Consumer choice patterns: An analysis based on retail format selection

How consumers respond to changing retail formats is reflected in their patronage choice behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate retail type choice behavior across 10 retail types in order to identify any change in consumer patronage behavior over the past five years, and to assess whether consumers are patronizing more traditional or nontraditional retail types. Two hundred individuals who did most of the apparel purchasing for the household were interviewed by telephone. Results suggest that although a larger proportion of respondents were shopping in traditional retail types such as department stores, specialty stores, and mass merchandisers, they were shopping there less or at about the same level they were five years ago. In contrast, a smaller proportion of respondents were shopping in nontraditional retail types, but they were shopping there more than they were five years ago. Department stores were the only retail types that consumers were shopping in less compared to five years ago, although patronage of specialty stores and mass merchandisers was at about the same level it was five years ago. All of the other retail types were now being patronized more than they were five years ago. The most dramatic increase in patronage was at warehouse clubs, followed by mail order catalogs. Nontraditional retail types most likely will continue to experience increased patronage.Respondents tended not to be very loyal to any one retail type as on average they purchased less than one third of their total clothing purchases at any particular retail type. Although there appears to be substantial overlap between retail types in terms of consumer patronage, not all patrons are shopping across all retail types. Nontraditional patrons appear to be shopping across more retail types (shopping in between five to six retail types), compared to traditional patrons who are shopping in four to five retail types. Respondents with higher incomes tended to patronize a greater number of retail types. Given the diversity in the marketplace, it appears consumers have developed multi-type loyalties. Implications for educators, marketers, and consumers are discussed.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio