The Importance of Supermarket Attributes in Supermarket Choice among University Students

The purpose of this resesearch was to examine the attributes students use when evaluating a supermarket from which to buy. Students are the biggest spenders when it comes to technology, and food and groceries. The students spending power also exceed those of their paranets. As supermarket face competition, an understanding of the supermarket attributes students seek when selecting a supermarket would give them a competitive advantage. This requires that supermarkets understand the attributes students consider when make a choice of a supermarket. A survey was conducted among 284 students. Convenience sampling method was adopted for the study. Statistical analysis included the descriptive stats, factor analysis, t-test and the anova. The findings of the study revealed that majority of students buy from Pick ‘n Pay followed by Shoprite. They buy groceries once per month and buy some products from one supermarket and also buy other product from another supermarket. The most important attribute students’ consider when choosing a supermarket is cleanliness of the supermarket, followed by ease of locating the merchandise and value for money. The study also found that attributes most important to students differed across gender, age and level of study. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p175