The influence of a customer-centric approach on Tour operators' understanding of the Tourist purchasing decision-making process in Arusha, Tanzania

Abstract

Every tour operator strives to increase the positive tourist experience as a key factor for business success. Despite advances in technology, tourists still rely on tour operators to turn their dream vacation into an unforgettable one. The best way is to have a thorough understanding of how tourists behave when making decisions about purchasing or using tourism products. A customer-centric is forecasted on the successful understanding and management of customer preference before, during, and after consumption. However, there is no credible information on the effectiveness of this approach, especially in the East African tourism market. This study examined the influence of this approach on tour operators’ understanding of the tourist purchasing decision-making process. The specific objectives were to determine the influence of customer preference management, internal customer-business alignment and external customer-business alignment on tour operators’ understanding of the tourist purchasing decision-making process in Arusha, Tanzania. The study was anchored on the theory of market orientation and the Engel-Blackwell-Minard (EBM) model of consumer purchase decision-making where both descriptive and explanatory research designs were utilized. The study target population was 446 licensed tour operators in Arusha from which a sample size of 210 companies, was examined through simple random selection. The primary data collection tool used was a questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and standard deviations. Inferential statistics such as Spearman rank correlation and ordinal logistic regression analyses were used to test the relationship between the study variables whereby the Generalized Ordered Logistic Regression model was estimated. The regression findings indicated that a customer preference management and the understanding of the tourist purchasing decision making process were positively and significantly related (β=0.568, p=0.048). In addition, internal customer-business alignment and the understanding of the tourist purchasing decision-making process were positively and significantly related (β=1.232, p=0.000). The findings further indicated that external customer-business alignment and the understanding of the tourist purchasing decision-making process were positively and significantly related (β=0.548, p=0.024).The study concluded that customer-centric approach including customer preference management as well as internal and external customer-business alignment had a positive and significant influence on understanding the tourist purchasing decision-making process. The study recommended the application of this approach including customer preference management, internal customer-business alignment and external customer-business alignment to tour operators to enhance a constant and thorough understanding of tourists' purchasing decision-making process, leading to positive tourist experiences. The study makes significant contribution to the field of travel and tour operations, academics conducting research related to this study, as well as policymakers developing policies on price controls, subsidies and consumer protection.