2
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Running Head: OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Observational study of consumer
behavior IKEA retail store
PSYC 321
Professor Patricia Ellison-Potter
University of Maryland Global
Campus
Abstract
Consumer behavior in regard to the selection of checkout line types has not been enough
covered in the world of social psychology world, especially with the usage of self-service
technologies (SSTs). Self-checkout lines, for instance, are part of SST, and they have been
more prevalent in today's society than ever before. While SSTs are more productive and
save costs for retailers and other industries, consumers may be divided on this installment,
especially between the choice of going either to self-checkout lines or regular checkout
lines. On this note, some questions may include why retailers profoundly appreciate self-
checkout lines, why the younger generation is more emphatic towards technological
advancements, and lastly, why males are more adapting towards SSTs than women.
Out of all the research questions, the first goal of this paper is to examine why the younger
generation has a more positive attitude towards self-checkout lines in comparison to the
,3
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
older generation. The next aim of this observational study is to identify any correlation
between gender differences and conformity in regard to attitudes on why men are more
likely to go to self- checkout lines, whereas women are more prone to regular checkout
lines. Since identifying these goals are extensive, a natural observation within an IKEA
retail store was conducted in which 650 subjects were sampled to examine the posed
hypotheses on age group and gender differences and to achieve valuable results,
respectively. The following results in this observational study prove that the younger
generation has a more positive attitude towards self-checkout lines compared to regular
checkout lines due to their perception and social paradigm compared to the older
generation. Since men feel more appreciative and confident to use services such as self-
checkout lines, they seem to have a more adaptive attitude. In contrast, women
demonstrate the complete opposite by having technology anxiety and concentrating more
on social relationships.
, 4
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Introduction
Many male and female people enjoy going shopping at retail stores, whether they
are looking for something particular or not because they can relieve stress from work or
frequent boredom from home. For many years, the retail industry has been one of the most
substantial and crucial aspects of American society. In particular, a report was released by
the company Deloitte (2019), which declared that the U.S. retail industry or explicitly, the
top 250 businesses, made an aggregate revenue of approximately $4.53 trillion in the fiscal
year of 2017. Even though this number indicates that Americans spend much money, it
does not have to be exclusively in a physical store. The branch of e-commerce has gained
more momentum over the decade, and it became a vital part of the retail industry, where
many Americans spend more money online instead of in physical stores. Smith and
Anderson (2016) have found in a survey that "79% of Americans say they make purchases
online" (para. 1). Although it depends on other situational variables such as how many
times they shop online in a week or month, it is still a vast majority that enjoys digital
retailing.
Consumer behavior and the addition of decision-making is most likely one of the
most compelling subjects in the world of social psychology because social psychologists are
divided about an accurate definition. Over the last centuries of contemporary research, it
has been stated that consumer behavior reflects on the influence of factors on the
consumer and the broad range of consumption activities before the purchasing process
begins (Bray, 2007). The consumption activities, for instance, can consist of need
recognition, the evaluation of alternatives, and lastly, the act of purchasing. All these
mentioned examples of consumption activities are objects that every retailer has to
consider because many consumers anticipate having competent customer service. Due to
technological advances in this globalized and digital world, retailers are
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Running Head: OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Observational study of consumer
behavior IKEA retail store
PSYC 321
Professor Patricia Ellison-Potter
University of Maryland Global
Campus
Abstract
Consumer behavior in regard to the selection of checkout line types has not been enough
covered in the world of social psychology world, especially with the usage of self-service
technologies (SSTs). Self-checkout lines, for instance, are part of SST, and they have been
more prevalent in today's society than ever before. While SSTs are more productive and
save costs for retailers and other industries, consumers may be divided on this installment,
especially between the choice of going either to self-checkout lines or regular checkout
lines. On this note, some questions may include why retailers profoundly appreciate self-
checkout lines, why the younger generation is more emphatic towards technological
advancements, and lastly, why males are more adapting towards SSTs than women.
Out of all the research questions, the first goal of this paper is to examine why the younger
generation has a more positive attitude towards self-checkout lines in comparison to the
,3
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
older generation. The next aim of this observational study is to identify any correlation
between gender differences and conformity in regard to attitudes on why men are more
likely to go to self- checkout lines, whereas women are more prone to regular checkout
lines. Since identifying these goals are extensive, a natural observation within an IKEA
retail store was conducted in which 650 subjects were sampled to examine the posed
hypotheses on age group and gender differences and to achieve valuable results,
respectively. The following results in this observational study prove that the younger
generation has a more positive attitude towards self-checkout lines compared to regular
checkout lines due to their perception and social paradigm compared to the older
generation. Since men feel more appreciative and confident to use services such as self-
checkout lines, they seem to have a more adaptive attitude. In contrast, women
demonstrate the complete opposite by having technology anxiety and concentrating more
on social relationships.
, 4
OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Introduction
Many male and female people enjoy going shopping at retail stores, whether they
are looking for something particular or not because they can relieve stress from work or
frequent boredom from home. For many years, the retail industry has been one of the most
substantial and crucial aspects of American society. In particular, a report was released by
the company Deloitte (2019), which declared that the U.S. retail industry or explicitly, the
top 250 businesses, made an aggregate revenue of approximately $4.53 trillion in the fiscal
year of 2017. Even though this number indicates that Americans spend much money, it
does not have to be exclusively in a physical store. The branch of e-commerce has gained
more momentum over the decade, and it became a vital part of the retail industry, where
many Americans spend more money online instead of in physical stores. Smith and
Anderson (2016) have found in a survey that "79% of Americans say they make purchases
online" (para. 1). Although it depends on other situational variables such as how many
times they shop online in a week or month, it is still a vast majority that enjoys digital
retailing.
Consumer behavior and the addition of decision-making is most likely one of the
most compelling subjects in the world of social psychology because social psychologists are
divided about an accurate definition. Over the last centuries of contemporary research, it
has been stated that consumer behavior reflects on the influence of factors on the
consumer and the broad range of consumption activities before the purchasing process
begins (Bray, 2007). The consumption activities, for instance, can consist of need
recognition, the evaluation of alternatives, and lastly, the act of purchasing. All these
mentioned examples of consumption activities are objects that every retailer has to
consider because many consumers anticipate having competent customer service. Due to
technological advances in this globalized and digital world, retailers are
