Buying in on anti-consumption
- How companies in the convenience goods market can develop an appropriate
marketing mix targeted at general anti-consumers
BACHELOR THESIS
May, 2013
AUTHOR
Nicolai Lund Nygaard Pedersen
Student ID: XXXXXX
SUPERVISOR
Louise Genefke
BA DEGREE IN
Marketing and Management Communication
Aarhus University, Business and Social Sciences
TOTAL NUMBER OF CHARACTERS EXCL. BLANKS:
54,910
Nicolai Lund Nygaard Pedersen
Student ID: XXXXXX
May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Abstract Anti-consumption is gaining footing as a significant trend of consumer behaviour throughout the
international market. It is simply characterised by being against consumption, and stems from
ordinary people becoming tired of mass-production and excessive marketing, and therefore they
increasingly purchase only what is needed. Those people are by literature in the field termed anticonsumers. Anti-consumers have different purpose and practices, and this thesis concerns general
anti-consumers, who are against general consumption for personal or societal/environmental
reasons. If companies do not address this segment’s reason for buying and not buying they are
committing long-term strategic mistakes.
This thesis continues a path initiated by previous research within the field, which regards the
development of products that appeal to the anti-consumer. However, in order to limit the scope of
research problem, the thesis only addresses how companies in the convenience goods market can
develop an appropriate marketing mix targeted at general anti-consumers. The thesis will revolve
around and take departure in the proposed problem statement: What are the general anticonsumer’s preferences when buying convenience goods, and how can companies in the
convenience goods market develop an appropriate marketing mix targeted at the general anticonsumer?
In order to answer the problem statement, the thesis adopts a behaviourist perspective on the
research by not giving much attention to the actual mental process but merely the stimulus-response
relationship. With the use of the epistemological view of Social Constructionism on the empirical
data gathering and results, and the methodology of deduction within Positivism, the thesis
researches the preferences of general anti-consumers. The method used is a triangulation of
marketing research methods, comprised of both quantitative and qualitative measures to gather data
in order to show general tendencies combined with elaborative reasoning of the respondents.
46 valid responses were collected and the findings show that the respondents’ preferences of
convenience goods attributes generally are quality and low price. Furthermore, the findings show
that the respondents prefer experiential information sources in the information search process and
their preferred place of shopping is supermarkets. When arguing for their preferences, in general,
the respondents find price, quality and general convenience of high importance, because the saved
expenses and time connected with these benefits can contribute in practicing general anticonsumption elsewhere. These findings are supported by literature on anti-consumers (Iyer and
Nicolai Lund Nygaard Pedersen
Student ID: XXXXXX
May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Muncy (2009), Black and Cherrier (2010) and Dobscha (1998)), which claims that anti-consumers
value functional benefits of consumer goods, as it gives the opportunity to practice anticonsumption in more valuable ways.
With the use of literature from the field of marketing and consumer behaviour (Primarily: Peter and
Olson (2005), Kotler et al. (2009), Jobber (2010) and Solomon et al. (2010)), the thesis suggest that
the focus of the marketers should be on finding the right balance between low price and quality
through a value-based approach and/or a product-based approach to quality. The pricing objective
should be to support this quality/price relationship by product-quality leadership through the means
of value pricing, more specifically, everyday low pricing methods. In terms of place suggestions,
the suggested distributions strategies include supermarkets as retailers and maximum of 2-level
channels to decrease expenses and ensure a low product price. Promotional suggestions include
establishing brand awareness and brand-purchase intention by highlighting the points of difference
of the products in question. More specifically, the marketers should promote products based on
functional benefits for instance via in-store sales promotion such as sampling.
The thesis recognises that many decisions regarding the marketing mix development are company
and product specific; thus, the actual success of a product or brand relies on a myriad of marketing
decisions. Therefore, the suggested and presented strategies should be considered guidelines or a
framework rather than a specific solution.
Keywords: Anti-consumption, general anti-consumers, convenience goods, preferences, consumer
behaviour, consumer decision-making, marketing mix strategy, marketing research, behaviourist
perspective,
Total number of characters in Abstract excl. blanks: 3,699
Nicolai Lund Nygaard Pedersen
Student ID: XXXXXX
May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 DELIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 DEFINITIONS IN RELATION TO THE PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................................. 4 1.3.1 Convenience goods .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.2 Preferences .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.3 General anti-­‐consumer .................................................................................................................................................. 4 2. METHOD .................................................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 SCIENTIFIC APPROACH ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 EMPIRICAL DATA ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 Primary data ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Secondary data .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.3 CHOICE OF THEORY ............................................................................................................................................................... 10 2.4 STRUCTURE OF THESIS ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 ANTI-­‐CONSUMPTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 3.2 FOUR TYPES OF ANTI-­‐CONSUMERS .................................................................................................................................... 13 3.2.1 Simplifiers ......................................................................................................................................................................... 14 3.2.2 Anti-­‐loyal consumers ................................................................................................................................................... 14 3.2.3 Global impact consumers .......................................................................................................................................... 14 3.2.4 Market activists ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 3.3 CONSUMER DECISION-­‐MAKING PROCESS .......................................................................................................................... 15 3.3.1 Problem Recognition ................................................................................................................................................... 16 3.3.2. Search for alternative solutions ............................................................................................................................ 16 3.3.3 Evaluation of alternatives ......................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3.4 Purchase ............................................................................................................................................................................ 17 3.3.5 Postpurchase use and re-­‐evaluation of chosen alternatives ...................................................................... 18 3.4 MARKETING MIX .................................................................................................................................................................... 18 3.4.1 Product .............................................................................................................................................................................. 18 3.4.2 Price .................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 3.4.3 Place .................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.4 Promotion ......................................................................................................................................................................... 19 4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................. 21 4.1 TYPES OF GENERAL ANTI-­‐CONSUMERS ............................................................................................................................. 21 4.2 PLACE OF SHOPPING ............................................................................................................................................................. 22 4.3 INFORMATION SOURCE ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 4.4 FREQUENCY OF BUYING ....................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.5 PREFERENCES OF IMPULSE CONVENIENCE GOODS .......................................................................................................... 25 4.6 PREFERENCES OF STAPLE CONVENIENCE GOODS ............................................................................................................ 27 5. SUGGESTIONS ON THE RIGHT MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES ............................................................ 29 5.1 PRODUCT ................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 5.2 PRICE ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 5.3 PLACE ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 5.4 PROMOTION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32 5. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 35 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 APPENDIX 1 – QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN ......................................................................................................... 39 APPENDIX 2 – QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS ...................................................................................................... 47 Nicolai Lund Nygaard Pedersen
Student ID: 301362
May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
1. Introduction Ever since the emergence of mass-consumption societies in the 18th century, anticonsumption has existed as opposition to the over-consumption and materialism that the
cultural and economic development has brought along (Humphery, 2010). Anti-consumption
is simply characterised by being against consumption (Lee & Fernandez, 2009). Anticonsumption accelerated during the counterculture of the 1960s, and it has emerged as a
resistance to the Western world’s materialism and overconsumption and its consequences
(Humphery, 2010; Bech-Jessen & Vaaben, 2010). Choi (2011) states as reason for this
development that, “the contemporary expansion of mass production and marketing has slowly
given rise to a backlash, the “anti-consumption” movement” (p. 117). The result is that
ordinary people “are becoming tired of mass-production and excessive marketing” (Choi,
2011 p. 117) and therefore they are, “increasingly purchasing only what is needed” (Choi,
2011, p. 117). In general, however, anti-­‐consumption has moved from being a “minor
stream of niche consumers” (Choi, 2011, p. 117) to “becoming a major trend in the overall
market” (Choi, 2011, p. 117). Therefore, this segment suddenly constitutes a significant, large
segment of the population, which therefore must not be overlooked when investigating
consumers’ behaviour.
From a business perspective, this development, anti-consumption, might at first glance seem
as a possible threat to the existence of some companies in their current form - people buy less,
companies earn less – however, although it seems contradictory, anti-consumption is big
business, companies just need to know how to make products and services attractive to anticonsumers (Bech-Jessen & Vaaben, 2010). According to Dobscha (1998) ignoring this type of
people is a long-term strategic mistake. If companies succeed in understanding the anticonsumer and their reasoning for buying and not buying, this can shed light on the
unexploited opportunities of this segment and result in mutual benefit.
The thesis will continue a path, which current research on anti-consumption has initiated:
“Are there ways to develop products that will appeal to such consumers [anti-consumers], or
can existing products be re-designed to meet these consumers' needs?” (Iyer & Muncy, 2009,
p. 166). Therefore, the primary purpose of the thesis is to propose marketing mix strategies
for companies in the convenience goods market that can help in targeting general anticonsumers. In order to reach an answer to this, the thesis will furthermore study general antiPage 1 of 65
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
consumers preferences when purchasing convenience goods. These behavioural patterns have
yet to be studied. Understanding the consumer’s preferences is paramount from a company’s
marketing perspective in order to exploit the sales opportunities of a given segment (Kotler,
Keller, Brady, Goodman, & Hansen, 2009).
1.1 Problem Statement In regards to the definition of the problem and the purpose of the thesis, the following
problem statement has been formulated. This problem statement will serve as the main aim of
the thesis:
What are the general anti-consumer’s preferences when buying convenience goods, and how
can companies in the convenience goods market develop an appropriate marketing mix
targeted at the general anti-consumer?
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
1.2 Delimitations It is important to stress that this thesis does not conduct anti-consumption research, but rather
regular consumer behaviour research of anti-consumers. The main difference is that anticonsumption research deals with the very key component of anti-consumption – that is, the
refusal and avoidance of general buying (Lee & Fernandez, 2009). This thesis, on the other
hand, assumes that (some or the majority of) anti-consumers do buy standard goods regularly
and therefore go through a decision-making process similar to standard consumers, which is
object to research and can be used for marketing purposes.
Another delimitation is the investigated segment. This thesis only studies the behaviours of
what Iyer and Muncy (2009) describes as consumers with general anti-consumption
behaviours. This type of anti-consumption is based on different preferences, but is targeted
towards all sorts of consumer goods. The other part of anti-consumers is represented as people
who deliberately refuse to buy specific brands for different, individual reasons, thus called
specific anti-consumption (Iyer & Muncy, 2009). Therefore, researching the preferences of
the latter segment would show no general tendencies as the reason would vary from person to
person, and this segment is therefore not object to any generalised suggestions regarding
marketing strategies. The general anti-consumers, however, practice general anti-consumption
towards all types of consumption, which makes this group object to the study of general
tendencies.
Furthermore, this thesis recognises that differences between cultures and nationalities may be
present in this context. However, Choi (2011) states, “The Consumption fatigue and
preference for a simple life first appeared among high-income earners in advanced markets.
Now, however, they are spreading to the consumers in emerging markets. This trend is also
evident in Korea.” (p. 117), therefore, anti-consumption is not of geographic and/or cultural
limitation, and therefore a possible cultural dimension will not be accounted for in the thesis.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
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1.3 Definitions in relation to the problem statement 1.3.1 Convenience goods Convenience goods is a definition that classifies consumer goods based on shopping habits
(Kotler et al., 2009). Convenience goods are those goods that are purchased “frequently,
immediately, and with a minimum effort” (Kotler et al., 2009, p. 508). Furthermore,
convenience goods can be further segmented into staple and impulse goods. Staple
convenience goods are bought regularly and are considered necessities. Examples are meat,
vegetables, dairy products, etc. Impulse convenience goods are usually bought impulsively
and without prior planning, such as confectionary, magazines, some beauty products, etc.
Convenience goods are chosen as research object, because it is an umbrella definition of
several different types of consumer goods that are purchased regularly. However, the
behaviour of anti-consumers in relation to convenience goods buying has yet to be studied.
1.3.2 Preferences The thesis’ research is general anti-consumer’s preferences when buying convenience goods.
In this context, the term preferences indicates the determinant attributes that are regarded as
most important and which have highest influence on a possible, subsequent purchase decision.
Determinant attributes are defined by Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, & Hogg (2010) as the
features of a brand or product that are used to differentiate a core product from equivalent
brands or products. Thus, determinant attributes constitute what is called evaluative criteria,
which are “the dimensions we use to judge the merits of competing options” (Solomon et al.,
2010, p. 337). This thesis also investigates the general anti-consumers preferences regarding
shopping place and information search in order to gather knowledge on all aspects of the
marketing mix. In order to avoid misinterpretations and misunderstandings, the marketing mix
determinants of most importance to the general anti-consumers will subsequently be referred
to as preferences, as these are the objects of research in the thesis.
1.3.3 General anti-­‐consumer According to Iyer and Muncy (2009), there exist “many different approaches to anticonsumption and alternate consumption and the motivations for anti-consumption vary
among political, personal, and environmental concerns” (p. 160). This thesis will only
revolve around anti-consumers who are categorised by a general refusal towards all
consumption, hence termed general anti-consumsers (Iyer & Muncy, 2009). General anti-
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
consumers comprise of simplifiers and global impact consumers (Iyer & Muncy, 2009),
which are distinguished between throughout the thesis. A further elaborative explanation of
anti-consumption and the anti-consumer is presented in the theoretical framework section.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
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2. Method This section describes the method that the thesis uses in order to answer the problem
statement. This regards first of all the scientific approach, the empirical data chosen and data
gathering methods, a theoretical discussion and the structure of thesis.
2.1 Scientific approach Due to the nature of this thesis, there is no single, prevalent scientific approach but rather
elements of several different perspectives are used in order to provide a valid answer to the
problem statement. Ontologically, the scientific approach adopted is Critical Rationalism,
which claims that the world consists of measurable facts that can be used as basis for
scientific knowledge (Burr, 2001). The thesis will be studying general anti-consumers’
behaviour by use of empirical data, and therefore recognises that such phenomenon can be
measured by means of data gathering.
The thesis adopts a behaviourist perspective in its view on consumer behaviour, which
focuses on the impact of external influences on the behaviour of the consumer. Solomon et al.
(2010) describes this perspective as the S (Stimuli)-R (response) approach, as not much
attention is given to the complex mental processes. The purpose is to know what marketing
mix determinants increase the chances of purchase action from general anti-consumers. This
is an operant conditioning view on consumer behaviour, as the consumer has learned “to
perform behaviours that produce positive outcomes and to avoid those that yield negative
outcomes” (Solomon et al., 2010, p. 248). Some determinants will inevitably either trigger a
positive or negative outcome, and this thesis will investigate which produce a positive
outcome. The mental processes are not of object to this thesis, as it is enough to recognise the
element of operant conditioning called positive reinforcement, which is “when the
environment provides positive reinforcement in the form of a reward, the response is
strengthened, and appropriate behaviour is learned” (Solomon et al., 2010, p. 249). This part
of the stimulus-response of purchase behaviour is enough to base basic marketing mix
decisions on, by investigating the reward of buying convenience goods.
Regarding the methodology that is used, the scientific approach adopted is Positivism, which
generally considers induction the approach for establishing laws and theories (Chalmers,
2008). Induction is based on quantitative generalization and causal generalisation, which
means that generalisations can be inferred from finite number of observations, and a
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
conclusion on relations between events can be inferred from a finite number of observations –
thus, laws and theory can be derived from observations about a phenomenon (Chalmers,
2008). The findings (observations) of the research in this thesis are used in order to find
answers (quantitative/causal generalisation) to the problem statement, which resembles the
methodology of induction. However, Positivism claims that the objective truth can be reached
through this methodology. This thesis recognises that the truth can never be reached fully;
hence, laws and theories are just the best available knowledge that has yet to be falsified. The
concept of Falsificationism belongs to Critical Rationalism (Burr, 2001), which therefore
constitutes this thesis’ view on the results that are provided. A generalisation based upon the
findings can be made, but the ‘truth’ is not obtainable. Therefore, the result of this thesis is
considered the best available explanation to the investigated problem, but not considered the
definitive truth, which therefore makes the results of this thesis object to further deductive
falsification/validation.
2.2 Empirical data 2.2.1 Primary data In order to answer the problem statement, the thesis will shed light on the general anticonsumers’ preferences when buying convenience goods – what are the determinants that
trigger a purchase action. In accordance with the scientific methodology, the thesis will
therefore make use of observations – in this case empirical data. The empirical data of this
thesis will be gathered by means of marketing research, which job it is to “produce insight
into the consumer’s attitudes and buying behaviour” (Kotler et al., 2009, p. 190). According
to Kotler et al. (2009), effective marketing research follows six steps, which this thesis’
research is based on. The six steps are: defining the problem and research objectives, develop
the research plan, collect information, analyse the information, present the findings, and make
the decision (Kotler et al., 2009). This process is employed throughout the research of this
thesis. The research gathers primary data, which is data that is “freshly gathered for a specific
purpose of for a specific research project” (Kotler et al., 2009, p. 193). Primary data
constitutes the basis for knowing how general anti-consumers behave and why do they do
this. No contemporary secondary data is available that specifically addresses this part of the
problem statement hence primary data need to be collected.
The research approach chosen takes form of survey research, which can be used to “learn
about people’s knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and satisfaction” (Kotler et al., 2009, p. 197).
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Having already stated that the thesis will investigate the preferences of general anticonsumers, the survey approach is considered the most appropriate approach, and will thus
take form of a questionnaire, which can provide primarily quantitative data. Quantitative
research data, Denscombe (1999) states, “conveys a sense of solid, objective research” (p.
177). The findings can be presented in the form of graphs and tables because of the data being
measurable. Therefore, quantitative data is appropriate in this thesis, as the research is looking
for generalised answers to a measurable question, which such data can provide.
However, the questions will also feature qualitative data in the form of questions regarding
the reason why general anti-consumers choose as they do. Frey, Botan, Friedman and Kreps
(2009) state “Quantitative observations provide a high level of measurement precision and
statistical power, while qualitative observations provide greater depth of information about
how people perceive events in the context of the actual situations in which they occur” (p.
99). The use of both qualitative and quantitative data is a method called triangulation, which
enhances the validity of the observations (Schrøder, 2001). Thus, the use of both methods will
benefit the research with the forces of each in order to answer the research question and in
order to argue for the right use of the marketing mix. The quantitative data is used in order to
investigate the behaviour from a stimuli-response perspective, i.e. what factors that triggers
the response of buying. The qualitative part of the questionnaire consists of elaborative, open
questions (Kotler et al., 2009) to explain further why the respondents prefer some attributes to
others. Thus, the qualitative data will serve as the link between what the consumers prefer,
why this is the case, and how this corresponds to their motives and purposes of anticonsumption from a behaviourist perspective.
In order to gather data of general anti-consumers, contact to respondents representing the two
types of general anti-consumers, simplifiers and global impact consumers, is facilitated
through online communities. This sampling unit represents a judgement sample, where the
researcher selects a population/target group, which are considered to be able deliver accurate
information on the topic (Kotler et al., 2009). Therefore, in terms of the global impact
consumers, Reddit.com is chosen as platform for distribution of the surveys. Reddit.com is an
online community where users vote on content that other users upload within different interest
areas (Reddit, 2013). Reddit.com has been chosen as global impact consumers often have
environment and climate concerns (Iyer & Muncy, 2009), and Reddit.com features a subpage,
which revolves around this. Reddit.com gives the opportunity for everyone to participate in
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
the discussions and post content – hence, the questionnaire can be distributed through this
community. To gather data from simplifiers, the online community, selfsufficientish.com has
been chosen. This is an online guide for everyone with an interest in self-sufficiency (Selfsufficientish, 2013). The page also features a forum, thus an appropriate distribution channel
in order to target simplifiers as they believe in living a simpler life (Iyer & Muncy, 2009) e.g.
through self-sufficiency.
In order to identify general anti-consumers, the respondents are first off asked whether they
believe in decreasing their general consumption on a daily basis. This is a closed question,
which is a question with a predefined answer (Kotler et al., 2009). Doing this, respondents
without general anti-consumer motives can be excluded in the findings, as these answers are
considered invalid. Furthermore, a question is created to indirectly identify what type of anticonsumer the respondent can be classified as in order to distinguish between simplifiers and
global impact consumers. This question is also a closed question where the respondents are
presented to five statements based on Iyer and Muncy’s (2009) description of simplifiers’ and
global impact consumers’ motives for practicing anti-consumption. However, to not exclude
respondents with with other general anti-consumption motives than those presented by Iyer
and Muncy, the respondents are given the opportunity to state other motives if the ones
predefined do not fully resemble their motive.
The next part of the questionnaire constitutes questions regarding relevant aspects of the
marketing mix. First off, a question regarding from where the respondents gather information
about convenience goods is presented, and questions regarding the frequency of convenience
goods buying. These questions are chosen in order argue for suggestions on promotion and
place strategies (Kotler et al., 2009; Jobber, 2010). Next, respondents are asked to rate
different attributes of convenience goods products in order of importance to their decision of
buying. The questions are based on a rank-order method where consumers rank each
preference in regards to the level of importance to their decision of buying (Kotler et al.,
2009). The rating scale used is a five-point Likert scale, which makes it possible to calculate
averages (Allen & Seaman, 2007). The scale ranks from high importance to low importance
regarding each attribute. This method is chosen to show to what extent consumers prefer some
attributes to others, which can be used to base strategic suggestions regarding product and
price on (Kotler et al., 2009). The stated attributes of convenience goods products are based
on Kotler and Armstrong’s (2010) elements of the marketing mix: low price, organic,
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packaging, quality, healthy, country of origin, location of buying, brand’s reputation, and the
level of social responsibility of company. These specific elements are chosen as they can be
applied to all convenience goods. For instance, ‘taste’ is not chosen as it only applies as
attribute of foods, whereas ‘low price’ can be applied to both staple and impulse convenience
goods. However, respondents have been given the opportunity to specify other determinants
if relevant. Furthermore, respondents are asked to state why they find specific attributes
important. These questions are based on qualitative research techniques, and will be used
when arguing for the right strategy in connection to the marketing mix.
2.2.2 Secondary data Together with the primary data, secondary data will serve as further explanation in terms of
general anti-consumers reason for valuing the preferences that they do. Secondary data is
defined by Kotler et al. (2009) as,“data that were collected for another purpose and already
exists somewhere” (p. 193). The secondary data will therefore contribute to the argumentation
on what the appropriate marketing mix strategy is in terms of the general anti-consumers. This
data will consist of research articles regarding anti-consumers and their behaviour: Iyer and
Muncy (2009), Black and Cherrier (2010) and Dobscha (1998). These articles will serve as
primary secondary data to argue for the strategies to choose.
2.3 Choice of theory The problem that this thesis studies and proposes solutions to is situated within the field of
consumer behaviour and marketing. Thus, the primary theory that is used in this thesis
concerns relevant concepts within these fields. In explaining the consumer decision-making
process, several sources will be used. There is a general agreement on the framework of this
theory, however, there are also very different explanations on specific elements of the theory,
hence, this thesis will use the appropriate elements regarding the relevant aspects of the theory
from Peter and Olson (2005), Kotler et al. (2009), Jobber (2010) and Solomon et al. (2010).
The same literature is also applied when the discussion on how companies can develop an
appropriate marketing mix is presented. However, other sources are furthermore applied in
this part of the thesis, as relevant theories and concepts exist outside the mentioned literature,
e.g. Cravens, Holland, Lamb & Montcrief’s (1988) five quality definitions in order to
determine the right quality approach, and Pickton and Broderick’s (2005) promotional
strategies. Moreover, despite the prevalent stimulus-response perspective of this thesis, the
thesis also recognises the need for some analysis of reasons behind the respondents’ answers.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
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Therefore, the literature of Iyer and Muncy (2009), Black and Cherrier (2010), Dobscha
(1998), and Maslow’s behavioural needs theory (Solomon et al., 2010) is used where
applicable in order to argue why the general anti-consumers choose as they do.
2.4 Structure of thesis The structure of the thesis is follows basic structuring of research papers, and is furthermore
to some extent based on Bloom’s taxonomy (Reinecker and Jørgensen, 2012). This means
that, in order to answer the problem statement, the thesis develops through the required steps
of a scientific paper. The thesis explains the theory, knowledge and literature behind the topic;
in order to understand and investigate the problem, it identifies behaviours by means of
empirical data gathering, which is analysed in order to apply this knowledge in the
presentation of suggested strategies. This is accordance with the general frame of Bloom’s
taxonomy (Reinecker and Jørgensen, 2012). To give a visual overview of thesis’ structure,
Figure 1 shows the correlation between the different text parts:
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Fig. 1: Structure of the thesis
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
3. Theoretical framework 3.1 Anti-­‐consumption Anti-consumption literally means against consumption and is a trend, which focuses on the
act of not buying instead of buying (Lee & Fernandez, 2009). Today’s consumers live in a
world, where they can buy anything if they have the money, and companies use a vast array
of techniques to exploit the consumers’ desire to buy. However, as opposition to consumption
and the excessive production and marketing efforts, anti-consumption has arisen (Choi, 2011).
People who practice anti-consumption are labelled anti-consumers, and their reasoning for
avoiding or refusing consumption is often of psychological and social reasons rather than out
of necessity (Choi, 2011).
3.2 Four types of anti-­‐consumers In general, there is consistency in literature about the categorization of anti-consumption and
anti-consumers. There is agreement on four types of anti-consumers, which refusal of buying
stems from different motives and the actual anti-consumption takes form differently (Choi,
2011; Iyer & Muncy, 2009). The four types of anti-consumers are explained primarily with
the use of Iyer and Muncy’s (2009) definitions (Table 1) but also Choi’s definitions are taken
into consideration (2011). However, as Iyer and Muncy (2009) state, “It is important to note
that these are not mutually exclusive categories in that a person could reduce consumption
for more than one (or even all) of the reasons associated with each category.” (p. 160).
Purpose of Anti-Consumption
Object of Anti
Consumption
Societal Concerns
Personal
Concerns
General (all
consumption)
Global impact
consumers
Simplifiers
Specific (Individual
Brands or
Products)
Market Activists
Anti-loyal
Consumers
Table 1: Anti-­‐consumer types (Iyer & Muncy, 2009, p. 161) Page 13 of 65
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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3.2.1 Simplifiers The first category of anti-consumption is what Iyer and Muncy (2009) call simplifiers (also
referred to in literature as Voluntary Simplifiers (Kaynak & Eksi, 2011; Etzioni, 1998). This
type of anti-consumption is based on personal motives for practicing general anticonsumption. According to Iyer and Muncy (2009), “this group wishes to drop out of the fastpaced, high-consumption society and move to a simpler, less consumer- oriented lifestyle” (p.
161). Furthermore, the simplifiers “believe that maximizing their consumption, as is
commonly done, has undesirable consequences, such as stress and distraction from higher
pursuits” (Iyer & Muncy, 2009, p. 161). In general, this kind of anti-consumption is based on
personal motives. Choi (2011) calls this type of anti-consumption fatigue anti-consumption,
and describes this kind of anti-consumption as a result of information overload from
marketing of products and services, which causes people to feel fatigue and stressed. As a
consequence, they start to value the other things in life rather than materialistic consumption,
thus prioritising acts and behaviour with a self-realization or spiritual purpose (Choi, 2011).
3.2.2 Anti-­‐loyal consumers Anti-loyal consumers practice anti-consumption towards a specific brand based on personal
experience with this brand (Iyer & Muncy, 2009) – also called anti-loyalty. According to Iyer
and Muncy (2009), “Anti-loyalty reflects a personal commitment to avoid purchasing a
product because of perceived inferiority or because of a negative experience associated with
it” (p. 162). This motive may stem from a bad, first-hand experience with a product, which is
also the definition that Choi (2011) gives this category of anti-consumption that she terms
trauma anti-consumption. As a result of the bad experience, the specific product/service or
brand is subsequently “blacklisted” by the consumer; hence, the consumer will refuse to buy
this specific product/service again.
3.2.3 Global impact consumers The global impact consumers are interested in a reduction of general consumption in order to
benefit the society – mainly due to an environmental concern and/or to reduce material
inequality (Iyer & Muncy, 2009). More specifically, according to Iyer and Muncy, the global
impact consumer “hold the belief that the modern consumption of current times is causing
irreparable damage to the earth's ecosystem or that over-consumption by the wealthier
nations or classes is contributing to poverty problems in lesser developed nations or the
poorer classes of society.” (p. 161). This defintion is also reflected in Choi’s (2011)
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description of what she defines as the enlightment anti-consumption. She states that it is
aimed at social and environmental issues, and, furthermore, that this type of anti-consumption
has seen a rapid growth, especially facilitated through the Internet, via blogs and social media
(Choi, 2011). However, Choi claims that enlightenment anti-consumption need not be of
activist nature but can be of a small engagement in larger events/initiatives. One example is
the WWF initiative Earth Hour where all people throughout the world are encouraged to turn
off the light in their homes one hour at night, the same day, in order to increase the awareness
of climate and environmental issues (Dahlager, 2008).
3.2.4 Market activists The market activist aims anti-consumption at a specific brand but due to a societal concern
(Iyer & Muncy, 2009). Iyer and Muncy state, “Market Activists might avoid using a product
or brand because they feel that a specific brand or product causes a specific societal
problem.” (p. 162). One example is the boycott of the sportswear brand Nike as a
consequence of several incidents of poor workers’ rights in the so-called Nike Sweatshops in
Asia (Birch, 2012).
As already stated, due to the complexity of specific anti-consumption, that is, the anticonsumption targeted at specific brands and/or products (Iyer & Muncy, 2009), this type of
anti-consumer is not an object of this thesis. The thesis only concerns general anti-consumers
(global impact consumers and simplifiers (Iyer & Muncy, 2009).
3.3 Consumer decision-­‐making process The action of purchasing a product/service includes several pre- and post stages to the actual
purchase decision. In order to understand the behaviour of a specific consumer and in the
context of this thesis, general anti-consumers, all these stages must be understood to know
how the consumers actually make their buying decision. Marketing scholars have developed a
model (Figure 2), which describes the purchase decision process.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Problem Recognition
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Search for alternative solutions Evaluation of Alternatives Purchase Postpurchase use and reevaluation of chosen alternative Fig. 2: A Generic Model of Consumer Problem Solving (Peter & Olson, 2005, p. 165)
The model consists of five stages involved in consumer decision-making, which will be
explained below.
3.3.1 Problem Recognition The first stage of consumer decision-making is for the person to recognise a lack between
one’s actual state and the ideal state (Solomon et al., 2010). For instance, a person finds out
that he needs a way to transport him to his new job, which is far away from his home. The
problem recognition may be aroused by either internal stimulus, such as hunger, thirst, sex,
etc., or external stimulus, for example the admiration of another person’s clothing (Jobber,
2010).
Marketers can have an influence on this stage of the problem, as marketing tools can be used
in order to plant a problem/desire in the minds of consumers (Solomon et al., 2010).
3.3.2. Search for alternative solutions The second stage, information search, involves internal and external search. Not all
consumers go through all five stages (Kotler et al., 2009), and the information search is often
skipped, as not all decisions require information search. Some processes such as impulse
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
shopping are not object to information search. This can also be the case in regards to
convenience goods shopping – the consumer does not always perceive the problem
recognition as sufficiently strong, hence, one that requires prior information search.
Kotler et al. (2009) distinguish between two levels of involvement in the search process. The
first is heightened attention where the consumer becomes more receptive to information but
does not involve in active information search. The other level, active information search,
involves the consumer being actively engaged in information search. This level includes four
information sources that the consumer turns to: personal, commercial, public and experiential
(Kotler et al., 2009).
3.3.3 Evaluation of alternatives When consumers get to evaluating the alternatives, basically, they will pay most attention to
the products/brands with the attributes that deliver the benefits that are sought to satisfy the
consumers’ specific needs (Kotler et al., 2009). The consumer screens the attributes of
different products/brands to produce an evoked set, which is mental grouping of the brands
that the consumer finds attractive in connection to the desired attributes – the evoked set is the
final brands/products that the consumer considers before deciding to purchase (Solomon et
al., 2010).
This stage also constitutes high-involvement and low-involvement situations (Jobber, 2010). In
the high-involvement situation, the consumer is influenced by personal beliefs and attitudes,
as well as the outside influences from society and other people. In low-involvement situations,
such as habitual buying, there is very little conscious thought or formation of attitudes
towards the alternatives that are evaluated (Jobber, 2010).
3.3.4 Purchase The actual purchase decision is executed in this stage. According to Kotler et al. (2009), at
this stage, the consumer makes up to five sub-decisions regarding: choice of brand, which
dealer to purchase from, the quantity, the timing of the purchase and payment method used. In
choosing the brand/product, the consumer makes use of evaluative criteria that are dimension,
which can be used to judge competing options (Kotler et al., 2009). In choosing between
different milk-brands the evaluation criteria are all the features that the brands have in
common such as packaging, price, fat-level, shelf life, etc. The determinant attributes are the
features that a consumer values highest and thus will be basing the product decision on
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(Solomon et al., 2010). The determinant attributes vary from person to person in the decision
process – some may favour price over quality, others the company reputation over all other
features.
3.3.5 Postpurchase use and re-­‐evaluation of chosen alternatives The last stage involves the processes and actions that happen after the purchase. The
consumer will evaluate the purchase in relation to whether the expectations have been
fulfilled or not, and therefore act on the basis of this evaluation (Kotler et al., 2009). The postpurchase behaviour can take form in keeping the product or getting rid of it temporarily or
permanently.
3.4 Marketing mix A company develops its marketing mix based on the knowledge and understanding of the
target customer in order to exploit the possibilities of turnover from this target group. The
marketing mix consists of four aspects called the 4 P’s, which constitutes four decision areas
that companies have to manage to differentiate from other companies (Jobber, 2010). Each of
the 4 P’s are explained below primarily based on Jobber’s (2010) definition, and a model
(Figure 3) is presented to summarise the marketing mix based on Kotler and Armstrong’s
(2010) definition of the concept. Based on the empirical data, the appropriate strategy within
each category will be discussed later in the thesis in regards to general anti-consumers and
convenience goods.
3.4.1 Product The product development implies the invention and offering of products and/or services that
are superior to other products/services thus create customer value based on the features it
provides (Jobber, 2010). Product decisions involve considerations regarding brand names,
packaging, quality, guarantees, etc. (Jobber, 2010)
3.4.2 Price The price represents the unit basis that the company will charge for the product/service. The
pricing methods are crucial to marketers as it has to cover all expenditures but also has to
reflect the positioning strategy of the product (Jobber, 2010). Customers perceive the price as
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an indicator of value, and thus, the price considerations go beyond an expenditure/earningsperspective.
3.4.3 Place Place considerations involve decisions of distribution channels, location of outlets,
transportation and inventory management (Jobber, 2010). The main purpose is to ensure that
customers can get their products, in the right quantity and at the time and place they require.
This dimension of the marketing mix often involves cooperation with suppliers and retailers
and several other companies that influence the distribution.
3.4.4 Promotion Promotion constitutes considerations regarding the promotional mix, which is advertisement,
personal sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing and online promotion (Jobber,
2010). These are the tools, which companies can use to create awareness of products/services
and the benefits that it provides are communicated through. Each of the tools is appropriate in
different situations and choosing the right mix of promotions is key to creating the right and
sufficient awareness. In addition, the content of the promotions are of great importance in
delivering the right message, which reflects the strategy of the company and the product
provided (Jobber, 2010).
Each of the marketing mix aspects includes decisions on various elements. An overview of
the Marketing mix and its elements is depicted in Figure 3.
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
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Product Price • Variety • Quality • Design • Features • Brand name • Packaging • Services •  List price •  Discounts •  Allowances •  Payment method •  Credit terms Target Market Promotion Place •  Advertising •  Personal selling •  Sales promotion •  Public relations •  Channels •  Coverage •  Assortments •  Locations •  Inventory •  Transportation •  Logistics Fig. 3: The four Ps of the Marketing Mix (adapted from Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p.
76)
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4. Findings and analysis This section presents the findings that are collected through the method explained earlier in
the thesis. 49 responses were collected and 46 respondents are classified as general anticonsumers, thus considered valid responses. The qualitative findings are also presented,
however, only in a summarised form. To see the raw data and the full presentation of the
qualitative answers, please confer Appendix 2.
4.1 Types of general anti-­‐consumers To distinguish between Iyer and Muncy’s (2009) two general anti-consumer types, the
simplifiers and the global Impact consumers, the respondents were asked to select the
statement that resembles their motive for practicing anti-consumption most. The five
statements are derived from Iyer and Muncy’s (2009) description of why people practice anticonsumption, and the distribution of answers is showed in Table 2.
Primary motive for anti-consumption
Answers
To reduce material inequality
1
To help the environment
15
To avoid stress as consequence of (over-)consumption
7
To avoid distraction from higher (/more valuable) pursuits in life
8
It is immoral to focus so much energy on self-serving consumption activities
3
Other
12
Table 2: Motives for anti-consumption
The majority of the respondents practice anti-consumption to help the environment (32,6 %),
which, together with the second statement, is considered a motive of the global impact
consumer (Iyer & Muncy 2009). The simplifiers’ motives constitute the next three statements,
which is general anti-consumption based on personal concerns (Iyer & Muncy, 2009). Other
motives were also specified: Some examples are to simply to save money/reduce expenses, to
pay less tax to the government, to lose weight and others. However, this distinction makes it
possible to group the respondents based on their motives. This can be seen in the Table 3.
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General anti-consumer types
Number of
respondents
Global Impact Consumers
16
Simplifiers
18
General anti-consumers in all
46
Table 3: Types of anti-consumers
4.2 Place of shopping First, the thesis looks at the results of where general anti-consumers buy convenience goods
(Figure 5).
Fig. 5: Preferred shopping place for convenience goods (%) 60 50 % 40 30 20 Global impact consumers 10 Simpli]iers 0 All general anti-­‐consumers Type of store The results of the survey show that the preferred place for shopping convenience goods is in
supermarkets. The question is a multiple-choice question; hence, respondents had the
opportunity to select more than one answer. However, as it can be seen from Figure 5, among
the global impact consumer respondents 38 % prefer to shop in supermarkets, more than half
of simplifiers also prefer the supermarket (52 %) and in general, all respondents prefer the
supermarket as shopping destination (45 %). In general, the majority of the respondents argue
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Student ID: XXXXXX
May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
for their choice of supermarkets as a matter of convenience, both in terms of transport time
and in-store convenience, but also as a matter of low prices. However, respondents did also
agree on street markets and farmer’s markets as preferred shopping destinations albeit to a
much lesser extent. People who prefer street and farmer’s market have different reasons for
this, e.g. that it is important to support the local community buy buying at local street markets,
or that they buy some goods at the farmer’s markets due to better quality and locally grown
foods.
4.3 Information source In terms of the information source that general anti-consumers make use of, respondents were
asked to choose among four categories based on Kotler et al.’s (2009) four groups of
information sources: Personal, commercial, public and experiential. The results show that a
vast majority (66%-68%) of both respondent groups acquire information through
“experiential” information search. Kotler et al. (2009) defines this information source as
“handling, examining and using the product” (p. 248). About 20 % of the respondents of each
group also make use of personal information sources, which are information on products from
personal acquaintances such as family, friends and neighbours (Kotler et al., 2009). The
results are shown in Figure 6.
Fig. 6: Primary information source on convenience goods (%) 80 70 60 50 40 Global impact consumers 30 Simpli]iers 20 All general-­‐consumers 10 0 Family, friends, Advertisements, neighbours, websites, displays, salespeople Mass-­‐media By "hands-­‐on" What is noticeable is that as less than 10 % say they acquire information from commercial
information sources, although, according to Kotler et al. (2009), “the consumer receives the
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
most of information about a product from commercial – that is, marketer-dominated –
sources” (p. 248). Furthermore, almost none of the respondents (0-5%) selected public
information sources such as mass media and consumer-rating organisations, etc.
4.4 Frequency of buying The survey also asked the respondents how often they buy convenience goods in order to get
a picture of how general anti-consumers shopping frequency is. The results are shown in
Figure 7. First, the results show that when buying impulse convenience goods, 38 % of global
impact consumers buys impulse convenience goods 2-3 times a month or 1 month or less. 47
% of the simplifiers buy impulsive convenience goods 1 month or less, 30 % 1-3 times a
week, and 24 % buy 2-3 times a month. In general, 40 % of all respondents buy impulse
convenience goods 1 time a month or less, 30 % 1-3 times a week and 28 % 2-3 times a
month.
Fig. 7: Frequencey of impulse convenience goods buying (%) 50 45 40 35 30 Global impact consumers 25 20 Simpli]iers 15 All general anti-­‐consumers 10 5 0 4-­‐7 times a week 1-­‐3 times a week 2-­‐3 times a 1 time a month month or less Never The results for frequency of staple convenience goods buying in general show a higher
frequency of buying, which is very normal to do the necessity nature of the staple
convenience goods. The majority of global impact consumers buy staple convenience goods
2-3 times a month (45%), and 22 % buy 4-7 times a week and the same percentage buys 1-3
times a week. What is very noticeable is that 75 % of simplifiers that have answered buy
staple convenience goods 1-3 times a week, and 25 % buys 2-3 times a month. In general, 50
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% of the general anti-consumers 1-3 times a week 33 % buy 2-3 times a month. An overview
of the results are shown in Figure 7.
Fig. 7: Frequency of staple convenience goods buying (%) 80 70 60 50 Global impact consumers 40 Simpli]iers 30 All general anti-­‐consumers 20 10 0 4-­‐7 times a week 1-­‐3 times a week 2-­‐3 times a 1 time a month month or less Never 4.5 Preferences of impulse convenience goods The last part of the results concerns the actual preferences that the general anti-consumers
have when buying convenience goods. The results have been analysed and an average score
has been calculated based on the number of answers - the lower the score, the higher the
importance. All determinants with an average score of 3.0, which is equal to ‘neutral’ in the
rating system, or more, is considered not to be of importance to the respondents, and a score
of 2.0 or less is considered to be of high importance. Therefore, this thesis will pay most
attention to the determinants that score 2.0 or less. First off, the preferences of impulse
convenience goods are presented in Figure 8:
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Student ID: XXXXXX
4 May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Fig. 8: Preferences of impulse convenience goods 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5 0 Global impact consumers Simpli]iers All general anti-­‐
consumers In order to make it clearer what preferences the respondents have, the results are sorted based
on the lowest average score (= the highest importance) to show what determinants are of most
importance to each group regarding impulse convenience goods. This can be seen in Table 4.
Rating 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Global impact All general-­‐anti consumers Simplifers consumers Quality (1.8) Quality (1.5) Quality (1.8) CSR of company (2.1) Low price (1.6) Low price (1.9) Packaging (2.2) Healthy (2.0) Location of buying (2.3) Low price (2.3) Location of buying (2.3) Healthy (2.4) Location of buying (2.3) Brand's reputation (2.6) CSR of company (2.5) Country of origin (2.3) CSR of company (2.9) Brand's reputation (2.6) Organic (2.5) Organic (3.2) Country of origin (2.9) Healthy (2.5) Country of origin (3.3) Organic (3.0) Brand's reputation (2.8) Packaging (3.4) Packaging (3.0) Table 4: Ranked order of impulse convenience goods preferences
As it can be seen in the table, global impact consumers, simplifiers and all respondents in total
value quality highest when buying impulse convenience goods. When arguing for this the
respondents generally agree that buying quality means that the product will last longer or that
they do not need to use as much, which, in the long run, will reduce their consumption. Low
price is considered the next most important determinant by simplifiers and all respondents in
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
total. The simplifiers argue for this that is important to buy cheap products so that they can
save money for other purposes, or simply because they won’t have to work too much and
therefore can save time to do other things in life. Other respondents argue that is just a matter
of (tight) budget that makes them prefer low priced products, thus they prefer buying cheap
convenience goods so they can spend the rest of the money on buying sustainable goods of
other product categories. The CSR profile of the company is considered next most important
by the global impact consumers, however, it scores an average of 2.1, and is therefore not
considered very important. Looking at the arguments for CSR as preference, the respondents
generally state that it is important that the company also has the planet (environment and
society) in mind when doing business.
4.6 Preferences of staple convenience goods The results of the question regarding staple convenience goods are shown in the Figure 9. The
lower an average score, the higher importance to the respondents.
Fig. 9: Preferences of staple convenience goods 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5 0 Global impact consumers Simpli]iers All general anti-­‐
consumers Ranking the determinants from high to low (Table 5) it once again shows that quality is of
most importance to the global impact consumer, second most important to simplifiers, and
most important to in general when buying staple convenience goods.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. Global impact consumers Quality (1.8) Healthy (2.1) Low price (2.2) CSR of company (2.2) 5. 6. 7. Country of origin (2.2) Organic (2.4) Location of buying (2.6) 8. 9. May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Simplifers Low price (1.6) Quality (1.8) Healthy (2.1) Location of buying (2.3) Brand's reputation (3.0) CSR of company (3.6) Organic (3.7) All general-­‐anti consumers Quality (1.6) Low price (2.0) Healthy (2.1) Location of buying (2.6) Organic (2.9) Country of origin (3.0) CSR of company (3.0) Brand's reputation Packaging (2.6) Packaging (3.7) (3.1) Brand's reputation (3.2) Country of origin (3.9) Packaging (3.1) Table 5: Ranked order of staple convenience goods preferences
The reasons that the respondents give for preferring quality when buying staple convenience
goods are basically the same as impulse convenience goods. It is still a matter of buying
quality products to decrease consumption and waste. Buying better quality products the
products last longer thus the total expense will be less for the consumer. However, low price
is also important to the respondents, although more important to simplifiers. The reasons for
preferring low price products are to lower consumption in general and save money to use it on
other purposes. The main difference between the preferences when buying impulse and staple
convenience goods is that more of the respondents value healthy products when buying staple
convenience goods. However, the health attribute only scores 2.1 and is therefore not regard
as being of high importance.
It can be seen that simplifiers only consider four of the determinants important, whereas
global impact consumers consider eight determinants important.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
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Supervisor: Louise Genefke
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5. Suggestions on the right marketing mix strategies Based on the findings from the empirical research, the thesis will propose strategic decisions,
which can help in the development of the right marketing mix in order to target and attract
general anti-consumers. The product and pricing decision as well as place/distribution
decisions will mainly regard decisions that affect the actual purchase-decision, whereas the
promotion decision also will concern the information search stage of the decision-making
process. The suggestions will be supported by knowledge about anti-consumers.
5.1 Product The findings show that the general anti-consumer when buying convenience goods in general
regards quality as a very important determinant. Maslow developed his Hierarchy of Needs
theory, which describes the needs that a human being has and the dependence and hierarchical
correlation that exist between these needs (Solomon et al., 2010). As Iyer and Muncy (2009)
stated, general anti-consumers practice anti-consumption for instance to pursue higher
purposes in life (simplifiers) or to help the environment in general (global impact consumers).
This reflects the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, namely the self-actualisation
need, which is the need for “self-fulfilment, enriching experiences” (Solomon 2010, p. 186).
General anti-consumers’ self-actualisation is supported by the means of and dependent on
their anti-consumption. The anti-consumption practice is dependent on buying as little as
possible by buying convenience goods that are of a certain quality and low prices – in this
way, the general anti-consumer can use the extra time and money on self-fulfilling actions.
One might think that CSR of company or organic features are of most importance to for
instance the global impact consumers. However, Black and Cherrier (2010) found in their
analysis of anti-consumption as part of living sustainable that, “Although our analysis notes
that our informants strongly adhere to environmental preservation and care for nature, the
actual practices of anti-consumption for sustainability mostly relate to a concern for selfexpression, either in terms of identities or desired identities.” (p. 446). This can explain why
quality and price is more important to general anti-consumers. It is basically more important
to buy less and of better quality than buying environmentally friendly products. Therefore, the
products that they buy have to be of a certain quality but still at a fairly low price, hence,
companies must find the right balance between quality and price.
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Student ID: XXXXXX
May, 2013
Supervisor: Louise Genefke
BA MMC – Bachelor Thesis
Cravens et al. (1988) describe five perspectives on defining quality of a product. Two of the
approaches are appropriate to consider when developing products for general anti-consumers:
The product-based approach and the value-based approach (Cravens et al., 1988). In the
product-based approach, the perception of quality from the consumer is linked to a certain
ingredient or attribute of the product. In terms of convenience goods, this can be the exclusion
of certain additives in foods, no harmful chemicals in cleansing agents, or the use of only
natural ingredients in confectionary. This can make general anti-consumers perceive the
product as high quality and thus make them buy the product, because they value high quality
products that help them in their anti-consumption purposes. The other perspective is the
value-based approach where the marketer considers the trade-offs between quality and price
(Cravens et al., 1988). According to Cravens et al., “the highest value represents the most
favourable combination of quality and price.” (p. 287). The findings show that both price and
quality generally were considered to be of high importance; therefore, the companies must
find the right balance between low price and quality. The general anti-consumer is not willing
to invest a lot of money in products of high quality – they prefer to buy as little as possible, at
a low price but at high quality. As one respondent stated when asked what companies should
do to make convenience goods more attractive, “…use more quality ingredients and offer
more competitive pricing.” The general anti-consumer does not want luxury goods nor
discount products, but rather products that are placed somewhere in the middle so their
motives of anti-consumption can be focused elsewhere than convenience goods buying.
5.2 Price In order to choose the right price for the convenience goods, the company must be aware of
low price and quality being among the most important determinants by general anticonsumers. Thus, not only will the quality of the product in question have to be ensured, the
price must also be competitive.
The company therefore must choose to select the appropriate pricing objective when
positioning its marketing offering to attract consumers (Kotler et al., 2009). Kotler et al.
propose five major price objectives, and one includes considerations regarding product
quality, the product-quality leadership. By being product quality leader in the market, the
products are characterised “by high levels of perceived quality, taste and status with a price
just high enough not to be out of consumers’ reach” (Kotler et al., 2009, p. 582). This is also
what companies in the convenience goods markets should strive for when developing the
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marketing mix aimed at general anti-consumers. A possible appropriate pricing method is
value pricing, which can help companies win loyal customers by charging a fairly low price
for a product of high quality (Kotler et al., 2009). More specifically, in order to attract general
anti-consumers, the companies are suggested to adopt a value price type named everyday low
pricing (EDLP), which is used in retail (Kotler et al., 2009). This decision lies with the
retailer rather than the producer but should still be used in order to attract general anticonsumers. The strategy is to charge a constant low price with little or no price promotions to
eliminate price uncertainty from the consumers. As the result showed, general anti-consumers
prefer low price products often because they are on a budget or want to spend more money on
other things, and furthermore, they do not conduct extensive prior information search on
convenience goods. Therefore, a fairly low, constant price can match these preferences of the
general anti-consumers, because they will know the price at all times and do not experience
price fluctuations due to promotion prices etc.
5.3 Place In designing the right marketing channel, a company has to analyse the consumers’ needs
through five service levels. These are quantity, waiting and delivery time, convenience,
product and service variety and service backup (Kotler et al., 2009). In general, the
respondents favour high convenience in terms of price, location and variety products at the
same place. To suggest appropriate place strategies, the marketers should consider choice of
place utility, which is concerned with delivering products where the consumer wants to
purchase them (Peter and Olson, 2005). The majority of the respondents prefer the
supermarket for shopping convenience goods. The reasons are that they save a lot of transport
time and transport expenses due to the short distance and the variety of products available at
one place, and the prices are generally lower at the supermarket. Supermarkets are large selfservice stores, and they often position themselves with focus on the comparatively lower price
(Jobber, 2010). Hence, companies producing convenience goods should make use of
supermarkets as retailer of their products.
Moreover, the company should strive to make use of a distribution channel with as few
intermediary levels as possible, meaning the number of distributive locations from
manufacturer to consumer (Kotler et al., 2009). This decision depends on a lot of variables
such as country, quantities, products, etc. (Kotler et al., 2009), however, the fewer
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intermediaries during the channel, the lower the expenses of distributing the product, hence,
the possibility to offer a lower end-price to the consumer. Preferably, a 1- or 2-level channel
should be established where the only intermediaries are retailer and wholesaler (in a 2-level
channel) (Kotler et al., 2009). Hence, the company can offer its products at a lower price but
still at same quality, which is paramount to general anti-consumers.
The results of the findings also showed that the frequency of staple and impulse convenience
goods buying varied. Impulse goods were purchased more rarely (1 time of month or less)
than staple goods (1-3 times a week/2-3 times a month), and dependent on the type of
convenience goods, the company will have to choose appropriate distribution channels and
frequencies that reflect the buying habits of the general anti-consumers. In general, it is also
important that both staple and impulse convenience goods are available at the same
supermarket, as respondents highlighted the convenience of buying all things at the same
place
5.4 Promotion The findings shows that the majority of general anti-consumers do not make use of
commercial information source and public information sources when actively searching for
information during the decision-making process. Dobscha (1998) found that consumers
rebelling
against
marketing
often
are
against
advertising
and
other
marketing
communications, because it does not reflect their values and concerns. However, they might
still be object to marketing communication tools if they message conveyed relates to values
and beliefs of anti-consumers, so therefore companies must be sure that the content of the
promotional strategies reflects what general anti-consumers value.
The actual communication objective should serve to establish brand purchase intention,
which is the goal of increasing the chances that consumers will buy the brand, and establish
brand awareness, which is the level to which consumers activate a brand from memory to
inclusion when they recognise a need (Peter and Olson, 2005). The findings showed that
when gathering information about product alternatives, the respondents merely make use of
experiential information sourcing - the actual handling and examining the products (Kotler et
al., 2009). Therefore, establishing brand awareness will enhance the chances that a company’s
brand will come to mind of the consumer. Establishing brand purchase intention will ensure
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that when general anti-consumers are presented to the communication, their needs are
enforced and they recognise that the purchase decision of this product will provide them with
the right benefits that are in accordance with the anti-consumption lifestyle.
The message strategy should therefore try to highlight points of difference, which is the
communication of attributes that are important to the consumer and that other regular products
are missing (Kotler et al., 2009). Black and Cherrier (2010) found that often there exists a
green gap between buying behaviour and values, and that anti-consumer may find green
products attractive but in the purchase decision they value quality over sustainable features.
Thus, the point of difference communicated in regards to global impact consumers should be
the quality and price benefit of the product, rather than environmental and societal benefits.
The same goes for simplifiers, who, according to Black and Cherrier (2010) refuse to
purchase items that fail to improve their level of happiness, which is to leave time and
resources to other pursuits in life. This also explains the preferences that thesis found, so
therefore, Black and Cherrier (2010) suggest that companies should highlight “self interested
notions of taste, durability, quality, value or positive emotions that can be anticipated prior,
during and after the practices has been performed” (p. 451) and “highlight the economic,
convenience or functional benefits” (p. 451) rather than highlighting the environmental and
societal benefits.
When choosing the right marketing communications tool, it is important to note that the
findings show that a vast majority of respondents only make use of experiential information
sources in the information search stage. One way to comply with this and influence the
information search and, hence, the purchase decision, is by using in-store sales promotion for
instance in the form of sampling, which is are free samples to promote a specific product
(Pickton & Broderick, 2005). Thus, when general anti-consumers visit supermarkets, they will
be met by free samples of convenience goods products that can help them in the information
search. In this way, the company can ensure that the points of difference are communicated to
the customer at the moment where they gather information, and that they become aware of the
brand for future purchase.
If companies in the convenience goods market adopt some of the suggestions provided by this
thesis, chances of success in targeting convenience goods products to general anti-consumers
can be enhanced. However, the thesis recognises that many decisions regarding the marketing
mix development are company and product specific; thus, the actual success of a product or
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brand relies on a myriad of marketing decisions. Therefore, the suggested and presented
strategies should be considered guidelines or a framework rather than a specific solution.
Figure 10 shows a summary of the suggested strategies that companies in the convenience
goods market should adopt in developing an appropriate marketing mix targeted at general
anti-consumers.
Product Price • Focus on high quality and low price • Product-­‐ quality leadership pricing objective • Value Pricing method •  Value-­‐based approach •  Product-­‐based approach •  Everyday low pricing (EDLP) General anti-­‐
consumers Convenience goods Place Promotion • Supermarkets as retailers due to convenience • Objectives •  Maximum 2-­‐level channel •  Differentiated delivery frequency dependent on type of anti-­‐
consumer and goods type •  Establish brand-­‐purchase intention •  Establish brand awareness • Strategy •  Highlight points of difference •  Economic, convenience and functional bene]its • Tool •  In-­‐store sales promotion •  Sampling Figure 10: Suggested marketing mix strategies
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5. Conclusion Setting out to investigate the preferences of general anti-consumers, the empirical findings of
this thesis show that the respondents’ preferences of convenience goods generally are quality
and low price. Furthermore, the findings show that the respondents prefer experiential
information sources in the information search process and their preferred place of shopping is
supermarkets. These stimuli are preferred as they result in the general sought after benefit that
they entail. When arguing for their preferences, in general, the respondents find price, quality
and general convenience of high importance, because the saved expenses and time connected
with these benefits can contribute in practicing general anti-consumption elsewhere. These
findings stem with the literature on anti-consumer that argue that they favour functional
benefits over other benefits, as it is a means for practicing anti-consumption through other
dimensions of life.
Suggested marketing mix strategies have been presented based on the findings and anticonsumer literature that support and contribute in understanding the findings. The thesis
suggest that the focus of the marketers should be on finding the right balance between low
price and quality through a value-based approach and/or a product-based approach to quality.
The pricing objective should be to support this quality/price relationship by product-quality
leadership through the means of value pricing, more specifically, everyday low pricing
methods. In terms of place suggestions, the suggested distributions strategies include
supermarkets as retailers and maximum of 2-level channels to decrease expenses and ensure a
low product price. Promotional suggestions include establishing brand awareness and brandpurchase intention by highlighting the points of difference of the products in question. More
specifically, the marketers should promote products based on functional benefits for instance
via in-store sales promotion such as sampling.
The thesis recognises that the presented strategic suggestions is not be taken as an absolute.
The results are based on a data sample, which may reflect the general behaviours of anticonsumers, but Shaw and Newholm (2002) found that the group of voluntary simplicity
people (simplifiers) often have different purchasing strategies, thus, Shaw and Newholm
argues that the limitations of marketing insights, such as surveys, “may suggest a false
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homogeneity within this consumer group” (p. 182). This thesis therefore recognises, in
accordance with the scientific approach of Critical Rationalism, that the findings and
suggestions regarding simplifiers may not be fully applicable in all situations due to the
heterogeneity of anti-consumption purposes. This recognised view applies to the entire thesis:
consumer behaviour varies between persons, even within a socially defined segment, and,
furthermore, marketing decisions are always product, company and market specific.
Furthermore, the thesis only pays attention to the preferences of the respondents that are of
most importance. However, the findings show that several determinants are of importance,
thus appropriate marketing mix strategies may include several other determinants in the
development of the marketing mix. Therefore, the overall strategic suggestions provided by
the thesis merely serve as guidelines, which may enhance the possibility of targeting all
general anti-consumers when developing appropriate marketing mix in the convenience goods
market.
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