Customer Brand Loyalty - Research Proposal Example

? ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING BRAND LOYALTY ON GROCERY PRODUCTS: A CASE STUDY OF FOOD SUPERMARKET, OF TUSCON Name: Class: Presented to: Date 1.0 Introduction While cultural, social, and personal factors influence consumer buying behavior and loyalty building, psychological factors also play a significant role. Human beings all over the world exhibit certain psychological behaviors in their choice of products in the market. Marketers have taken note of this fact and continue to develop products and service offerings that resonate with subconscious mind of their target market. Rao (2011) noted motivation, perception, learning, attitudes and beliefs as key psychological factors influencing consumer behavior. As a result marketers need to clearly understand these factors to effectively serve their target markets. The study of consumer psychology has been contextualized by different theories key among the being the Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to him, there are five levels of needs, that is physiological, security, social, esteem and self-actualization needs. In most cases human beings satisfy lower order needs then moving upwards. Such a process influences marketing practices of many firms that have to understand different market segments and provide goods and services that best addresses needs of a given. In doing so, psychologists have identified power, affiliation and achievement as key issues that shape consumer orientation. To outline how psychological factors influence consumer behavior, various studies on key issues in consumer and business psychology have been conducted. Wang, Wei and Jiang (2011) carried out a research on the impact of attitude variables on credit debt behavior. They found that attitude variables account for 82.1% of variance in revolving credit use and 41.6% of variance for petty installment use. Wine consumption and consumer’s preferences in Turkey are influenced by consumer attitudes and habits (Gunay and Baker, 2011). Zhang and Liu (2011) while studying on effects of influential factors on consumer perceptions of uncertainty for online shopping found that perceived commodity uncertainty can be reduced by all the influential factors directly while perceived seller’s behavior uncertainty can be reduced by online communication. Furthermore, perceived seller’s behavior uncertainty can significantly affect a buyer’s will. Kuppelweiser and Finsterwalder (2011) have found that psychological safety affects an individual consumer’s perception of own and others’ contribution to a service experience. In addition, contributions of others have a significant influence on one’s own contribution and that contributions of other customers have a negative effect on an individual’s service satisfaction. From the above studies it’s evident that psychological factors play a significant role in shaping business strategy and consumer buyer behavior. Many businesses dealing in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) have to understand how psychological behaviors shape consumer buying decision and respond according. Companies that understand consumer psychology better are likely to make more sales than those that don’t through repeat purchase. In addition, it also helps to strengthen consumer loyalty to given products. Therefore, this study seeks to address this problem of discerning consumer psychology especially in FMCG in the US to establish how business operators can enhance consumer brand loyalty. The study will do so by addressing gaps in past studies. 1.1 Research Questions The following are the research questions informing the study; i. What salient features of groceries influence the purchasing behavior? ii. How does tastes and preferences influence the choice of grocery purchases? 2.0 Methodology This section outlines the research design that will be employed, study population and subjects, sampling techniques, data collection methods, procedures and instruments, data analysis and presentation. 2.1 Research design The research design to be employed will be a descriptive study on the psychological factors that influence customer brand loyalty. The study will be carried out at Food City Grocery, City of Tuscon in Arizona as the case study. Food City was selected due to its large size, its demonstration on customer focus and better ranking (40th) on progressive grocer’s list of America’s 50 largest supermarket chains (foodcity.com, 2011). The design is appropriate to help the researcher collect, analyze and interpret the information that will provide answers to the research questions. 2.2 Target population According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau’s population and housing occupancy status study, Tucson has a population of 520,116 persons. This group will comprise the target population where the sample will be drawn. Given the large size and variety of product offering at Food City Supermarket, it’s assumed that most resident of the town shop at the outlet. 2.3 Sampling and sample size The study will use systematic sampling to obtain the desired sample size. This method requires the researcher to interview nth respondent from customers walking in randomly at the supermarket. The method is preferred due to its reliability and accuracy (Connaway and Powell, 2010). As a result, this method will be free of sampling bias and will be representative. The study will interview every 10th customer shopping for groceries until the sample size is attained. Sample size for the study will be determined using Raosoft sample size calculator. From a total population of 520,116 persons, 384 persons will be interviewed assuming a 5% margin of error and 95% confidence level. Such an accuracy level will make the analysis and findings thereof reliable. 2.4 Data Collection Procedure and Instruments Structured questionnaires will be administered by the researcher to every 10th customer purchasing groceries at Food City premises until the sample size is attained. Customers will be required to fill a few questions testing on their psychological factors that influence brand loyalty. Filled questionnaires will be collected ready for analysis. To ensure clarity of questions, a pre-test on the survey instrument will be carried out on the targeted respondents to refine the instrument. In addition, the questionnaires will be written in simple English to avoid difficulties in understanding the questions and expected answers. 2.5 Data Analysis and Presentation Descriptive analysis will be used when measures of central tendency, that is, mean, median, mode and variances will be established. Excel program will be used to enter and analyze the data. Outputs will be presented in tables, pie-charts, and histogram. This method of analysis is in line with the research design References Connaway, L.S. and Powell, R.R. (2010). Basic research methods for librarians. California.CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Gunay, G.N. and Baker, M.J. (2011). The factors influencing consumer behavior on wine consumption in Turkish market wine. EuroMed Journal of Business, 6 (3), 324 – 341. DOI: 10.1108/14502191111170150 Kuppelwieser, V.G. and Finsterwalder, J. (2011). Psychological safety, contributions and service satisfaction of customers in group service experiences. Managing Service Quality, 21 (6), 617 – 635. DOI: 10.1108/09604521111185619 Rao, R.M. (2011). Service marketing (2nd ed). Kindersley: Pearson Publishers U.S. Census Bureau (2011). Population and housing occupancy status: 2010 – State – place 2010 census redistribution data (public law 94-171) summary file. Retrieved from www.factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml on 30th Nov. 2011 Wang, L., Wei, L., and Jiang L. (2011). The impact of attitude variables on the credit debt behavior, Nankai Business review International, 2 (2), 120 – 139. DOI: 10.1108/20408741111139909 Zhang, G., and Liu, Z. (2011). Effects of influential factors on consumer perceptions of uncertainty for online shopping. Nankai Business Review International, 2 (2), 158- 171. Retrieved from Emerald on 30th November, 2011. Appendix 1: Survey Instrument You are kindly requested to fill in the following questions to facilitate completion of and academic assignment. Information given will be treated as private and confidential and used for academic purpose only. Q1. What factors influence your grocery purchase behavior? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q2. Outline any personal preferences that influence your purchase behavior ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q3. What is your attitude level towards the following? i. Quality ii. Packaging iii. Freshness and sanitation Q4. How does perception influence your purchase behavior? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q5. What motivates you do shop particular basket of goods? Read More