Accor

Introduction

With tourism stakeholders becoming more aware of their impact on the environment, culture of the hosting destination and difficulty of ensuring viable long term economic operations and profitability, sustainable tourism practices has become the pillar of many business strategies.
The aim of this assignment is to learn how to phrase a question in the field of hospitality management and corporate social responsibility, how to look into this question and eventually how to report about these activities in a proper way.
The research question formed for this report is:
How does Novotel’s sustainability program influence customer perception?
In order to answer the abovementioned question, the following sub questions must be researched and answered. * Sbq1. What is CSR and how does it work? * Sbq2. What is customer perception and why is it important? * Sbq3. What are some future developments related to CSR and customer perception?

What is customer perception and why is it important?

Consumers form opinions based not only on their experiences with a company and products, but also on their broader experiences and beliefs. Consequently a gap is formed between what consumers think about your brand and what the brand itself perceives to be true.

The business dictionary describes customer perception as a marketing concept that encompasses customer’s impression, awareness and/ or consciousness about a company or its offerings. Just as sensory perception relates to how humans perceive and process sensory stimuli through their five senses, consumer perception pertains to how individuals form opinions about companies and the merchandise they offer through the purchases they make. Merchants apply consumer perception theory to determine how their customers perceive them. They also use consumer perception theory to develop marketing and advertising strategies intended to retain current customers -- and attract new ones.

Importance of customer perception

Consumer perception is important to businesses because of its ability to influence consumer behavior, which ultimately affects the profitability of a business. Knowing your customers and what they expect from you will help you build a business strategy that delivers results.

Questions for this part?
Should we make use the SERQUAL model that identifies the different gaps between customer-perceived service quality and the actual service quality?

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-perception.html#ixzz2HKPeSDsp
[ 2 ]. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/consumer-perception-theory-40176.html