An exploratory analysis of low-income women consumers and their consumption of 'low involvement' grocery products

Gbadamosi, A

Abstract

In view of the diversity that exists among consumers, this study argues the importance
of focusing on just one sub-group of consumers. Therefore, the study aims to explore
the attitudes, motivations, and purchase behaviour of low-income women consumers
to 'low-involvement' products. More specifically, the adopted methodology
comprises of a focus group discussion followed by thirty semi-structured interviews.
Findings suggest that low-income women consumers engage in habitual purchasing
and are not loyal to brands of grocery products. However, they often buy stores' own
value-range brands as they believe that these products are similar to manufacturers'
brands. They do not perceive price to be an indication of quality, rather they attribute
basic differences between the stores' own value-range and manufacturers' brands as
'expensive packaging' and the popularity of the brand name. Value for money was
revealed as a key motivation underlying their purchasing of grocery products.
Consequently, they are very sensitive to sales promotions and actively engage in
making comparisons between the promotions in different stores within their locality.
The implications of the study are twofold. Firstly, this research challenges the
common assumptions within the consumer behaviour literature that all grocery
products are low-involvement. Hence, generalisation in consumer behaviour without
due reference to the contextual factors identified among low-income women
consumers provides a limited understanding of their decision making and purchase
behaviour. Secondly, from a marketing perspective, the study supports the importance
of segmentation/targeting with regard to the design of appropriate sales promotion
techniques for targeting low-income consumers.

Citation

Gbadamosi, A. An exploratory analysis of low-income women consumers and their consumption of 'low involvement' grocery products. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2012
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2008