Abstract:
This research has 4 objectives: 1) to develop herbal inhaler products; 2) to study demographic factors and needs, including gender, age, status, occupation, monthly income, education level, and chronic diseases, that affect the decision to purchase herbal inhalers of spa customers in Bangkok; 3) to study marketing mix factors from the customer perspective that affect the decision to purchase herbal inhalers of spa customers in Bangkok; and 4) to propose guidelines for using herbal inhalers as supplementary products for wellness spa businesses. A mixed research method was used, with a qualitative study to develop herbal inhalers and a study of spa customers opinions on herbal inhalers using a quantitative study with a sample of 417 people. A questionnaire was used as the data collection tool. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, and the quantitative data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis.
The results found that: 1) Development of herbal inhaler products consisting of main ingredients such as Menthol, Eucalyptus, Clove Oil, Camphor, Borneo camphor, Kaffir lime peel, Licorice, Dahurian angelica, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves, Star Anise, Cardamom, Black Pepper and Bay Leaves, which go through the production process. 2) The behavior and demand for purchasing herbal inhalers of the respondents found that most of them bought them from convenience stores (66.4 percent). The main reasons were for relaxation and freshness (60.4). The frequency of purchase was once a month (71.5 percent). The price was between 21 and 40 baht (54 percent). They liked to use traditional inhalers (46.5 percent) and were interested in buying herbal inhalers from spas (59.7 percent). They wanted modern and unique packaging designs (57.6 percent). 3) The factors influencing the decision to buy herbal inhalers were the scent and quality of the product. The marketing mix factors influencing the decision to buy herbal inhalers included consumer factors, convenience, and marketing communications, and 4) guidelines for promoting the use of herbal inhalers as supplementary products for the health spa business, including developing and designing herbal inhalers to have a unique identity, using modern packaging that is easy to carry, attracting purchasing decisions, setting appropriate prices, having marketing communications to make service users aware of the properties and benefits of the product, and having it available for sale in a variety of marketing channels and being easy to purchase.