Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................................................................2Executive summary.............................................................................................................3Consumer perception relation with Park Plaza....................................................................4

Perception........................................................................................................................4Sensation:........................................................................................................................4The absolute threshold:....................................................................................................5Dynamics of Perception:..................................................................................................6Perceptional selection:.....................................................................................................6Expectations:....................................................................................................................7Motives:...........................................................................................................................7Perceptional Organization:..............................................................................................8Figures and ground:.........................................................................................................8Perceptional Interpretation:.............................................................................................8Perceptional Distortion:...................................................................................................8First Impression:..............................................................................................................9Perceived Prices:............................................................................................................10

Problem statement:............................................................................................................11Research question:.........................................................................................................11Research objectives and variables:................................................................................11

Research methodology:.....................................................................................................12Data and data collection:...............................................................................................12Primary data:..................................................................................................................12Secondary data:..............................................................................................................13

Measurement method:.......................................................................................................13Sampling Plan....................................................................................................................13

Population......................................................................................................................13Sampling Unit................................................................................................................13Sample Size...................................................................................................................13Sampling Method...........................................................................................................13

SPSS Analysis:..................................................................................................................14Data analysis:.................................................................................................................14Significance T- Test:......................................................................................................14One-Sample Test...........................................................................................................16Decision:........................................................................................................................16Conclusion:....................................................................................................................16

Factor analysis on customer perception:............................................................................17Component Matrix.........................................................................................................17Mean comparison of purpose of visit and overall rating:..............................................18Reliability Analysis:......................................................................................................19Reliability Statistics.......................................................................................................19Competitor Analysis:.....................................................................................................20Findings.........................................................................................................................20References:....................................................................................................................22

1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Praise is to Allah Almighty, the one testing us all at all times and making decisions about

what we don’t know and can’t know. Writing this report appeared to be a great

experience to us. It added a lot to our knowledge while we were working on this project.

If we say that this project is one of our memorable experiences in student life, then it

would not be wrong.

We owe deep appreciation to Mr. Asad Awan for stimulating our creative

abilities by assigning this report to us. Also, we like to thank Mr. Hassan Ali Malik GSO of

Park Plaza who really helped us in gathering data and guide like professionals. We are

immensely grateful to all our fellow students who guided us in making this report,

without whose considerate attention and interest, it would be difficult for us to

complete this project on time. Whatever we have learnt from them and this project

report has put permanent impression on our mind. It is our career. Conviction that this

learning experience will always be a source of help in our practical life and professional

2

Executive summary

This project had been assigned by Mr. Asad Awan lecturer of ‘’Consumer Behavior’’

before midterm. The topic was to analyze the “Consumer perception’’ about park plaza

hotel”.

Although, there is a growing volume of research on consumers especially hotels and

restaurants but there are many variables which are still confusing or may be changing

according to the customer perceptions. That’s why in this project we considered hotel

services such as accommodation, food and beverages, health club and SPA. We

collected information with the help of questionnaire and did interview with a

management employee there. We also did observation by sitting in the hotel.

Then we did analysis on the collected data through SPSS and made decisions about

customer perception regarding park plaza services. We also described through quartiles

that our most of the data lies in the first quartile. With the help of T Test we made a

decision that overall perception of customers about park plaza is good by rejecting Ho.

We also did factor analysis which extracted two components like guest services and

health club. Then, we did reliability analysis to check questionnaire performance and we

got 64.2 numbers which determined that our questionnaire is more than above normal

reliability.

At the end we made comparison of all the variables with customer perception theory

concepts and find out that there is link among selected variables of park plaza and

theories concepts like link between Park plaza building and absolute threshold.

3

4

The Park Plaza Introduction

Carlson Hotels has signed a Park Plaza hotel in Lahore, the second most populated city

in Pakistan. Owned by the Rehman Group, the Park Plaza Lahore MM Alam Road will

join a growing number of hotels in the Park Plaza portfolio across the Asia Pacific region.

The 172-room hotel is scheduled to open in September 2007.

Lahore is one of largest city's in South Asia, and because of its rich history and allure,

has become the most popular tourist spot in Pakistan. The Park Plaza Lahore is centrally

located on MM Alam Road, Gulberg III, surrounded by a range of shopping malls, retail

stores, markets and the city’s top restaurants. The hotel site is just minutes from the

Liberty Market and the Hafeez Center, Lahore’s famous technology bazaar, also known

as the biggest computer market in Pakistan. The old historical city of Lahore is located

just 10km away from the hotel.

The Park Plaza Lahore is designed by architect, M/s Raza & Associates and will feature

172 guestrooms and suites. There will be an all-day dining outlet, two specialty

restaurants, a health club and spa, a swimming pool and a 24-hour business centre with

two meeting rooms. The hotel will also have function rooms to meet banquets and

conference needs.

The Park Plaza Story:

Trendsetting design, with warm engaging service and outstanding customer value, define

the hospitality of Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts as the brand continues to expand into

highly visible locations around the world. Park Plaza hotels are welcoming guests in 35

locations including such key destinations as Bangkok, Beijing, London, Berlin, Amsterdam,

Dublin, Budapest and Sao Paulo.

Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts capture the energy and style of each individual location

whether it is the elegant refinement of Asia or the vibrant sophistication of London. In

Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Park Plaza is introducing the latest concepts of chic

hospitality design.

In Pakistan, the brand is defined by its showcase property the luxurious Park Plaza by

Places of Interest

Royal Fort - Lahore

Shalimar Garden

Minar-e-Pakistan

Badshahi Mosque Golden Mosque

Fortress Stadium

Pace

Qadafi Stadium

Liberty Market

Defence Y Block Market

5

The Park Plaza Introduction

Carlson Hotels has signed a Park Plaza hotel in Lahore, the second most populated city

in Pakistan. Owned by the Rehman Group, the Park Plaza Lahore MM Alam Road will

join a growing number of hotels in the Park Plaza portfolio across the Asia Pacific region.

The 172-room hotel is scheduled to open in September 2007.

Lahore is one of largest city's in South Asia, and because of its rich history and allure,

has become the most popular tourist spot in Pakistan. The Park Plaza Lahore is centrally

located on MM Alam Road, Gulberg III, surrounded by a range of shopping malls, retail

stores, markets and the city’s top restaurants. The hotel site is just minutes from the

Liberty Market and the Hafeez Center, Lahore’s famous technology bazaar, also known

as the biggest computer market in Pakistan. The old historical city of Lahore is located

just 10km away from the hotel.

The Park Plaza Lahore is designed by architect, M/s Raza & Associates and will feature

172 guestrooms and suites. There will be an all-day dining outlet, two specialty

restaurants, a health club and spa, a swimming pool and a 24-hour business centre with

two meeting rooms. The hotel will also have function rooms to meet banquets and

conference needs.

The Park Plaza Story:

Trendsetting design, with warm engaging service and outstanding customer value, define

the hospitality of Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts as the brand continues to expand into

highly visible locations around the world. Park Plaza hotels are welcoming guests in 35

locations including such key destinations as Bangkok, Beijing, London, Berlin, Amsterdam,

Dublin, Budapest and Sao Paulo.

Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts capture the energy and style of each individual location

whether it is the elegant refinement of Asia or the vibrant sophistication of London. In

Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Park Plaza is introducing the latest concepts of chic

hospitality design.

In Pakistan, the brand is defined by its showcase property the luxurious Park Plaza by

Consumer perception relation with Park Plaza

Perception

Our perception is an approximation of reality. Our brain attempts to make sense out of

the stimuli to which we are exposed.

If we relate consumer perception and consumer behavior then we will see indirect

relation between them because our perception regarding any good and services which

may be good or bad leads our behavior towards them. Generally speaking, good or

positive perception leads towards good or positive behavior and negative perception

leads towards negative behavior regarding specific goods and services. The importance

of consumer perception can be justified with a classic example that a two different

people presented with a glass poured half with water. Then this all depends upon the

perception of two people, who are exposed with the same stimuli under the same

apparent conditions, but one person finds half empty glass and one finds half filled glass

of water.

Well, if we talk about the perception of people regarding Park Plaza who experience

either room services or restaurants, health club and SPA was really positive and

customers feels really good after getting their services. We interviewed many customers

and we find couple of reasons regarding positive perception of the customers. 1st, the

name its self give rise helps customers to think positive regarding Park Plaza which is a

part of World Wide chain of hotels “Carlson Group” known for his world class service.

2nd, and most important the place (MM alam road) where it is located and the 13 floor

building itself helps customers to perceive positive about Park Plaza.

Sensation:

Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to stimuli. A

stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses. Here we classified sensation into two

situation 1st for those who never visit but heard the name and 2nd for those who first

time enters Park Plaza.

6

First, who first time hear the name of Park Plaza. We interviewed almost 20-25 people

comprises on men and women regarding Park Plaza that what they think and feels for

the very first time. Well, the response was quite interesting majority of people thought

this a hotel, but may be local some guessed right that international hotel. Also, there

were a group of people who thought this is a ‘Park’ or ‘Garden’ in town.

Second, we observed and interviewed more than 50 people by sitting in the main lobby.

Almost every person who entered responded with a smile because what they see is

amazing and exceptional décor, what they feel is pleasant atmosphere and what they

hear is a light music. So, everything leads their guest to feel good from the very first

time.

The absolute threshold:

In case of Park Plaza we find two points at which a person can detect a difference

between “something” and “nothing”. First, the big 13 floor building at the corner of MM

Alam road, linking cantt ,Abid market , people from Kalma Chowk. So, the only building

situated at this point is Park Plaza. Second, the banners of hi-tea they are offering on

their soft launch.

Apart of perception of only those customers who are in form of guests who visits

and experience Park plaza services. We find another form of customers in Park Plaza

who visits and deals with Park Plaza services daily on regular basis. We are talking about

‘Employees’ who work in Park Plaza from the last 3 months because Park Plaza deals

and respect their employees like their first customers. Well, we think we can’t ignore

employee’s perception after observing and interviewing majority of employees from

house keeper to manager.

Well, every employee is very happy from the management, the incentives, the

dealing and the atmosphere.

We observed and came to knew that there is one kitchen in the basement for

employees where house keeper to manager sits together. This creates a sense of

equality among each employee, served with same menu which is new every day. Also,

7

the over cooked food in hi-tea served to employees. Also, weekly and monthly bonuses

for most of the employees.

Dynamics of Perception:

Individuals are very selective as to which stimuli they “recognize”; they subconsciously

organize the stimuli they do recognize according to widely held psychological principles

and they interpret such stimuli subjectively in accordance with their personal needs,

expectations, and experiences. The following section examines some aspects of

perception: the selection, organization and interpretation of stimuli.

Perceptional selection:

Consumer subconsciously exercises a great deal of selectivity as to which aspects of the

environment they perceive. Well, this also happened with the Park Plaza guests who

were part of survey, interviews and observation. While interviewing people we put a

question that “what do you think about Park Plaza? Is it 4 or 5-star hotel?” Majority of

the sample replied “5-Star” and a small part of sample replied “4-star” which is correct

because we confirmed from the management that Park Plaza is 4-Star deluxe Hotel.

Also, people think Park Plaza is a part of 5-Star hotel chain “Carlson Hotels, Regent,

Redisson, and Country INNS & Suits”. But, after scratching some more truth from

management we come to know that Park Plaza is not part of 5-star hotel chain but they

only own Park Plaza name in Pakistan.

As we discussed in above paragraph that how and what image Park Plaza creates

in people mind and people subconsciously think that Park Plaza is a 5-star hotel.

Because Park Plaza showed in their web-site and mentioned to be a part of 5-star hotel

that’s why people subconsciously think to be a part of 5-star hotel chain.

8

Expectations:

People usually see what they expect to see, and what they expect to see is usually based

on familiarity, previous experience, or preconditioned set. Well, Park Plaza guests are

delighted because they are getting more value for money either they are visiting for hi-

tea in “Endless Summer” or visiting for luxury experience to stay in deluxe rooms. What

we get from observation and interviews that people expecting to experience world class

services from entrance to exit and they are truly getting it. Let us clear one thing that

Park Plaza has a soft launch through hi-tea and they started their operations and

services since February 2010 and they schedule their hard launch on 15 th June, 2010 and

management wants to satisfy customer needs by bringing luxury experience in

accommodation (twin-sharing rooms, executive rooms etc). Also, in food and beverages

(uptown pool bar, outdoor Jacuzzi etc) for Park Plaza guests.

Motives:

People tend to perceive the things they need or want; the stronger the need, the

greater the tendency to ignore unrelated stimuli in the environment. Marketing

managers recognize the efficiency of targeting their products to the perceived needs of

consumers. That exactly Park Plaza management and engineers did and designed hotel

in such a way to target customers according to their needs and wants. For example:

Guests only for hi-tea and nothing to do with rooms and other restaurants can directly

approach to “Endless Summer” on the right side of the entrance. Also, for executives

who visits for the meeting can approach to one of the two meeting halls but for those

who want food and meeting together can approach “executive dinning” in “The Spot”.

9

Perceptional Organization:

People do not experience the numerous stimuli they select from the environment as

separate and discrete sensations; rather, they tend to organize them into groups and

perceive them as unified wholes.

Figures and ground:

People have a tendency to organize their perceptions into figure-and-ground

relationship. This figure-ground pattern is perceived can be influenced by prior pleasant

or painful associations with one or the other element in isolation.

In Park Plaza we observed that they do use figure-ground pattern in their hotel. They

use stimulus of soft music in entrance, front desk, lobbies, ground wash room and in

main escalator, it appears to be well-defined.

Perceptional Interpretation:

The previous discussion has emphasized that perception is a personal phenomenon.

People exercise selectivity as to which stimuli they perceive, and they organize these

stimuli is also uniquely individual, because it is based on what individuals expect to see

in light of their past experience, motives and interests at the time of perception.

The survey result of Park Plaza guest shows for them majority of stimuli are highly

ambiguous, they interpret them in such a way that they serve o fulfill personal needs,

wishes, interests, and so on.

Perceptional Distortion:

Physical appearance:

People tend to attribute quality with the

physical appearance of goods and

services. In case of Park Plaza the décor,

cleanliness, ambience etc are key

10

physical factors through which guests interacts. This includes from building to every

physical thing in rooms, lobby, reception, halls, lightning etc. That’s the reason by

knowing how much they are important for consumer perception Park Plaza

management keenly focus for their guests. For example: Park Plaza rooms are fully

furnished with imported furniture, LCD, DVD player, mini bar, 3-inch sound and heat

proof glass, coffee maker, bathroom sanitary and fixtures etc. for good room

experience. \\\

First Impression:

First impressions tend to be lasting; yet, in forming such impression the perceiver does

not yet know which stimuli are relevant, important, or predictive of later behavior.

If we talk about Park Plaza first impression on those who visit Park Plaza for food

or for accommodation then both have some similarities and difference as well. For

example: First, the tall 13 floor building gives a good impression about the hotel.

Secondly, when you enter with your car and stop in front of main entrance than two

people approach to you. One is to park your car, second to take your luggage (if

available). Third, when you enter then GSO approach to help you greet you. If you are

for food then you may move to restaurant but if you looking for a room then you will

see front desk manager (FDM) for check-in. The reason of telling and describing the

whole process is to get familiar to the actual first impression of Park Plaza and their

caring management. Also, along with management the décor, atmosphere which

includes soft music, fragrance of fresh flower in the main lobby, cool temperature etc.

all these things adds a very good and lasting impression in consumer or guests mind.

11

Perceived Prices:

Consumers do perceive prices as high, low and average and this has a strong influence

on both purchase intention and purchase satisfaction.

During interview and questionnaire we came to know that customers do pay

attention to the prices. For example: For food (hi-tea) majority of the people said that

the price of HI-tea is very nominal i.e; Rs. 250+tax as compared to other restaurants like

Ziafat i.e; Rs.290+tax.

While for rooms many said that prices are high or average i.e; Rs.

7500+tax for single bed, Rs. 8500+tax double bed etc.

12

Problem statement:What is customer perception about park plaza hotel?

Research question:

What is the purpose of visit in Park Plaza?

How they hear about Park Plaza?

How and through which channel they make booking in Park Plaza?

What is perception of Park Plaza regarding efficiency in guest services?

What is perception of Park Plaza regarding room service?

What is perception of Park Plaza regarding food?

What is perception of Park Plaza regarding health club facilities?

What is perception of Park Plaza regarding SPA?

Research objectives and variables:

1. To know about efficiency in guest services

Variables:

o Check in process

o Check out process

o Bell desk

o Guest relations

o Business center

o Telephone operator

o Housekeeping

o Laundry

2. To know about food and beverages part

Variables:13

o The spot

o Endless summer

o Uptown pool bar

o Zen gori

o Room service

3. To know about customers perception about SPA facilities.

Variables:

o Cleanliness

o Quality of service

o Staff friendless

4. To know about customers perception about health club facilities

Variables:

o Facilities and equipment

o Quality of services

o Staff friendliness

5. To know about customer perception about accommodation

Variables:

o Room cleanliness

o Bathroom cleanliness

o In room facilities

o Bedroom furnishing

o Tv channels

o Lightening

14

Research methodology:

Data and data collection:

Primary data:

To collect primary data we did following method;

o Questionnaire

o interviews

o observation

Secondary data:

We collected secondary data from;

o Website of parkplaza

Measurement method:The two methods which we will be using for the analysis of our data to get the output

are:

Manually

SPSS

Sampling PlanA sampling plan is a detailed outline of which measurements will be taken at what

times, on which material, in what manner, and by whom. The criteria of our sampling

plan will be as follows:

Population

People who likes and visit Park plaza hotel.

Sampling Unit

Individuals who have used the services (accommodation, health club,

restaurants) of park plaza.

Sample Size

Our total sampling size is 68.

Questionnaire= 16

15

Interview= 9

Observation=43

Sampling Method

We used convenience sampling method.

SPSS Analysis:

Data analysis:

OVERALL PERCEPTION LEVEL OF CUSTOMER ABOUT PARK PLAZA

Statistics

OVER ALL PERCEPTION PARK

PLAZA

N Valid 16

Missing 0

Mean 18.81

Percentiles 25 13.25

50 19.00

75 24.75

We have calculated Quartiles in order to define the overall perception of customers

about park plaza. As, quartile ranges are

1. 1st Quartile = 13.25-19.00

2. 2nd Quartile = 19-24.75

3. 3rd Quartile = above 24.75

We have computed the mean in order to find overall perception of customers about

park plaza and the mean in 18.81 which falls in the 1st quartile range i.e. 13.25-19.00 this

shows that our mean lies in the 1st Quartile, but we are not sure that the overall

perception of customers. We are not sure about the decision only based on mean so we

16

have done hypothesis testing below in order to be sure about the significance of the

whole data.

Significance T- Test:

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 0

t df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

95% Confidence Interval of

the Difference

Lower Upper

OVER ALL

PERCEPTION PARK

PLAZA

11.796 15 .000 18.813 15.41 22.21

H0; µ=0 (customers perception about park plaza is not good)

H1; µ≠0 (customers perception about park plaza is good)

We did hypothesis on overall perception of customers about park plaza, One sample T-

test is performed in order to reject or do not reject the null hypothesis. Here we will

reject Ho because our p value(0.000) is less than alpha (0.05) which shows that

customers like the offerings of park plaza and feel satisfied while going there.

17

Significance T-test of gender towards overall perception about park plaza:

One-Sample Test

GENDER

Test Value = 0

t dfSig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Difference

95% Confidence Interval

of the Difference

Lower Upper

MALE

OVERALL

PERCEPTION

GUE.SER

18.287 8 .000 1.134 .99 1.28

FEMAL

E

OVERALL

PERCEPTION

GUE.SER

7.140 3 .006 1.271 .70 1.84

H0; µ=0 (customers perception about guest services not good)

H1; µ≠0 (customers perception about guest services is good)

Decision:

We will reject Ho in both male and female cases as P value is low than significance level

which is 0.05.

Conclusion:So, we will say that both male and female likes the guest services of park plaza.

18

Factor analysis on customer perception:

Communalities

Initial Extraction

OVERALL PERCEPTION

GUE.SER

1.000 .961

OVERALL PERCEPTION

ACCD

1.000 .729

OVERALL

PER.FOOD&BEV

1.000 .743

OVERALL

PER.HEALTH.CLUB

1.000 .759

OVERALL PER. SPA 1.000 .658

Extraction Method: Principal Component

Analysis.

We have done factor analysis of all the overall perception variables to determine which

is more preferable for customers. As, we did analysis on overall guest services, food and

beverages, health club, overall perception about SPA to find out what factors are more

preferable. So, it is explained below with the help of the component matrix.

19

Component Matrix

Component

1 2

OVERALL PERCEPTION

GUE.SER

.969 -.149

OVERALL PERCEPTION

ACCD

.801 .296

OVERALL

PER.FOOD&BEV

.573 -.644

OVERALL

PER.HEALTH.CLUB

-.049 .870

OVERALL PER. SPA .497 .641

Extraction Method: Principal Component

Analysis.

a. 2 components extracted.

As, two factors are extracted from all other factors that are guest services efficiency and

health club which shows that these two factors are preferable in customers point of

view.

20

Mean comparison of purpose of visit and overall rating:

OVERALL RATING

PURPOSE OF

VISIT AT

PARKPLAZA Mean N Std. Deviation

business trip 1.20 10 .422

family

holiday

2.00 1 .

Total 1.27 11 .467

Above mention report describes that customers who come in park plaza for family

holiday their perception is more significant as compare to customers who come for

business trip.

Reliability Analysis:

Case Processing Summary

N %

Cases Valid 8 50.0

Excluded 8 50.0

Total 16 100.0

We had a sample size of 16 and out of which 8 are valid and 8 are excluded may be they

do not like to give opinion but still there is good result of reliability analysis.

21

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's

AlphaN of Items

.642 5

We have done reliability analysis to find out that how much our analysis is reliable.

The value of Cronbach’s Alpha when comes approximately to 0.5 or 0.6 it is normal but

is very good if it is 1 or near to 1. Here our Cronbach’s value is 0.642 i.e. 64.2% which

depicts that our analysis is above than normal.

22

Competitor Analysis: As in the market there are other hotels are operating like pearl continental and awari.

They are using latest software tools for MIS of their management but park plaza is

dealing with it. According to park plaza management at Lahore they do not consider

competitors as they are new in the market as Pearl Continental and Awari, Royal palm

have captured a big market. So, park plaza need to do his services more appealing

towards customers by launching different marketing campaigns as they offered a high

tea.

Findings

The purpose of this investigative study was to measure perception of Park plaza hotel.

Five factors and each factor had different variables we calculated the quartiles in order

to set the scale to prioritize the data. There are many findings which are listed below:

Among five factors that are most significant are: guest services efficiency and

health club which are considered the most preferable by the customers.

Analyzing the reliability of our analysis the Cronbach’s Alpha shows that our

analysis is 64.2% appropriate in order to make decisions.

Park plaza management is also focusing on employees as they believe that if

employees are not satisfied than how customers could be satisfied with our

services.

Through observing overall perception of customers we found that customers are

enjoyed while staying at park plaza.

Decisions:

o In order to be competitive in the market park plaza has to go through with

different marketing campaigns as they introduced a high tea to attract

customers, because our research describes that customers still not aware with

this brand.

23

o Our analysis report that customers are very much interested towards health club

and guest services but we directly observed that their health club segment is not

fully functional and also require a space to manage it properly.

o We did interview two employees of park plaza and they told us that they are

using an old MIS system to manage its services while other hotels and

restaurants are using latest versions like oracle. So, in order to increase efficiency

in the services they should use these latest tools within the MIS system.

o There is no proper space for motorbike parking. They should also consider it if

they want to target middle class families as they are offering high tea with 250

plus tax charges.

24

References:

o www.parkplazalahore.com

o Hassan Ali malik (GSO)

o Mr.Khuram (FDM)

o http://www.parkplazalahore.com/fnb.php

25