Black middle class township shoppers: a shopper typology

Due to an increase in spending power amongst Black middle class, this growing segment has become a lucrative investment opportunity for many retailers in South Africa and most emerging markets. The purpose of this study is to segment township consumers according to their demographics, life stage, attitudes towards township shopping centres and Living Standards Measure, to understand shopping patterns of township consumers. A survey among Soweto Black middle class township respondents was conducted, and maximum likelihood factor analysis was used to identify attitudes towards township mall factors. The study revealed five factors namely entertainment, convenience, mall essence, staff and mall basics, which were all consistent with previous studies, with the exception of staff and mall basics, which was revealed in this study. A K-means cluster analysis was then used to segment township shoppers according to their attitudes. Four shopper segments were discovered, namely disappointed crusaders, upcoming loyals, social seekers and local loyals, which, despite investigating shopper attitudes in place of shopper behaviour alone, were similar to well-establish shopper typologies. Each segment was profiled according to demographic variables, attitudes as well as shopping patterns. Results, therefore, suggest that retailers and developers need to consider the unique needs and differences among Black middle class consumers when developing retail strategies as they reveal unique characteristics from typical shopper typologies. Given similarities in some emerging countries such as India, the findings of this study could be generalized to other middle class consumers from emerging markets. Similar shopper segments may arise, which may be consistent with previous shopper typology studies and new segments unique to emerging market middle class consumer may be unveiled.     

Understanding the online consumer: A typology of online relational norms and behavior

Relational norms governing Web-based interaction provide the basis for a typology of relationship orientation manifested by consumers online. Clustering techniques are applied to survey data collected online to identify four groups: Transactional Community Members, Socializers, Personal Connectors, and Lurkers. Cluster assignment is validated by examination of segment means, under volitional versus constraint-based marketing contexts. Relational profiles are developed, differentiated by the strength of relational norms and exhibited interactive behavior. Results suggest investment in community-building infrastructure (i.e., chat rooms, bulletin boards, interactive events), has a positive effect on the future loyalty intentions of highly relational patrons. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Mental accounting and behavioural hierarchy: Understanding consumer budgeting behaviour

Budgeting is an important step in consumer finance. Budgeting behaviour is considered a desirable financial behaviour to indicate consumer financial capability. However, systematic research on budgeting behaviour with a large scale national sample is limited. The purpose of this study was to address this research gap and examine characteristics of budgeting behaviour from the perspective of a behavioural hierarchy, which is related to mental accounting. The assumption holds that consumer financial behaviours may be performed in a hierarchical manner along with an increase in economic resources. Using data from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study, evidence suggests that budgeting behaviour is at the lower end of the behavioural hierarchy. This finding has implications for consumer financial professionals.     

Exploring the determinants of the frugal shopper

Frugality reflects the degree to which one is both restrained in acquiring and resourceful in using products. It offers a vision of sustainable consumption slowing down the process of environmental harm. A number of antecedents to frugal shopping behaviour were investigated. Using a sample of experienced shoppers from Australia, market mavenism, shopping antipathy and age were found to be positively associated with frugality. By contrast, recreational shopping, intrinsic religiosity and social class were not significantly associated with frugality. These findings provide some insight into how frugal behaviour can be encouraged by governments and embraced by retailers.     

Retail store formats,competition and shopper behavior: A Systematic review

This study presents a systematic review of literature covering 178 articles relating to physical store-based grocery retail formats. The research questions for the review were based on drivers of consumer choice and response to marketing activities across store formats, competitive effects and conduct in the context of format evolution, and the interplay of retail formats with societal stakeholders and environmental context over time. The review reveals substantial evidence on drivers of shopper choice among formats including intrinsic household characteristics, time value factors, shopping goals and motivations, and actionable retailer factors such as location, assortment, pricing, promotion. The evidence is scarcer where such marketing activities are difficult to vary. There is limited consensus that inter-format competition is more intense than intra-format. The modernization of formats globally was found to change the way they compete and how consumers behave toward them. There is evidence of substantial impact of entry of new formats, but less guidance for incumbent retailers on how they should respond. Several gaps were identified, and research directions included a typology for format types, the role of technology, a call for more causal evidence, and deepening the empirical base for intra- versus inter-format competition and drivers of format choice.     

New product success in the consumer packaged goods industry: A shopper marketing approach

Marketing activities that influence shoppers along the various stages of their path-to-purchase are gaining attention from both manufacturers and retailers. Using a dataset with detailed information on 105 new products (NPs) launched in the U.K. by 44 leading brands and sold across 13 major retail banners, we provide strong support for the prominent role of both upper- and lower-funnel marketing actions that influence consumers before (upper) or during (lower) their shopping trip. We show which of these shopper-marketing instruments have the largest effect on NP performance at a retailer, and whether and how their effect is moderated by the retailer's store context. When it comes to NP success, the lifeblood of CPG companies, the lower-funnel marketing actions targeting shoppers directly at the point-of-purchase predominantly decide your fate. Thus, manufacturers should work ever harder to collaborate with retailers and push the store-specific shopper-marketing instruments in a favorable direction through information sharing and tailoring of their marketing program to individual retailers. Indeed, not all news is bleak for brand manufacturers. We identify five pieces of good news that brand manufacturers can use to their advantage.     

Corporate response to social pressures: A typology

The paper deals briefly with several definitional issues; discusses the concept of image as it determines the way managers see the world; as one aspect of the image, examines the contrasting views of conflict and cooperation in social and organizational relationships; and then presents a typology of corporate responses to pressures for socially responsible behavior: authoritarian, manipulative and bargaining. This typology was developed on the basis of the analysis of a large number of case histories of environmental conflicts, a number of which are included for purposes of illustration. Several historical examples are cited. The inference drawn from this study is that decisions become more responsible as decision-makers come under the scrutiny of and pressure from those affected by the decisions. Dr. John A. Kilpatrick is Associate Professor of Management at the School of Business, The University of Northern Colorado. His most important publication is The Changing Labor Content of American Foreign Trade: 1970–1975, UMI Research Press, 1980.     

Assessing the characteristics of the non-store shopper

Non-store shopping and the related technology is a business phenomenon that is enjoying tremendous growth. Because of its recency and the limited research on the topic, very little is known about the characteristics that distinguish users of non-store alternatives from non-users. Moreover, differences between the non-store categories have not been addressed. Over 1,900 consumers were surveyed in respect to usage level of non-store alternatives, psychographic and attiudinal variables and demographic characteristics. A four-cluster solution resulted: (1) the fanatic non-store user, (2) the personal non-store user, (3) the non-personal non-store user and (4) the traditional shopper. Each of these dusters differed across a number of demographic and psychographic/ammdinal variables. A discussion of implications ended the paper.     

The time-harried shopper: Exploring the differences between maximizers and satisficers

Schwartz and his colleagues have proposed individual differences in consumer decision goals. Maximizers are those who always strive to make the best possible decision, whereas satisficers are those who are usually willing to settle for a “good enough” option. In this study, we explore the influence of the maximizing trait in situations where consumers have to make quick purchase decisions. The context for our empirical study is online gift purchases made under a time constraint. The results support our predictions that maximizers (vs. satisficers) engage in more prepurchase browsing behavior and also perceive more decision time pressure. Furthermore, these effects are moderated by the size of the available choice assortment. The results also show that maximizers are more likely to change their initial time-constrained choices if given the opportunity to do so. We discuss the implications of the research for the study of individual differences in consumer behavior and also for customizing retail sales and Internet marketing tactics based on buyer segmentation.     

Measurement of factors influencing online shopper buying decisions: A scale development and validation

The paper attempts to develop an ‘Online Susceptibility Scale’ (OSS) by focusing on the factors that influence shopper buying decisions in an online environment as they are not adequately addressed in the literature. The proposed scale supports the understanding of the impact of online information which leads to consumer decisions. The study involves qualitative and quantitative studies to develop the scale. Eleven items are identified for the scale development which were borrowed from literature and modified through focus group discussions. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) resulted in three factor groups: Evidential online influence (five items), Confirmational online influence (three items), and Experiential online influence (three items). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) has validated the factor structure. Results indicate that the three factors explaining online information sources have a significant impact during buyer purchase decision-making. The study relates ‘Online Susceptibility Scale’ (OSS) to online retailers for exploring the online shopping influences, thereby managing their campaigns accordingly. Managerial and theoretical implications of this new scale are discussed.     

A dual-role typology of multinational subsidiaries

This paper argues that, since a subsidiary is embedded in a dual context of both the MNE and the host environment, its strategic role should be assessed by its relative positions and contributions both within the knowledge networks of the MNE and the host country. Based on this, we develop a dual-role typology. The 369 multinational subsidiaries in our sample from China can be classified into as many as 12 out of the 16 conceptual groups of the typology. Our results indicate that dual activists (active both internally and externally) account for only 12% of the total sampled multinational subsidiaries while dual loners (inactive both internally and externally) reach 20%. The results from a larger sample by adding 113 minority foreign share firms show that external knowledge links are positively associated with local Chinese ownership. The central message from this paper is that a large proportion of foreign-invested firms in China are inactive in knowledge exchange either internally or externally or both. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.     

Christ and business: A typology for Christian business ethics

H. Richard Niebuhr's typology of the relation between Christ and culture can function as a heuristic device to identify different approaches to Christian business ethics. Five types are outlined: Christ Against Business, The Christ of Business, Christ Above Business, Christ and Business in Paradox, and Christ the Transformer of Business. This typology may facilitate discussion on the relative adequacy of various theological assumptions about ethical change in business. Louke Siker received her Ph.D. in Religion and Society from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1987 (dissertation: Interpreting Corporate Cultures: Philosophical and Theological Reasons for Doing Business Ethics in a Hermeneutical Mode). She has taught Christian ethics and business ethics at Wake Forest University and Loyola Marymount University. Her research interests include methodology in business ethics. She is the author of An Unlikely Dialogue: Barth and Business Ethicists on Human Work, Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics, 1989.     

Charity retailing in the UK: a typology

Recent unprecedented growth in the UK charity retail sector has seen charities becoming increasingly strategic in managing their retail operations. This paper reviews the present state of the charity retail sector through a three-fold typology and uses this typology to critically analyse the range of strategic approaches within the sector. Review and analysis of these strategies suggest that ironically the most profitable charity retailers are not necessarily the most strategic ones. Independent, localised charities which maintain close links within their communities are often more profitable than their more professional national counterparts. The paper closes by exploring the fundamental tension for these retailers, between generating the highest possible profits, and maintaining a charitable and caring image and questioning the future for this distinctive retail sector.     

Making sense of entrepreneurial exit strategies: A typology and test

Entrepreneurial exit is a major event in the development of a venture. However, we have little understanding of the factors that drive the development of an important pre-cursor to exit: the exit strategy of the founder. Based on the existing literature, we develop a typology of entrepreneurial exit strategies consisting of three higher-level exit categories (i.e., financial harvest, stewardship, and voluntary cessation) and develop an initial test of our typology. Specifically, we examine entrepreneurs' perceived innovativeness of their opportunity, motivational considerations, decision-making approach, founding team, and firm size. Our results show different predictors for each of the three exit strategy types and represent a significant contribution to the understanding of exit strategies in new ventures.     

Acquisitions of divested business units: A typology and strategies for success

Acquisitions are notoriously difficult to execute successfully. Poor implementation of the postacquisition integration process is a major source of acquisition value destruction. To find new solutions for this vexing problem, we leverage the emerging, triadic view of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, which emphasizes the interconnectedness between sellers, acquirers, and the units that are transferred between them. We apply the triadic lens to acquisitions of divested business units, and we find that a unit’s experiences with its seller before and during divestiture can profoundly shape the unit’s needs and expectations, which, in turn, must be addressed by the acquirer in the integration process. We identify four key mechanisms—status, resource accessibility, trust, and self-sufficiency—that underpin the seller’s impact on the divested unit, and we develop a typology—comprising favored, neglected, shocked, and independent units—that animates the ramifications of the seller’s actions. Then, for each type, we discern strategies for its postacquisition integration execution that are tailored to its distinctive needs, which originate from its experiences with the seller. To make these insights practical and readily implementable, we provide a diagnostic checklist for identifying the four types of divested units and offer an action plan of type-specific strategies for successfully managing them in the postacquisition integration process.     

A typology of students based on academic entitlement

Two hundred ninety-three university business students were surveyed using an academic entitlement (AE) scale updated to include new technologies. Using factor analysis, three components of AE were identified: grade entitlement, behavioral entitlement, and service entitlement. A k-means clustering procedure was then applied to identify four groups based on the relative strength of the AE components: the model student, under the radar, instructor as servant, and the privileged. These groups were further characterized by additional demographic (i.e., parental income) and classroom variables (i.e., instructor response times). Findings can help business educators gain better insight into the AE construct and devise more effective instructional strategies.     

Understanding older consumers through cognitive age and the list of values: A U.K.‐based perspective

Although the importance of older consumers to marketers is well documented, there exists a relative paucity of U.K.‐based empirical studies into the perceptions and values of these consumers. This is the first study to investigate the relationship between age, cognitive age, and values of consumers aged between 50 and 79 years (n = 650). Results confirm that by combining cognitive age with the List of Values, much richer insights into the 50+ market can be gained. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A pragmatic service typology: capturing the distinctive dynamics of services in time and space

Many service classifications have provided helpful yet partial perspectives on the heterogeneity of services. This paper reconciles and integrates different earlier classifications into a new holistic typology of the service economy which is based on detailed statistical service sectors. Moreover, the paper assesses the empirical value of this taxonomy to capture the diversity of services development in time and space. A regional analysis of employment data in Germany provides evidence that knowledge intensive as well as business services follow very different sectoral and spatial dynamics than operational and consumer services. This typology yields differential insights in longitudinal and comparative regional analysis of the service economy.     

Gay men on film: A typology of the scopophilic consumption pleasures of cultural text

In this paper, drawing on feminist film criticism, cultural theory, and reader response criticism, I discuss the consumption experience of viewing in the context of the analysis and interpretation of Hollywood films that represent gay characters. I then discuss various films in light of these concepts: The Boys in the Band from the 1970s, Cruising from the 1980s, and several films from the “Gay 90s” including Philadelphia and In & Out. Portrayals of gay men have changed dramatically over the years: from those of lonely, sad, and self‐loathing queens to dangerous and perverse leathermen to the very positive and seemingly affirming representations in 1990s films. A theoretical interpretation‐in the form of a typology of scopophilic pleasures‐is offered to further an understanding of these filmic portrayals and the consumption pleasure viewers may derive from watching.