Impact of Pre-Shopping Activities on Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale
Journal of Business and Policy Research
Vol. 11. No. 1., July 2016, Pages: 98 – 107Impact of Pre-Shopping Activities on Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale
Over the past few years, retailers and manufacturers alike are increasing the attention and resources allocated to the practice of shopper marketing with the aim of influencing consumers “in shopping mode”, when they are prepared to make a choice, along and beyond the entire path-topurchase. Environmental changes, specifically the economic crisis and the growing penetration of digital technologies, have produced significant changes in shopping habits designed to gradually reduce the effectiveness of in-store marketing levers in influencing shopping behaviour. A new scenario seems to be opening up where more planning and preparation for shopping is carried out before the customer enters the store. Our work intends to explore the relationship between pre-trip activities and shopping behaviour in-store in order to understand if marketing levers could still influence consumers’ decisions in-store or, on the contrary, if a more prepared consumer limits the effectiveness of shopper marketing by reducing impulse buying. Our findings show that pre-trip activities have increased in importance and diffusion. This phenomenon has influenced shopping behaviour in-store by reducing impulse buying and increasing planned purchases.