An Exploratory Empirical Inquiry into Consumer Logistics

Abstract

The study of consumer logistics (CL), which sheds new light on buyer behavior, is focused on household participation in the acquisition of services and in the movement and handling of goods from the point of acquisition to the point of consumption or final disposal. This research advances the study of CL by empirically testing some relationships implied in previous conceptual work. Results indicate participation in CL activities varies among individuals, and the roles household members assume in performing CL tasks are linked to demographic and lifestyle factors. Consumer logistics, as a field of inquiry, affords a new and potentially profitable way of examining consumer behavior at the household level (Granzin 1984). The study of consumer logistics (hereafter, CL ) is focused on consumer participation in the movement and handling of goods from the point of acquisition to the point of consumption or final disposal, as well as consumer participation 1n the acquisition of services.