Analysing consumer product preferences for selected hedonic and utilitarian shopping goods in Durban

Abstract

The retailing environment has shown that consumer purchases are dependent upon the consideration and subsequent evaluation of product attributes. As such, retailers have sought to investigate the sales affinities that exist between products. Given that consumer purchases are goal driven, researchers have investigated consumer purchases for goal derived product categories (utilitarian and hedonic products). The aim of this study was to investigate product attribute preferences for the establishment of a consideration set of selected hedonic and utilitarian cross-category shopping products in Durban. The quantitative study design based on a cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted in two sequential phases. The study population consisted of consumers within the city of Durban. The study sample of 444 students selected from the Durban University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology and the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Phase one of the study sample consisted of 231 respondents while Phase two sample was 213 respondents. Research respondents were chosen using convenience sampling. Quota sampling was also used to select respondent belonging to four generational groups. Respondents were purposely selected based on their capacity to give meaningful information relevant to the study. Two separate, self- developed instruments were used in each phase. The Cronbach alpha test was conducted to test for reliability of the first instrument. The results indicated acceptable, consistent scoring patterns for the sections of the research instrument. Respondents rated the importance of skincare and clothing detergent product attributes during the first phase. The findings of phase one of the study revealed that respondents classified skincare and clothing detergent products as slightly and moderately utilitarian, respectively. The study also revealed that the consideration of clothing detergents and skincare products is predominantly utilitarian in nature. No significant differences were found in the respondents rating of skincare and clothing detergent attributes. Product attributes valued by the consumer were found to be important to the consideration of clothing detergent and skincare product categories. The findings from the first phase of the study were used to develop questions used in the second phase of the study. Through the use of conjoint analysis techniques, skincare and clothing detergent product profiles were identified and ranked by respondents in their order of preferences. Pearson’s and Kendall’s tau correlation coefficient was used to validate the findings of phase two. Phase two of the study revealed that for clothing detergent products, product form is the most important attribute followed by product effectiveness. It is important to note that significant differences were found in the respondent's preferences for product attributes in terms of the respondent's demographics. For clothing detergents, significant differences were found in terms of respondents preferences for the price, scent, size and product form of clothing detergents. For skincare products, durability was the most important attributes followed by the brand of skincare products. In terms of demographics, significant differences were also found in the respondents preferences for skincare product attributes. The findings of the study are limited due to the low response rate among older respondents. Sampled respondents do not represent the population distribution in the city of Durban. The majority of respondents were unemployed students, therefore the findings of the study cannot be generalised. The findings of the study may also be limited due to the broad nature of the purchasing goals as well as the product categories. Consequently, generalised product attribute preferences were obtained. Therefore, future studies may benefit from narrowing the development of narrow purchasing goals and investigating subcategories. This study is the first to use conjoint analysis techniques to measure product category attribute preferences in South Africa. The study enhances to the existing body of knowledge in the South African retailing and marketing environment. The study has produced theoretical and practical contributions to the management of product categories offered by retailers. Moreover, the model proposed by the study simplifies the category management process enabling a retailer to simplify the investigation of consumer category preferences. Future studies should also test the model using other product categories and a larger population sample.