Christmas Holiday Shopping

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Christmas Holiday Shopping

• A Micro-study in Consumer Behavior

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Authors

• Kimberley Evans
• Eithel M. Simpson, Ph.D
• Consumer Sciences and Retailing

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Introduction

• Annual media outlook
• Shop Greater Lafayette
• Consumer attitudes and behavior

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Literature

• Journal and Courier Front Page
• October 2, 1996
• Attention, shoppers Dont go
• Slogan, ad campaign target holiday spending

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Literature

• Newspaper ads, television commercials, buttons,
  and stickers will encourage consumers to Shop
  Greater Lafayette.
• ...the idea is to get retailers to coordinate
  marketing efforts by using the logo in stores and
  advertisements.

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Literature

• October 31-Womens Wear Daily attributes
  expected success of the season to tighter
  inventories which wont require heavy
  promotion.

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Literature

• November 8-Womens Wear Daily ...customers
  have money to spend, and theres quite a bit of
  optimism. Theyll spend money, but in a shorter
  period of time.

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Literature

• December 23-Wall Street Journal Retailers
  Are Dreaming of OK Holiday Sales

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Literature

• December 24-Journal Courier ...for the
  Christmas sales season, actual results appear to
  be falling short of retailers hopes.

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Purpose

• To describe consumers actual shopping
  behavior in the Greater Lafayette Area
  during the Christmas/Holiday shopping season.

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Research Question

• Are consumers shopping behaviors in the GLA
  consistent with the negative perception implied
  by the campaign Shop Greater Lafayette?

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Expectation

• Actual shopping behaviors will be different
  from the expected shopping behavior as implied by
  the holiday campaign.

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Objectives

• To determine. . .
• who shops in the GLA
• how they shop
• what their expenditures are
• when they shop
• why they shop
• where they shop

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Methodology
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Data Collection

• Survey instrument
• 2 stages of collection
• Before Christmas Data
• After Christmas Data

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Data Analysis

• Qualitative
• QSR Program
• Quantative
• SPSS Statistical Software
• descriptive statistics

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Sample Profile

• Age
• Gender
• Education
• Marital Status
• Income
• Residency

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Age
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Gender
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Highest Levels of Education Completed (Before)
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Highest Levels of Education Completed (After)
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Marital Status

• The majority of individuals in both samples are
  married.

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Income
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Residency

• Average75 reside in Lafayette or
  West Lafayette.

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Demographic Summary

• Married female consumers
• all ages
• live in Lafayette or West Lafayette
• household income 26-30,000
• high school or college education

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How They Shop
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With Whom
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Transportation

• BEFORE
• Drive 92
• Bus
• Taxi
• Other

• AFTER
• Drive 99
• Bus
• Taxi
• Other

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Traffic
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What Expenditures Are
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Number of Gifts Purchased
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Budgets
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Actual Expenditures

• 40 Spent more than they budgeted
• 10 Spent less than they budgeted
• 48 Spent about the same

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Method of Payment
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When They Shop
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Begin Shopping
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Preferred Days

• BEFORE
• 1. Saturday
• 2. Sunday
• 3. Tuesday
• 4. Monday
• 5. Wednesday
• 6. Friday
• 7. Thursday

• AFTER
• 1. Saturday
• 2. Sunday
• 3. Tuesday/Wednesday
• 4. Friday
• 5. Monday
• 6. Thursday

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Preferred Hours

• BEFORE
• 1. Evenings
• 2. Afternoons
• 3. Mornings
• 4. Other times

• AFTER
• 1. Afternoons
• 2. Evenings
• 3. Mornings
• 4. Other times

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End Shopping
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Why They Shop

• Attitudes and Perceptions

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Prices Compared to Other Cities
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Sales Assistance
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Customer Service
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More Reasons

• I like the selection.
• You dont have to drive all over - there are a
  lot of stores in one area.
• I can get basically everything I need here.
• All the new stores.

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Where They Shop
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Miles Traveled
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Preferred Cities
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Discussion

• Our expectations have been met.
• We have shown that, indeed, consumers do shop in
  the GLA.
• GLA shoppers are loyal
• Campaign was aimed in wrong direction.

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Results

• Consumers actual shopping behaviors are not
  consistent with the Campaigns implication that
  they shop outside the GLA.

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Results

• Actual shopping behaviors reflect the predictions
  made in the Before Christmas Surveys
• On Saturdays, consumers, either alone or with
  their spouse, drove to the Lafayette stores
  within 10 miles of their homes to purchase about
  13 gifts with cash and credit.

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Implications

• For Retailers
• better understand their market
• comforted that the majority of GLA consumers do
  their Christmas shopping here
• focus on meeting the needs of loyal customers
• positive Thank You rather than negative Dont
  go!

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Future Direction

• Retailer survey in-depth data analysis
• Media reports content analysis
• Comparative Analysis
• shoppers survey with retailer survey
• retailer survey with media reports

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Thank you

• Questions?

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ParkingBefore vs. After
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Limitations

• Potential Sampling Problems
• Potential Survey Errors
• Media Inconsistencies