FOREIGN TOURIST BEHAVIOR AND MARKETING MIX FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF BUFFET RESTAURANTS IN HAT YAI, SONGKHLA

Abstract

        This research aimed to study 1) the behavior of foreign tourists in choosing buffet restaurants in Hat Yai District, and 2) the marketing mix factors (7P's) that affect the decision to choose buffet restaurants of foreign tourists in Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province. This is a quantitative study that uses to gather information from 400 international visitors via a questionnaire. Frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation (S.D.) were used to assess the data, and the T- and F-tests were used to evaluate the hypothesis.
        The research results found that: 1) The behavior of foreign tourists in choosing to use buffet restaurants in Hat Yai was found that most of them were male, aged 20–30 years, married, had a bachelor's degree, worked as general laborers, and had an average monthly income of 15,001–20,000 baht. They liked to choose the grilled buffet type in a budget package (199–399 baht). The main reasons for choosing a restaurant are the taste of the food. People involved the decision are family. They usually use the service on general occasions, especially dinner. Popular restaurants include Klonghae Grilled Seafood Buffet. They search for information or receive news via social media. They choose to pay for services in cash. They will definitely come back to use the service again and tell others. 2) Factors affecting the decision to use buffet restaurants of foreign tourists found that the product factor had the highest impact on the decision to use the service (¯x = 4.36, S.D. = 0.60)ใ The results of the hypothesis testing found that the demographic characteristics of foreign tourists, namely gender, marital status, occupation, and average monthly income, which were different, had a statistically significant effect on the decision to choose to use a buffet restaurant at the 0.05 level. And age different levels of education, did not have a statistically significant effect on the decision to choose to use a buffet restaurant in Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, at the 0.05 level.