Investigating new consumer behaviour dimensions in grocery retailing: some evidence from Southern Italy

Abstract

The post-modern consumer is an entirely new figure and represent one of the strategic factors in terms of consumer beahaviuor and purchase intentions. The studies on grocery retailing industry is considered constantly a priority in marketing research and in managerial practice. The retailers that operate in grocery retailing, in order to propose an adequate offering system to customers, want to know what drives a consumer to make their daily purchasing and what are the factors that fosters this process. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the purchasing behaviour and explore the factors of a local context. The research is based on an explorative approach on a sample of consumers residing in Campania Region. The qualitative methodology was administrated in the three following points: 1) first, data was collected through the diary tool; 2) subsequently, were conducted in depth interviews, on the same respondents of the diaries; lastly, 3) a content analysis was carried out on the results of the diaries and interviews. The research partially confirms the evidence emerging from recent studies on Marketing Performance Measurement (MPM) in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) industry, referred to share of wallet's creation. Moreover, offers a new interpretation of the conceptual model on MPM, in the perspective of consumer behaviour. The research methodology is based on the individual’s daily observation during his monthly purchasing process, influenced by cultural factors. The first evidences could be useful for grocery ratailing's managers to modify the business model, in the decisions on offering system, in the distribution format and in terms of pricing strategies (that is, HILO and EDLP strategy). Therefore, the future scenario is of a great interest, both for the evolutionary trends in purchasing behaviour than for the business model’s innovations in grocery retailing