How unit price awareness and usage encourages grocery brand switching and expenditure
Section snippets
Unit pricing research
Diffusion of unit pricing research began in line with the promotion of unit price programs among several large supermarkets in the United States during the early 1970s (Isakson and Maurizi, 1973; Monroe and LaPlaca, 1972; Kilbourne, 1974). It remains topical today with researchers examining both consumer and retailer impacts (Johnston and Cortez, 2018; Roth et al., 2017; Yao and Oppewal, 2016; Weeks et al., 2016). Scholars initially sought to measure consumer knowledge, awareness,
Brand switching
Brand switching behaviour has been examined in a range of settings, including services (Keaveney, 1995; Pick, 2014; Tesfom et al., 2016), automotive retailing (Sambandam and Lord, 1995), banking and finance (Chakravarty et al., 2004; Mohsan et al., 2011) and retail channels (Chiu et al., 2011; Mutum et al., 2014; Reardon and McCorkle, 2002). More commonly however, it has been studied within the realm of grocery stores and supermarkets, where the frequency and low involvement nature of
Theoretical framework and hypothesis development
In contrast to classic economic theory, which assumes transitive preferences and utility maximization, research in judgement and decision-making reveals that consumers regularly do not have fixed and well-defined rankings of preferences, do not always make rational decisions in relation to those preferences, and often make choices only at the time a decision is required (Bettman and Park, 1980; Slovic, 1995). Choices can be dependent on the presence or absence of other alternatives (i.e.,
Methodology
To test our hypotheses, we provide a new analysis of the dataset recently reported in Weeks et al. (2016). That work involved a field experiment examining the value of providing consumer education to shoppers about unit pricing and how to use it, and observing impacts on real grocery expenditure longitudinally across 20 weeks. It was found that while a no-education control group tended to display roughly the same average spend per item each week, two experimental groups receiving consumer
Dataset and method of collection
The dataset to be analysed was collected as part of research reported in Weeks et al. (2016). It is based on approximately 15,600 grocery receipts provided by 302 household shoppers across a 20-week longitudinal field experiment. Shoppers were recruited through an advertisement in national newspapers in Australia for a study on “grocery shopping habits”. They were individuals aged over 18 years who were the regular shopper for a household, and who purchased groceries on a weekly or near-weekly
Results
To address H1, which predicts that shoppers sensitized to unit pricing will switch to a new product that has a middle-ground unit price (not simply be the cheapest available), we documented the range of unit prices paid within the dataset for each of our eight product categories. We then considered where the average final unit price paid by our shoppers fell within this range, as an indicator of magnitude of the unit price of purchased product. In support of H1, for each product type in all
Discussion
Previous research has raised concern that the provision of unit pricing encourages shoppers to switch to the cheapest products available and reduce grocery expenditure (Isakson and Maurizi, 1973; Manning et al., 2003; McGoldrick and Marks, 1985). Our research does not support this view. In our analysis we found for products in all eight categories examined, the average final unit price paid by shoppers educated about unit pricing was at a middle-ground within the range of unit prices available
Limitations and future directions
While this study contributes to current literature and practice by examining the effects of how unit price driven brand switching behaviour is moderated by characteristics of the product category, limitations exist that provide opportunities for further research. Firstly, while across the 20-week dataset we observed a range of switching behaviour, these observations were constrained to the eight packaged grocery categories chosen (teabags, instant coffee, sauce/ketchup, fresh eggs,
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2022, Journal of Retailing and Consumer ServicesCitation Excerpt :The quantitative data relates to a single product category. As Mortimer and Weeks (2019, p. 347) conclude in their empirical study that “switching behaviour varies across categories”, further product segments should be investigated. The scope should be extended to include unpackaged products, among others, since this category is largely ignored both in regulations related to (Fecher et al., 2020b) and in research on unit pricing.
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2020, Journal of Retailing and Consumer ServicesCitation Excerpt :Some of this work is informed by thinking in sociology and social theory (e.g. Elms et al., 2016; Everts and Jackson, 2009; Jackson et al., 2006) but most relies in one way or another on developments in the psychological sciences. Some researchers have drawn on insights on decision rules and heuristics (e.g. Timmermans, 1983) whereas others have built on developments in behavioral economics (e.g. Mortimer and Weeks, 2019). A common approach is to turn to generic theoretical models that seek to represent the often unobservable factors and processes that trigger specific behavior outcomes.
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