Shopping Behaviour, Motivations and Typologies - Literature Review

Shopping behaviour, motivations and typologies

A Literature Review by Robert Pickstone in 2008

www.robertpickstone.com

Shopping Behaviour

Since the mid 1950¶s the quantity of studies into shopping behaviour has accelerated greatly. Stone (1954) found that social characteristics affect shopping typologies and Tauber (1972) found that shopping motives can be social and personal, as well as functional. These two pieces of work are viewed by academics as starting points for further development s into different aspects of shopping behaviour. The remainder of this section briefly outlines some areas of shopping behaviour and their relevance to shopping motivations and typologies.

Store atmospherics and environment s were studied by Kotler (1973), Donovan (1982) and Belk (1993). Kotler (1973) argued that the tangible product is only part of the total product. Other factors such as service, advertising and pleasantries all help to form the atmosphere of the place that a product is situated in, which in turn has an affect on a shoppers purchase probability. Kotler (1973) concluded that more research should be undertaken into how different atmospheric elements work so that that they do not continue to be a neglected tool in the future.

Donovan (1982) found that consumers experience in-store environments using two major emotional dimensions, which are arousal (arousing -sleepy) and pleasantness (pleasant-unpleasant). The emotional reactions to a store environment then have an affect on shopping related i ntentions. A high level of arousal can also increase the amount of time spent in a store and willingness to interact with sales staff. Bloemer (1998) then further investigated the relationship between store image and loyalty behaviour.

Store atmospherics and environments have changed monumentally over the past half century. Modern store managers are constantly looking at new ways to improve a shopping experience, rather than purely focusing on the product on the shelf. These changes may improve the motivation for a shopper to visit


the store. The type of shoppers attracted to a store may also differ to the types of shopper attracted to a product.

One of the earliest pieces of research into gift giving was carried out by Belk (1979), who stated that the function of gift giving serves to allow a message to be passed on from the giver to the receiver. This form of symbolic communication acts as both the message and the channel, therefore reducing the possibility of distortion. Due to a lack of flexibility in the specific meanings that can be conveyed by a gift, as well well as different encoding and de -coding perceptions, gift giving is not always an effective method of communicating messages.

Sherry (1983) proposed a model that showed the proces s of gift-giving behaviour. Although this model was hugely complex, it was intended to stimulate further and more comprehensive research around the area. Demoss (1990) developed the concept further by exploring self -gifts. Findings showed that self gifts are a form of personally symbolic symbolic self -communication through special indulgences.

The motivation behind gift giving and the types of shoppers who purchase special gifts may be influenced by competition and culture. Shoppers that are motivated to purchase gifts which are high quality or have specific features may be interested in what competitors can offer too ± which may impact on store patronage. Cultural issues such as celebration of events and the importance placed on gift gift giving can affect shopper typo logies across different markets.

The rest of this review will look into the devel opment of shopping typologies and motives, as an aspect of shopping behaviour. Typologies and motives are heavily linked. For decades shopping behaviour studies have explored how motives define a shopper type, and how a shopper type is defined by different motivations.


Shopping typologies and motivations

A study by Stone (1954) into different social characteristics within a social structure was one of the earliest key papers that led to the topic of shopping behaviour being explored in greater depth. Stone¶s (1954) study of Chicago housewives in a social context was set in an urban shopping environment. Findings showed four different types of shoppers: economic, prescriptive, ethical and apathetic. Although the sample size and variance was limited, the identification of different types of shoppers with different characteristics was an important early step into the study of shopping behaviour. The Chicago Tribune (1955) then carried out a similar study on female department store shoppers using in depth interviews. The types of shoppers identified were dependant, compulsive and individualistic, although the sample size was less than half of Stone¶s (1954) study.

Stephenson and Willett (1969) proposed a conceptual taxonomy on shoppers based on actual patronage and and shopping behaviour. behaviour. The four types of shoppers identified were store loyal shoppers, compulsive and recreational shoppers, convenience shoppers, and price bargain conscious shoppers. The consumer and environment for this study was very specific, being adult buyers of apparel, shoes and toys.

A piece of work that supported Stone (1954) was conducted by Darden and Reynolds (1971) on consumer shopping orientations in relation to product usage. Using structured questionnaires questionnaires with multi -item Likert format, a different method to Stone (1954), shopping orientations of a similar nature were found; economic, moralistic, personalising and apathetic.

The motives behind shopping behaviour were explored by Tauber (1972) in his well known article µWhy do people shop?¶ Eleven Eleven motives for peop le shopping were identified , with six being of a personal nature and five being of a social nature. Personal motives were were role playing, diversions, self -


gratification, learning about new trends, physical activity and sensory stimulation. Social motives were social experiences outside the home, communication with others having a similar interest, peer group attraction, status and authority and pleasure of bargaining. The method of study only took account of a public in Los Angeles between the ages of 20 -47. This is recognised by Tauber (1972) when he states that future research should measure the importance of these motives in different shopper segments and also that that his findings are only hypothetical reasons for shopping that need to be developed further. Never the less this was still one of the earliest examples of shopping motives being studied and categorised.

The eleven motives described by Tauber (1972) were the starting point for a study by Buttle (1984) into shopping motives. The motives hypothes ised were tested a decade later in a different continent, in the country of New Zealand, to see if they were still significant. The method of testing was to hold in depth interviews with twenty two females, and draw findings based on their comments. Findings showed eight different motives for shopping which were to kill time, exercise, reflection on temperament, information acquisition, subordinate activity, social event, comparison shopping and special occasions. All but three of Tauber's (1972) motives em erged at some point of the interviews. Although it was an exploratory study the method used made the findings difficult to conclusively link back to Tauber¶s (1972) study.

Different lifestyles, communication needs and shopping orientations have an effect on the type of shopper a person is (Moschis, 1976). After city centre shoppers from Madison, Wisconsin were surveyed on their shopping behaviour in relation to cosmetic products, results showed six different types of shoppers: Store Loyal, Brand Loyal, Sp ecials Shopper, Psychosocializing, Name Conscious Conscious and Problem Solving. Recreational shoppers were a type of shopper studied in more detail by Bellenger and Korgaonkar (1980). To gain usable responses every fifth shopper was surveyed in mall mall and non -mall areas within Atlanta, Georgia. Findings suggested that these types of shoppers are influenced by store atmospherics and in -store merchandising. It


was suggested that the retailer should attempt to use these tools creatively in order to attract the recreational shopper to what they subconsciously want; attractive décor and an exciting shopping experience. Two basic types of shoppers were identified as recreational and economic. Interpretation of these results is cautioned by the author¶s use of a potentially potentially unreliable single-item single-ite m measurement of the criterion variable, defined as the extent of shopping enjoyment.

Broad confirmation of the hypotheses advanced by Tauber (1972) is illustrated through the findings of Westbrook¶s (1985) study which attempts to isolate the various motivational dimensions underlying consumer shopping activity. Seven dimensions of shopping behaviour are identified. Five motivations which broadly support Tauber¶s (1972) work are: negotiation to obtain price concessions from the seller, seller, optimisation of merchandise choice in terms of matching shopper¶s needs and desires, affiliation with reference groups, exercise of power and authority in market place exchanges, and sensory stimulation from the marketplace itself. Two extended motives identified within the study are: anticipated utility of prospective purchases and enactment of an economic shopping role. Although the response size was large with 203 adults being surveyed in department stores in Arizona, all were female. Although the methodology was strong and thorough, the fact that it is a female based piece of research is likely to have had some effect on the strength of the findings, which is not mentioned in the text.

Lesser and Hughes Hughes (1986) offer ed alternative shopper typologies wit h seven basic typologies being identified: i nactive, active, service, traditional, dedicated fringe, price and transitional. These typologies were formed after a psychographic segmentation study on seventeen communities in twelve states of six geographic regions of America. Respondents were surveyed by telephone. This method meant that responses were given a significant amount of time after an actual shopping experience, so shopping emotions amongst respondents may not be as strong as they may have been if sampling was carried out at a shopping centre. This study is still one of the


few that attempt to find consistency of typologies across marketplaces rather than focusing on one demographic.

A study by Hallsworth (1991) into grocery store shoppers within t he UK found six central motivational dimensions: Enjoyment, Price, Small and Local, Parking, Sociability and Quality. The research was carried out in Portsmouth and was one of the few pieces of key research on shopping motivation to be carried out in the UK.

Morschett (2001) found that shopping motives significantly affected a consumer¶s choice of store format, whist Gollwitzer (1990) found that individuals are often motivated by goals and take several stages of actions to achieve these goals, but often resort to previous behaviour to achieve the same result.

Hibbert and Tagg (2001) (2001) explored further into motivation motivat ion in relation to goal achievement, by using a craft fair as the environment. The investigation was into the link between motives motives that bring people to a store and satisfaction of these motives in the course of shopping activities. Customers who achieved their motivation of goal attainment viewed the experience as positive and were more likely to return. The level of effort effort invested into the sho pping activity, the levels of engagement with the social and physical retail environment, and the expenditure of money only moderated the relationship between goal importance and attainment. It was noted that due to the fact that the environment was a craft fair, and that there was some conjecture in the interpretation of results, the study was limited.

Morschett (2005) argues that motivations influence the perception of retail store attributes and attitudes towards retail stores. A study on over five hundred grocery shoppers within Germany included a taxonomic analysis of four central dimensions of shopping motives, which were then compared with Westbrook and Black¶s (1985) summary of shopper types. Two shopper types were identified again: price orientated and quality orientated. The apathetic


shopper type was not identified, whist the convenience orientated shopper was broken down into two types; time pressed consumer and one -stop shopper. This investigation supports the proposition by Hibbert and Tagg (2001) that consumers differ in attitude towards a grocery store according to their shopping motives.

Rajamma (2005) found that different shopping motivations can influence the perception of service type and different shopping modes. In a study that also explored the influence of motivation on internet shoppers, as well as brick and mortar shoppers, services are more likely to be associated with online shopping whist products are more likely to be associated with brick and mortar shopping. The value of this study is that retailing mix strategies can be tailored with both online and offline customers in mind, but the respondents were only taken from two US zip codes, which limits the credibility of the study, especially the online section.

An analysis of motives and online shopping behaviour resulted in Rohm and Swaminathan (2004) suggesting that online grocery shoppers can also fall into typologies. The four labels given were convenience shoppers, variety seekers, balanced buyers and store-orientated shoppers. Convenience was identified as a motivation for shopping online, which is similar to the findings of Bellenger and Korgaonkar (1980) for motivations of traditional recreational shoppers. It was suggested that further research into online shopper motivations should take place because the consumers used in the study may only be early adopters of the relatively new concept of online shopping.

Online shoppers may be motivated by more than just goal orientated extrinsic factors. They may also be motivated by intrinsic factors such as playfulness and entertainment (Shang, 2005). Web magazine readers and students were both surveyed online and offline to test a model hypothesised by previous research. Results indicated that some user¶s responses were not reliable. reliable. It was recommended that further research should explore the two types of


motivations in more detail by using random sampling rather than targeted sources.

Shang¶s (2005) findings support the findings of Arnold and Reynold (2003). Arnold and Reynold (2003) argued that entertainment can influence shopping behaviour and motivations, as was discovered in their study of hedonic shopping motivations. Using the increasing importance of entertainment within retail strategies as a motivation for the research, research, shopping motivations such as adventure, gratification, role, value, social and idea were cluster analysed on adult consumers to reveal fiver shopper typologies: minimalists, gatherers, providers, enthusiasts and traditionalists.

Implications for Marketing Practice and Further Research

At no point over the last fifty years of shopping behaviour research has it been argued that shoppers are not motivated in some form. Marketing managers should should try to seek and understand understand the motivational motivational factors that affec t his or her customer, as discussed in the wide range of studies into shopper motivations and typologies. This should already be part of marketing practice when carrying out market segmentation or adding further market research towards the current set of customers.

Marketing managers should also find ways that allow their customers to achieve their motivational aims, as mentioned in reasonably recent studies by Hibbert and Tagg (2001) and Morschett (2005). This should already be being implemented when the marketing mix of an organisation is being tailored.

Unless a series of studies focus on matching consumer environment and demographic location to that of a specific store, then it is unlikely that a marketing or store manager would use study evidence as anything other than general guidance.


Motivation and shopper typology theories have changed with time. This could be because of an ever developing understanding due to the subject being explored deeply. On the other hand this change may have occurred larg larg ely because of uncontrollable changes within shop ping habits and within culture. culture. Marketing managers should monitor online shopping behaviour research closely to see if any findings apply to their market.

There are many many different angles to shopping motivat ions and typologies that can be further researched. Shoppers within specific countries, shoppers of specific products and shoppers of specific social status can be explored in greater depth. Attempts to broadly explain the area of shopping behaviour has met limitations in the form of not being able to show representation across large markets or large geographic areas. This problem is likely to continue, and different studies will continue to have limitations of this nature, until studies become significantly larger in terms of geographic locations of respondents and variety of retail environments used.

With the internet shopping industry rapidly increasing there should be further research into typologies and motivations for shoppers who use the internet, and whether this type of shopping affects the behaviour patterns of the same shoppers when the traditional brick and mortar method is used.


References

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Buttle, F. and Coates, M. (1984), ³Shopping Motives´, Service Industries Journal , Vol 4. Issue. 1, 71-81.

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Shopping Behaviour, Motivations and Typologies - Literature Review

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