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- Lindberg, Ulla, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Consumer perception and behavior in the retail foodscape – A study of chilled groceries
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-6989 .- 1873-1384. ; 40, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the retail grocery business, new competitors such as pure e-commerce players are growing fast, and, in order to compete, ‘brick and mortar’ stores such as supermarkets need to become more professional at providing excellent customer service, and to use the physical servicescape as the main competitive advantages. However, supermarkets also face a challenge to offer consumers high quality products while at the same time providing a pleasant and functional servicescape. Products like groceries often need to be stored in cabinets due to strict regulations and in order to maintain correct temperatures. Some of these cabinets have doors which make them more energy-efficient (Evans et al., 2007 ; Faramarzi et al., 2002), reduces costs, and contributes to grocery quality, but it can also affect the perceived servicescape, and risk a negative impact on sales (Waide, 2014; Kauffeld, 2015). For example, moisture from the atmosphere that condenses on the inside of the door glass (Fricke and Bansal, 2015) may make the cabinets less transparent, and doors can obstruct consumers from passing by. Thus, having chilled groceries in cabinets with doors can be both beneficial and problematic. However, no studies have been conducted on how open (no doors) or closed (with doors) cabinets for chilled groceries impact consumer perception and behavior. Hence, the purpose of the study is to contribute to an understanding of how consumers behave and what they perceive when shopping chilled groceries from cabinets with doors and without doors in the supermarket.Based on a qualitative research approach, combining in-store observations and focus group interviews, and focusing on Bitner's (1992) three environmental variables in the servicescape, i.e. (1) ambient condition, (2) space and functions, and (3) signs, symbols and artifacts, the study investigates the question: do open or closed cabinets for chilled groceries in the supermarket impact consumer perception and behavior, and if so, how?Our results indicate that consumers’ behavior and perceptions of the foodscape differ when there are doors or no doors on the cabinets. The paper thereby contributes to servicescape research by focusing on a particular part of supermarkets – the foodscape for chilled groceries–and by enhancing the understanding of environmental variables in the servicescape. The results further show how doors lead to different forms of approach or avoidance behavior in terms of accessibility and that consumers’ vision, olfaction and tactility all influence consumers’ perceptions of freshness and cleanliness in relation to doors or no doors. Our results also have practical implications for retailers who are designing new stores or considering changes in existing store layouts.
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| 2. |
- Lindberg, Ulla, et al.
(författare)
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Doors or no doors: consumers’ behaviour and experiences when purchasing chilled food in supermarkets
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several studies have shown that it is of importance to keep the chilled air inside thecabinet for refrigerated food. Accordingly, the physical environment in front of thecabinets affect both the thermal comfort for consumer and personnel, the energy usagefor the supermarket and the quality for the chilled food products. Knowledge on whatconsumers experience and how they behave in-store when introduced to verticalcabinets with doors for chilled food creates new business opportunities for retailers, aswell as saving energy. Most consumers are aware of environmental issues and the needof energy savings, however they lack knowledge on the impact by fitting doors oncabinets in stores, besides energy savings, doors might also prevent consumers frombuying products from closed cabinets. There is a strong need to develop a deeperunderstanding from the consumers´ behaviors in order to understand and improve theservicescape and shopping experience in supermarkets were refrigerated food isdisplayed.The purpose of this study is to investigate what consumers perceive and how theybehave in supermarket store settings when being introduced to closed vertical displaycabinets for chilled food. In doing so, we elaborate on the servicescape literature andhow the influence of servicescapes might be used in order to develop the understandingof how new technique might facilitate the provision of service offerings in-store. Fromthe qualitative consumer study, we underline the importance of considering the physicalenvironment as well as sensory perception and experiences when introducing doors oncabinets in a supermarket. The experiences, insights and definitions about freshness inparallel with consumer behaviour with or without doors on the cabinets for refrigeratedfood is further discussed.Keywords: consumer, behaviour, supermarket, sensory, servicescapeSubject classification codes: include these here if the journal requires them
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