Abstract
Investigating consumers’ unspoken motives behind purchasing behaviour has been a long-standing goal within the retail industry, particularly in the food sector. Traditional methods, such as consumer surveys, have been widely used but are often limited by biases and the inability to uncover consumers’ unconscious motivations. Given that consumers may not always be aware of their true purchasing drivers, conventional self-reporting measures often yield limitations. Projective techniques, such as association tasks, can address this gap by offering indirect ways to access subconscious drivers, providing richer insights into consumer behaviour. These techniques encourage respondents to react to stimuli with immediate, unfiltered associations. This approach is particularly useful in a retail setting, where emotional and psychological triggers can heavily influence purchasing decisions. This study provides a novel approach to studying consumer behaviour in food retail using an interactive mobile application that replicates the experience of an online grocery store. Through an innovative game-like setup, participants will be exposed to various food-related scenes (i.e. convenience food, organic food, and premium branded food) and will be asked to respond with descriptive words that come to mind. By analysing these responses and comparing them to the results of a traditional consumer study, the study aims to expose the additional added value of projective techniques, revealing hidden consumer purchasing motives. Identifying subconscious associations with food categories using projective techniques, this study will greatly contribute to consumer research methodologies.
Presenters
Rochelle Van VeijerenStudent, Ph.D. Candidate Consumer Science, Food Management, University of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
CONSUMER PURCHASING MOTIVES, PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES, UNCONSCIOUS DECISION-MAKING
