MKTG 1052: It was Close to Lunchtime in Singapore When a Long-time Customer: Buyer Behaviour Assignment, RMIT, Singapore

Case study

Teng’s Travel

It was close to lunchtime in Singapore when a long-time customer, Mr. Joe Teng, walked into the offices of Global Voyages and began to raise his voice in anger. He was not in a joyful mood. When employees at the travel agency offered to help, he brushed them aside. He wanted to see the owner demand his three airline tickets for a flight that night. Mr. Teng had planned to travel to Australia with his family to plan the wedding of his daughter in Melbourne. His daughter, who completed her graduate program in environmental sciences at RMIT University, is working in Melbourne. She invited her parents to visit and help her with planning her wedding, which would take place in a couple of months.

As Mr. Teng rushed past the row of employee desks, heading toward the back of the office, the owner, Mr. Tarun Pandey, walked out of his office to meet him. “I have been getting my tickets from you for the past four years, and now you make me lose face with my future son-in-law. If I can’t leave tonight, I will have to postpone the wedding”. Mr. Pandey kept his cool in front of his employees and tried in vain to calm the customer down. Mr. Teng in no mood to reason. He wanted his three tickets, and nothing else mattered.

The genesis of this service encounters a few years ago when one of Mr. Teng’s business acquaintances, was himself a customer of Global Voyages, referred by Mr. Teng to the travel agency. Global Voyages is a full-service travel agency that primarily serves the corporate market in Singapore and countries in the Asia Pacific region, including China and India. But through referrals, Global Voyages has developed a significant proportion of business in the retail sector over the years with little or no promotion.

QUESTION ONE

The final stage of consumer decision-making involves post-purchase processes, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty. Elaborate the likely post-purchase consumer behaviour (both negative and positive) of travel services such as Global Voyages.

QUESTION TWO

Covid19 has changed the way people live and travel. Evaluate how consumers’ perception and attitude towards airline travel have been changed as a result of Covid19? In your answer, explain how companies like Global Voyages could reposition themselves after Covid19 is over. Use concepts from “perception” and “attitude” to answer this question.

QUESTION THREE

Using examples from one or more airlines of your choice, explain how situational variables can be effectively used to create better customer experience and value.

QUESTION FOUR

“But he (Mr. Pandey) has had enough with a few consumers such as Mr. Teng. He feels that their service expectations of Global Voyages are high, yet their reimbursement for services rendered is protracted beyond reason. Customers’ vision of what they want from businesses is sometimes colored by their unrealistic expectation of the level of service they feel they deserve within a cultural context.”

Either support OR refute this assertion. Use what you have learned throughout the semester either to support or to refute the above assertion.

QUESTION FIVE

Part A: Explain the three types of reference group influences. Giving examples, explain how reference group influences can be used by Global Voyages to dissuade consumers like Mr. Teng who “raised his voice in anger”.

Part B: Explain the notion of the “invisible hand of culture” in play within the context of this case study.