A Demographic and Psychographic Assessment of a Specialty Store's Customers and Non-Customers

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify demographic and psychographic profiles of customers and non-customers of a retail specialty store. Objectives were to determine (1) the characteristics of the customers and (2) the combination of characteristics that could be used to discriminate customers from non-customers. A revised version of an instrument prepared by Walter K. Levy Associates was employed. Questionnaires were mailed to a randomly selected sample of 600 customers and 600 non-customers. Of the 760 questionnaires returned, 459 were usable—273 from customers and 186 from non-customers. Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to analyze the data. A set of 24 variables described the characteristics of the customers and non-customers. One variable was concerned with shopper viewpoint, 13 with store image, 6 with shopper behavior, 1 with media preference and usage, and 3 with demographic characteristics. The discriminant function was highly accurate in predicting which respondents were customers and which were non-customers. In the pseudo-jackknifed classification procedure, the 24 variables successfully classified 85 percent of the 459 respondents.

The in-store shopping experience: A comparative study of supermarket and clothing store customers

“…Torres, Summers and Belleau (2001:207) ascertained that the following five store attributes (in order of most important to least important) are the most important to male shoppers when they shop for clothing: Price of merchandise Quality of merchandise Selection of merchandise Brands carried in the store Friendly personnel Mahoney and Sternquist (1989:101-111) and Thorpe and Avery (1983:35-41) earlier found that the quality and knowledge of sales personnel are important store attributes for clothing shoppers. Speciality store customers are even willing to travel longer distances and pay higher prices in order to be served by knowledgeable sales personnel (Thorpe & Avery, 1983). Westbrook (1981:68-85) established that the most influential components of retail satisfaction were satisfaction with stores' sales personnel, special store sales, products/services purchased at the store, store environment and the value-price relationship offered by the store.…”

The controllable elements of the total retail experience: A study of clothing shoppers

“…In earlier studies the quality and knowledge of sales personnel were also found to be very important store attributes for clothing shoppers (Mahoney & Sternquist, 1989: 101-11;Thorpe & Avery, 1983: 35-41). In a study of speciality store customers, Thorpe and Avery (1983) found that customers were willing to travel longer distances and pay higher prices in order to be served by knowledgeable sales personnel. Westbrook (1981: 68-85) found that the most influential components of retail satisfaction were satisfaction with stores' sales personnel, special store sales, products/services purchased at the store, store environment and value-priced relationship offered by the store.…”

Analysing and Prioritizing the Antecedents of Customer Shopping Experience Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Modelling

“…Literature suggests that the interactions between customer and staff has a significant impact on the customer’s mood which leads to varied behavioural outcomes in satisfying their social and functional goals (Arnold et al, 2005; Bitner, 1992; Goodwin, 1996; Menon & Dube, 2000; Otnes, Ilhan, & Kulkarni, 2012; Schau, Dellande, & Gilly, 2007; Stock & Hoyer, 2005; verhoef et al, 2009; Westbrook, 1981). It has been well documented that the quality of salesperson interaction and their knowledge level are the key attributes that influence customers’ choice of retail outlet (Mahoney & Sternquist, 1989; Thorpe & Avery, 1983). Bitner (1992) also propounded that the staff interactions play the most critical role in understanding the customers’ expectations and thus facilitating a satisfactory service experience.…”