At a time when retailers and manufacturers are struggling for insights that drive genuine innovation, this groundbreaking research brings order and clarity to the rapidly emerging field known loosely as "Shopper Insights."

This report, a culmination of a deep exploration into the complexities of shopping behavior, which deployed the widest variety of methodologies The Hartman Group has ever utilized, is an examination of cultural and social influences within store and home experiences. This approach explains why and how in-store behaviors happen and whether or not they connect to larger cultural or social forces beyond the store.

What You Can Expect

The report begins by setting the context and examining the significance of culture on shopping behavior. The research identified 11 dominant cultural occasions for shopping that have distinct meaning to consumers. These occasions are analyzed using a Cultural Occasions Model that helps us identify the drivers behind each type of shopping trip.

Our research uncovered that neither "trip types" nor "need states" fully capture what we were hearing and seeing while living with shoppers on a day-to-day basis, because they were overly simplistic and often taken out of context. By examining cultural occasions we explicitly bring the social and cultural context of shopping into the analysis to take advantage of the additional information it provides.

The Building Blocks of the Shopping Experience

Next, the report examines the building blocks of the shopping experience with analyses of:

Why the shopping trip happens? Who is doing the shopping? Who is with the shopper? Who are they thinking about as they shop? Where is the shopping happening? What shopping tactics are they using to get their shopping done? The Most Recent Trip

A complete chapter is dedicated to understanding the various goals, needs, and strategies that consumers may adopt all on the same trip. Included in this analysis is a quantitative prevalence of each cultural occasion along with:

The factors that affect shopping trip planning Retailers visited on the most recent shopping trip Shopper profiles reflecting the attitudes and preferences of shoppers at each retailer, Effects of marketing on the most recent shopping trip Purchases made on the most recent shopping trip


Table of contents:

List of Figures
Introduction
Defining Shopper Insights
Common Sense Says…
Our Research Says Chapter I The Significance of Culture
on Shopping Behavior Cultural Occasions for Shopping 1.
Who Are They Shopping For? (Other-Directed vs. Self-
Directed
2. What Kind of Cultural Experiences Affect Them the
Most? (Home vs. In-Store)
Role of the Home vs. Retail in Shopping Behavior How Do
I Use This Model Conclusion
Chapter II The Building Blocks of the Shopping
Experience Why Is This Shopping Trip Happening, Anyway
A few noted caveats Shoppers: Who Is Doing All of This
Shopping? Shopping Contexts: Who is With the Shopper
Shopping Alone The Proxy Shopper
Shopping with Children Under Shopping with Children
Over Shopping with Other Adults Shopping with Partners
Shopping with Close Female Relatives (e.g., Sisters,
Aunts, Mothers) Shopping with Female Friends
Shopping Orientations: Who Are They Thinking About as
They Shop? Other-Directed (Nurturing, Duty-Oriented,
Responsible, Tending to the Family Self-Directed

(Hedonistic, Leisure-Oriented, Indulgent, Treating the Self, Improving the
Self Shopping Channels: Where Is This Shopping
Happening?
Supercenters Club Stores Grocery Stores Specialty
Grocery Stores Pharmacy/Drugstores
Dollar Stores
Convenience Stores
Regular Channel Use by Shoppers Shopping Styles: They
Sure Seem Focused
Exploratory/Information Gathering Focused, Task
Completion Shopper Tactics…How Do They Get What They Want?

Shopping Up and Down the Aisles Circling the
Perimeter
Looking for At-Shelf Sale Promotions
Assembling Recipes (from memory or with recipe in
hand) Reading Circulars Collecting Coupons
Label Reading Product Comparisons
Using POS Materials Using Lists
Chapter III Understanding the Shopping Experience by
Cultural Occasion Traditional Weekly Destination
Random Emergency
Crafting a Special Recipe After-Work Supplement
Recreation Coffee Shop Experience
Meal Eaten in Store
Party Fixings Socializing with Friends
Workout Fuel Chapter IV The Most Recent Trip Cultural
Occasions Reason for Shopping
Describing the Most Recent Shopping Trip Planning for
the Most Recent Shopping Trip Retailers Visited on the
Most Recent Shopping Trip Shopper Profiles of
Different Retailers The Most Recent Shopping Conditions
Timing of the Most Recent Shopping Trip
Effects of Marketing on the Most Recent Shopping Trip
Out-of-Store In-Store Purchases Made on the Most Recent
Shopping Trip
Planned and Unplanned Purchases
Number of Categories Purchased - Basket or Cart?
Chapter V Category Specific Shopping Behavior
Frequency of Shopping Marketing Tactics and Product
Selection Over the Past Three Months Planned and
Unplanned Purchases on the Most Recent Shopping Trip
Reasons for Most Recent Planned and Unplanned Purchases
Chapter VI Key Findings
Five Common Myths About Shopping Behavior
MYTH 1. Brand Loyalty Drives Shopping Behavior MYTH 2.
Retail Environments Are Sacred Spaces for Brand Loyalty
MYTH 3. Behavioral Scripts Drive Shopping Behavior in
Mainstream Grocery and Drug
Retail MYTH 4. Shopping Behavior is About Consumers
Fulfilling Their Fixed Needs MYTH 5. Shopping Behavior
Varies Significantly by Category: The Evolving Case for
Fresh
Appendix I Methodology
ualitative Methods Ethnography Quantitative Methods
Survey Methodology Survey Definitions of Cultural
Occasions Survey Definitions of Shopper Preferences
Survey Definitions of Consumer Lifestyles
Analysis of Shopping Lists Data Appendix II The
Hartman Model Appendix III Shopper Insights Team
Members