Understanding consumers’ perceptions of competitive tiers—can perceived risk help?

A review is presented showing the increasing power of multiple grocery retailers from which an argument is developed questioning whether consumers perceive packaged grocery product fields in terms of brands versus own labels versus generics. Consumers’ perceptions of risk are reduced through information search and it is thought that the different search activities between the high and low risk perceivers may explain perceptions of the competitive structure of product fields. For six packaged grocery fields, separately, qualitative research was undertaken to elicit the dimensions consumers use to evaluate competing items. Data was then collected from 829 householders and was subsequently subjected to cluster analysis. Consumers’ perceptions of the competitive structure of product fields differed from marketers’ expectations and brands were always perceived as being distinct from retailer labels. The result did not appear to be influenced by consumers’ perceptions of risk. Reasons for the result are considered, and managerial implications explored.     

A cross‐cultural exploration of attitudes toward product expiration dates

This is an exploratory study examining consumer attitudes toward product expiration dates in three different countries, the United States, Canada, and Turkey. In addition, the study investigates the differences in the importance of product expiration dates for three products, yogurt, over‐the‐counter medicine, and camera film, in the three cultures. A total of 687 surveys were gathered in the three countries. The results show that there are, indeed, differences among the consumers in three countries. American and Canadian consumers check product expiration dates before purchasing and before using products more often than Turkish consumers. Although most of the differences observed are between the respondents in Turkey versus the respondents in the United States and Canada, some differences between the U.S. and Canadian respondents are also found, indicating that culture plays an important role in consumer uncertainty avoidance. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Determinants of consumers' repeat online buying of groceries

Abstract

This study developed and empirically tested a model for understanding what factors determine repeat buying behaviour of already experienced online grocery consumers. Data were collected from 198 consumers who currently buy groceries via the Internet. The obtained Lisrel results suggest that consumers' attitude towards online grocery buying is positively affected by perceived offline physical effort and negatively affected by offline shopping enjoyment. Multi group analysis shows that the strength of these relations differed across several consumer characteristics. Also, it was found that a perceived high Internet grocery risk does not form an action barrier for consumers who already have a positive attitude towards online grocery buying. The results also indicate that consumers may hesitate from repeat online buying if they are faced with high online complexity. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Assessing consumer logistics functions in grocery shopping: Evidence from an emerging market

Abstract

Consumer logistics (CL), focuses on the role of consumers in the logistical processing of goods for the purpose of consumption from point of acquisition to the point of disposal. The objective of this study is to test and validate the CL scale as introduced by Bahn, Granzin, and Tokman for grocery shopping in a previously unexplored country setting, namely in Turkey. Our findings show in contrast to Bahn et al. only six CL functions: information search, transportation management and materials handling, storage management & inventory needs assessment, contingent inventory operations & product acquisition, intra-household communication, and interdependent transportation operations. These six CL functions are more applicable for an emerging market, such as Turkey. These findings are consistent across the different socio-demographic characteristics in our sample.     

Consumer price awareness in food shopping: the case of quantity surcharges

Quantity surcharges, higher unit prices on larger sizes than smaller sizes, are often found among grocery items. In this study we consider the question of why consumers buy surcharged goods. We hypothesize that it is the consequence of a failure to price search, and that some buyers purchase larger sizes in the belief they are cheaper, thus avoiding the need for price comparisons. In the analysis we examine canned tuna, using 1990 data from 54 grocery regions on sales, prices, and consumer demographics. Results support the hypothesis. We find evidence that buyers of surcharged items are mainly those with high time and information costs.     

Banks,grocers and the changing retailing of financial services in Britain

The entry of the three largest grocery retailers into retail financial services marks an escalation of competition in financial services retailing in Britain. This paper explores the increasingly porous boundaries between banking and retailing, focusing on changes in the economics of information gathering, shifts in the production, marketing and consumption of retail financial services, and a series of changes in the competitive and regulatory environment of grocery retailing. The paper argues that grocery retailers’ moves into financial services raise important issues concerning both the management of strategic alliances and their impact on social inclusion and exclusion. The paper elaborates on this argument by examining four potentially problematic issues arising from the alliances between banks and retailers: the shifting geographies of financial services provision, the development and maintenance of brand leadership, the production and use of management knowledge and consumers’ access to financial services.     

Measuring Cross-Category Specials Purchasing: Theory, Empirical Results, and Implications

The typical Hi-Lo grocery retailer offers consumers thousands of price specials each week to build traffic and influence economic performance. Retailer reliance on price specials may engender heavy cross-category specials purchasing by shoppers. Retailers contend that high cross-category specials purchasing can damage profitability because many of the specials presented to consumers have reduced gross margins. The present study measures the level of cross-category specials purchasing in a Hi-Lo grocery market and develops and tests a model of the determinants of cross-category specials purchasing using shopping basket level data, information from surveys of shoppers, and retailer promotions. The results of the study show about 39% of all items purchased on a shopping trip were on special and that about 30% of consumers surveyed were highly sensitive to price specials, purchasing more specials than regular priced items on their shopping trip. The findings indicate that the consumer search behaviors, such as reading flyers, significantly affected the level of cross-category specials purchasing as did the demographic variable - household income. The study concludes with a series of practical implications for managers to help them gain profitable shopping baskets and set of implications for researchers interested in developing new insights on cross-category specials purchasing.     

The Impact of Item Price Removal in Scanner Supermarkets: A Survey Study of Los Angeles Shoppers

The practice of removing item prices in scanner-equipped grocery stores has raised an important public policy issue relating to the ability of individual consumers to engage in effective shopping with less available price information at the point of purchase. This study investigated the likely impact of item price removal in scanner-equipped grocery stores as a function of consumers' use of price information, general consumer predispositions, and consumers' experience with scanner technology. Particular emphasis was placed on the likely effects of item price removal on disadvantaged consumers. The implications of the study for public policy are discussed.     

Product-Type Moderating Effects on Short-Term Demand for Reduced Price Convenience Goods

Abstract

A field experiment within a supermarket chain found that demand sensitivity to price reductions varied sharply between product categories according to whether the product was a stock-up good, increased consumption good or a non-consumption increase good. Following a price reduction, stock-up goods and increased consumption goods were both elastic while non-stock up goods showed much less sales change. While stock-up goods then showed later lagged decreases in sales as consumers extend their savings, increased consumption goods returned to previous sales levels. The results imply simple but useful pricing strategies for grocery retailers.     

Investigating the unobserved heterogeneity in consumers’ sensitivity to the price of gasoline

We empirically examined how gasoline prices impact consumers’ shopping behaviors. Using individual panel data on gasoline transactions, we found that gasoline prices generally have a statistically and economically significant impact. However, our disaggregate analysis indicated that, across consumers, considerable heterogeneity was present in the underlying sensitivity to the price of gasoline and in the income effect, resulting from fluctuating gasoline prices. More interestingly, the significant effect of gasoline prices was largely driven by the consumers with large purchase volume, and consumers with the highest level of gasoline consumption remained almost perfectly insensitive to the price of gasoline. Such heterogeneity is also present in the effect of gasoline prices on grocery expenditures, and notably, consumers with the largest purchase volume were not associated with statistically significant changes in grocery expenditures. Theoretical background suggests that the financial constraints of consumers and primary vehicle use may explain about the differences in responses to gasoline prices. Results based on individual-level data allowed for a comprehensive understanding of how and how much gasoline prices affect consumer behaviors and showed that inelastic gasoline demand and the considerable income effect due to gasoline prices may not best describe the effect of gasoline prices.     

Age Differences in Response to Grocery Store Price Information

The study reported here investigated age differences in consumer response to grocery store price information. A sample of 160 female consumers shopped for twelve grocery products in a simulated store. Following the shopping task, subjects responded to an unannounced memory performance test requiring them to recall the prices of products on the shelves. Respondents' methods of encoding information and certainty regarding recall were also recorded. Analysis revealed age differences in usage of price information, in recall of product prices, and in certainty experienced by shoppers. Hypothesized age differences in the encoding of information did not surface. Discussion centers on the policy implications of these findings.     

Ethnic minority consumers' responses to sales promotions in the packaged food market

Many scholars have stressed the significance of understanding ethnic minority subcultures and the associated cultural dimension for marketing. Most of the previous research involving ethnic minority consumers has largely focused on coupon usage and remains North American in origin and application. Also, previous research emphasises the short-term nature of sales promotions, ignoring their dynamic effects in specific consumption settings such as the family. The paper explores ethnic consumers' responses to different sales promotional formats for packaged food products in family settings. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in original settings involving ethnic participants who regularly shopped at mainstream supermarkets, and who were the principal grocery shoppers for the family. Findings suggest that sales promotions have the potential to make consumers more responsive, less responsive or even hostile to sales promotional offers and while some promotions are better perceived than others, their overall effectiveness is largely determined by their “net-worth” as perceived by ethnic consumers in a given shopping situation. The paper discusses implications for retailers, particularly for those having store locations in market areas with high concentrations of ethnic consumers.     

Communicating nutrition information at the point of purchase: An eye‐tracking study of shoppers at two grocery stores in the United States

Providing nutrition information at the point of purchase is one approach that can be used to help consumers adopt and maintain a healthy diet. Previous research has examined consumer self‐reported notice and use of the information as well as how the design of the information affects its attention and use in a laboratory environment using eye‐tracking methodology. This study advances the literature by applying eye‐tracking methodology to explore consumer visual and choice behavior in a real shopping environment, and by recognizing that nutrition information competes with other visual stimuli in the store and consumers are vulnerable to a “limited attention span” for nutrition information in a shopping setting. Data came from a cross‐sectional survey conducted in two grocery stores in the United States in July 2014 with a convenience sample of 60 grocery shoppers while they were selecting and buying items from one of three product categories (ready‐to‐eat cereal, snacks, and soup). The study finds that point‐of‐purchase nutrition information faced strong competition for participants’ attention from other visual elements in a real shopping environment and the attention is dominated by nonnutrition elements, particularly brand/product name, product imagery, and product pricing. Nutrition‐related information, on the other hand, received much less attention, with claims and front‐of‐package nutrition symbols seen by more participants than the Nutrition Facts label. The study suggests that to more effectively enable nutrition information to “catch the eyes” of shoppers at the point of purchase, increasing consumer exposure to the information and enhancing shopper education may merit further investigation.     

Investigating the impact of Internet of Things services from a smartphone app on grocery shopping

This study investigates the impact of Internet of Things (IoT) services from a smartphone app in a retail grocery shopping situation. It examines four variables, namely price, expiry date, quality indicators and offers. All four variables were examined in relation to two levels; traditional information and IoT services. A scenario was arranged whereby 226 participants were to purchase, among other products, fresh salmon in a grocery store using the store's smartphone app. Findings from a conjoint study show that the following IoT services; “updated expiry date”, “aggregated national customer experience index”, and “personalized offer based on product in the basket” evoked the approach and abated avoidance tendencies to explore the smartphone app, while simultaneously increasing the likelihood of buying based on information from the app. The IoT service “Real-time price” had a varied impact on participant approach-avoidance tendencies to interact with the app. Scenario simulation analysis shows that some IoT services can be a deal-breaker in a competitive grocery market. Consequently, analyzing the impact of IoT services through the lenses of approach-avoidance distinction and choice indication can help retail grocery managers develop more effective marketing strategies that deliver convenience to the consumers.     

Consumer purchase behaviour of irradiated beef products: a simulated supermarket setting

In December 1997, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of irradiation to kill harmful bacteria in beef. As a result of limited information about consumers’ potential response to implementation of this technology, a supermarket simulation setting (SSS) test was conducted to assess consumer purchase behaviour. The objectives were to determine consumers’ willingness to purchase irradiated beef products when provided with information at the grocery store level and consumer's perceptions towards irradiated beef. Primary household grocery shoppers (n = 207) in Griffin, Georgia, USA who consumed beef at least twice per week participated in the study. Ground beef, ground chuck, top round steak and rib eye steak were displayed in refrigerated cases in either traditionally labelled packages (non‐irradiated) or in packages labelled as irradiated. Irradiated and non‐irradiated beef had the same unit price. Participants were instructed to purchase two packages of each cut on their first shopping trip; they then shopped a second time after an informative poster about irradiation had been placed in the display cases. The results indicated that irradiation information displayed on the poster at the point of purchase was effective in causing significant change in beef purchase behaviour. The information caused some consumers who had bought traditional packages initially to buy irradiated packages subsequently while others who bought irradiated packages initially subsequently bought traditional packages. Hence, the net effect of the information was minimal. A mean test across form/cut showed that consumers did not differentiate between the ground form and the muscle form in selecting irradiated packages.     

Consumer Data Analysis and Its Managerial Application for the Grocery Industry

Consumer data is collected to understand the heterogeneity of consumer behavior and store competition in grocery shopping. Marketing research techniques are used to analyze consumers’ decision processes and their preference models. Initial modeling results are aggregated to search for substantial clustering patters. The demographic profiles are also examined for clustering interpretations. The derived research results can assist grocery industry to better understand its customers and the competition within the industry. Also, Consumers’ perceptions of competing stores are collected to create perceptual maps. Strategic analysis is conducted by studying the relative positions of competing stores.     

Embrace the debate: Goals,de-marketing overconsumption,and conflicting information

When faced with conflicting information, consumers often wonder what the “right” consumption level is. A highly relevant context that is often associated with such uncertainty is food consumption (e.g., of meat or dairy products), where consumers seek information to determine whether and how much to consume, and often a recommended goal from health experts is to reduce overconsumption. We apply the theory of goal settings as reflecting such information, focusing on specific goals (e.g., “eat meat twice a week”) versus general goals (“eat less meat”). Based on a series of three experiments in both online and field settings with 674 participants overall, we show that in food consumption contexts with conflicting information, general goals set by health experts are less effective than specific goals in battling overconsumption. Perceived value of information was identified as the underlying mechanism as it mediated the effect of conflicting information on reduced overconsumption. Prior work suggests conflicting information is typically disadvantageous for consumers. Our research demonstrates how consumers can benefit from communication emphasizing specific goals when information conflicts. It contributes to policymakers, health experts, and social marketers that search for effective marketing strategies to reduce overconsumption of items that may be associated with conflicting information.     

Consumers' Online Information Search for a New Restaurant for Dining-Out

ABSTRACT

By Nelson (1970)'s categorization, purchasing a service such as dining-out at a new restaurant is ‘experience-oriented’ in its nature, and its quality cannot be easily searched before the actual consumption. However, it has been suggested that the interactive nature of the Internet will improve market efficiency by creating a new channel of communication that allows the provision of information about experience attributes in a readily available format (e.g., other consumers' rating online). The paper empirically investigates this notion by exploring consumers' online information search behavior for a new restaurant for fine dining. The extent of usage of various online information sources and the perceived importance of each source are investigated in the United States and in Taiwan. Results show that information from other consumers is considered more important than information from sellers, but that US consumers favor non-Internet sources of information while Taiwanese consumers favor online sources.     

The relevance of shopper logistics for consumers of store-based retail formats

This paper discusses and empirically evaluates the relevance of shopping-related logistics for consumers of store-based retail formats. Based on a literature review a conceptual model was developed and subsequently tested using a survey of more than six hundred consumers in the grocery retail sector. Respondents were those primarily responsible for grocery shopping in their households located in a highly concentrated European urban retail market. Variance based structural equation modelling reveals that shopper logistics has a major impact on the convenience of store-based shopping and partly influence consumers' perceptions of shopping related costs. Nevertheless, shopper logistics does not affect consumer behaviour in terms of the share of visits of a store. These results are moderated by age, hedonic shopping orientation, shopping frequency, average spending per trip and store format preference. We conclude that shopper logistics is relevant for consumers of grocery stores but its relevance varies between different shopper groups.     

促进消费者合理消费的研究

随着经济的快速发展,我国消费者的心理与行为较以往发生了很大的变化。由于受西方消费主义和舆论宣传等方面因素的影响,消费领域存在许多不合理的消费现象,奢侈消费、炫耀性消费、盲目从众消费及冲动性消费等。政府、企业都应采取积极措施如正确引导消费,促使消费者树立科学的消费观,使消费行为趋于理性,从而进行合理消费。