Supermarket competence in emergent markets: Conceptualization, measurement, effects, and policy implications

Abstract

When channels of distribution change, consumer competences have to adapt. We define supermarket competence as the set of skills and knowledge that enables consumers to locate, evaluate, and choose among product offerings in a supermarket to fulfill their shopping goals. We develop a scale that measures three components of supermarket competence: finding and locating products, understanding and using packaging information, and interpreting prices. To test the structure and reliability of the scale, it is applied to three consumer samples in China. Supermarket competence is found to be related to shopping trip satisfaction, perceived shopping risk, and use of brand information. In addition, consumers with different levels of supermarket competence are found to differ in their demographic characteristics and in their shopping behavior. Policy implications for strengthening consumers' supermarket competence are discussed.