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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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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

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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

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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

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