Consumer attitudes towards supermarkets - Essay Example

Consumer Attitudes towards supermarkets Executive Summary: Supermarkets offer several advantages as compared to the traditional convenience stores, such as a wider selection of goods, lower prices and savings in time while shopping. This study examines consumer attitudes towards supermarkets through a face to face survey carried out in three leading supermarkets, i.e., ASDA, Tesco and Sainsburys and uses the Fishbein model in order to analyze the responses. Introduction: In the rapid pace of modernization and the onset of competition in the global marketplace, supermarket chains are becoming increasingly common. Super markets offer several advantages which may create a positive consumer attitude towards them. They buy goods in bulk and they also sell items in bulk, as a result they are in the long run, able to offer fresh produce and larger quantities at lower prices. However, the supermarket also creates an impersonal atmosphere, where consumers do not enjoy any close interaction with the people from whom they buy their goods and this could possibly contribute to a negative attitude towards supermarkets. When combined with other aspects developing in the retail sector, such as e-commerce, this provides an indication that factors such as the lack of time or the desire to avoid close personal contact may be affecting consumer attitudes and preference for supermarkets. It also appears likely that the greater range of products available under one roof and the lower prices may also be affecting consumer attitudes towards shopping at supermarkets. Research Objectives: The objective of this research study is to examine the growing prevalence of supermarkets and to examine consumer attitudes towards them. At the outset, the attempt would be to determine whether consumers have a predominantly positive or negative attitude towards them and then determine the reasons for such an attitude. In order to gain an understanding of consumer attitudes towards supermarkets, the researcher will apply the Fishbein Model to measure the affective component of a consumer’s response to supermarkets. The research question which is proposed to be examined is therefore: “What is the consumers’ attitude towards supermarkets?” Literature Review: The evolution of the super market was therefore the result of economic considerations shaped as a result of urban growth and technological innovations. The phenomenon of mass production that characterized the industrial era spilled over into mass marketing as well. Earlier, bartering, wholesale buying and serving customer needs was all carried out within the premises of the small store. (Mayo, 1993:43), but a broader range of products with enhanced shopping comfort worked in favor of the supermarkets and rendered small stores an endangered species. (Greco and Michman, 1995: 49). The secret of Tecso’s success has been highlighted in an article in the Economist.(“Sceptered”, 2005). Tesco focuses on its customers, through its club card offered under its customer loyalty scheme. The customer’s purchases are recorded through the use of a special barcode on the card and Tesco then makes efforts to stock the products that its customers consistently buy. According to Martin Hayward who manages the Tesco customer information, “We believe we have one of the largest databases anywhere in the world.” (“Sceptered”, Economist 2005). Tesco analyzes customer purchasing patterns and then offers them discounts on the products that they purchase frequently. Additionally, this facility also enables Tesco to shock the shelves of its local branches with the products that are favored by the residents of a particular area. Similar practices are also being employed by Sainsburys which tracks consumer purchasing patterns and with the additional help of surveys, the stores are stocked with the brands that are desirable for customers, while the lower selling brands are gradually phased out. Supermarkets are able to offer discount grocery retailing and this phenomenon has expanded in recent times. Recent studies have shown that discount retailing is present in all European countries, with about 30,000 outlets that offer their service sunder about 72 different brands and an overall market share that amounts to 15% of the total food sales (Colla 2003). The advantage that discount retailing offers as compared to the traditional entrepreneurial set up is the facility of offering a section of products at significantly lower prices. When examining the dynamics of pricing and marketing, it may be noted that since supermarkets purchase items in bulk, they are also able to obtain the items from producers at prices that are much lower than that accorded to independent outlets, as a result of which they are able to offer their costumers prices that are much lower. Since they purchase in bulk and thereby avail of large discounts, they are also not so deeply affected by any losses, since their margins of profit are much larger. Supermarkets also offer a wider selection of goods and therefore a greater possibility of a consumer finding what he or she needs at that outlet itself, instead of having to continue the search. Michael Jennings highlights the advantages of supermarkets that have been pointed out by Alice Thomson, who says that because supermarkets “buy in bulk and have a rapid turnover, it often means that their fruit is fresher than their competitors…..because they have such huge buying power, they can also take a gamble on exotic produce.” (Jennings, n.d.). This is likely to enhance the favorable attitude of customers towards supermarkets. Availability of fresh and chilled foods has improved and supermarkets have the advanced technology that helps them to offer their services to consumers. For example, research by IGD(www.igd.com) highlights the fact that fresh food sales in the convenience sector has increased from 20.7% in 2003 to 24% in 2004, and the primary reason for this jump is the entry of supermarket operators such as Tesco and Sainsbury into the convenience sector, since they are the ones who have access to the expensive technology for large scale freezing and chilling of foods. With increasing gasoline prices, it is also much more viable and efficient for both the consumer and for the big stores to run their operations from bigger outlets rather than servicing several smaller out of the way outlets. It has become possible for women to go out to work only because supermarkets have made their shopping experience much easier and much less time consuming (Jennings, n.d.). Products available in supermarkets are generally of a very high quality because being large corporations, a supermarket could be faced with huge damages if customers decide to file suit against defective products. Disadvantages of supermarkets: While shopping in a supermarket, the use of conveyor belts, prepackages products and automated procedures leaves little room for human interaction. Employees at supermarkets are not the proprietors/owners of the supermarket, therefore they are not interested in chatting with the customers or building ties, since they have larger volumes of customers to serve. Moreover, changing lifestyles have allowed less time for gossip as a result of which the entire atmosphere at a supermarket is impersonal and low on human interaction. Methodology: The research method used in this study is primarily qualitative, since customer attitudes and perceptions, as exemplified in their attitudes towards supermarkets, are being tested. A customer’s attitude towards a particular brand is actually a multi dimensional construct, which relies upon three separate components – affective, cognitive as well as a conative component (Oliver, 1997). The affective component is that element concerned with the positive or negative emotions that a customer may experience towards a particular brand. According to the Fishbein model, a customer’s affective responses to a brand consist of two elements (a) the strength or the weakness of the beliefs of the consumer about the brand and its attributes and (b) the customer’s evaluation of the attributes or his/her feelings about them. (www.homepages.wmich.edu). When applying the Fishbein model, the aspects to be considered and measured are therefore: (1) consumer’s attitude towards a brand (2) the customer’s belief that the brand possesses a particular attribute, i.e., A and (3) the desirability of that attribute, A. The research question is: “What is the consumers’ attitude towards supermarkets?” The Fishbein model will examine this question by preparing a series of questions listing customer beliefs about specific attributes. Each of these attributes will be examined on a two fold basis; the first question will seek an affirmation or negation on the customer attitude. Evaluation weights will be assigned to each of these attributes, as the second part of the question, with these questions ranging on a scale from 1 to 3 where at one end will be strong disagreement and at the other end will be strong agreement. The qualitative method has been found to be more useful when there are fewer respondents and there is a need to examine the finest nuances in the data, or when the issues under study are such that one may be easily confused with the other. Qualitative data is primarily concerned with the collection of individual opinions and the preferred method that is often selected for use with this kind of research is structured or semi structured interviews (Trochim, 2001). The literature review has identified certain elements as being important in influencing the attitudes of customers and potentially influencing a positive attitude in them towards supermarkets. These are (a) low prices (b) variety of goods being offered (c) availability of different kinds of goods under one roof (d) savings in time and (e) higher quality of goods sold at supermarkets. The disadvantages of supermarkets are (a) lack of personal interaction The Survey Questionnaire: The sample Questionnaire consists of seven questions, each of which is subdivided into two parts, to conform to the Fishbein model. The first part of the question seeks to elicit the participant’s beliefs, while the second seeks to determine the scale on which the participant finds that particular feature appealing or non appealing. The questions were selected on the basis of the major points that were identified in the literature review, suggesting which elements about supermarkets might be appealing to customer and which not, and therefore correspondingly affect their attitude towards supermarkets. Your Age Your Gender Please arrange your response to the (A) series of questions on the scale ranging from +3 to -3 and list your response in the adjoining column. The scale is as follows: YES +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 RESPONSE COLUMN Please arrange your responses to the (B) series of questions on a scale from +3 to -3. The scale is as follows: Very Appealing +3 +2 +1 0 -1-2-3 Not at all appealing 1A. Do you believe shopping items are more easily available in supermarkets? 1B: How appealing is it to you when you can easily find the items you need? 2A. Do you believe supermarkets help you to complete shopping quickly? 2B. How appealing is it to you when you can complete your shopping quickly? 3A. Do you believe that in supermarkets, you can find almost everything under one roof and thus save gas? 3B. How appealing is it to you when you can find almost everything under one roof and save on gas expenses? 4A. Do you believe supermarkets offer items at a lower price? 4B. How appealing is it to you when supermarkets offer items at a lower price? 5A. Do you believe supermarkets provide customized service? 5B. How important is it to you that supermarkets provide customized service? 6A. Do you believe supermarkets provide a good quality of goods and products? 6B. How appealing is it to you that supermarkets provide a good quality of goods? 7A. Do you believe supermarkets provide a better variety of fresh and chilled foods? 7B. How important is it to you that supermarkets provide better varieties of fresh and chilled foods? Sampling and data collection: Convenience sampling was the method selected as appropriate for this study. A total of 56 participants were targeted, who were shoppers at the three different supermarkets used in this study. These shoppers were asked to fill up a printed copy each of the questionnaire provided above and provide a numerical score that accurately reflected their response. Random sampling would have been ideal, however it would have been much more time consuming and therefore outside the scope of this research study. Convenience sampling however, allowed the option of selection of participants specifically from the required stores and also ensuring that there was enough variety among kinds of participants, for instance that both young and old, male and female shoppers were all represented within the sample. Although the participants were observed by the researcher and aides, no personal information was collected from the respondents, such as name or postal address or telephone number, thereby rendering these respondents anonymous. This option of anonymity was offered in order to enable the respondents to feel freer with their responses and to encourage them to more accurately portray their concerns. Most of the questionnaires were filled up on the spot, so the researcher was able to verify that they were complete and did not require further contact or back up information from the respondents. Care was also taken to ensure that the questionnaire was kept short and to the point, so that customers would be willing to contribute a few minutes of their valuable time to complete the questionnaire fully. The data was collected by approaching shoppers in the super markets listed above and requesting them to provide a few moments of their time to fill up a short questionnaire. They were assured of anonymity in their responses and that their privacy would not be compromised in any way. They were also assured that the results of the survey and the concerns they revealed in their responses would not be used as a means to lure them to purchase items, neither would any information would be sold to other researchers. They were assured that the present survey was being conducted purely as a part of an educational effort, in order to glean some insight into current shopping location preferences and was only intended to add to the existing pool of knowledge on the subject. These precautions were taken in order to ensure that the ethical considerations associated with the project were maintained and that the privacy of the respondents and the data they were providing was kept confidential. Results: A total of 56 survey questionnaires were obtained, but six of them had to be rejected because the participants did not complete all the items, for one reason or the other. The numerical data on the responses is provided in the Appendix to this Report. The total attitude scores obtained for the various variables are as follows: (a) Availability of items – 132 (b) Completing shopping quickly – 147 (c) Saving gas – 126 (d) Lower prices – 181 (e) Customized service – 200 (f) Quality of goods and services – 141 (g) Better variety – 160 Fishbien’s model seeks to predict consumer intention as opposed to the behavior itself. The rationale behind this model is that when the behavior is under the consumer’s volitional control then the intention will correlate with the action itself. This may be noted in the scores obtained for the individual variables, when the sum of beliefs about a particular variable are fairly close to the element of appeal the belief has. For instance, on availability of items, the totals are 27 and 24. This provides an indication that the underlying belief about the item as expressed consciously is likely to impact upon the attitude the customer has towards that particular variable. Fishbien’s model has however been criticized because of the limitation that the model applies to volitional behavior, but does not apply to those actions that are not consciously processed (www.fhwa.dot.gov). Consumer attitudes and behavior would not however be conditioned merely by conscious beliefs but also unconscious beliefs and attitudes, therefore the applicability of the Fishbien model may be limited. Conclusions and Recommendations: The results obtained in this study suggest that consumers appear to have a generally positive attitude about supermarkets because all of the variables have added up to positive values rather than negative values. This suggests that many of the advantages that have been cited for supermarkets such as savings in time and lower prices, may be appreciated by the consumers. However, the applicability of the Fishbien model to analyze these results may be limited, because it does not appear to offer an effective measure that could assess the subtle differences and nuances between variables. The model is restricted to conscious volitional beliefs and does not tap into the unconscious beliefs of the customer, hence it may not be a good predictor of actual consumer attitude. Therefore, it may be more apt to use other statistical measures to derive more meaningful results. References: Changes in the U.K. convenience sector [Online] Available at: http://www.igd.com/CIR.asp?menuid=50&cirid=1616 Colla, E, 2003. "International expansion and strategies of discount grocery retailers: the winning model", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 31(1), pp.55-66. Fishbein model. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from: homepages.wmich.edu/~lindquis/.../cbch9.ppt Greco, Alan J and Michman, Ronald D, 1995. Retailing triumphs and blunders: Victims of competition in the new age of marketing management. Quorum Books. Jennings, Michael. Pearce Jonathan. (no Date) Why supermarkets are good. [Online] Available at: http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/004660.html Mayo, James M, 1993. The American Grocery Store: The evolution of an architectural space. Greenwood Press Oliver, R.L., 1997. “Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the Consumer.” New York: McGraw Hill Relationship of attitudes to behavior: Theory and research. Retrieved March 11, 2009 from: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tfhrc/safety/pubs/96143/appa/body_appa_07.html This sceptered aisle August 4, 2005. The Economist. [Online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=4247169 APPENDIX No: 1A 1B 1A X 1B 2A 2B 2A X 2B 3A 3B 3A X 3B 4A 4B 4A X 4B 5A 5B 5A X 5B 6A 6B 6A X 6B 7A 7B 7A X 7B 1 3 2 6 2 2 4 0 -3 -3 -3 -2 6 -1 -2 2 1 -2 -2 0 2 0 2 -1 0 -1 2 3 6 -2 -3 6 0 -3 0 2 3 6 0 -1 -1 -1 1 -1 3 2 3 6 0 -2 -2 -3 -1 3 2 3 6 2 3 6 3 2 6 3 2 6 4 1 -1 -1 1 3 3 2 3 6 2 3 6 -1 -2 2 -2 2 -4 2 3 6 5 0 2 0 -1 -2 2 2 1 2 -2 -1 2 -3 -2 6 2 1 2 -1 -3 3 6 3 3 9 2 3 6 0 -2 0 -3 -3 9 -3 -2 6 0 -1 0 -3 -2 6 7 -3 -2 6 2 3 6 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 2 6 1 2 3 2 3 6 8 -1 0 -1 -3 -2 6 -3 2 -6 1 2 2 2 3 6 2 3 6 -1 -2 2 9 2 2 4 -1 -2 2 -2 -3 6 2 3 6 -2 -1 2 -2 -3 6 0 2 0 10 -1 -2 2 2 3 6 1 3 3 0 -1 0 -2 -1 2 -3 -2 6 -3 -2 6 11 -1 -3 3 0 0 0 1 3 3 -1 -2 2 1 2 2 3 3 9 -3 -2 6 12 2 1 2 1 -1 -1 2 3 6 2 3 6 0 -2 0 2 -2 -4 2 3 6 13 0 1 0 1 2 2 -3 -2 6 -1 -2 2 1 3 3 0 -1 0 -1 1 -1 14 2 3 6 1 3 3 -1 -2 2 -1 -2 2 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 -1 0 15 3 3 9 3 2 6 0 2 0 3 2 6 1 2 2 0 2 0 1 2 2 16 2 1 2 -2 -3 6 -3 -2 6 3 3 9 -2 -3 6 0 2 0 3 2 6 17 2 2 4 -3 -2 6 2 3 6 3 3 9 -2 -3 6 2 3 6 3 3 9 18 0 1 0 -2 -1 2 0 -2 0 0 2 0 2 3 6 -2 -3 6 -2 2 -4 19 0 1 0 2 3 6 3 -2 -6 2 -2 -4 2 3 6 -3 -2 6 1 2 2 20 0 -1 0 2 3 6 2 3 6 -2 -3 6 -3 -2 6 -1 -2 2 -3 -2 6 21 3 2 6 2 1 2 -3 -2 6 2 3 6 -1 -2 2 1 3 3 -2 -2 4 22 -2 -1 2 1 3 3 -1 -2 2 1 3 3 1 3 3 2 3 6 3 2 6 23 3 2 6 0 -1 -1 2 -1 -2 -1 -2 2 1 3 3 2 3 6 1 3 3 24 3 2 6 -3 -2 6 -3 -2 6 3 3 9 -3 -2 6 3 2 6 1 3 3 25 -1 1 -1 -2 -3 6 -1 -3 3 2 -2 -4 3 2 6 -3 -2 6 -2 -3 6 26 -2 -1 2 -2 -3 6 1 3 3 1 -1 -1 3 3 9 -3 -2 6 -3 -2 6 27 -3 -2 6 1 3 3 1 2 2 0 -1 0 2 3 6 1 3 3 2 3 6 28 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 -2 0 1 2 2 0 -1 0 2 1 2 29 0 1 0 1 3 3 3 2 6 -3 -3 9 1 3 3 -1 -2 2 -3 -2 6 30 1 2 2 2 3 6 3 -1 -3 2 -2 -4 1 3 3 3 2 6 0 -1 0 31 1 3 3 2 -1 -2 -3 -2 6 -2 -2 4 -2 -3 6 -2 -1 2 -2 -3 6 32 0 -1 0 -3 2 -6 -1 -2 2 2 3 6 3 2 6 1 2 2 1 3 3 33 2 -2 -4 -3 -2 6 1 -2 -2 0 -1 0 -1 -2 2 -2 -3 6 2 3 6 34 -2 -3 6 2 3 6 1 -1 -1 1 -1 -1 -2 -3 6 -2 -2 4 2 3 6 35 -2 -3 6 -2 -3 6 0 -1 0 2 2 4 3 2 6 3 2 6 2 3 6 36 3 2 6 2 3 6 -1 -3 3 -3 -2 6 2 3 6 -3 -2 6 -3 -2 6 37 3 2 6 2 3 6 -2 2 -4 3 2 6 2 3 6 2 3 6 2 3 6 38 3 3 9 3 -2 -6 -2 -1 2 2 3 6 2 2 4 2 3 6 1 3 3 39 -1 1 -1 -3 -1 3 3 2 6 1 -1 -1 -1 1 -1 0 2 0 1 3 3 40 -1 1 -1 0 1 0 1 3 3 0 -1 0 -2 -1 2 -2 2 -4 -2 2 -4 41 1 -1 -1 -3 -2 6 0 2 2 -2 -3 6 -2 -3 6 1 2 2 2 -2 -4 42 1 -1 -1 -1 -2 2 1 3 3 -2 -3 6 3 2 6 2 3 6 2 -2 -4 43 -3 -2 6 -1 -3 3 1 2 2 2 3 6 3 1 3 2 3 6 2 -2 -4 44 3 2 6 0 2 0 3 2 6 3 2 6 1 0 0 2 -2 -4 2 0 0 45 2 -1 -2 2 3 6 -3 -2 6 -2 -3 6 1 0 0 -3 -2 6 2 3 6 46 2 1 2 2 3 6 -2 -3 6 2 3 6 1 -1 -1 3 2 6 -3 -2 6 47 -2 -1 2 3 -1 -3 2 3 6 2 3 6 1 -2 -2 2 -2 -4 0 -1 0 48 -2 -1 2 3 -2 -6 2 3 6 0 -1 0 1 3 3 2 -2 -4 3 2 6 49 0 0 0 2 3 6 -3 -2 6 -3 -2 6 3 2 6 -2 -1 2 1 3 3 50 1 1 1 0 -1 -1 -1 2 -2 3 2 6 3 3 9 -1 0 0 -2 -1 2 27 24 132 16 22 147 -3 5 126 181 200 141 160 Read More