INTRODUCTIONThe supermarket is an important innovation that transformed retailing in post-war Britain. 1 However, detailed explorations of shoppers' reactions toward, and involvement in, the changing service encounters occurring in these new retail formats are generally lacking. This is a significant shortcoming because shoppers had to negotiate fundamental changes to their interactions with the physical environment of the store, the retail staff, other customers, and the products for sale. 2 In this paper we begin to fill this gap in understanding through an analysis of the attitudes and behaviours of those who shopped at the early supermarkets (up to about 1975). We do so through the conceptual lens of co-creation, drawing upon literatures from business history, 2 the social sciences, and marketing that share a concern with the role of consumers, or users, in innovation. 3 As we discuss below, retailing provides a compelling case for analysis of cocreation thanks to its role in integrating the inputs of a network of agents including the shopper. 4 Our evaluation includes matters relating to both the physical and mental tasks of shopping, including requisite learning and skills development. It is also encompasses a consideration of the experiences shoppers could undergo in the supermarket and that led to feelings and emotions such as satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and, more occasionally, fun, and excitement. More widely, our study complements attempts within the literature on consumption to break down the binary oppositions that have been constructed not only around production and consumption but also around the home and shop, and more generally the public and private spheres. 5Whilst our focus in this paper is upon co-creation resulting from shoppers' adoption we remain mindful of the influences of resistance and non-adoption on the innovation process. 6 We also acknowledge that shoppers form only part of a wider network of agents, including product manufacturers and marketers, who were actively involved with retailers in the development of the supermarket innovation. 7In contrast to most existing studies of the history of the British supermarket, this paper forefronts shoppers' own perceptions and reflections on the new shopping encounters in which they participated. 8 This is important for, valuable as they are, contemporaneous market research data reflect the wants, needs and desires of the client. 9 The shopper data we present are derived from a new collection of oral histories gathered as part of a wider UK Arts & 3Humanities Research Council funded project designed to enhance understanding of consumers' reactions toward the post-war supermarket. 10The remainder of the paper is structured into three main sections. In the next section we explore the literature on co-creation and assess its significance to our understanding of the activities of the shopper in the new supermarkets. In the second section we present an overview of the development of the supermarket in post-war Britain before outlining our me...
1Consumer behaviour and the life-course: shopper reactions to self service grocery shops and supermarkets in England c. Abstract. The paper examines the development of self-service grocery shopping from a consumer perspective. Using qualitative data gathered through a nationwide biographical survey and oral histories, it is possible to go beyond contemporary market surveys which give insufficient attention to shopping as a socially and culturally embedded practice. The paper uses the conceptual framework of the life-course, to demonstrate how grocery shopping is a complex activity, in which the retail encounter is shaped by the specific interconnection of different retail formats and their geographies, alongside consumer characteristics and their situational influences. Consumer reactions to retail modernization must be understood in relation to the development of consumer practices at points of transition and stability within the life-course. These practices are accessed by examining retrospective consumer narratives about food shopping.2
INTRODUCTIONThe supermarket is an important innovation that transformed retailing in post-war Britain. 1 However, detailed explorations of shoppers' reactions toward, and involvement in, the changing service encounters occurring in these new retail formats are generally lacking. This is a significant shortcoming because shoppers had to negotiate fundamental changes to their interactions with the physical environment of the store, the retail staff, other customers, and the products for sale. 2 In this paper we begin to fill this gap in understanding through an analysis of the attitudes and behaviours of those who shopped at the early supermarkets (up to about 1975). We do so through the conceptual lens of co-creation, drawing upon literatures from business history, 2 the social sciences, and marketing that share a concern with the role of consumers, or users, in innovation. 3 As we discuss below, retailing provides a compelling case for analysis of cocreation thanks to its role in integrating the inputs of a network of agents including the shopper. 4 Our evaluation includes matters relating to both the physical and mental tasks of shopping, including requisite learning and skills development. It is also encompasses a consideration of the experiences shoppers could undergo in the supermarket and that led to feelings and emotions such as satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and, more occasionally, fun, and excitement. More widely, our study complements attempts within the literature on consumption to break down the binary oppositions that have been constructed not only around production and consumption but also around the home and shop, and more generally the public and private spheres. 5 Whilst our focus in this paper is upon co-creation resulting from shoppers' adoption we remain mindful of the influences of resistance and non-adoption on the innovation process. 6 We also acknowledge that shoppers form only part of a wider network of agents, including product manufacturers and marketers, who were actively involved with retailers in the development of the supermarket innovation. 7 In contrast to most existing studies of the history of the British supermarket, this paper forefronts shoppers' own perceptions and reflections on the new shopping encounters in which they participated. 8 This is important for, valuable as they are, contemporaneous market research data reflect the wants, needs and desires of the client. 9 The shopper data we present are derived from a new collection of oral histories gathered as part of a wider UK Arts & 3 Humanities Research Council funded project designed to enhance understanding of consumers' reactions toward the post-war supermarket. 10 The remainder of the paper is structured into three main sections. In the next section we explore the literature on co-creation and assess its significance to our understanding of the activities of the shopper in the new supermarkets. In the second section we present an overview of the development of the supermarket in post-war Britain before outlining ou...
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