Critical and Contemporary

Issues in International
Hospitality Management

6LI007

Done by: Nguyen Truong Khang

ID: 1331988
Lecturer: Mr. Ken

Table of Content
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
a. Consumer behavior
b. Branding
3. Melting the expectation of different hospitality consumers
4. Consumer demand and implication for company
a. Consumer demand
b. Implication for company
5. Strategic responses to changing trend
6. Conclusion
7. References
8. Appendix
a. Appendix 1: Mood board

Introduction

Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore is the headquarter of Pan Pacific Hotels Group a hotel
subsidiary of Singapore-listed UOL Group, one of Asias largest hotel and property companies
with a diversified portfolio of investment and development properties.
As the leading brand in the Asia and the Pacific Rim, Pan Pacific Hotel consists of many
hotels, resorts, serviced suites, restaurants, bars, etc and one of them is the 10 at Claymore
restaurant, a Pan Pacific Orchard's signature restaurant and serves contemporary cuisine.
10 at Claymore 10@Claymore74 is located at Claymore Road, Pan Pacific
Orchard, Singapore, Singapore 229540 and on the lobby level of the hotel. This restaurant is
known as a modern bistro grill serving contemporary cuisine and where meat lovers can satiate
their appetite with a variety of quality flame-grilled steaks and ribs available on the la carte
menu. The restaurant is also winning the hearts of buffet fanatics with the popular Plates of
Pleasure la carte buffet concept, where guests can enjoy unlimited servings of premium
meats and other seasonal specialties presented in petite portions and served la minute.
The ambition of this research is to make a presentation of a portfolio that illustrates your
ability to develop an innovative gastronomic product offering, which can accommodate diverse
consumers.
Literature Review
This section mention about two points: consumer behavior and branding.
1. Consumer behavior:
Consumer behavior has been always of great interest to marketers. The
knowledge of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand how
consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products, brands and the
like and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference
groups, family, and salespersons and so on. A consumers buying behavior is
influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Most of these
factors are uncontrollable and beyond the hands of marketers but they have to
be considered while trying to understand the complex behavior of the consumers.
Consumer is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups
select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to
satisfy needs and desires (Solomon, 1995). According to the quote, consumer
behavior is a process of choosing of customers to achieve what they need in the
products. There are many factors can influence their choices and producers must
understand to satisfy their needs and desires even it is individual or group select.
This is a very huge and difficult mission because most of the influenceable
factors are uncontrollable and can be changed from time to time.
All marketers can prot from understanding how and why consumers
buy. In fact, not understanding your customers motivations, needs, and
preferences can lead to major mistakes (Kotler, 2011). The article of Marketing
Management highlight the importance of understanding consumer behavior and
the ways of their choices. This can be a very big advantage in any competition.

2. Branding

Branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design

that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. It is a promise to
the customers to provide what the customers expect from brands products and
services. Brand is also a symbol to tell differentiates from different competitors.
There are two strategies for branding: high-cost, high-quality option or
low-cost, high-value option. Depend on the target market, company needs to
choose one option that their chosen target market wants them to be. The
company cant choose both, there is no way to satisfy all customers: high-cost,
wide range of target market that can influence the quality of products, etc.
According to Kapferer (1997) Companies wished to buy a producer of
chocolate or pasta; after 1980, they wanted to buy KitKat or Buitoni. This
distinction is very important; in the first case firms wish to buy production capacity
and in the second they want to buy a place in the mind of the consumer. In other
words, branding is about to make products for customers then make faith in
customers mind. For example, McDonald and KFC is all about fast food. Cocacola and Pepsi is all about generic soda. But why do people want to choose one
from both? Maybe it is because McDonald mainly serves burger and beef instead
of fried chicken like KFC. For personal and psychological reason, people think
Coca-cola is tasty than Pepsi that they choose McDonald which is serving Cocacola instead of KFC which is serving Pepsi.
To sum it up, making a brand is to make people believe in the products
that it isnt just a product but it is something else, something that they put their
faith into it.

Melting the expectation of different hospitality consumers

Customer expectations are simply what the customer expects in the goods and service
levels they will receive in the future. It is the customers who are seeking for their needs and
requirements that they think they desire to have. Customer expectations is a way that lead to
customer satisfaction.
Satisfaction is as a judgment following a consumption experience - it is the consumers
judgment that a product provided (or is providing) a pleasurable level of consumption-related
fulfillment (Oliver, 1997). It is a result of customers feeling after receiving your goods and
services. It is importance to know their satisfaction level for long-term benefit.
Types of customers:
1. Internal customers:
-People with whom we work.
2. External customers:
-International tourists.
-Families.
-Business travelers.
-People with disabilities.
-Difficult customers.

A difficult customer is somebody who is a challenge to serve because of their

personality. They are the one who is never satisfied with your services even your services is
perfect. They have many own issues such as:
-Rude.
-Impatient.
-Confused.
-Silent.
-Fussy.
-Talkative.
Servers should have skill to deal with these kinds of customer, especially handling complaints
skill and an ability to solve the problems depend on situation.
In this section, different hospitality consumers have different expectations but in a
buffet meal, they all have one consensus is to have an unlimited food services with a high
quality. Even they are tourists, business men, family, etc they also want to try different foods
and beverages in a buffet, enjoy a meal that desire the amount they has paid.
There are a list of different things:

Atmosphere.
Product quality.
Service quality.
Facility.
Emotional factors.

and the restaurant should avoid factors that influence customers mood. The restaurant must
has enough servers with proper skill to help customers when they are in need.
As an award-winning restaurant, 10@Claymore will satisfy customers who are in love
with modern food. A menu with huge kind of food such as: seafood, meat, dessert, an la carte
menu. The materials are from different suppliers with good reputation also make customers
have no worry about the quality. A suitable atmosphere even for business, chit chat or simply
enjoy a good meal.
This cuisine is suitable for every generation, culture, nation, etc. Even if there are
something that customers dont like or simply cant touch, there are also alternatives for them.
This is why buffet meal is the most suitable meal for a restaurant to provide for a multinational
culture.
Consumer demand and implication for company
1. Consumer demand
Consumer demand is demand for goods and services that comes from individual
people rather than from companies. In other words, it is what customers want to be
served. To generate demand, the companies need to do research, find what consumers
needs are and prove your products worth.
Strategy to generate consumer demand:
1. Pay attention to market research: the restaurant need to figure out
what food that customers need and want through test group, feedback. If there

are issues popping up, the restaurant need to find solutions right away.
2. Produce stellar content: the restaurant need to promote its products
and prove that its product will satisfy the customers. It should inform customers
about the value of the products. A video about buffet meal is good.
3. Feature customers' reviews: nothing good as customers review.
People may not believe in the restaurants advertisement but they have faith in
other customers judgment even it is right or wrong. So make sure the restaurant
is featuring customers review. Maybe a review function on official website or a
link to customers review blog.
4. Give new customers a deal: there are always new customers who
never step in the restaurant so a promotion or special offer is really effective to
make demand become wide.
5. Create an exclusive club: there are also regular customers that prefer
to the restaurant rather than any competitors. These customers should be
rewarded to make them feel appreciated. Make them a member card or give
discounted will lets them become a royal customers that give the companies a
long-term benefit.
2. Implication for Company
10@Claymore, as an award-winning restaurant in a best hotel group, is running
properly by creating the best place for cuisine. By doing what are told above, the
restaurant will be improved from time to time. Foods become more diversified and tasty,
services quality keep increasing, facility is more convenience, etc. And in the future
when people talk about 10@Claymore restaurant, it is known as the very good place in
the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. If this services is good then so do the hotel trend. People
choose Pan Pacific because of 10@Claymore and they choose 10@Claymore because
of Pan Pacific Hotels.
Strategic responses to changing trend
Trend is a pattern of gradual change in a condition, output, or process, or an average or
general tendency of a series of data points to move in a certain direction over time, represented
by a line or curve on a graph. So what are current trends? According to Innova:
-Waste not want not: cutting food wastes.
-Origin label: consumer trust.
-Home cooking: back to basics, simple food.
-Small player: small-scale rise up.
-Holistic Health: all about nutrition.
Follow what are written above, the trend changing strategy is to change the food taste
with original quality and meet the requirement of nutrition. The processing stage must make
sure food waste is limited, which mean the restaurant must calculate carefully the quantity and
the customers must satisfied with the quality.
Changing food taste from season, supplier is also a good strategy to keep customers as
well as refresh the restaurant. For example:
-change Canadian oyster to another oyster or mix them together.

-use US beef then change to Australian beef the next week/month.

-offer different la carte menu in different season.
The trends can be changed from time to time so the restaurant must be sure of following
the trend on time. Missing anything of it will decrease customer trust.
Conclusion
Creating a buffet meal is not a very hard mission. Understanding consumer behavior will
lets the restaurant have a clear way to move. Smart branding will create a well-remembered
image in customers mind. Determine customers expectations and satisfactions help the
restaurant plan a proper strategy. Following the trends will keep the restaurant as fresh as it just
opened yesterday.
Follow the right step, the restaurant fame will keep improving and earn benefit not only
for 10@Claymore but also for the whole Pan Pacific Hotels Trend.

References
1.
2.
3.
4.

Solomon, M.R. (1995) Consumer Behavior, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall.

Kotler (2011) Marketing Management (14th edition), London: Pearson Education.
KAPFERER, JEAN-NOL (1997), Strategic Brand Management, Great Britain, Kogan.
Oliver, Richard L. (1997) Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer, New
York: McGraw Hill.
5. Business Dictionary. Available from:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trend.html.
6. Innova predicts top five food industry trends for 2014. Available from:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Market-Trends/Innova-predicts-top-five-food-industrytrends-for-2014.

Appendix

Appendix 1: Mood Board