RSM Erasmus university

A RESEARCH ON THE DETERMINANTS OF STORE CHOICE IN THE CATALAN GROCERY MARKET

This proposal has the objective to present an explanatory study concerning the influence of store image attributes and demographics on discount format choice. Furthermore, the study will examine the effect of a cultural aspect on the detected determinants. The research will be conducted by the means of survey techniques and initial interviews among Spanish and Dutch discount store shoppers. The research objective is twofold. First, to contribute to the gap detected in the academic field of store choice and to enrich it with an analysis of a cultural aspect. Second, to provide specific knowledge that will be relevant for (retail) managers. This will be achieved by providing insights that will lead to a better understanding of consumer�s discount format choice in Spain and in The Netherlands. This cross? national knowledge can, in turn, have international marketing strategy implications for retailers. Since, retail studies have mainly focused on conventional store formats, this research aims to enrich this field by studying the discount format choice and its determinant image attributes. In addition the changing conditions in the European grocery industry and the contextual nature of the findings in this research area, justify the proposed research. First, the background information and the theoretical concepts relevant for this research project will be discussed. Then in the second section, the problem and the research question will be addressed. In the third section, the first ideas pertaining to the research design will be presented. Lastly, in the fourth section practical information concerning the projects� master schedule and limitations will be provided.