Research Proposal on Customer’s In Store Purchase Behaviour

Abstract:
The research evolves through the consumer purchase
behaviour inside a store and effects of in door products
promotion on consumer buying behaviour. Along with the
main idea a minor touch will be given to responsiveness
of loyal customers of brands in price variations Data
will be collected through the comprehensive literature
review and focus group interviews. The Data will be
analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistical
tools to arrive at better conclusion

Background:

Studying consumer’s in-store behaviour is an important

topic for academic researchers and industry practitioners
alike. Researchers are particularly interested in better
understanding the factors that drive the dynamics of a
consumer’s shopping trip. For instance, how does a
consumer’s in-store behaviour evolve (i) as he/she spends
money in the store while shopping (ii) as he/she buys
certain types of products, and (iii) as he/she reacts to
the presence of other shoppers around. The answers to
these questions may lead to important theoretical and
managerial implications regarding the design of retail
space, promotion and product placement, issues that are
of key interest to practitioners and researchers as
follows:
Theoretical:
• A better comprehension of a forgotten subject with a
new way to study it
• A first examination of the impact of some variables
on the consumer buying behaviour
Managerial:
• Creation of new indicators to assess the efficiency
of a store implantation
• A deeper knowledge of customer’s behaviour allowing
the development of precise sales
• A better understanding of how to use effective
indoor promotion to increase sale.

Objective:

• To find out that how consumer take decision while

purchasing in store and to find the factors which
result in the switching of store by customers for
shopping.
• To find the behaviour of loyal consumer of brands in
case of variation in prices to set most suitable
prices.

Institute of Management Sciences, Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST). 1

Research Proposal on Customer’s In Store Purchase Behaviour

• To find the effect of in store promotion on sale of

store to increase the profitability of stores.

Theoretical Framework:

A key premise is that consumers have different shopping

behaviours and they lead logically to different patterns
of in-store response to marketing variables. The
behavioural foundation for this premise is that the
consumer’s store choice and expenditure decisions are
linked and dependent on each other. As noted earlier,
this foundation has a basis in consumer behaviour field
work (e.g., Park et al 1989), formal econometric analysis
(e.g., Krishnamurthi and Raj 1988) and recent work on
store choice (e.g., Bell and Lattin 1998). By describing
the rationale and mechanism for this joint process and
then proceed to outline specific hypotheses regarding how
shopping behaviours influence the expenditure outcomes.
In particular, i develop arguments for how two dimensions
of shopping behaviour (inclination to switch stores and
preference for store price formats) influence the in-
store expenditure behaviour of consumers.

In summary, prior literature has identified dependence

between brand choice and purchase quantity decisions.
Recent work on store choice has suggested a similar
selectivity bias might exist in the store choice and
expenditure decisions, but has not explicitly tested this
idea. My hypotheses and analysis of consumer shopping
behaviours are built on the fundamental notion that the
store choice and expenditure decisions are linked.

In the literature on brand choice, a number of empirical

regularities have emerged with respect to consumer
switching patterns and underlying responsiveness to
prices. A key generalization of relevance to our work is
that of Krishnamurthi and Raj (1991), who shows that
brand loyal consumers are relatively insensitive to
prices in their brand choice decisions, yet they respond
to deals by stocking up on their preferred brands. Brand
switchers, on the other hand, act in the opposite manner:
they do not stock up on any one brand, but their initial
brand choice decisions are highly sensitive to changes in
price. Krishamurthi and Raj (1991) give the following
rationale; “Loyal consumers are expected to be in the
market for their particular brand often; in some sense
they need the brand. Because of their strong preferences
for the brand’s attributes, they will choose the brand
most of the time regardless of price. However, they are
likely to adjust the quantity they purchase to take

Institute of Management Sciences, Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST). 2

Research Proposal on Customer’s In Store Purchase Behaviour

advantage of prices. This should be reflected in high

quantity elasticities.”

On the other hand, non-loyal consumers; “should be quite

sensitive to the price of the brand in the choice
decision. Because they have no compelling need to buy
this particular brand, they will be persuaded to buy the
brand only if the price is low enough. This is reflected
in high choice elasticities. However, because this brand
is not their favourite brand and they adjust brand choice
based on prices, the quantity purchased is not expected
to be as sensitive to the brand’s price.

Research methodology:

A qualitative and quantitative research methodology will

be used for the research project to find out the better
explanation of the proposal. In line with the objectives
and terms of references (ToRs) of the study, data and
relevant information will be collected through a
comprehensive literature review from internet and library
(For secondary data). Questionnaire and focus group
interviews will be used for direct intervention and for
the collection of primary data.

Analysis:

All the data will be analyzed by the SPSS PC+ Program.

Descriptive (mean, standard deviation, range, frequency,
and percentage) and inferential statistical tests like
correlation, regressions, chi-squares and ANOVA as
appropriate will be used to present findings. A
preliminary report will be submitted to supervisor for
comments and suggestions will be incorporated in final
report.

Institute of Management Sciences, Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST). 3