Consumer Behavior: MakeMyTrip

 The evolution of information and communication technology has opened the

doors and presented challenges for the tourism businesses, especially the
travel agencies. The Online Travel Portals provide increased flexibility, cost
comparison and a wide array of options in terms of destination choices.
 Online Travel Agencies provide a contact point through the internet so that
the prospective customers can search and eventually book the travel
products.
 Most fundamental values for selecting online travel portals for travel
booking are product quality, cost, time to receive the product, convenience,
time spent, confidentiality, shopping enjoyment, security and environmental
impact.
 MakeMyTrip is a well-known company for its successfully implementation
of ‘Consumer-First’ philosophy.
 Customers are satisfied with the various travel offers of MakeMyTrip,
because it produces low cost and it produces offers for middle class people.
 Customers are using MakeMyTrip packages for traval features. Customer
generally buys offers for best package and cost.
 Generally customers prefer to buy cars on the time of occasion because at
that time companies provide cash discount and various offers.
  Customers are satisfied with on line assistance of MakeMyTrip which
related with post delivery

Consumer Decision Making: MakeMyTrip

A consumer purchase is actually a response to a problem. Consumer Decision

Making pertains to making decisions regarding product and service offerings. It
may be defined as a process of gathering and processing information, evaluating it
and selecting the best possible option so as to solve a problem or make a buying
choice.

Consumer decision making process involves the consumers to identify their needs,
gather information, evaluate alternatives and then make their buying decision. The
consumer behaviour may be determined by economic and psychological factors
and are influenced by environmental factors like social and cultural values.

The consumer decision making behavior is a complex procedure and involves

everything starting from problem recognition to post-purchase activities. Every
consumer has different needs in their daily lives and these are those needs which
make than to make different decisions. Decisions can be complex, comparing,
evaluating, selecting as well as purchasing from a variety of products depending
upon the opinion of a consumer over a particular product.

A Forrester Research study found that while the proportion of online travelers who
use the Internet to both research and buy travel fell 9% between 2005 and 2007,
online leisure‐travel spending increased 41% over the same period (Travel Industry
Association of America, 2007). In Taiwan, travel products constitute the largest
proportion of the online customer market (Market Intelligence Center, 2005), and it
is almost certain that the Internet will continue to grow as a travel information
source, with online bookings increasing as more people have access to high‐speed
Internet connectivity.

Attracting consumers to buy products online is the main goal of Internet marketers.
In order to attract customers, many online travel sites sell multiple products (e.g.,
airplane tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars) from multiple vendors, as their key
attraction is that they are “full service” and thus offer to consumers the ability to
research and purchase an entire trip online from a single site.

Kotler, Swee, Siew, and Chin (1996) argued that customers' perceived value is the
difference between total customer value and total customer cost. Total customer
value is the bundle of benefits customers expect from a given product or service.

The basic model of consumer decision-making proposes a simple and transparent

system of steps that must be carried out and that the consumer should undertake to
make a purchase. They are-

STEP 1: Problem identification

The buying process starts with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer
recognizes a problem or need (e.g. I need a vacation, I have a travel bug) or
responds to a marketing stimulus. If the need is strong and there is a product or
service that meets the need close to hand, then a purchase decision is likely to be
made there and then. If not, then the process of information search begins.

Step 2: Information search

A customer 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 organisations;
specialist magazines
 Experiential sources: handling, examining, using the product

The challenge for the marketing team is to identify which information sources are
most influential in their target markets.

STEP 3: Evaluation of alternatives

In the evaluation stage, the customer must choose between the alternative brands,
products and services. MakeMyTrip's top competitors include ClearTrip, Yatra,
TravelTriangle, Treebo and Flight Centre Travel Group. An important determinant
of the extent of evaluation is whether the customer feels “involved” in the product.
The increasing availability of pricing information on the Internet affords
consumers the opportunity to be more strategic in their purchasing behaviour. The
ease of price information potentially makes these guarantees very costly to the
service or good provider. The electronic distribution of travel information, prices,
and availability has opened new channels by which people can reserve travel
products. The most notable development is that reservations—which used to come
through travel agents—is now being generated online by individual customers and
corporate travel planners who are as likely to use online intermediaries as they are
to contact travel agencies directly. Online travel agencies face increasing levels of
competition and, thus, experience an ever greater need to evaluate the effectiveness
of their websites. In addition to there being more competition, there is also more
cooperation. Many online travel sites sell multiple products (e.g., air plane tickets,
hotel rooms, and rental cars) from multiple

vendors, as their key attraction is that they provide details of all of the services
available, and thus offer consumers the ability to research and purchase an entire
trip online using a single site.

STEP 4: The choice or decision

Purchase: Where, when and how will your consumer purchase your product or
service? MakeMyTrip is online travel agency which also runs through the app
format for mobile devices so it quite convenient and easy to use and buy travel
packages.

STEP 5: Post-purchase behavior

The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for
customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises
from a concept that is known as “cognitive dissonance”. The customer, having
bought a product, may feel that an alternative would have been preferable. In these
circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is likely to
switch brands next time.

To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade
the potential customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs. MakeMyTrip
has customer testimonial which provide a very strong feedback about their
customer care executives. All other online travel agencies provide basic services of
booking but it’s the experience the customer feels gives MakeMyTrip

Consumer Decision Making Process – Factors Affecting Purchase

1. Cultural Factors: Culture is pervasive, encompassing all the things

consumers do without conscious choice. It is functional, giving order to
 society. It is learned from parents, teachers, and peers. It is dynamic,
adapting to changing needs. The underlying elements of every culture are
the values, language, myths, customs, rituals, and laws that shape the
behavior of the cultures, as well as the artifacts, or products, of that behavior
as they are transmitted from one generation to the next. Cultural factors have
a significant effect on an individual’s buying decision. For e.g., Tech savvy
people will use the MakeMyTrip website for Travel Bookings instead of a
traditional travel agency. MakeMyTrip also gives festival discounts in every
country it operates in.

2. Social Factors: Social factors include family, reference groups, opinion

leaders, social class, life cycle, culture, and subculture. Consumers may use
products or brands to identify with or become a member of a reference
group. Opinion leaders are members of reference groups who influence
others’ purchase decisions. Family members also influence purchase
decisions; children tend to shop in patterns like their parents’. Marketers
often define their target markets in terms of consumers’ life cycle stage,
social class, culture, and subculture; consumers with similar characteristics
generally have similar consumption patterns. MakeMyTrip targets Domestic
& International Travelers; i.e. Targets customers based on their lifestyles,
makes advertisements based on their major demographic i.e. families,
businessmen.

3. Individual Factors: Identify and understand the individual factors that

affect consumer buying decisions Personal or individual factors include
gender, age, family life cycle stage, personality, self-concept, and lifestyles.
 Customers having low income generally opt for cheaper way of transport
and do more research based on Value for their money. On the other hand,
people from wealthy backgrounds have a high standard for their travel plans
and the transport required. Personality also plays a part in decisions
regarding hotel bookings where more Extrovert people tend to stay less in
their hotel rooms and Introvert people tend to stay in more.

4. Psychological Factors: Identify and understand the psychological factors

that affect consumer buying decisions An individual’s buying decisions are
further influenced by the following psychological factors: perceptions,
motivation, learning, and beliefs and attitudes. These factors are what
consumers use to interact with their world. Perceptions can be affected by
anything from Prices to the Website UI for MakeMyTrip. But it can also
create brand loyalty for the company. Motivation drives the consumers to
purchase the product for e.g an ad of a holiday destination can make
someone want to avoid mental stress and take a vacation through
MakeMyTrip.