1. This chapter posed several variations of the word profit, but noted that in a barter situation, profit is gained by both parties involved in the exchange. Do you agree or disagree that equality of profit is also a valid concept in a money-based trading system? What implications does this have for consumers who seek to purchase hospitality products and services as well as for those hospitality professionals responsible for establishing prices?
2. When consumer demand for hotel rooms increases, the average selling prices for those rooms typically increase as well. In the foodservice business that has not historically been the case. Fluctuations in consumer demand (e.g., volume differences between high demand Saturday nights and lower-volume Sunday nights) in restaurants do not typically result in menu price changes. Given that both hotels and restaurants are part of the hospitality industry, how do you account for these fundamental differences in approach toward strategic pricing? As a customer, which approach do you believe sends you the better value message? Explain your position.
3. it is generally agreed that, in the hospitality industry, consistently outstanding service is a key factor in generating repeat business. In light of the three major components of consumer demand: (desire, ability to pay, willingness to pay) do you believe "Promotion" (one of the 4 P's) is more or less important than service levels when seeking to increase the number of a company's repeat customers? Give an example from your own life experience.
4. Experienced RMs in the hospitality industry know that the price paid (value given up) by their customers buys those customers more than the elimination of their hunger and thirst, or a safe place to sleep at night. If that is so, what exactly are these customers buying? List some of those items that you believe constitute the profit these customers receive in their seller/buyer transactions.