Trends In Consumer Behaviour Research Articles

The Diffusion of Innovative Practices Among Meat Retailers in Northern Greece

This paper investigates the degree to which Greek butchers try to come to grips with the implications of long term modern trends. The “traditional butcher versus modern supermarket” conceptual dichotomy is a dead-end for the former. In order to meet the long term challenges of contradictory consumer behavior trends, Greek butchers must embrace them and use them to their own advantage, rather than resist them. The paper deals with issues of innovation adoption by the sector, emphasising the role of the sectoral collective institutions that act as the collective consciousness of their constituents and can hinder or facilitate innovation diffusion.

Consumer behaviour trends and their impacts on airline product distribution

Airlines today must start looking further into the future of airline distribution to better understand key factors that will converge on a 5-year horizon. This paper highlights these factors and provides actionable insights into how an airline can start preparing for the future.

Grounding the virtual: The material effects of electronic grocery shopping

This paper addresses the materiality of computer-mediated retailing. The paper uncovers the “hidden geography” of e-commerce, considering how the seemingly simple act of doorstep food delivery is explicated in urban form, and in transportation and communication infrastructures. The paper categorises electronic grocery shopping (EGS) enterprises into three types: “bricks and clicks”, “pure-play” and the “infomediary”, and examines how each type of operation has been materialised in the urban landscape, and the infrastructure upon which each draws. The paper then considers the strategies EGS operations have used to offset the “killer costs” of logistics for electronic commerce. The paper concludes by considering how electronic grocery shopping is embedded within broader trends in consumer behaviour, and how these trends are manifested in the materiality of urban life. The paper argues that online grocers are in the vanguard of ventures habituating customers to the remote ordering and delayed delivery of products to the home. Through controlling this “last mile”, online retailers hope to extend the product offer to higher-margin and more problematic products, which are in themselves unprofitable to distribute direct to the customer, but which can be profitably combined with a grocery shop.

Additional Practice Papers: Premium pricing: Understanding the value of premium

Changing consumer perceptions of luxury are complicating the process by which consumers decide whether or not paying for premium branded goods and services is worth it. This study indicates that consumer behaviour is reflected in changing market conditions and that factors such as personal interest in the spending category are very important in determining whether consumers will pay more. This underlines the importance for companies and organisations of understanding trends in consumer behaviour and lifestyle. The study also explores how the expansion of the price spectrum in specific brands and markets is allowing consumers to shop at the price point which suits them, which creates more entry points for luxury shopping and satisfies demand for low prices. It also suggests that long-term shifts in consumer attitudes are behind the proliferation of intangible attributes that consumers associate with ‘premiumness’.

Flanders Corp, USA

This paper addresses the materiality of computer-mediated retailing. The paper uncovers the “hidden geography” of e-commerce, considering how the seemingly simple act of doorstep food delivery is explicated in urban form, and in transportation and communication infrastructures. The paper categorises electronic grocery shopping (EGS) enterprises into three types: “bricks and clicks”, “pure-play” and the “infomediary”, and examines how each type of operation has been materialised in the urban landscape, and the infrastructure upon which each draws. The paper then considers the strategies EGS operations have used to offset the “killer costs” of logistics for electronic commerce. The paper concludes by considering how electronic grocery shopping is embedded within broader trends in consumer behaviour, and how these trends are manifested in the materiality of urban life. The paper argues that online grocers are in the vanguard of ventures habituating customers to the remote ordering and delayed delivery of products to the home. Through controlling this “last mile”, online retailers hope to extend the product offer to higher-margin and more problematic products, which are in themselves unprofitable to distribute direct to the customer, but which can be profitably combined with a grocery shop.

From coaching inn to chameleon — Trends in consumer behaviour and attitudes in the pub/bar market

The basis for this paper is a presentation the author made in January 1999 on demographic and lifestyle changes and their likely impact on the restaurant industry. Much of the data and research for that session were compiled over the previous year while the author worked on a major consulting project for Coca-Cola: ‘From ingredient shopping to meal solutions — meeting the consumer appetite for change’. The project lasted over six months and investigated the potential for ‘meal solutions’ (or ready meals) in Europe, as traditional boundaries between the retail food market and food-service providers (not least the pub) blurred as a result of dramatic changes in people's lifestyles. It included extensive research visits across the USA and Europe, where the world's leading food retail companies were interviewed, along with customer focus groups in six countries.As a consultant to the hospitality and leisure industry it became increasingly clear that there were a number of significant ‘drivers’ that were likely to have real impact on our world — irrespective of whether operating pubs, bars, restaurants or retail foodstores. The paper concentrates on these ‘drivers’, and the likely implications for the industry (including the pub/bar market). The opinions, while based largely on the data and consulting experience derived from relevant projects, are solely attributable to the author and are intended to provoke discussion and debate.

Converging Trends within the European Union: Insights from an Analysis of Diffusion Patterns

The unification of Europe offers major opportunities for firms providing products and services to the consumer market of nearly 400 million people. To capitalize effectively on these opportunities, firms must comprehend fully the changing macroenvironmental and consumer behavior trends in the European Union (EU). Recent research indicates that, though individual member countries differ substantially, convergence is increasing in the EU market. This observation requires a major revision in the marketing strategies of most firms; Pan-European marketing may be the name of the game for the future. This study empirically investigates changing consumer trends in the EU by comparing diffusion rates for new products introduced during the first and second half of the unification process. Managerial implications are drawn on the basis of the research findings.

Marketing in Singapore: An analysis off macro trends

Key variables of the marketing environment in Singapore are examined. Specifically, trends in the economic, demographic and cultural environment, as well as trends in consumer behaviour and macromarketing mix are presented. The implications for marketing management are assessed.

A professional approach to marketing the private junior college

AbstractBecause survival is a question mark for the private junior college, this unique segment of higher education must adopt sound marketing strategies based on rigorous self‐study and modern consumer behavior trends.

New product planning at Hitachi

The author describes the successful development of a new washing machine at Hitachi, based on an analysis of a change in the life-style of housewives. A number of pitfalls were discovered in the market research highlighting the danger of trusting too much in these results. It is necessary to make a profound analysis of market research results and to predict the future trends in consumer behaviour.

New directions for community mental health centers.

Community Mental Health Centers and other quasi-public authorities are operating within a larger health market characterized by the rapid unfolding of a number of key trends in consumer behavior, provider supply, and financing. Each of these trends, though not readily apparent, is strongly reflected in the specialty mental health sector. Mental health managers are faced with fundamental choices about the direction of their respective organizations and the adequacy of their resources to proceed. Mr. Kipp outlines the market dynamics at issue, describes three basic alternatives, and offers some guidelines for management in charting a course.