Motivations
for decision makers on choosing wedding venues
Matrix
no.: SX112443HFF04
31 May 2015
Introduction
To
celebrate the bride with
wedding reception and banquet has become a necessity after
completion meets the need of religious
requirements in many cultures. We focus on consumers’
motivations of selecting the wedding banquet venues. In decision making, consumer
motivation addresses the drive to satisfy individual needs. The push-pull theory
has been used in describing the consumer motivations and provides industry
practitioners the planning and marketing strategies of wedding banquets venue.
Decision
makers profile for wedding banquet venues
To
choose a wedding banquet venue is an important decision-making process for a
new couple and their families. The wedding banquet is complicated and expensive
occasion. The goal is to create an atmosphere of celebration, and to ensure the
physical and emotional comfort among guests. Consumers to make choices about
the wedding venue are determined from the perspective of cognitive and
affective. The main elements should be in the planning including facilities and
services, site capacity, location, creative theme for decorating, accessibility
and availability. Therefore, there is limited information on the process of
choosing a wedding banquet venue.
Consumer
motivation and Push-pull Factors
a. Consumer motivation - is to satisfy
individual needs that could be understood based on Maslow’s Need Theory (1943).
Maslow indicated there are five levels in the pyramid of human needs including
physiological needs, safety and security, social needs, self-esteem, and self actualization. When
the needs in the lower level are satisfied, then consumers will move to the
next higher level. Physiological needs are the most basic to human survival,
such as the need for food, water, shelter, clothing, etc.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Consumer
motivation will affect individual behavior can be assessed from the perspective
of extrinsic and intrinsic explained by Push-pull Theory. It provides a
framework consisting of push and pull factors, with the purpose of examining
the motivations that influence consumer behavior, such as consumer
decision-making.
b. Push factors - is
related to the concept
of motivational needs that arise due to the tension
in the motivational system. Five push
factor elements to explain the motivation of consumers to choose wedding
banquet venue were:-
i. Seeking
relaxation and knowledge
ii. Fulfilling
prestige
iii. Escaping
from daily routine
iv. Social
networking
v. Service
and quality
Seeking
relaxation and knowledge, a consumer may want to attend a place to escape from
their own home environment to seek physical and psychological rewards.
Fulfilling prestige, one of push motives define as an elite lifestyle and
increase social status. Escaping from daily routine, the consumer selects a
venue that reflects their personalities. It also wants to ensure that the place
provides the physical and emotional comfort to the guest. For social
networking, consumer may visit a place to meet their friends and that would
impress their friends and family. Service and quality comprised of menu
variety, food quality, accommodation and comfort environment.
c. Pull factors - is
related to the concept
of the attractions, features, or attributes of the venue itself. Six
pull factor elements to explain the motivation of consumers to
choose wedding banquet venue were:-
i. Budget
ii. Atmosphere
iii. Wedding
services
iv. Service
and quality
v. Transportation
vi. Facilities
Budget
includes food and beverage price, and equipment expenses as the most important
considerations in the consumers’ selection process. Atmosphere refers to
decoration, audio equipment, and availability of the wedding banquet venues. Wedding
services includes for equipment such as photographer and a bridal limousine
make wedding costs higher than many other events. Service and quality comprised
of employee attitude, cleanliness, food quality, menu variety and decorations. Transportation
to wedding banquet location should be convenient for guests attending the
event. Facilities consist of size of venue, lighting, ambiance, audio
equipment, and bridal room, and parking space that influence consumer
motivations.
Three
primary demographic variables related to push and pull factors are the age,
education, and income. The push-pull motivation theory is based on the Maslow’s
needs theory describe intrinsic and extrinsic drives, respectively used to
satisfy different levels of human needs. We take an example
from Midland Convention
Centre (MCC), Section 7 Shah Alam, Selangor as a place which provides for wedding banquet venue, and the relationship between push and pull
factors across primary demographic variables.
a.
To satisfy the esteem needs of consumers:-
Push
elements: Seeking
relaxation and knowledge - The consumer may choose Midland Convention
Centre (MCC) as their wedding banquet venue with expectation to satisfy the demands
for fulfilling prestige, spiritual relaxation and knowledge learning about wedding
celebration traditions.
Pull
elements: Atmosphere - MCC provides ambiance with
beautiful lighting together with colorful laser show. Consumers’ feel free to
choose the hall light colors to match with wedding team color tones, or the
pure warm white for a romantic feel. The entire hall has been designed to attain
optimal acoustics using high-end soundproofing technology. As a result the
wedding guests could enjoy a magnificent live band perfectly.
b.
To satisfy the social needs of
consumers:-
Push
elements: Escaping
from daily routine and social networking
- selects a venue that reflects their personalities and would impress to meet
friends. Being part of a group provides individuals with practical benefits
such as informational and instrumental support. Hence, belonging to a group is
useful can help consumers feel they belong to a larger group or help them
cultivate strong relationships with other individuals.
Pull
elements: Atmosphere - the attractiveness of venue
physical image as it is seen by consumers who have a tendency to achieve a goal
such as social perceptions and expectation, benefit expectation, and social
image.
c.
To satisfy the physiological needs of
consumers:-
Push
elements: Service and quality - MCC provide features and attributes of menu
variety, huge hall can accommodate up to 120 banquet tables, food taste,
freshness, temperature, and presentation that sets the mood of the environment.
Pull
elements: Wedding
services, transportation, facilities, service and quality - MCC wedding
packages are fully customizable depending on customer’s requirements, which
offer a wide range of well-organized wedding services including dating
services, wedding planning, wedding car rentals, dress rentals, video recording
services, wedding photography services, wedding banquets, and masters of
ceremonies. MCC situated in the heart of Shah Alam city is conveniently
reachable without much traffic hassle with its own 300 parking space at the
compound of the building. Thus, the RELA helpers manning the traffic ease of
access and sufficient parking spaces to satisfy consumers’ needs.
MCC’s
huge hall can accommodate up to 120 banquet tables, adequate size to
accommodate the number of guests that the wedding hosts wish to invite. Four
projector screens are fixed at the four corners of the room to provide an
all-round view with full visibility of the event happenings no matter where consumers
sit.
For
service and quality, MCC allocates ten workers,
all ready on the event day. Two cleaners on stand-by to make sure that the
whole venue are squeaky-clean, and staffs to handle the technical systems to
meet consumers’ expectations. Budget minded involve into the wedding planning
process to be more important in comparison. Therefore, MCC provides a variety
of banquet menu plans that include low and moderately priced options to meet
the needs of each group.
Conclusion
Motivations
for decision makers on choosing wedding banquet venue are to satisfy individual
needs. According to Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs, only when the
decision makers meet lower levels of need,
they will continue to pursue a higher level of needs.
Motivations to do anything come in push factors or pull factors that originate
from Maslow theory. A successful marketing strategy will usually have the
elements of both pull and push promotional methods. If a product designed
around the consumers’ needs and have considered all elements of the marketing
mix, the objective of marketing strategy should be achievable.
*******
** *******
References
Ling Guan, Yi Luo Liang, Rebecca
Tang. (2015), An exploratory study of decision makers for choosing wedding
banquet venues: push and pull motivations. International Journal of Tourism
Cities, Vol. 1 Iss 2 pp. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
List of wedding venue and
reviews, Midlands Convention Centre, Shah Alam.
http://www.wedresearch.net/2013/03/midlands-convention-centre.html
