Foreign Visitors Perception about China's Food & Hotel

【摘 要】One questionnaire is conducted in order to find some consumer perceptions and consumer behaviors of foreign visitors. The questionnaire contains three main parts and tests consumer perceptions and consumer behaviors in four related aspects. The suggestions given to businessmen in the end are just for reference.

【關鍵詞】Marketing research Suggestions

1. Introduction of the Marketing Research

In order to know of foreign visitors’ opinions mainly on restaurants and hotels， a questionnaire has been designed. According to the survey， a number of suggestions are going to be given to the owners of Chinese restaurants and hotels that are serving foreign visitors. The target group of this marketing research is foreigners who have experiences of eating at a Chinese restaurant and staying at a Chinese hotel， especially foreign visitors. The Beijing South Railway Station is chosen as the place to do the intercept questionnaire.

2. Test on Reliability and Validity

Before analyzing the results of the questionnaires， it is necessary to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaires.

2.1 Test on Reliability

There are many methods to test the reliability of the questionnaires. Here we employ Cronbach’smethod. The questionnaire mainly contains three parts. The first part includes 30 questions on respondents’ experiences in China. The second part focuses on respondents’ criteria on choosing restaurants or hotels. And the background of the respondents’ are illustrated in the third part. The related formula is as follows：

（where K is the number of components （K-items or testlets），the variance of the observed total test scores， andthe variance of component i for the current sample of persons.）

For part one，，，， then

Cronbach’s.

For part two， in terms of respondents’ criteria on choosing

restaurants，，，， then Cronbach’s

. in respect for respondents’criteria on choosing hotels，

， ，， then Cronbach’s .

According to the value of Cronbach’s ， it is quite apparent that the reliability degree of the collected data are high enough.

2.2 Test on Validity

We use regression analysis to verify the relationship between some of the questions.

In terms of restaurant aspect， we assume the data related to questions about “tasty”， “ingredients” and “experience” as the independent variables and the data related to question “dinning in China” as the dependant variable. By using the method of least square， an expression has been obtained.

It shows that whether a foreign visitor like dining in Chinese restaurant or not has positive relationship with the taste of food sold there and former experiences there. And if high quality ingredients were not used in cooking the dishes， it will have a negative effect on foreigners’ tendency to dine in a Chinese restaurant.

In terms of hotel aspect， we firstly assume questions about “price”， “service”， “security”， “hotel chain”， “politeness”， “communication” as the six independent variables， and the data related to question “satisfactory experience” as the dependent variables. An expression has been obtained as follows.

According to the OLS result， whether the foreign visitor is satisfactory with his hotel experience is positively related to the price， the security condition and the politeness of the hotel employees. And if the service quality there leaved bad impression on foreign visitors， it will place negative effect on the degree of satisfactory.

3. Analysis on the Result of Questionnaires

3.1 Analysis on the Result of Part One

Generally speaking， Chinese people have leaved a relatively good impression on foreign visitors. And although most of foreign visitors couldn’t speak Chinese fluently， they think they know China pretty much.

80% of the respondents believe that the Chinese food is tasty， but the ingredients used in the cuisines are just in average quality level. Their experiences in Chinese restaurants are quite satisfactory. In China， foreign visitors a little bit prefer to dine in Chinese style restaurants and they don’t refuse to try new ones.

In terms of hotel services， foreign visitors think the price is fairly charged and the service delivered is of relatively high quality. They don’t have a clear preference on international hotel chains. And when selecting hotels， foreign visitors are conservative， preferring familiar ones. There is a big difference between their attitudes on restaurant choosing and hotel choosing.

In aspect to purchase preference， for foreign visitors， there isn’t a clear sense of country of origin.

3.2 Analysis on the Result of Part Two

With respect to criteria of restaurants selection， the results show that male pay much more attention on price， service quality and restaurant ambience. While female foreign visitors care much more on food taste， location and the reputation of the restaurant than male visitors than male ones. When it comes to criteria of hotel selection， male foreign visitors and female ones have relatively dramatic different attitudes on whether the hotel is facilitated with a well-recognized hotel chain. Female customers believe it’s not important to live at a hotel which is facilitated with a hotel chain.

In terms of criteria on restaurant selection， price is considered to be a more important factor for students. However， the self-employed attach relatively less significance on price than general level and believe that the ambience and reputation of the restaurant should be paid relatively more attention when making restaurant choosing decision.

On criteria of hotel selection， respondents from various occupations didn’t reflect much deviation from the general level except for the self-employed. Compared to others， they think that the decoration of hotel rooms， the affiliation relationship with recognized hotel chain and the magnificence of the lobby are important factors. And the former two are even regarded more important than price.

4. Suggestions Given to Restaurant and Hotel Owners

For restaurant owners， if their target consumers are mainly foreigners， they must make use of the trend that foreign visitors are really inclined to try Chinese food. And they don’t care much about dining in a not well-known restaurant if the food there is delicious and the service there is of high quality. So focusing on core competences， like food taste and service quality， should be prioritized and paid enough attention by the management.

For hotel management， location selection is much more important. And compared to others， safety and security of the consumers should be guaranteed. Those hotels targeting foreign visitors or foreign businessman could cut cost on room decoration and it is not that necessary to build up a magnificent lobby. A good reputation is the foundation of sustainable development of hotels.

However， one thing must be kept in mind for the owners of restaurants and hotels. It is that the consumers in different segment market have distinct preference. Accurate management should be carried out according to specific conditions.

【Reference】

[1] Bagozzi， R.P. Bagozzi. Causal models in marketing Wiley. New York，1980.

[2]Bentler and Bonett，P.M. Bentler， D.G. Bonett. Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin， 1980，88（3）：588-606.