Emel Kursunluoglu.spm Libre

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THE CRITERIA THAT INFLUENCE CONSUMERSSUPERMARKET CHOICES

ABSTRACT

Emel KursunluogluYasar University - Program of Marketing

Kazim Dirik Mah. 364 Sokak N:5 35500 Bornova - IzmirPhone: +902324614111; Fax: +902324614121

E-mail:[email protected]

Key words: Retailing, Supermarket, Store Choice Behaviour

The purpose of the study was to determine the criteria that affect consumerssupermarket choices. Analyze of data was performed with alignment of criteriaaccording to the degree of importance. Also the criteria were tested by using chi-squaretest.

The result showed that these three criteria affected consumers supermarket choices: (1)reliability of the supermarket, (2) short period of waiting time on the check out lines, (3)the correctness of the price tags on the shelves. This study suggested that non-pricefactors were more important to consumers supermarket choices than price factors. Theimplications of this study for marketing practice were discussed.

JEL Classificiation: M00

THE CRITERIA THAT INFLUENCE CONSUMERSSUPERMARKET CHOICES

-FULL PAPER-

Emel KursunluogluYasar University Program of Marketing

Kazim Dirik Mah. 364 Sokak N: 5 35500 Bornova - IzmirPhone: +902324614111; Fax: +902324614121

E-mail:[email protected]

Key Words: Retailing, Supermarket, Store Choice Behavior


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Session Name (Please DO NOT CHANGE THIS TEXT)

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INTRODUCTION

Consumer behavior is being more important for retailers than it was in the past becauseas time goes on it has changed. Today consumers are affected non-price factors like in-store attributes, wide variety and broad assortment of merchandise, entertainmentshopping more than price factors.

Also the efficiency and effectiveness of customer services like acceptance of creditcard, extended store hours, play areas for children, warranties are being more importantnowadays.

The purpose of the study was to determine the criteria that affect consumerssupermarket choices in Izmir city. Analyze of data was performed with alignment ofcriteria according to the degree of importance. Also the criteria that take place inliterature also were tested by using chi-square test.

Study contains three parts. The first part is the literatur review about consumers storechoice behavior. Second part contains research methodology. And at the final part, thirdsection, research findings are explained.

1. LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Levy and Weitz (2004: 111); the process of consumers store choice

which is a part of the buying process starts with defining an unsatisfied need. Customerdefines the retailers that will satisfy this need and gets information about these retailers.Then alternative retailers are evaluated under criteria that influence store choicebehavior. At the result of the evaluation, the retailer which will satisfy the consumersneed and wants is chosen. After specifying the retailer, the buying process is finished.These stages are also shown inFigure 1 . Nevertheless, consumers store choicebehaviors are affected by store attributes, in-store effects and consumers attributes(Odaba , Bar , 2004: 381).

Figure 1: Stages in the Buying ProcessStages Selecting a Retailer

Need Recognition Recognize needsInformation Search Search for information about retailersEvaluation Evaluate retailers and channelsChoice Select a retailer and channelVisit Visit storeLoyalty Patronage of retailer

Source: Levy and Weitz: 2007: 95


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In 1960s consumers buying behaviors were affected only price criteria in spite ofretailing activities began to develop in these years. The non-price criteria likecleanliness, closeness, reliability are not important for customers in these years (zkan,2000: 52).

The research (Akdoan, Gll, 2000: 61) shows that sales promotions, convenience,pricing, customer services, merchandise assortment, employee behaviors and physicalconditions are important factors in determining consumers supermarket choices.

The research which examines consumer shopping behavior and price effects in choosinga store (Bell, Lattin, 1998: 66) shows that consumers who get huge amount shopping

(large basket shoppers) prefer retailers which use Everyday Low Pricing Strategy(EDLP) whereas consumers who get daily, small amount shopping (small basketshoppers) prefer retailers which use High-Low Pricing Strategy (Hi-Lo).

Another research which is about promotional products (Hablemitolu, 2001: 4-8)proves that consumers usually follow the supermarkets periodicals and advertisementsabout promotional products and buy promotional products because of they areeconomical.

As linked with these two researchs; the first hypothesis analyzes the link between priceand promotion.

H 01: There is no significant relationship between Having Reasonable Price and

Doing Sales Promotion Frequently.

Retailers arrange frequency marketing programs for increasing customer loyalty, andhaving control over their existing customers. Within frequency programs, retailers useloyalty cards for improving customer loyalty. The research about loyalty card (Kl,Gksel, 2004: 147- 163) shows that having a particular retailers loyalty card isinfluential on shopping from this retailer.

Second hypothesis is set about loyalty card and permanent customers.

H 02: There is no significant relationship between Having a Loyalty Card andHaving Good Relationships with Permanent Customers.

The research finds out that brands choices and stores choices are similar but brandchoice is a spatial whereas store choice is spatial. Because of store choice behavior isaffected by geographic factors like location (Fotheringham, 1998: 299).

Also according to the paper presented in Eight National Marketing Congress (Ylmaz,Altun k, 2003: 104) shows that price, variety and assortment of merchandise, quality,ease of physical access and close proximity to store are influential factors in choosing


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retailer. However, the research also proves that ease of physical access and storelocation are the most costly factors which are hard to change later.In the third hypothesis, the relation between physical access and close proximity isresearched.

H 03: There is no significant relationship between Ease of Physical Access and BeingClose to Home.

In-store attributes like lighting, music, smell, color, airiness also affect consumers whenchoosing retailers (Kotler, 1973-74: 48-64). Being an uncrowded store is the mostimportant element in-store attributes because uncrowded retailer provides better store

atmosphere.It is not enough that consumers come in the store. Consumers should encounter niceatmosphere in the supermarket and could stay for a long time in the supermarket forbeginning the shopping (Tek, Orel, 2006: 630). Because of this reason in-storeatmosphere and being an uncrowded store are important factors in choosingsupermarket.

In the last hypothesis; being an uncrowded store and in-store atmosphere relations areexamined.

H 04: There is no significant relationship between Being an Uncrowded Store andHaving an Impressive In-Store Atmosphere.

These four non-hypothesis constituted according to the criteria in literature are analyzedwith chi square test in the third section.

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1. Scale

The scale was developed based on the literature (Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005,Sinha, Banerjee 2004, Ylmaz, Altunk 2003, ifti 2002, Akdoan, Gll 2000,zkan 2000, Erdem, Oumlil, Tunalp 1999, Smith, Sinha 2000, Yoo, Park, Maclnnis1998, Paulins, Geistfeld 2003, Baltas, Papastathopoulou 2003, Cadwallader 1975, Mai,Zhao 2004, Leszczyc, Sinha, Timmermans 2000) by the researcher. The criteria ofquestionnaire were shown inAppendix A . Under these criteria the survey was created,and the effects of twenty six criteria which affect consumers store choice behaviorwere examined. In the survey, consumers attitudes were measured by a Five-LevelLikert Scale (5-Very Important, 4- Important, 3- Neither Important Nor Unimportant, 2-Unimportant, 1-Very Unimportant). Pilot survey was done with thirty three people andthe value of Cronbha Alpha was calculated 0, 79. This value is a proof about thesurveys reliability. Field survey was done with four hundred four consumers with the


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technique of face to face interview between the dates May 15th- June 5th 2006. Thedata was analyzed with the SPSS 11.0.

2.2. Sampling

The city of Izmir has twenty eight districts. However, only the seven of these districtstake part inside the border of Izmir City. The population of research comprises thesupermarket consumers who live in these seven districts urban parts: Balova,Bornova, Buca, Gaziemir, Karyaka, Konak, and Narldere. The sample size wasestimated with the formula below.

2

2 ..e

q p zn =

According to this formula; three hundred eighty four consumers were enough forsample size. As a sampling method, The Random Stratified Sampling Method was used.After the estimating inTable 1 , four hundred four surveys were suitable for research.

Table 1: Choosing The Sample With The Random Stratified Sampling MethodDistrictsinside theborder ofIzmir City

UrbanPopulation ofDistricts insidethe border ofIzmir City

Urban Populationof Each Districtsinside the border ofIzmir City /TotalPopulation ofDistricts inside theborder of IzmirCity

RatioThenumber ofpeople tosurvey ineachdistrict

Balova 66.877 % 3.16 % 3 12Bornova 391.418 % 18.54 % 19 76Buca 308.661 % 14.62 % 15 60Gaziemir 70.035 % 3.31 % 3 12Kar yaka 438.430 % 20.76 % 21 84Konak 781.363 % 37.01 % 37 148Narldere 54.107 % 2.56 % 3 12TOTAL 2.110.891 % 99.96 % 101 404

n = Sample Sizez = Percentage point for the Standard Normal ProbabilityDistribution at the specific confidence interval(e.g. Z Value 1.96 for 95% Confidence Level)p = Percentage picking a choiceq = Percentage not picking a choice (1-p)e = Margin of Error (%5)


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3. RESEARCH FINDINGS

The results of demographic variables were shown inTable 2 below.

Table 2: Frequency of Demographic VariablesFrequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

Gender Age Female 172 42.6 18-24 80 19.8Male 232 57.4 25-34 138 34.2Total 404 100.0 35-44 78 19.3

MaritalStatus 45-54 72 17.8

Married 229 56.7 55-64 20 5.0Single 175 43.3 65+ 16 4.0Total 404 100.0 Total 404 100.0

District Education

Konak 148 36.6 PrimarySchool 65 16.1

Kar yaka 84 20.8 HighSchool 130 32.2

Bornova 76 18.8 University 209 51.7Buca 60 14.9 Total 404 100.0

Gaziemir 12 3.0 WorkingType

Balova 12 3.0 PrivateSector 153 37.9

Narldere 12 3.0 PublicSector 67 16.6

Total 404 100.0 Self-employment 50 12.4

Monthly Income Retired 53 13.1

Under750 YTL 73 18.1 Student 34 8.4

751-1500

YTL114 28.2 Housewife 2 0.5

1501-2250YTL 109 27.0

Industrialist-Trader 10 2.5

2251-3000YTL 55 13.6

Tradesmen-Artificer 21 5.2

Over3001 YTL 53 13.1 Other 14 3.5

Total 404 100.0 Total 404 100.0


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After the frequency table of demographic variables, the criteria that influenceconsumers supermarket choices were ranked according to the Mean Value and shownin Table 3 .

Table 3: The Criteria that Influence Consumers Supermarket ChoicesAccording to Mean Value

The Criteria That Influence Supermarket Choices Mean Value1 Being a Reliable Store 4.61882 Having a Short Period of Waiting Time on the Check-Out Lines 4.61143 Having True Price Tags on the Shelves 4.56584 Having Broad Merchandise Assortment 4.53225 Having an Impressive In-Store Atmosphere 4.44806 Being a Regular Store 4.40357 Having Reasonable Price 4.39858 Being a Secure Store 4.37139 Having Knowledgeable Employees 4.366310 Ease of Physical Access 4.363911 Having Strong Inventories/Stocks 4.329212 Having a Free Parking Area 4.210413 Having Post-Purchase Customer Services 4.188114 Doing Sales Promotion Frequently 4.175715 Being Close to Home 4.1436

16 Being an Uncrowded Store 4.096517 Using Credit Cards 4.022318 Having Long Working Time 3.985119 Having a Resting Place 3.846520 Having a Free Transfer Bus 3.792121 Having a Loyalty Card 3.688122 Having Good Relationships with Permanent Customers 3.673323 Publishing Weekly Periodicals and Brochures 3.646024 Having a Playground 3.606425 Having an Informative Web Site 3.230226 Having Private Label Products 3.0000

In Table 3 , the most important criteria that influence consumers supermarket choicesare: Being a Reliable Store, Having a Short Period of Waiting Time on the Check-Out Lines, Having True Price Tags on the Shelves. The less important criteria are:Having an Informative Web Site and Having Private Label Products.


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Table 4: Hypothesis Tests and Chi Square Test Results

HypothesisPearson Chi Square

Value ( 2)Standard

Deviation (sd)Significance

Level (p)H01 156.513 16 0.000H02 83.670 16 0.000H03 216.627 16 0.000H04 202.148 16 0.000

After analyzing the criteria according to the Mean Value, the hypothesis shown in firstsection were analyzed with Chi Square Test. As it shown inTable 4 , Chi SquareSignificance Levels (p) of hypothesis are 0.000. Because of p-value is smaller than 0.05(p


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There is a significant relationship between uncrowded supermarket and impressive in-store atmosphere in the fourth hypothesis. Crowded, unairy, noisy supermarkets affectin-store atmosphere negatively. So supermarkets should accentuate the in-storeattributes to increase selecting and also patronizing the store.

Consumers have become more conscious thanks to marketing activities. Nowadays,marketing types such as relationship marketing, customer relationship management,experiential marketing, entertainment marketing are being more important because theycould easily influence consumers behaviors and decisions. As it seen in the results ofthe research, consumers are more affected by criteria that customer services, location,store atmosphere, broad merchandise assortment, employee behaviors. This criteria

show that consumers supermarket choices are affected by non-price factors much morethan price factors.

In emerging retailing sector, numbers of supermarkets have been increasing.Supermarket operators should accentuate non-price factors such as customer services,location, reliability, store atmosphere, broad merchandise assortment, and employeebehaviors for influencing consumers supermarket choices.

Always selecting the same supermarket creates patronizing. Consumers becomepermanent customers of the supermarket and so store loyalty developes. For this reason,it is intended that patronizing the supermarket and store loyalty will be the next futureresearch. Also the limitation about sampling that is not include the other twenty onedistricts outside the border of Izmir City might be developed in the future research.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Akdoan, kr and Kenan Gll (2000), Tketicilerin Spermarket TercihlerindeEtkili Olan Faktrler,Pazarlama Dnyas, Vol.14, No: 5, pp. 58-64.

Baltas, George and Paulina Papastathopoulou (2003), Shopper Characteristics, Productand Store Choice Criteria: A Survey in the Greek Grocery Sector, International Journal of Retail&Distribution Management,Vol. 31, No: 10, pp. 498-507.

Bell, David R. and James M. Lattin (1998), Shopping Behavior and ConsumerPreference for Store Price Format: Why Large Basket Shoppers Prefer EDLP, Marketing Science, Vol. 17, No: 1, pp. 59-69.

Cadwallader, Martin (1975), A Behavioral Model of Consumer Spatial DecisionMaking, Economic Geography,Vol. 51, No: 4, pp. 339-349.

ifti Ba trk, Mine (2002), Tketicilerin Spermarket/Hipermarket Tercihlerinde Etkili Olan Faktrlerin Belirlenmesi: zmir rne i, Baslmam Yksek Lisans Tezi,Ege niversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstits.


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Erdem, Orhan, A. Ben Oumlil and Seil Tunalp (1999), Consumer Values and TheImportance of Store Attributes, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 27, No: 4, pp. 137144.

Fotheringham, A. Stewart (1998), Consumer Store Choice and Choice Set Definition, Marketing Science, Vol. 7, No:3, pp. 295-310.

Hablemitolu, engl (2001), Bonuslu rnlere li kin Tketici Tutumlar,Pazarlama Dnyas, Vol.15, No: 6, pp. 4-8.

Kl, Sabiha and Aykut Gksel (2004), Tketici Davranlar: ndirim Kartlarnn

Tketici Satn Alma Karar Sreci zerindeki Etkisine Dair Ampirik Bir alma, Gazini. . .B.F. Dergisi, Vol: 6, No: 2, pp. 147-163.

Kotler, Philip (1973-74), Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool, Journal of Retailing, 49,pp. 48-64.

Leszczyc, Popkowski P.T.L., Sinha, A., Timmermans, H.J.P. (2000), Consumer StoreChoice Dynamics: An Analysis of the Competitive Market Structure for GroceryStores, Journal of Retailing,Vol. 76, No: 3, pp. 323- 345.

Levy, Michael and Barton Weitz (2004), Retailing Management, McGraw HillCompanies Inc., New York.

Levy, Michael and Barton Weitz (2007), Retailing Management, McGraw HillCompanies Inc., New York.

Mai, Li-Wei and Hui Zhao (2004), The Characteristics of Supermarket Shoppers inBeijing, International Journal of Retail&Distribution Management , Vol. 32, No: 1, pp.56-62.

Marjanen, Heli, Mari Pitkaho and Jemina Uusitalo (2005), A Longitudinal Study OfChoice Orientation Types And Their Shopping Trips in Turku, Finland ,http://www.tukk.fi/markkinointi/myllyprojekti/julkaisut/EAERCD_ConferencePaper.pdf , [Accessed: 27.03.2006]

Odaba , Yavuz and Glfidan Bar (2004), Tketici Davran, Kapital MedyaHizmetleri A. ., stanbul.

Okumu , Bendegl Aras and Sdka Bulduk (2003), Tketicilerin SpermarketlerdekiAl veri Al kanlklar ve rn Seimini Etkileyen Etmenler, Dokuz Eyll ni. Sosyal Bilimler Enstits Dergisi, Vol. 5, No: 4, pp. 70-83.

zkan, Burhan (2000), Tketicilerin Perakendeci Seimi ve Satn Alma Davranlar,Pazarlama Dnyas, Vol. 14, No: 4, pp.52-57.


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Paulins, V. Ann and Loren V. Geistfeld (2003), The Effect of Consumer Perceptions ofstore Attributes on Apparel Store Preference, Journal of Fashion Marketing andManagement, Vol. 7, No: 4, pp. 371-385.

Sinha, Piyush Kumar and Arindam Banerjee (2004), Store Choive Behaviour in anEvolving Market, International Journal of Retailing & Distribution Management , Vol.32, No: 10, pp. 482- 494.

Smith, Michael F. and Indrajit Sinha (2000), The Impact of Price and Extra ProductPromotions on Store Preference, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management,Vol. 28, No: 2, pp. 83-92.

Solgaard, Hans S. and Torben Hansen (2003), A Hierarchical Bayes Model of ChoiceBetween Supermarket Formats, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 10,pp. 169-180.

Tek, mer Baybars and Fatma Demirci Orel (2006), Perakende Pazarlama Ynetimi,Birle ik Matbaaclk, Izmir.

Ylmaz, Mustafa and Remzi Altunk (2003), Perakende Sektrnde Kurulu YeriSeiminde Corafi Bilgi Sisteminin Kullanlmas,8. Ulusal Pazarlama Kongresi Bildiri Kitab, pp. 97-112.

Yoo, Changjo, Jonghee Park, Deborah J. Maclnnis (1998), Effects of Store

Characteristics and In-Store Emotional Experiences on Store Attitude, Journal of Business Research,Vol. 42, pp. 253263.

APPENDIX A

The Criteria Researchs1 Being a Reliable Store Ylmaz, Altunk 2003, Okumu, Bulduk

20032 Having a Short Period of

Waiting Time on theCheck-Out Lines

Cadwallader 1975, Solgaard, Hansen 2003,Akdoan, Gll 2000

3 Having True Price Tagson the Shelves

Akdoan, Gll 2000

4 Having Broad MerchandiseAssortment

Ylmaz, Altunk 2003, ifti 2002, Sinha,Banerjee 2004, Okumu, Bulduk 2003,Akdoan, Gll 2000

5 Having an ImpressiveIn-Store Atmosphere

Sinha, Banerjee 2004, Yoo, Park, Maclnnis1998, Solgaard, Hansen 2003, Akdoan,Gll 2000

6 Being a Regular Store Paulins, Geistfeld 2003, Akdoan, Gll2000


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7 Having Reasonable Price Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005, Ylmaz,Altun k 2003, ifti 2002, Mai, Zhao2004, Okumu, Bulduk 2003

8 Being a Secure Store By researcher9 Having Knowledgeable

EmployeesLeszczyc, Sinha, Timmermans 2000,Paulins, Geistfeld 2003, Yoo, Park,Maclnnis 1998, Solgaard, Hansen 2003,Akdoan, Gll 2000

10 Ease of Physical Access Ylmaz, Altunk 2003, Okumu, Bulduk2003, Solgaard, Hansen 2003

11 Having StrongInventories/Stocks

Smith, Sinha 2000

12 Having a Free Parking Area Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005, Ylmaz,Altun k 2003, Leszczyc, Sinha,Timmermans 2000, Paulins, Geistfeld 2003,Yoo, Park, Maclnnis 1998, Solgaard,Hansen 2003

13 Having Post-PurchaseCustomer Services

Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005, Sinha,Banerjee 2004, Yoo, Park, Maclnnis 1998

14 Doing Sales PromotionFrequently

Ylmaz, Altunk 2003, Akdoan, Gll2000

15 Being Close to Home Ylmaz, Altunk 2003, Akdoan, Gll2000

16 Being an Uncrowded Store By researcher17 Using Credit Cards Akdoan, Gll 200018 Having Long Working Time Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005,

Solgaard, Hansen 2003, Akdoan, Gll2000

19 Having a Resting Place Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005,Yoo, Park, Maclnnis 1998

20 Having a Free Transfer Bus Akdoan, Gll 200021 Having a Loyalty Card Marjanen, Pitkaho, Uusitalo 2005,

Ylmaz, Altunk 200322 Having Good Relationships

with Permanent Customersifti 2002

23 Publishing Weekly

Periodicals and Brochures

Akdoan, Gll 2000

24 Having a Playground By researcher25 Having an Informative Web

SiteBy researcher

26 Having Private LabelProducts

By researcher

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