Redeemable coupons : their use by consumers and their value

Consumer information, especially that which is related to saving money, is of concern to most people. However, many money saving: offers and values are neglected or ignored every day. One means of receiving a discount on purchased items is through the use of redeemable coupons. They require the consumer to remember to clip, save, and use the coupon for specified product and sometimes, at a particular store. The value of the coupon may also be limited to a particular period of time. This study was undertaken to determine the consumer's attitude toward the use of redeemable coupons at grocery stores and toward their value.Coupons are offered as a reduction on the price of commodities. It is important to know in determining the value of coupons to consumers if these coupon-discount items help the consumer to save money, inform him of new products which may save time, energy, end money, or aid the consumer in other ways that are significant in relation to the degree of time end energy necessary to clip, save, and use coupons.It is also important in understanding the consumer's use of coupons to consider the source or sources of motivation for using or not using coupons. This study is also important in that it attempts to determine whether the consumer prefers to continue to receive discount savings through coupons or by some other means as discount specials. The hypothesis of this study was that there would be a significant difference in the consumer's preference between the use of redeemable coupons and discount specials offered in the grocery store and that this difference would be related to the frequency of use and amount of discount savings received in using coupons.The review of literature that follows indicates that most studies undertaken have been primarily concerned with the manufacturer’s attitudes and savings rather than the consumer's. This present study involved a snail number of families with similar characteristics and environments. Therefore, the results of this study should be considered as tentative conclusions based on the responses of a limited, non-random sample.Thesis (M.A.