Consumer Behaviour

Consumer Perception On Store Brands



Consumer Perception On Store Brands

Background Of The Study

Increasing competition in the UK grocery market is pressing many multiples to search for new ways to differentiate themselves and gain a better competitive position in the minds of consumers to improve store loyalty. Previous UK foodstore-image studies have used only small local supermarkets and have found very similar attributes to be important, giving little new insight into consumers' thinking. Moreover, this research is of little use when considering the strategies of the major UK multiple grocery retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury's because of the context-specific nature of store-image findings. Although a number of store-image studies (e.g. Hallsworth, 1987; Kelly and Stephenson, 1967; Lindquist, 1974) have identified store attributes, evidence suggests that these attributes vary by store type (Tigert, 1983) and over time (Davies, 1992), but no work has considered the most crucial aspects to retailers, namely store loyalty. As no study has examined the links between store attributes and store loyalty, our knowledge remains largely speculative. This article proposes to help retailers understand how grocery consumers' store perceptions and store loyalty are linked using a methodology based upon Kelly's repertory grid. Knowledge of this would be important for: competitive positioning, loyalty schemes and customer retention rates, encouraging customer conversions from other stores as well as having implications for new product and store design. The study has several objectives. First, is to examine on which store attributes consumers perceive differences between grocery stores. Second, is to analyse how loyalty status affects consumers' perceptions of stores.

Aims And Objectives

Gaining competitive advantage in retailing requires knowledge of the attributes consumers use to evaluate stores and an understanding of why these attributes are important. Although a number of store-image studies have identified store attributes, evidence suggests that these attributes vary by store type and over time, but no work has considered the most crucial aspects to retailers, namely store loyalty. As no study has examined the links between store attributes and store loyalty, our knowledge remains largely speculative. This paper explores this link using Kelly's repertory grid methodology to assess the store images of three UK grocery retailers.

Research Questions

Research Question: aim to finds answer to examine how primary store-loyal customers' perceptions differ from secondary store-loyal customers.

Literature Review

Previous store-attribute research has shown their importance varies depending on such variables as the type of product purchased (e.g. groceries or durables), the type of store (e.g. discount, department, or other) (Hansen and Deutscher, 1978), the type of consumer and the timing of the study (Davies, 1992). For example, Tigert (1983) found that whilst locational convenience, price level, product assortment, service and quality appear to be important in all sectors, some attributes were much more important in certain sectors, e.g. meat quality for food stores, taste and fast service for fast-food outlets, in-stock position for DIY centres and quality and value for fashion outlets. Some store attributes such as store location, merchandise, price, advertising and promotion, personnel, services offered, physical design and nature of store ...