TABLE OF CONTENTS The methodological issues confronting those researching hospitality consumers are daunting, as the rationale for the development of hospitality products in contemporary markets will have to come from new ways of researching consumer behaviour.
Previous research models, which sought to understand consumers through understanding their reaction to stimuli, will not be appropriate for today s hospitality consumers.
What is needed in today s markets are new and more subjective research methodologies, which look for difference and uniqueness rather than similarity and pattern in the behaviour of hospitality consumers.
This chapter considers a set of research methods suitable for inquiry into the behaviour of contemporary hospitality consumers.
The significance of research is well understood by most hospitality academics and practitioners, and while many may be sceptical about its practical value it is generally taken for granted that it is a beneficial activity. Johns and Lee-Ross (1998: vii) for example state that research is increasingly significant at all levels of service industry management, particularly the hotel, tourism and leisure sectors . Despite this, however, few researchers within hospitality management explicitly describe and evaluate a range of available research methods. Indeed, it could be argued (Gore and Riley, 2000), that academics have only recently made serious attempts to explain methodology as it specifically relates to hospitality research. Publications by Clark et al. (1998) and Brotherton (1999) are welcome additions to this area and can be seen as long overdue. Brotherton (1999) is worthy of particular highlighting, as he seeks to provide...
