Making Brand Decisions: I'm glamping, not camping!

Wherever I pitch my tent, that’s my home and also my office! My Easter break was spent shivering a little in the wilds of Norfolk at West Runton Camping & Caravanning Club Site. As I warmed my hands around the electric heater (no open fires allowed) I started to think about how I choose a campsite these days.

We’re experienced campers but with a touch of the ‘glamp’ about us – our tent has an electric hook up and carpet (don’t get me started on co-author Ann Prayle – she takes a freezer!). But when it comes to choosing a campsite in our holiday area of choice – there are hundreds to choose from that offer similar facilities; so, as we move through the decision-making model from need recognition to information search to hopefully making a purchase, it’s easy to get stuck at a big barrier of indecision where we are faced with too many choices.

Decison-making process for campsites

This is where heuristics come into play. Heuristics are in the words of Jim Blythe, "rules for buying". He describes them as 'if x is the case, then do y'. They can relate to how we search for information, how we judge products / services, or how we evaluate alternatives.

So heuristics or ‘buying decision shortcuts’ make it much easier for me to choose a campsite and cut through pages of listings in my area of choice. If I follow them every time I make a decision, I should end up having a good holiday! Well, that's the theory!

My heuristics for choosing a campsite are:

1. Search rules – always use the camping club listings or my favoured independent website to choose a reputable campsite. 
2. Evaluation rules – always rule out sites with a club house as they tend to be noisier and packed. 
3. Choice rules – when there are choices of campsite, always choose the branded Club Site or the one with the best reviews from Club members.

When it comes to choosing a campsite for your holiday, where there are a multitude of similar offerings of which you may have little knowledge or experience and only a few branded options, heuristics can be very useful in providing a standard set of rules to follow to aid that process. By learning more about customers’ decision-making, even the smallest campsite can use marketing to break down purchasing barriers and get new customers to pitch up.

Click here to buy Jim Blythe's great book discussing consumer decision-making and heuristics!