’s advertisement on customer’s patronage of the hotel. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. To examine the problem of advertisement in the hospitality industry.
2. To examine the extent to which patronage of customers are based on advertisement.
3. To examine the influenceof advertisement on customers patronage in the hospitality industry.
4. To examine thechallenges facing customer patronage in the  hospitality industry
5. To examine the relationship between advertisement and customer patronage
6. To examine ways of solving problems of advertisement in the hospitality industry.
   1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. To examine the extent to which patronage of customers are based on advertisement?
2. What is the problem of advertisement in transcorp Hilton hotel?
3. Howdoes advertisement influence customer’s patronage in the hospitality industry?
4. What are the challenges facing customer patronage in the hospitality industry?
5. What is the relationship between transcorp Hilton’s advertisement and customer patronage?
6. What are ways of solving problems of advertisement in the hospitality industry?

1. 1. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

H0: There is no significant influence of transcorp Hilton’s advertisement on customer’s patronage of the hotel

H1: There is a significant influence of advertisement on customers patronage in the hospitality industry

Hypothesis 2

H0: there is no significant relationship between transcorp Hilton’s advertisement and customer patronage of the hotel.

H1: there is a significant relationship between transcorp Hilton’s advertisement and customer patronage of the hotel.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will provide important data for transcorp Hilton hotel managers on the need for advertisement, which will lead to improvement on customer’s patronage. The study will also provide the baseline data for researchers for further investigations to determine the relevance of advertisement. This study would also be of immense benefit to students and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter.

1. 1. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to assessment of transcorp Hilton’s advertisement on customer’s patronage of the hotel.

1. 1. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1. 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS

Customer: The term customer is used to describe one or more individuals that use and buy the organizations products.

Advertisement:Is a mass communicating of information intended to persuade buyers to by products with a view to maximizing a company’s profits.

Hotel: Refers to all places constituted to receive the payment from travelers or people who quest for lodging or temporary stay.