Global Economic Observer (Jun 2022)
A Marketing Experiment Regarding the Importance of Price Discounts when Booking a Vacation Abroad during Covid-19 Pandemic
Abstract
When deciding to book a vacation abroad, consumers take into consideration many factors, such as the hotel facilities, its location, the attractiveness of the presentation images, the price and, more recently, the safety measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to understand the role of price in this decision and especially of the price discounts that are often displayed in tourist ads. Starting from this idea, a marketing experiment was created and it aimed to investigate the extent to which the price discount will influence the respondents’ perception towards the attractiveness of a vacation offer. The research used a sample of 40 random subjects, males and females, aged between 21 and 27 years. The participants were divided into two equal and similar groups: 20 participants in the control group and 20 participants in the experimental group. The research design used for this marketing experiment was "before-after with control group". The information regarding the price was manipulated and used as the independent variable for this experiment. The research results showed that the assumption that a certain accommodation will be perceived as being more attractive if the price discount is presented to consumers proved to be correct.
