A Spectral Analysis of the Frequency of Supermarket Visits

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study which examined a very simple phenomenon, the incidence of trips to supermarkets by consumers. Shopping trips were chosen because they are basic to the description of consumer behavior and because there is a growing interest in this area. Several store choice studies [1, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17] using methodologies other than the one employed here have recently appeared. Supermarkets were selected because they are the major recipient of the consumer's available shopping time and shopping dollar. A priori expectations were that the incidence of trips to supermarkets by consumers should be related to consumers' demand for supermarket products and to consumers' available time for shopping, i.e., disposable time. Shopping frequency was believed to be positively related to both. It was also expected that families with little disposable time should display more consistent shopping patterns than families with more disposable time. These expectations stem from empirical evidence and from a simulation analysis of consumer movement [10].