Consumer Response to Retailers' Marketing Environments: An Analysis of Coffee Purchase Data

Abstract

As a consequence of differences in positioning strategies, retail outlets for grocery products often differ in their "marketing environment" - that is, in the configuration of price, product, and promotional stimuli to which consumers are exposed in the store. The in-store marketing environment can be an important marketing tool in terms of its ability to influence consumers' purchase behavior and attract certain types of consumers. This study examines the association between the in-store marketing environment and certain characteristics of consumers' purchase behavior. The results indicate that consumers exposed to different environments exhibit significant differences in their brand loyalty, promotion sensitivity, price sensitivity, and response to new brands. These differences in behavior are found to be related to environmental attributes such as width of product assortment and promotional activity.