Why Do People Shop
MARKETING NOTES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Why Do People Shop?
Do people shop simply to make purchases? considerations that are unrelated to an actual purchase? other than his or her need for products or services.
EDWARD M. TAUBER
Are some shopping trips motivated by The results of an explora-
tory study of shopper motivation suggest that a person may shop for many reasons
'T'HE field of consumer behavior has experi-•- enced a dynamic period of growth over the past 10 years. It is frequently overlooked, however, that this broad area consists of three distinct activities: shopping, buying, and consuming. Considerable progress has been achieved in identifying the behavioral dimensions of buying, and a number of theories of buying behavior have been postulated. However, less is known about the determinants of consuming and shopping which are also of substantial theoretical and managerial importance. This article attempts to encourage behavioral research and theory building concerning shopping behavior by presenting some exploratory research findings on the question of why do people shop? Numerous writings have been directed to this question. For example, researchers have suggested that shopping is a function of the nature of the product,' the degree of perceived risk inherent in the product class,^ and the level of knowledge or amount of information about alternatives.'' All of these answers are directed at the question, "Why do people shop in more than one store?" (comparison shopping). Other authors have maintained that shopping is a function of location.
1. Richard H. Holton. "The Distinction Between Convenience Goods, Shopping Goods and Specialty Goods," JOURNAL OF MARKETING, Vol. 22 (Julv, 1958), p. 56. 2. Donald F. Cox, ed.. Risk Taking and Information Handling in Consumer Behavior (Boston: Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, 1967). 3. John A. Howard and Jagdish N. Sheth, The Theory of Buyer Behavior (New York: John Wiley and
Why Do People Shop?
Do people shop simply to make purchases? considerations that are unrelated to an actual purchase? other than his or her need for products or services.
EDWARD M. TAUBER
Are some shopping trips motivated by The results of an explora-
tory study of shopper motivation suggest that a person may shop for many reasons
'T'HE field of consumer behavior has experi-•- enced a dynamic period of growth over the past 10 years. It is frequently overlooked, however, that this broad area consists of three distinct activities: shopping, buying, and consuming. Considerable progress has been achieved in identifying the behavioral dimensions of buying, and a number of theories of buying behavior have been postulated. However, less is known about the determinants of consuming and shopping which are also of substantial theoretical and managerial importance. This article attempts to encourage behavioral research and theory building concerning shopping behavior by presenting some exploratory research findings on the question of why do people shop? Numerous writings have been directed to this question. For example, researchers have suggested that shopping is a function of the nature of the product,' the degree of perceived risk inherent in the product class,^ and the level of knowledge or amount of information about alternatives.'' All of these answers are directed at the question, "Why do people shop in more than one store?" (comparison shopping). Other authors have maintained that shopping is a function of location.
1. Richard H. Holton. "The Distinction Between Convenience Goods, Shopping Goods and Specialty Goods," JOURNAL OF MARKETING, Vol. 22 (Julv, 1958), p. 56. 2. Donald F. Cox, ed.. Risk Taking and Information Handling in Consumer Behavior (Boston: Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, 1967). 3. John A. Howard and Jagdish N. Sheth, The Theory of Buyer Behavior (New York: John Wiley and