Impact of visual merchandising on consumer impulse buying...
Transcript of Impact of visual merchandising on consumer impulse buying...
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Impact of visual merchandising on consumer
impulse buying behaviour - Case study on Cargills
PLC
Apayakaran Jegatheeswaran
322061507
Professional Project
Module ABM 308
Business Research Methods
7551 words
18 February 2016
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Declaration
I declare that this professional project is an original work carried out by me, under the
supervision of Ms.Himashi De Mel, Module tutor and submitted in the partial fulfillment of
the requirement for the award of International Advanced Diploma in Business Management.
Signature……………………………………
Date………………………………………..
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Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ iv
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... vi
Chapter 01: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Project rationale and significance .................................................................................... 1
1.2 Background to the industry .............................................................................................. 1
1.3 Current situation of the company ..................................................................................... 2
1.4 Academic aim and objectives .......................................................................................... 2
1.5 Outline of chapters ........................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 02: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Introduction to literature review ...................................................................................... 4
2.2 Introduction Visual merchandising .................................................................................. 4
2.2.1 Different techniques of visual merchandising .......................................................... 5
2.2.1.1 Store Layout ....................................................................................................... 6
2.2.1.2 Promotional Signage .......................................................................................... 7
2.2.1.3 In-Store product display ..................................................................................... 8
2.2.1.4 Product Shelf Presentation ................................................................................. 8
2.3 Introduction to Consumer Impulse buying behaviour ..................................................... 9
2.3.1 Internal motivators .................................................................................................... 9
2.3.2 External Motivators ................................................................................................ 10
2.4 Synthesis of Literature review ....................................................................................... 10
2.5 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................................... 11
Chapter 03: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 12
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 12
3.2 Research Choice and Philosophy ................................................................................... 12
3.2.1 Research Choice...................................................................................................... 12
3.2.2 Research philosophy ............................................................................................... 13
3.3 Research Strategy........................................................................................................... 14
3.4 Population and Sampling ............................................................................................... 14
3.5 Pilot survey .................................................................................................................... 15
3.6 Data collection techniques ............................................................................................. 15
3.7 Limitations of the methodology ..................................................................................... 15
3.8 Ethical approach to research .......................................................................................... 16
3.9 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................................... 16
Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis ............................................................................................ 17
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4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 17
4.2 Presentation of the finding ............................................................................................. 17
4.3 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................................... 40
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation .......................................................................... 41
5.1 Academic Objectives ..................................................................................................... 41
5.2 Synthesis of Literature review and findings .................................................................. 41
5.3 Limitations of the research ............................................................................................. 42
5.4 Further developments for future research ...................................................................... 43
5.5 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 43
References ................................................................................................................................ 45
Appendix A Questionnaire ...................................................................................................... 53
Appendix B Rationale table ..................................................................................................... 56
Appendix C Project Timeline .................................................................................................. 60
List of Tables Table 1 Difference between quantitative and qualitative methods .......................................... 12
Table 2 Gender of the respondents .......................................................................................... 17
Table 3 Age of the respondents ............................................................................................... 19
Table 4 Customer of super market ........................................................................................... 20
Table 5 Frequency of visit ....................................................................................................... 21
Table 6 Average time spent ..................................................................................................... 22
Table 7Attractiveness of presentation ...................................................................................... 24
Table 8 Influence of presentation on customers ...................................................................... 25
Table 9 significance of product shelf position ......................................................................... 26
Table 10 Position of the shelves .............................................................................................. 27
Table 11 Impact of effective packaging ................................................................................... 28
Table 12 Impact of store layout ............................................................................................... 29
Table 13 Impact of lighting...................................................................................................... 30
Table 14 Effectiveness of promotional mannequins ................................................................ 31
Table 15 Psychological impact ................................................................................................ 32
Table 16 psychological behaviour ........................................................................................... 33
Table 17 Effectiveness of window displays ............................................................................. 34
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Table 18 Impact of cleanliness ................................................................................................ 35
Table 19 Effectiveness of in-store displays ............................................................................. 36
Table 20 Correlation of displayed products and unplanned purchases .................................... 37
Table 21 Rating of the shopping experience............................................................................ 38
Table 22 Comparativeness of Visual merchandising............................................................... 39
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Abstract The Sri Lankan supermarket industry is at the growing stage of the Industry Life Cycle. The
Visual Merchandising of supermarket outlets were focused in this study and major purpose
was to examine the customers’ reaction to the Visual Merchandising in Cargills supermarket
in Sri Lanka. In order to enhance supermarket environment and attract customers,
supermarkets use and implement different important techniques such as visual
merchandising. These techniques allow supermarket retailers to differentiate their offerings
from the other competitors in the market. The purpose of this research is to study the
correlation and effectiveness of different selected visual merchandising techniques on
consumer impulse buying behavior. The result of the study shows that there is a undeviating
relationship between customers’ impulse buying tendency and visual merchandising
techniques. This research gives insights to retailers as to which visual merchandising
techniques can significantly influence customers’ impulse buying behaviour. The primary
data was collected from the survey that was conducted in Colombo. The secondary data were
collected from published sources. The study revealed that the influence emerged from Store
layout and In-store product display on consumer store choice decisions is very significant.
The promotion signage and product shelf presentation moderately influenced their store
choice behavior. The overall conclusion is that visual merchandising has significant impact
on store choice decision of customers in Sri Lanka.
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Chapter 01: Introduction
1.1 Project rationale and significance
The significance of this project is that the author would get to know the impact of visual
merchandising on consumer impulse buying behaviour. Visual merchandising includes all the
various activities and actions which are done to correlate and merge different kind of
merchandise selections with productive and powerful mode of merchandise display (Walters
& White, 1987). Consumer buying behaviour can be defined as the physical activity and the
decision process which is undergone by an individual when deciding, obtaining, purchasing,
using and discarding the service or product (Madaan, 2009). For this reason Levi and Witz
(2009) believe that visual merchandising creates a platform where all the important functions
in a supermarket retail outlet will be performed, such as effectively communicating with the
consumers, thereby strongly influencing the consumers buying behaviour which in result
would drastically improve the overall sales and profitability of the business (Seock and Eun-
Lee 2013). The main principle of this study is to assess the impact of visual merchandising on
consumer impulse buying behaviour in the retail supermarket industry in Sri Lanka. It is
important to identify the different Visual merchandising methods that would attract the
consumers and impact their buying behaviour. The researcher plans to carry out this research
in depth since no other researches was carried out in this topic to the best knowledge of the
author.
1.2 Background to the industry
Retail supermarket industry in Sri Lanka has improved immensely in the last few years, there
are several major supermarket companies in Sri Lanka and especially the privately owned
supermarket companies are expanding their businesses to rural and urban areas drastically
due to heavy influence of the western culture in Sri Lanka and the emergence of a wealthier
circle of consumer and the newly acquired lifestyles of customers. Due to higher demand
certain supermarkets have opened additional branches at the same city in order to efficiently
cater their customers.
The Sri Lankan supermarket industry was initiated in Sri Lanka in the British colony era
under the department stores named Cargills and Millers. However, the Sri Lankan super
industry started to function in the early 1980’s, and from then the super market industry has
been rapidly growing, statistics show that there has been a rapid growth after the years 2010,
this growth is mainly due to end of the 30 year long civil war which led to the opening of
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many restricted areas in the country and improved the flow of trade for major supermarkets.
As per the data available there are more than 450 FMCG products in the main areas of the
country. The two major supermarket companies in Sri Lanka that dominate the industry are
Cargills and Keels super. These major Super market companies have more than 150 outlets
across the countries, other than these two companies there are other supermarket chains who
also operate in the island, such as Arpico, Sun-up and Crystal.
1.3 Current situation of the company
Sunday Times, (2013) states that Cargills has a market share of 45% in the Sri Lankan food
retail industry. Moreover, Cargills (2013) states that demand for branded products which are
owned by retails have a very high demand due to minimal proves, great array of variety and
very high quality. Cargills has undertaken an aggressive type of expansion plan of the FMCG
sector in order to ride in the growth potential of a growing economy. Cargills have better
merchandising techniques in place and Cargills Sri Lanka invests more on shelves and overall
appearance that would act as an effective visual merchandising tool than any other
competitors in the country (Razak, 2010). Cargills gives importance to visual merchandising
because they have a lot of in-store displays, and attractive products sold closer to the cashier
counter, areas such as bright lighting and cleanliness of the supermarket should be looked
into and improved because they are a very important techniques of visual merchandising and
they play a huge role in a customer’s satisfaction and shopping experience.
1.4 Academic aim and objectives
The researcher intends to research in depth how visual merchandising contributes to
consumer impulse buying behaviour in the supermarket industry in Sri Lanka.
1. To review literature on visual merchandising and features of visual
merchandising that influences the consumer buying behavior.
2. To review literature on consumer impulse buying behavior and the
characteristics of consumer impulse buying behavior.
3. To conduct a research in the form of questionnaires in order to find the impact
of visual merchandising in consumer impulse buying behavior.
4. To formulate conclusions and make recommendations to visual merchandising
and consumer impulse buying behavior in the Sri Lankan supermarket
industry.
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1.5 Outline of chapters
The next part of this research will discover the background literature of the study to
understand existing theoretical evidence and to determine the future path. Thereafter in the
following chapter, the details on data collection and the methods in which the data were
collected will be discussed. Finally findings of the research are thoroughly analysed and
conclusions are provided thereafter.
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Chapter 02: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction to literature review
Dawidowicz (2010) states that, Academic literature review incorporates the use of right and
suitable peer evaluation on professional work done by others on similar articles. Further,
Davidowicz (2010) puts forward literature review as a well organised examination or study of
knowledge which is available on a selected topic. In addition, Boote (2005) states that,
literature review should include a theoretical support for the study which helps understand
and evaluate the nature of the research by the researcher. Literature review is the transfer of
the idea and knowledge of the created topic to the reader Boote (2005), which would give the
reader a clear understanding about the topic’s weaknesses and strengths. Likewise, Ridley
(2008) mentions that, an individual elaborates their work at the best form possible in order to
develop a strong foundation for their research.
2.2 Introduction Visual merchandising
Visual merchandising is the effective presentation of merchandise or a store in a manner
which would successfully attract the attention of potential customers in that intended market
and boost the overall sales for that product (Bastow-Shoop et al. 1991). Additionally, Ebster
and Garaus (2011, p.77) indicate that visual merchandising is a mixture of both science and
art is showed off by the merchandise in the most visually attractive way possible , by
including attractive images or presentations which would effectively communicate with the
customers. Diamond and Diamond (2003) emphasises on the need of visual merchandising
and how it effectively contributes to the success of a brand or an organization. The authors
state that by implementing an efficient visual merchandising strategy would attract all the
possible customers and motivate the customers to purchase the products.
Likewise, Wanninayake and Randiwela (2007) state that visual merchandising related to
how the brand or product visually communicates with the customer and whether the transfer
of message is successfully decoded by the customer. However, Schimp (1990) states that
visual merchandising does not have a strong contribution towards a customer’s decision.
Furthermore, Schimp (1990) states customers purchase the product since there are
psychological factors which make them think that visually overdone products are products of
low quality and standards. Likewise, Walters and White (1987) similarly states that that
companies spend a lot of money on visually improving the product or a brand in order to
divert the attention of the potential customers away from low quality products that they are
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likely to purchase and makes them pay more attention towards the brands visual appearance
and the overall outlook of the product.
2.2.1 Different techniques of visual merchandising
Mill et al. (1995) explains that there are two different ranges for visual merchandising, which
ranges from interior to exterior range of presentation. It includes exterior displays – windows,
interior displays such as floor and wall merchandising and form displays with promotional
signage. In addition to that, Omar (1999) mentions that there are three different kinds of
interior displays which are architectural displays, form displays and point of sales displays.
Furthermore, Harris (1998) state that space floor layout, shelf space techniques, lighting,
colour and cleanliness are other important visual merchandising techniques. On the contrary,
(Iqba et al., 2011) argues that different lighting colour techniques are risky since they may
negatively contribute towards an individual’s decision of purchasing a product which could
lead to lower sales. Similarly, Bustos (2004) argues that window displays and presentations
are often ignored by store keepers and that this could negatively impact the business since
potential customers may decide to enter the store if they are unattractive.
In addition, Bustos (2004) states that stores can use mannequins since mannequins will
drastically improve the visual output and appeal the products that are displayed which is a
key factor in provoking the customers to make purchases (Kerfoot et al., 2003). The store
cleanliness plays a vital role in a store, since cleanliness of a store will showcases an luxury
image that would attract consumers due to the pleasing environment and keep them retained
inside the stores Gajanayake et al., (2011). Likewise, Ebster and Garaus (2011), state that
cleanliness will result in an increase in willingness to shop by the customers with an
improvement in frequency to shop and the length the customer will be shopping for.
Furthermore, there are other important components in the store such as lighting and colours
which are also considered to be visual merchandising techniques because colours contribute
towards psychological and physiological effects on the consumers (Bellizzi et al.1983)
Moreover, McGoldrick (2002) undertook an experiment to study the effects of colours upon
attraction to store image and displays which resulted that warm colours are more suitable for
store windows, environment or department and entrances which leads to triggering unplanned
purchases. However warm colours could create an uncomfortable surrounding where an
important buying decision is likely to be made. (Bellizzi et al.1983). Summers and Herbert
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(1999) state that by having a better lighting point of view would illuminate the merchandise
which will encourage the customers to shop around and increase the chances of making a
purchase. In addition to that, Rook (1987) claimed that bright lighting in shops would trigger
impulse purchases. However, Areni and Kim (1994) noticed that bright light will just make
the customers examine the product more, but does not influence the customer to make
impulse purchase decision.
Different existing techniques of visual merchandising has been partly stated in the previous
section, the following selected techniques will be investigated and described through this
thesis.
- Store layout
- Promotion signage
- In-Store product display
- Product shelf presentation
2.2.1.1 Store Layout
Davies and Tilley (2004) state that store layout is how the different aisles and sections of a
store is systematically arranged in a manner to get the shoppers to buy more and shop longer.
Therefore, a store layout should be created which would have a positive impact on the
consumers’ decision to purchase. (Davies and Tilley, 2004). Furthermore, McGoldrick (2002)
mentions that retailers now benefit by using various computer software’s which would help
them plan and design the store layout more efficiently and maximize the overall turnover. On
the other hand, Abratt and Goodey (1990) argues that results obtained from software’s are
unreliable and would not cater to all the specific needs required in a store layout and thereby
states that a person with expertise should be hired to design the store layout effectively.
Borges (2003) mentions that there are many kinds of layouts that exist and the retailers
should choose the right kind of layout that will suit their business by strictly considering the
type of the merchandise. The most common store layouts that the retailers mainly choose to
implement at their stores are the free-flow layout, grid pattern layout and the forced-path
layout. (Borges.2003).
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Free-flow layout
Ong (2002) states that free-flow layout is distinguished by shelves, aisles and displays that
are placed in a free-flowing manner or pattern. Hence, the customers at the store have more
freedom to move around different fixtures of the store in order to make purchases. Free-flow
layout enhances the atmosphere of the store and the visual appeal thereby the customers are
likely to make unplanned purchases. (Ong, 2002). On the other hand, the cost of
implementing this is high compared to other store layouts. (Iqba et al., 2011).
Grid Pattern layout
Grid Pattern layout is commonly used at supermarkets, where the store layout consists of
rows of parallel fixtures and long aisles. Grid layout increases the chances of the products to
be exposed and consequently by forcing the customers to walk around the store. (Ong,
2002).Products such as dairy , meat and fish which are commonly fast moving at
supermarkets are kept at the back of the store in order to increase the flow of customers
inside the store thereby exposing them not only to the products they thought of buying but
also exposing them to other products and influence unplanned purchase. However,
Mehrabian (1976) argues that customers find it difficult to walk a long distance within a store
which has a grid layout, which could result in them not return to the shop again in the future.
Forced-path layout
The forced-path layout forces the customer to go through a certain path in the store which
increases the chances of the customer to get on contact with the products therefore increasing
the chances of impulse purchases. (Peter and Olsen, 1998).Moreover many authors have
defined store layout as in very important stimulant of consumer impulse buying behaviour
and with the presence of a well-trained salesperson can increase the chances of unplanned
purchases (Iyer, 1998).
2.2.1.2 Promotional Signage
Promotional signage is defined as a “wording used either alone or in conjunction with in-
store display to convey product or promotional information to customers with the Purpose of
informing and creating demand for the merchandise” (Jiyeon, 2003). According to Point of
purchase advertising institute (POPAI), in-store promotional signage’s influences up to 53 to
60 percentage of consumer purchases. IN-store promotional signage’s provides the customers
information which helps them with their buying decision. Efficient use of promotional
signage at a store will boost the company’s sales and increase the overall revenue (Gutierrez,
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2004). Consumers tend to make impulse purchases due to the influence of the in-store
promotional stimuli (Jiyeon, 2003). On the contrary, Bustos (2004) states that promotional
signage does not affect the customers with significant influence and that the customers fail to
pay attention to these signage’s, therefore this layout to be ineffective.
2.2.1.3 In-Store product display
Omar (1999) explains in-store display include three different categories: architectural or
artistic display, merchandise display and point of sale display which is generally located at
cashier point. In-store product displays main purpose is to create a desire amongst the
customers to purchase the product by displaying them in the most attractive way possible
(bastow-shoop et al., 1991). Abraham and Goodey, 1990) state that consumers are usually
attracted to a product in a display within three to eight seconds, which is the time need for the
customers to determine and show interest in a displayed product. In addition to that, product
placement plays a key role as in-store stimuli influencing impulse purchases (Abraham and
Goodey, 1990). Stern (1962) mentions that in-store displays are a determinant of impulse
buying and retailers are very keen to improve and increase the magnitude of impulse
purchases within their stores through product and store displays. While, Bellizzi et al. (1983)
state that in-store product displays might distract customers when trying to make a purchase
due to the determinants not working in favour of the in-store display.
2.2.1.4 Product Shelf Presentation
Efficient product presentation plays a huge role since it influences sales and the customers’
buying behaviour, furthermore research shows that shoppers ignore up to third of the
packages in a shelf (Young, 2007). However, customer brand recognition is affected with
improper product placements on shelves (Sigurdsson et al., 2009). In addition that,
Sigurdsson et al., (2009) state that customers have implicitly learned that top brands are
allocated on the top shelves by the retailers. Peak and Peak (1977), state that the position of
the shelf influences the sales of supermarket products. Given the tendency of the consumers
to mainly focus on the products located at the eye level. In addition to that, Christenfeld
(1995) mentions that several packages of similar products are displayed on a shelf side-by-
side, customers have the tendency to choose the product that is placed in the middle. The
tendency is based due to more attention given to buyers for products kept in central positions
(Chandon et al ., 2009). However, Hoyer (1984) argues that shelf effects are higher when
consumers are not mainly involved in the purchase process due to factors such as lack of
time.
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2. 3 Introduction to Consumer Impulse buying behaviour
Youn & Faber,(2000) state that impulse buying behaviour of consumers has been considered
a common and peculiar occurrence in the American lifestyle which has been earning an
increase attention from consumer researchers and theorists. On the contrary (Ainslie, 1975;
Levy, 1976; Rook & Fisher, 1995; Solnick, Kannenberg, Eckerman, & Waller, 1980), state
that even though the negative aspects of consumer impulsive buying behaviour from the prior
research, stating that consumer impulse buying behaviour as an unreasonable behaviour.
Alternatively, (Bellenger et al., 1978) mention that consumer impulse purchases accounts for
an extraordinary and sizeable sales across many range of product categories. Furthermore
(Bellenger et al., 1978) also state that a study which was made found that consumer impulse
buying behaviour resulted in purchases of between 27% and 67% of all department store
purchases. Hence, the popularity of consumer impulse buying, for even high end upscale
products in the market, led the consumer behaviour researchers to look at impulse buying
behaviour as an instinctive individual attribute, rather than a comeback to inexpensive
product contribution (Cobb & Hoyer, 1986; Rook, 1987).
2.3.1 Internal motivators
Shapiro (1992) describes these factors as unforeseen desire to go out and purchase something
without visual encounter. Among them, there is self-discrepancy i.e. a difference between
actual self and ideal self (Kalla & Arora 2011). Dittmar (2005) found that this habit in
shoppers leads to excessive shopping, and they are more motivated to purchase goods, in
order to strengthen their self-image and they reported greater “gaps” between how they see
themselves and how they wish to be seen. They did more impulse buying and they regret it
more. Verplanken et al.(2005) assert that low self-esteem is also a reason that leads to
impulse buying as a mean of psychological relief.
Singer (1966) suggests that hedonic consumption is tied to imaginative constructs of reality.
What Customers desire reality to be is what hedonic consumption acts are based on, rather
than what consumers know to be real. This motivator can be related to the concept of self-
discrepancy described above (Dittmar, 1992; Lunt and Livingstone, 1992). This dissimilarity
between real and desired craving could play a role in invoking impulse.
Piron (1989, 1991) noticed another important stimuli in motivating impulse purchases in
consumers, which are autistic stimuli. Autistic thoughts are resulted in response to internal
impulses and are self-contained and self-serving (Kalla & Arora 2011). They don’t follow
logic or rationality and are frequently associated with passion and feelings. Consequently,
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Hirschman (1985) asserts that autistic stimuli can have strong suggestive power and can
result in impulse buying.
2.3.2 External Motivators
Unlike internal motivators, external factors are influenced by the retailers. Here, consumer
impulse buying behaviour is triggered and influenced by many shop related factors such as
visual stimulus, shopping format, display, shelf space, store environment, discounts, ambient
factors, social factors perceived crowding, ownership of credit card (Kalla and Arora, 2011).
Visual stimulus experienced accidentally by the shopper can generally be the product itself
(Liang and Meng, 2008) or promotional signage (Piron, 1991). Rook and Hoch (1985)
suggest that consumer impulse purchase is driven by the environmental spur and is followed
by an unexpected desire to obtain the product. According to previous research on “impulse
buying” related to “encounter with the object”, the latter one is seen as a very powerful
trigger to the act of impulse buying (Kalla and Arora, 2011). Sticking to Rook’s researches
(1987), he suggests that it is consumers find it very difficult to refrain from the desire in the
moments following their encounter with the goods. Therefore, Vohs and Faber (2007) claims
that, touching, tasting, sniffing and physical proximity with the product bolster the desire to
purchase it.
2.4 Synthesis of Literature review
Although, there are other definitions, in simple terms, visual merchandising is the effective
presentation of goods sold inside a store which would attract the customers in order to
increase sales and improve the overall profit level of the company Bastow-Shoop et al., 1991;
Ebster and Garaus,2011; Diamond and Diamond, 2003; Wanninayake and Randiwela, 2007.
Store layout is how the store is arranged with aisles and floor area which would make it easy
and effective for customers to shop Davies and Tilley,2004; McGoldrick , 2002; Borges,
2003. Promotional signage is how the product and product information is conveyed to the
customers through different promotional mediums Jiyeon, 2003; Gutierrez, 2004. In store
product display is how goods are displayed within the shopping environment which would
have an impact on the consumers’ Bastow-shoop et al., 1991; Abraham and Goodey, 1990;
Omar, 1999. Product shelf presentation is how products are presented in the shelves of a store
which would result in attracting the customers Young, 2007; Sigurdsson et al., 2009;
Christenfeld, 1995. Consumer impulse buying behaviour is the behaviour of consumers
where they tend to make impulse purchases Youn & Faber, 2000; Bellenger et al., 1978.
Internal and external motivators are different factors that influence consumers impulse
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buying behaviours Kalla and Arora, 2011; Dittmar, 2005; Liang and Meng, 2008; Piron,
1991.
2.5 Chapter Summary
Firstly this chapter talked about the definition of visual merchandising, moving on to the
different techniques of visual merchandising and how it is used and how it contributes to
wards impulse buying behaviors of consumers. Following that, consumer impulse buying
behavior was defined. Moving on, necessary attention and discussion was given to internal
motivators and external motivators of consumer impulse buying behaviour.
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Chapter 03: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
Research methodology is the way to analyse and find out the given problem on a specific
matter (Williams, 2011). Research can also be defined as the way to acquire knowledge
(Kothari, 2004). Furthermore, Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003) states that a research
will not be considered as a completed research if it is not done in a systemic manner and
precisely with flawless persistence. Any research needs attention which should be significant
to the research methods and the proposed data. In this section, we have provided information
on how to develop a research design for a study (Smolkowski, 2007).
3.2 Research Choice and Philosophy
3.2.1 Research Choice
There are two types of research methods used in any research; they are Qualitative method
and quantitative method. Qualitative research is done when there is qualitative event or
occurrence (Wyse, 2011). Wyse (2011), states that qualitative research is aimed to discover
the desire and motives using in-depth interviews for the purpose and that it is used to find
trends in opinions and thoughts. Quantitative research is based on measurement of
meaningful data that can be expressed in terms of quantity (Sumuel, 2012). Quantitative
method is used to compute the problem by developing numerical data which could be
changed into useable statistics. Quantitative method helps to quantify behaviours’, opinions,
attitudes and other quantifiable variables and simplify research results from a higher sample
population (Wyse, 2011). Deductive approached is mainly applicable on quantitative data
whereas inductive approach is mainly on qualitative data.
Table 1 Difference between quantitative and qualitative methods
Qualitative methods Quantitative methods
Text based information Number based information
inductive process used to express the
theory
deductive process used to exam pre-
specified ideas
Systems include focus groups, interviews,
and reviews of documents
Surveys, structured interviews &
observations, and reviews of records or
documents for numeric data.
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3.2.2 Research philosophy
When performing a research, it should be very clear how the research should be done and
how the data collection and analyses will take place, therefore the research philosophy
explains the frame of the study. Bryman and Bell (2011) states that the two most important
ways of thinking about research philosophy are ontology and epistemology, from which
epistemology consists of positivism, interpretivism and realism. On the contrary, Collins
(2010, p.38) states that interpretivism is ‘predicated upon the view that a strategy is required
that respects the difference between people and the natural science’. Positivism is the type of
methodology that sees the argument that is already present with the correct data and support.
Positivism helps to merge these ideas and thoughts to practical values that are meaningful.
Findings of the study of this methodology are that the study is directed in a value free
environment thereby this will make limitation where the researcher of the methodology
would not be able to exploit or be exploited by this research topic. According to Arnheim,
(2001), the main concept of realism is to observe the true impartiality in the minds of
humans. (Pkwule, 2001) states that interpretivism is a belief which is preferable and
cooperative in the investigations into marketing and organizational behaviour of the
company. For this research, positivism methodology is used to gather data and analyse the
information through the medium of questionnaires; therefore this research would allow the
researcher to conclude on actual information collected directly from the customers.
Data was collected from the consumers of the supermarket using quantitative approach
method. The target customers in the supermarket were requested to participate in the
research study. Questionnaires regarding the research were sent to individuals who agreed to
participate in the study. Each questionnaire was allocated a time limit of 10 minutes and the
participants should fill the questionnaires within this time period. The participants were asked
to respond to every question in the questionnaires to ascertain the impact of visual
merchandising on consumer impulse buying behaviour.
largely depends on skill and rigor of the
researcher
largely depends on the measurement
device or instrument
Less generalizable More generalizable
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3.3 Research Strategy
Since surveys are beneficial for setting findings into context (Collins, 2010), and it is more
appropriate for a small scale -project research, a survey will be carried out within the sample
population for the purpose of data collection of this analytic study on the impact of visual
merchandising on consumer impulse buying behaviour. Collins (2010) further points of that
survey can be carried out in the form of questionnaires or interviews and contain specifically
determined content in an attempt to define response bounds. The survey for the data
collection of this research will be carried out in the form of questionnaires consisting of 21
questions. Surveys can be administered in electronic format or in print format. For this study,
the survey will be carried out via electronic means, i.e. questionnaire will be issued as Google
forms. The researcher is hoping to get at least 80 responses in order to draw a reliable
conclusion from the sample about the significance of visual merchandising on consumer
impulse buying behaviour.
3.4 Population and Sampling
Yount (2006) states that sampling is the process of choosing a group of individuals or
subjects for a research study in such a way that the participants would represent the larger
group from which they were selected. The target group for this research was selected from
Colombo District, Western Province Sri Lanka, with a district population of ‘2,323,836’
(Census population and housing 2012). These individuals should have prior experience in
retail shopping at supermarkets, since the study analyses the impact of visual merchandising
on consumer buying behaviour in the Sri Lankan retail Industry. Therefore the aimed sample
of this study should customers of supermarkets who have shopped at least once at a
supermarket. In this study, convenience sampling was used to collect data from the research
participants. Convenience sampling method is the easiest way to obtain data from participants
who have agreed to take part in this study. Convenience sampling is difficult to generalize the
sample but the method has the ability to issue and collect questionnaires at the same time
(Royse, 2003). Social media was used to generate the survey from which the data was
collected from respondents.
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3.5 Pilot survey
Pilot survey is a small scale trial prior to the main survey that tests your entire question
planning (Collins, 2010, p.131). It is a pre study to check the limitations of questionnaire
which aids in assessing the feasibility study. With the prepared questionnaire consisted of 21
questions, within the expected age group of age 18-25, the pilot test was conducted for 5
respondents. Author did not find any difficulties when performing the pilot survey, because
the questions for the interview were very simplified and all questions was easily understood
by the survey participants.
3.6 Data collection techniques
Many data collection methods are available, which are; questionnaires, interviews, case
study, observations, telephone interviews etc (Pawar, 2004). In this research study,
questionnaires were used to collect data from the participants since it enable targets by
getting corresponding answers from all the participants (Wegner, 2007). The data collection
was carried out online, the main objective of the questionnaire survey was to identify the
degree of influence visual merchandising has on consumer buying behaviour. The survey
questionnaire comprised of close ended questions which includes multiple choice questions,
dichotomy questions and lickert scale. The secondary date was gathered using books,
journals, internet and newspaper articles which has been both locally and internationally
published.
3.7 Limitations of the methodology
One of the main limitations faced by the author was time management, since many
participants delayed the time period in responding the questionnaires. Another limitation
would be whether the participants took the survey seriously without just answering the
questionnaires for the sake of answering. While doing this research, author found several
limitations that is associated with the research. The main limitation was time and financial
constraint which limited the findings to Colombo area and limited the number of respondent
to 72. The researcher has chosen only one main supermarket company which has captured
more than 45% market share in the Sri Lankan supermarket industry and the other companies
were not given much priority.
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3.8 Ethical approach to research
Principles that govern behaviour towards the rights of those affected by research conducted
are known as ethics (Saunders et al., 2012). In this research the primary data was gathered in
an ethical way from the participants, no participants were forced to take part in this survey.
All the results obtained from the survey would be kept confidentially.
3.9 Chapter Summary
Firstly an introduction was given to the chapter, following that author has given a brief note
in research. Next, research philosophy and research choice of the project is described. Then
the population of the project has elaborated. At last limitations and the ethical approach of the
research were described by the author.
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Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis
4.1 Introduction
This chapter will continue to interpret the objectives of this research with use of quantitative
methods mentioned in chapter three with regards to the literature searched in chapter two.
Data were subject to statistical analysis such as descriptive statistics and frequency
distribution. Using Microsoft Excel, which is time consuming and effective to draw pie charts
and bar charts, researcher has assessed the result and also the researcher has mentioned the
relation between the literatures with the indicators of the questionnaire analysis.
4.2 Presentation of the finding
Question 1
Table 2 Gender of the respondents
Main Aim
In order to identify the gender of the survey participant
Question
Rationale
What is your Gender?
40%
60%
Gender
Male Female
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Primarily this question was included to the questionnaire to classify the findings based on the
attitudes, since the author of this research believes that the satisfaction level and expectations
and needs differ according to the gender of the customers.
It is inferred from the above graph that maximum 60% respondents were females and 40%
were males. As per the rate of response, it is clear that female respondents had been very
keen in participating in the survey, after reading the introduction of the questionnaire.
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Question 2
Table 3 Age of the respondents
Main Aim
In order to identify the age group of the survey participant
Question
Rationale
Age group
Primarily this question was included to the questionnaire to classify the findings based on the
attitudes, since the author of this research believes that the satisfaction level and expectations
and needs differ according to the age of the customers.
It is inferred from the above graph that maximum 46% respondents were in the age group of
21-25, and 3% were above 30 years. As per the rate of response, it is clear that respondents
between the age group of 21-25 had been very keen in participating in the survey, after
reading the introduction of the questionnaire.
36%
46%
15%3%
Age Group
15-20 21-25 26-30 30 and above
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Question 3
Table 4 Customer of super market
Sunday Times, (2013) states that Cargills has a market share of 45% in the Sri Lankan food
retail industry. From the results obtained from the research 85% of the participants are
customers of Cargills supermarket, therefore this clearly shows the cargills has a very good
customer base and they are the market leader in the industry.
Main Aim
In order to make sure that the survey participant is from the target group
Question
Rationale
I am customer of Cargills supermarket
Yes85%
No15%
Customer of super market
Yes No
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Question 4
Table 5 Frequency of visit
From the results obtained, the majority of the customers visit Cargills supermarket weekly
with a survey result of 35%, this shows that the loyalty of the customers to the brand is pretty
good and this loyalty should be used well by improving merchandises visually in order to
improve sales in the future and increase the number of customers to visit the supermarket
higher.
Main Aim
To find out how frequently do customers visit Cargills.
Question
Rationale
I visit Cargills supermarket
32%
35%
33%
Frequency of visit
Very frequently Weekly Monthly
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Question 5
Table 6 Average time spent
Davies and Tilley (2004) stated that store layout which is a type of visual merchandising
technique plays a huge role in retaining the customers within the supermarket premises and
promote further unplanned sales improving the overall revenue and profitability of the
supermarket. As its clearly evident from the pie chart, 50% of the customers are spending less
than an hour for their shopping, therefore it is considerably good since that the average time
Main Aim
To obtain the average time spent inside the supermarket and see how effective visual
merchandising techniques impact a customer’s shopping duration in the supermarket
Question
Rationale
The average duration of shopping
I do at Cargills supermarket is
Davies and Tilley (2004) state that store
layout is how the different aisles and
sections of a store is systematically arranged
in a manner to get the shoppers to buy more
and shop longer.
37%
50%
13%
Average time
Less than half an hour Less than an hour More than an hour
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spent within the supermarket and this shows that visual merchandising is been effectively put
in place, this could be further improved by increasing the visually merchandising aspect in
the supermarket more and retain the customers to stay longer in order improve overall
revenue.
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Question 6
Table 7Attractiveness of presentation
Main Aim
To identify whether the presentation of goods is attractive.
Question
Rationale
I was attracted by the effective
presentation of goods at Cargills
supermarket
Visual merchandising is the effective
presentation of merchandise or a store in a
manner which would successfully attract the
attention of potential customers in that
intended market and boost the overall sales
for that product (Bastow-Shoop et al. 1991
Bastow-Shoop et al (1991) states that effective presentation of merchandise in a store will
definitely attract the customers’ attention towards the product which would in order improve
the sales because the customers will tend to make unplanned purchases. 54% of the
customers have voted yes, that effective presentation of products does attract them.
54%46%
Product Attractiveness
Yes No
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Question 7
Table 8 Influence of presentation on customers
Diamond and Diamond (2003) and Bastow-Shoop et al. 1991 states the importance of visual
merchandising of a product and its effective presentation will directly have an impact on a
customers buying behaviour, which would lead them to purchase the product. From the
results obtained, 30 participants state that effective presentation of a good does impose a
decent amount of impact towards a customers buying behaviour.
Main Aim
To see whether effective presentation influences customers to purchase the product
Question
Rationale
Effective presentation of goods in shelf
influences me to purchase the products
off the shelf (1=More likely to purchase;
5= Less like to purchase)
Diamond and Diamond (2003) emphasize
on the need of visual merchandising and
how it effectively contributes to the success
of a brand or an organization. The authors
state that by implementing an efficient
visual merchandising strategy would attract
all the possible customers and motivate the
customers purchase the products off the
shelves.
11
26
30
41
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1 2 3 4 5
Ratings for effective presentation
Response
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Question 8
Table 9 significance of product shelf position
Peak and Peak (1977) states that position of a product in a shelf promotes sales in the
supermarket, and when comparing that statement with results obtained from the survey, its
clearly evident that it is very true since 71% of the survey participants have agreed to this
statement.
Main Aim
To identify whether positions of products in a shelf actually matters.
Question
Rationale
Does the position of a product in a shelf
influence your purchasing decision?
Peak and Peak (1977), state that the position
of the shelf influences the sales of
supermarket products
71%
29%
Significance of product shelf position
Yes No
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Question 9
Table 10 Position of the shelves
Sigurdsson et al., (2009) states that top brands are allocated in the top shelves, but this is
contradicting with the survey obtained since 71% of the customers tend to purchase more
from the middle shelf.
Main Aim
To identify which position of the shelves attract customers the most and promote
sales.
Question
Rationale
I tend to purchase products off the
shelves mainly from the
Sigurdsson et al., (2009) state that
customers have implicitly learned that top
brands are allocated on the top shelves by
the retailers.
14%
71%
15%
Purchase products off the shelf
Top Shelf Middle Shef Lower shelf
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Question 10
Table 11 Impact of effective packaging
49% of the customers have said that the packaging of a product and its overall look
influences a customers purchasing decision, so packaging which is a very important
technique of visual merchandising does have a significant impact on consumer behavior.
Main Aim
To see the impact of effective packaging on consumer purchase decisions
Question
Rationale
The packaging of a product and its
overall look influences my purchasing
decision
Wanninayake and Randiwela (2007) state
that visual merchandising related to how
the brand or product visually
communicates with the customer and
whether the transfer of message is
successfully decoded by the customer.
36%
49%
15%
Packaging of product influences the purchase
Yes May be No
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Question 11
Table 12 Impact of store layout
Convenient store floor layout improves the overall shopping experience because when the
store aisles are arranged well it would result in a quality shopping experience which would
also make the customers stay long and purchase more products from the supermarket. And it
is clearly evident that the statement is true because the survey results clearly show that 90%
of the survey participants vote that convenient floor layout improves their shopping
experience.
Main Aim
How store layout improves both quality of shopping and experience
Question
Rationale
Convenient floor layout of Cargills
improves my quality of shopping and
experience.
Davies and Tilley (2004) state that store
layout is how the different aisles and
sections of a store is systematically arranged
in a manner to get the shoppers to buy more
and shop longer
90%
10%
Convienient floor layout
Yes No
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Question 12
Table 13 Impact of lighting
Bellizzi et al.(1983) states that lighting imposes a psychological effect on the customers
therefore it should be done right in order to effective influence the customer shopping
experience. The survey
Main Aim
The assess the impact of lighting on the consumers shopping experience
Question
Rationale
Lighting at Cargills improves my quality
of shopping and experience. (1= Strongly
agree; 5= Strongly disagree)
There are other important components in the
store such as lighting and colours which are
also considered to be visual merchandising
techniques because colors contribute
towards psychological and physiological
effects on the consumers (Bellizzi et al.1983
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
1
2
3
4
5
Impact of lighting
Response
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Question 13
Table 14 Effectiveness of promotional mannequins
88% of the customers have voted positively stating that they are attracted towards brand
mannequins and shelves, therefore as said by Bustos (2004) once the customers are attracted
by these mannequins and shelves they are provoked to make purchases.
Main Aim
To check whether promotional mannequins is an effective visual merchandising
method?
Question
Rationale
Brand endorsed mannequins or shelves
inside the supermarkets attracts my sight
inside the supermarket
Bustos (2004) states that stores can use
mannequins since mannequins will
drastically improve the visual output and
appeal the products that are displayed which
is a key factor in provoking the customers to
make purchases
88%
12%
Promotional mannequins effectiveness
Yes No
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Question 14
Table 15 Psychological impact
68% of the survey participants are excited in making impulse purchases, this is mainly
because there is a psychological connection between impulse purchasing and consumer
behaviour.
Main Aim
To assess the psychological behaviors of the consumers
Question
Rationale
I feel excited when making an impulse
purchase
Dittmar (2005) found that this behaviour
leads excessive shoppers to be more
motivated to buy, in order to strengthen
their self-image and they reported greater
“gaps” between how they see themselves
and how they wish to be seen. They did
more impulse buying and they regret it
more.
68%
32%
Psychological impact
Yes No
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Question 15
Table 16 psychological behaviour
There is a psychological connection between impulse purchasing and consumer behaviour.
And from the obtained survey results 50% of the survey participants regret their impulse
purchasing decision, which fairly connects to Ditmurr statement.
Main Aim
To assess the psychological behaviors of the consumers
Question
Rationale
I regret after making an impulse
purchase
Dittmar (2005) found that this behaviour
leads excessive shoppers to be more
motivated to buy, in order to strengthen
their self-image and they reported greater
“gaps” between how they see themselves
and how they wish to be seen. They did
more impulse buying and they regret it
more.
50%50%
Psychological behaviour
Yes No
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Question 16
Table 17 Effectiveness of window displays
Abraham and Goodey’s statement is very close enough to the results obtained from the
survey because 39 participants find window display interesting, and 27 participants find it
highly persuasive therefore, window display does indeed have a positive impact on the
consumers.
Main Aim
To check whether window displays are effective in a consumers purchasing decision.
Question
Rationale
I feel compelled to enter a supermarket
when I see something interesting in the
window display?
Abraham and Goodey, 1990) state that
consumers are usually attracted to a product
in a display within three to eight seconds,
which is the time need for the customers to
determine and show interest in a displayed
product.
27
39
6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Highly persuasive
Interesting
Not persuasive
Effectiveness of window display
Column1
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Question 17
Table 18 Impact of cleanliness
Carpenter and Moore,2006 (Cited in Gajanayake et.,2011); Ebster and Garaus,2011) state
that cleanliness is a very important factor and an very important visual merchandising
technique used by stores in order to satisfy their customers and increase the customers
willingness to shop, and it is very true since 94% of the survey participants have agreed to
this statement.
Main Aim
To identify the impact of cleanliness.
Question
Rationale
Cleanliness of the internal environment
of Cargills does influence towards my
shopping experience and future visits to
Cargills
Carpenter and Moore,2006 (Cited in
Gajanayake et.,2011); Ebster and
Garaus,2011) state that cleanliness will
result in an increase in willingness to shop
by the customers with an improvement in
frequency to shop and the length the
customer will be shopping for.
94%
6%
Impact of cleanliness
Yes No
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Question 18
Table 19 Effectiveness of in-store displays
Aim was to determine the effectiveness of in-store displays, Stern (1962) mentions that in-
store displays are a determinant of impulse buying and retailers are very keen to improve and
increase the magnitude of impulse purchases within their stores through product and store
displays. Therefore it is evident that in-store displays do have a considerable impact on
impulse purchases because the results obtained from the survey supports this statement as
many survey participants have voted for the first three options.
Main Aim
To determine how effective are in-store displays
Question
Rationale
Effective in-store displays increase the
magnitude of impulse purchases that I
will make inside the supermarket (1=
More likely to purchase ; 5= Less likely to
purchase)
Stern (1962) mentions that in-store displays
are a determinant of impulse buying and
retailers are very keen to improve and
increase the magnitude of impulse
purchases within their stores through
product and store displays.
0
10
20
30
12
34
5
Effectiveness of in-store displays
Response
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Question 19
Table 20 Correlation of displayed products and unplanned purchases
79% of survey participants have said that they tend to purchase more than planned shopping
list, this is mainly due to displayed goods in store because once the customers sees the
displayed product they get an idea of purchasing them, therefore leading to unplanned to
purchase.
Main Aim
To see whether displayed products grasps their attentions and leads to unplanned
purchases.
Question
Rationale
I tend to purchase other items apart from
my shopping list after going through the
in-store displays and shopping aisles
Which is the time need for the customers to
determine and show interest in a displayed
product gives them an idea what they need
to purchase (bastow-shoop et al., 1991).
79%
21%
Affect of displayed products
Yes No
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Question 20
Table 21 Rating of the shopping experience
Good shopping experience is very important since this contributes majorly towards the
survival of the company. The results show that most of the survey participants have had a
good experience however few have not, therefore to improve the shopping experience;
Cargills will have to implement new strategies.
Main Aim
To rate the shopping experience at Cargills
Question
Rationale
Rate your shopping experience at
Cargills (1= Bad ; 5= Excellent)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
1
2
3
4
5
Rating of the shopping experience
Response
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Question 21
Table 22 Comparativeness of Visual merchandising
54% of the participants have said that Cargills is visually attractive than the competitors, this
could be improved by implementing better visual merchandise strategies.
Main Aim
To assess whether Cargills is more visually attractive than its competitors.
Question
Rational
The shopping environment at Cargills is
more visually attractive than the other
competitors in the industry
54%46%
Comparitiveness of VM
Yes No
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4.3 Chapter Summary
Firstly, an introduction was given to the chapter. Thereafter, response summary of each
question was illustrated and analysis was done with relation to the literature reviewed in
chapter 2.
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Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation This chapter reviews up to what extent researcher has achieved the main objectives of the
study with reference to literature, methodology and findings whilst outlining the corporate
background to key terms of the study. The study focused to identify the impact of visual
merchandising on consumer impulse buying behaviour in the retail supermarket industry.
5.1 Academic Objectives
1. To review literature on visual merchandising and features of visual merchandising that
influences the consumer buying behaviour.
2. To review literature on consumer impulse buying behaviour and the characteristics of
consumer impulse buying behaviour.
3. To conduct a research in the form of questionnaires in order to find the impact of visual
merchandising in consumer impulse buying behaviour.
4. To formulate conclusions and make recommendations to visual merchandising and
consumer impulse buying behaviour in the Sri Lankan supermarket industry.
All of first three objectives have been successfully achieved through the literature review and
analysis by critically describing the various techniques of visual merchandising as well as the
degree of psychological impact they have on the consumers buying behaviour, along with the
different views of multiple authors. Further, the researcher has analysed and identified the
significance of implement visual merchandising and the importance of it in order to generate
more profits for the company.
5.2 Synthesis of Literature review and findings
The findings of this research shows that Cargills Supermarket has pretty much faired the
concept of visual merchandising and has created a decent shopping environment by using
different techniques of visual merchandising in order to create an impact on the behaviours of
the consumers. Visual merchandising includes all the various activities and actions which are
done to correlate and merge different kind of merchandise selections with productive and
powerful mode of merchandise display (Walters & White, 1987). Consumer buying
behaviour can be defined as the physical activity and the decision process which is undergone
by an individual when deciding, obtaining, purchasing, using and discarding the service or
product (Madaan, 2009).
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Batow-Shoop et al., (1991), states that consumers determine to show interest in-store displays
which would give them an idea to make a purchase. This statement is predominantly evident
because the survey results show that 79% of the supermarket consumers tend to make
purchases after seeing an in-store display because they get an idea of purchasing it since they
are attracted to these displays. Carpenter and Moore,2006 (Cited in Gajanayake et.,2011);
Ebster and Garaus,2011) state that cleanliness will result in an increase in willingness to shop
by the customers with an improvement in frequency to shop and the length the customer will
be shopping for, this statement also is agreeable because 94% of the survey participants voted
that cleanliness inside a supermarket is a very important factor and a very crucial visual
merchandising technique as well because this would make the customers feel more satisfied
and shop longer within the supermarket. Dittmar (2005) found that consumer buying
behaviour leads excessive shoppers to be more motivated to buy, in order to strengthen their
self-image and they reported greater “gaps” between how they see themselves and how they
wish to be seen. They did more impulse buying and they regret it more. The statement made
by Dittmar the survey shows that 68% tend to get excited when making an impulse purchase
but however not everyone regrets making impulse purchases since the survey shows a 50%
regret percentage on impulse purchase therefore there is a fair share between the consumers
who regret and not regret after making a an impulse purchase. Another important visual
merchandising technique use is promoting products and brands using mannequins and
shelves. Bustos (2004) states that stores can use mannequins since mannequins will
drastically improve the visual output and appeal the products that are displayed which is a
key factor in provoking the customers to make purchases. This statement is agreeable because
88% of the survey participant have voted that brand endorsed mannequins and shelves
provoke them to make more purchases. Overall the literature and survey findings are
predominantly agreeable.
5.3 Limitations of the research
While doing this research, author found several limitations that is associated with the
research. The main limitation was time and financial constraint which limited the findings to
Colombo area and limited the number of respondent to 72. The researcher has chosen only
one main supermarket which has captured more than 45% market share in the Sri Lankan
supermarket industry and the other companies were not given much priority. One of the other
main limitations faced by the author was time management, since many participants delayed
the time period in responding the questionnaires. Another limitation would be whether the
43 | P a g e
participants took the survey seriously without just answering the questionnaires for the sake
of answering. While doing this research, author found several limitations that are associated
with the research.
5.4 Further developments for future research
The research topic was the impact of visual merchandising on consumer impulse buying
behaviour. This survey was mainly based on the supermarkets in Colombo and the survey
participants are from Colombo, therefore this research can be extended up to the Country in
the future which would give more meaningful and reliable results because results obtained
from the outskirts of Colombo and other parts of the country will definitely vary due to many
demographical factors. The questions could be further increased to 30-35 questions so that
analysis can be carried out more effectively and efficiently since there will be more
compromising data available. The future research could also contain how the staffs training
and development help improve visual merchandising strategies with the industry or company.
5.5 Recommendations
According to the results of this survey, Cargills is a very reputed company and is a market
leader in the Sri Lankan supermarket industry but however it has immense competition from
other leading supermarket brands, therefore to compete with them more efficiently the
company will have implement better visual merchandising strategies to up their game so that
they would improve their market share and make the company more profitable. Visual
merchandising is the most important variable in in-store environment of a supermarket. It can
significantly influence on consumer’s store choice decisions and purchases. Therefore,
application of more attractive visual merchandising materials in their promotions will help to
obtain better results. The in-store displays, promotional signage’s, in-store product display
and product shelf presentation are the key elements of visual merchandizing techniques,
therefore Cargills have to give more preference to this and invest more on these techniques.
Spaces between shelves , cashier counters layouts, height of shelves, number of counters,
sanitary facilities, height of roof are key variables of design layout that helps to make
customer relaxation, convenience to selection of products, reduce average waiting time and
encourage the impulse purchasing therefore these should be improved by the supermarket as
well. When designing the product display, Supermarket managers should pay special
attention on category layout of the supermarket, ceiling lighting.
44 | P a g e
Therefore these are the important areas that the company could improve on in order to
improve profitability of the company by implementing the important visual merchandising
techniques.
45 | P a g e
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53 | P a g e
Appendix A Questionnaire
THE IMPACT OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING ON CONSUMER IMPULSE BUYING
BEHAVIOR: RETAIL SUPERMARKET INDUSTRY SRI LANKA
Hello! I’m Apayakaran, a second year student from Business Management School (BMS). I
am currently following a degree in Business management offered by the University of
Northumbria, United Kingdom. As a part of my second year curriculum, I am conducting a
research to understand the impact of visual merchandising on consumer impulse buying
behaviour. Please take a few minutes to fill the below questionnaire to help me conduct the
research. Your feedback is highly appreciated and I thank you in advance!
What is your Gender?*Required
• Male
• Female
Age Group*Required
• 15-20
• 21-25
• 26-30
• 30 and above
I am a customer of Cargills supermarket*Required
• Yes
• No
I visit Cargills supermarket *Required
• Very frequently
• Weekly
• Monthly
The average duration of shopping i do at Cargills supermarket is*Required
• Less than half an hour
• Less than an hour
• More than an hour
I was attracted by the effective presentation of goods at Cargills supermarket*Required
• Yes
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• No
Effective presentation of goods in shelf influences me to purchase the products off the shelf*Required
1 2 3 4 5
More likely to purchase Less like to purchase
Does the position of a product in a shelf influence your purchasing decision?*Required
• Yes
• No
I tend to purchase products off the shelves mainly from the*Required
• Top shelf
• Middle shelf
• Lower shelf
The packaging of a product and its overall look influences my purchasing decision*Required
• Yes
• Maybe
• No
Convenient floor layout of Cargills improves my quality of shopping and experience.*Required
• Yes
• No
Lighting at Cargiils improves my quality of shopping and experience.*Required
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
Brand endorsed mannequins or shelves inside the supermarkets attracts my sight inside the
supermarket*Required
• Yes
• No
I feel excited when making an impulse purchase*Required
• Yes
• No
55 | P a g e
I regret after making an impulse purchase*Required
• Yes
• No
I feel compelled to enter a supermarket when I see something interesting in the window display?*Required
• Highly persuasive
• Interesting
• Not persuasive
Cleaniniess of the internal environment of Cargills does influence towards my shopping experience and
future visits to Cargills*Required
• Yes
• No
Effective in-store displays increase the magnitude of impulse purchses that i will make inside the
supermarket.*Required
1 2 3 4 5
Most likely to purchase Less likely to purchase
I tend to purchase other items apart from my shopping list after going through the in-store displays and
shopping aisles*Required
• Yes
• No
Rate your shopping experience at Cargills*Required
1 2 3 4 5
Bad Excellent
The shopping environment at Cargills is more visually attractive than the other competitors in the
industry*Required
• Yes
• No
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Appendix B Rationale table
Questions Purpose Rationale
1. Gender In order to identify the
gender of the survey
participant
2. Age group In order to identify the age
group pf the survey
participant
3. Have you visited Cargills supermarket?
In order to make sure that the
survey participant is from the
target group
4. I am customer of Cargills supermarket
5. I visit Cargills supermarket
6. The average duration of shopping i do at Cargills supermarket is
To obtain the average time
spent inside the supermarket
Davies and Tilley (2004)
state that store layout is how
the different aisles and
sections of a store is
systematically arranged in a
manner to get the shoppers to
buy more and shop longer. 7. I was attracted by the
effective presentation of goods at Cargills supermarket
To identify whether the
presentation of goods is
attractive.
Visual merchandising is the
effective presentation of
merchandise or a store in a
manner which would
successfully attract the
attention of potential
customers in that intended
market and boost the overall
sales for that product
(Bastow-Shoop et al. 1991
8. Effective presentation of goods in shelf influences me to purchase the products off the shelf
To see whether effective
presentation influences
customers to purchase the
product
Diamond and Diamond
(2003) emphasize on the
need of visual merchandising
and how it effectively
contributes to the success of
a brand or an organization.
The authors state that by
implementing an efficient
visual merchandising
strategy would attract all the
possible customers and
motivate the customers
purchase the products.
9. Does the position of a product in a shelf
Peak and Peak (1977), state
that the position of the shelf
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influence your purchasing decision?
influences the sales of
supermarket products 10. I tend to purchase
products off the shelves mainly from the
Sigurdsson et al., (2009) state
that customers have
implicitly learned that top
brands are allocated on the
top shelves by the retailers. 11. The packaging of a
product and its overall look influences my purchasing decision
To see the impact of effective
packaginf on consumer
purchase decisions
Wanninayake and Randiwela
(2007) state that visual
merchandising related to how
the brand or product visually
communicates with the
customer and whether the
transfer of message is
successfully decoded by the
customer. 12. Convenient floor layout
of Cargills improves my quality of shopping and experience.
THow store layout improves
both quality of shopping and
experience
Davies and Tilley (2004)
state that store layout is how
the different aisles and
sections of a store is
systematically arranged in a
manner to get the shoppers to
buy more and shop longer
13. Lighting at Cargiils improves my quality of shopping and experience.
The assess the impact of
lighting on the consumers
shopping experience
there are other important
components in the store such
as lighting and colours which
are also considered to be
visual merchandising
techniques because colors
contribute towards
psychological and
physiological effects on the
consumers (Bellizzi et
al.1983 14. Brand endorsed
mannequins or shelves inside the supermarkets attracts my sight inside the supermarket
To check whether
promotional mannequins is
an effective visual
merchandising method?
Bustos (2004) states that
stores can use mannequins
since mannequins will
drastically improve the visual
output and appeal the
products that are displayed
which is a key factor in
provoking the customers to
make purchases 15. I feel excited when
making an impulse purchase
To assess the
psychologogical behaviors of
the consmers
Dittmar (2005) found that
this behaviour leads
excessive shoppers to be
more motivated to buy, in
order to strengthen their self-
image and they reported
greater “gaps” between how
58 | P a g e
they see themselves and how
they wish to be seen. They
did more impulse buying and
they regret it more. 16. I regret after making an
impulse purchase To assess the
psychologogical behaviors of
the consmers
Dittmar (2005) found that
this behaviour leads
excessive shoppers to be
more motivated to buy, in
order to strengthen their self-
image and they reported
greater “gaps” between how
they see themselves and how
they wish to be seen. They
did more impulse buying and
they regret it more. 17. I feel compelled to enter
a supermarket when I see something interesting in the window display?
To check whether window
displays are effective in a
consumers purchasing
decision.
Abraham and Goodey, 1990)
state that consumers are
usually attracted to a product
in a display within three to
eight seconds, which is the
time need for the customers
to determine and show
interest in a displayed
product. 18. Cleaniniess of the
internal environment of Cargills does influence towards my shopping experience and future visits to Cargills
To identify the impact of
cleanliness.
Carpenter and Moore,2006
(Cited in Gajanayake
et.,2011); Ebster and
Garaus,2011) state that
cleanliness will result in an
increase in willingness to
shop by the customers with
an improvement in frequency
to shop and the length the
customer will be shopping
for. 19. Effective in-store
displays increase the magnitude of impulse purchses that i will make inside the supermarket.
Stern (1962) mentions that
in-store displays are a
determinant of impulse
buying and retailers are very
keen to improve and increase
the magnitude of impulse
purchases within their stores
through product and store
displays.
20. I tend to purchase other items apart from my shopping list after going through the in-store displays and shopping aisles
Which is the time need for
the customers to determine
and show interest in a
displayed product gives them
an idea what they need to
purchase (bastow-shoop et
59 | P a g e
al., 1991). 21. Rate your shopping
experience at Cargills
22. The shopping environment at Cargills is more visually attractive than the other competitors in the industry
60 | P a g e
Appendix C Project Timeline
Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Submit proposal
Prepare introduction
Search literature
Right up literature review
Prepare methodology
chapter
Prepare primary da
questions based on
literature review
Begin gathering primary
data
Write up the findings
from primary data
collection
Analyse and discuss
findings from primary
data collection
Prepare conclusions and
recommendations chapter
Submit the project