Impact of Shelf-Positioning On Impulse Buying of Fast Moving Consumer Goods - Research Paper Example

IMPACT OF SHELF-POSITIONING ON IMPULSE BUYING OF FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS Table of Contents Introduction 1 Literature 1 Research Objectives 3 Research Design and Methodology 4 Outcome 5 Time Table 5 References 6 Introduction Impulse buying is considered to play a very significant role in the sales of fast moving consumer goods. Therefore, marketers are highly focusing on the factors which may contribute to higher impulse buying such as packaging and shelf-positioning. In the proposed research study, I am to understand the relationship between packaging and shelf-positioning and impulse buying. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, the proposed study aims to determine how marketers can manipulate these factors to their own advantage. Literature The findings of research study of Kollat and Willett (1969) highlight that 65 percent of buying decisions in supermarkets are made in-stores, 50 percent of these decisions are unplanned and vary based on products and 50.5 percent of the products are bought in supermarkets as unplanned purchases. These unplanned decisions contribute to impulse purchasing which is considered very favourable for the sales of consumer products. Patterson (1963) argues that impulse buying is a result of various factors and one of these factors is the store location. Two important factors that influence impulse buying decisions include product packaging and positioning. Breygelmans, Campo & Gijbrechts (2006) conducted a research to study the impact of self-positioning on online grocery store choices and they have found that shelf management is an important factor even in the case of online grocery stores. By studying the in-store marketing of Norwegian retailing, it has been identified that are the promotional techniques which are used to normalise consumers purchasing behaviour (Dulsrud & Jacobsen, 2009). By positioning products on the top shelf or near the centre, attention and evaluation of brands can be improved whereas, positioning brands on the middle shelves achieve attention but does not improve evaluation (Chandon, Hutchinson, Bradlow & Young, 2009). Another important factor that leads to impulse buying is packaging. The difference in packaging directly contributed to sales appeal (Twedt, 1968). Packaging is very significant for low involvement products like impulse purchase categories because in these categories, consumers do not have the desire or need to investigate the products (Louw & Kimber). Packaging is the key driver of impulse buying and it is significant to understand whether planned versus impulse shopping occurs as a result of packaging (Sorensen Associates). The Henley Centre study (cited in Ogba and Johnson, 2010) has found that 73 percent of the purchasing decisions of the consumers at the point of sales are because of the packaging of the products because packaging influences the choices of the people. In the changing marketing environment, analysing whether shelf-positioning or packaging still plays an important role in impulse or not, will be very significant. Therefore, the proposed research study will be having significant implications for the marketers. Research Objectives The aim of this research is to determine whether better packaging or better shelf-positioning influence the impulse buying of consumers It aims to determine whether high visibility of fast moving consumers’ goods through proper shelf-positioning result in the diminishing impact of packaging on Impulse buying This research study aims to determine whether lower visibility of fast moving consumer goods lead to a greater role of packaging to play in Impulse buying. Another objective of this research study is to determine whether better packaging and visible shelf-positioning can help the markets to achieve higher Impulse buying. Research Design and Methodology To achieve the mentioned objectives, both the qualitative and quantitative methodologies will used. In qualitative methodology, early research work and secondary data will be collected and analysed. The primary data will be collected through a survey which will be conducted in the ten supermarkets of UK. The sample size will be around 500 participants and it is expected that they will include both the regular and irregular shoppers of grocery. The methodological framework for this research study has been shown in the given diagram. The three identified variables include impulse buying (dependent variable), shelf-positioning (independent variable) and packaging (independent variable). The data will be analysed through SPSS software and tools like cross tabulation analysis, frequency method and cronbach’s alpha will be used. Table: Process Flow Chart for the Methodology of Research Outcome It is anticipated that this study will explore a strong relationship between on shelf-positioning/packaging and impulse buying, however, whether this relationship is positive, weak or negative cannot be predicted at this stage. Time Table Serial # Expected Activities Starting date Expected finishing date Duration 1 Research topic selection       2 Research question       3 Developing scope and considering limitations       4 Reviewing early literature       5 Identification of variables       6 Selecting research methodology and design       7 Final research proposal submission       8 Approval of proposed research study       9 Developing questionnaire for primary research       10 Survey conduction       11 Organising the data       12 Analysis of data through SPSS       13 Analysis of findings       14 Developing conclusion       15 Recommendations       16 Reporting the findings       17 Report completion       18 Final research study submission       References Breygelmans, E., Campo, K. & Gijbrechts, E., 2006. The Effects of Self Display on Online Grocery Choices. [Online] Available at: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/121145/1/MO_0607.pdf [Accessed on 6 February 2011] Chandon, P., Hutchinson, W. J., Bradlow, T. E. & Young, H. S., 2009. Does In-Store Marketing Work? Effects of the Number and Position of Shelf Facings on Brand and Attention and Evaluation at the Point of Purchase. [Online] Available at: http://faculty.insead.edu/chandon/personal_page/Documents/JM_Chandon%20does%20in-store%20marketing%20work%20JM%2009.pdf [Accessed on 27 January 2011] Dulsrud, A. & Jacobsen, E., 2009. The Effects of Self Display on Online Grocery Choices. [Online] Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/k764374n74l5qh52/ [Accessed on 6 February 2011] Kollat, D.T. & R.P. Willet, 1969. Is Impulse Purchasing Really a Useful Concept for Marketing Decisions? Journal of Marketing, 33(1): 79-83. Louw, A. & Kimber, M., n.d. The Power of Packaging. [Online] Available at: http://www.tnsglobal.com/_assets/files/The_power_of_packaging.pdf [Accessed on 27 January 2011] Ogba, I., and Johnson, R., 2010. How Packaging Affects the Product Preferences of Children and the Buyer Behaviour of their Parents in the Food Industry. [Online] Available at: http://northumbria.openrepository.com/northumbria/bitstream/10145/108853/5/Ogba,%20Johnson%20-%20How%20packaging%20affects...%20Non-Branded%20Article.pdf [Accessed on 8 February 2011] Patterson, L. W., 1963. In-Store Traffic Flow, New York: Point-of-Purchase Advertising, Institute, Institute Inc., pp. 2. Sorensen Associates, n.d. Ensure your Packaging Survives the Real World. [Online] Available at: http://www.tns-sorensen.com/documents/2.1METHD_EnsurePkgSurv.pdf [Accessed on 27 January 2011] Twedt, D.W., 1968. How Much Value Can Be Added Through Packaging, Journal of Marketing, 32(1): 58-61. Read More