Supermarket Squeeze - The Rise of the Self Conscious Shopper

The ‘Self Conscious Shopper’ wants to make savings whilst still achieving value. She juggles between brands and own label goods, protecting the purchases that are important to her!

Supermarket Squeeze: The rise of the ‘Self Conscious Shopper’ explores the impact of the credit crunch on grocery shopping and how this has changed consumer purchase behaviour.

The full presentation draws from 3 waves of research conducted between November 2008 and March 2010 - quantitative online surveys from The Origin Panel alongside qualitative video interviews.

Key findings are that 2009 has been a year of making changes - life changes, sacrifices and everyday adjustments - resulting in a change in shopping behaviour. This has led to the rise of the ‘Self Conscious Shopper’: the recession has forced women to reassess their spending, leading to a more thorough assessment of the genuine value that purchases offer and a move towards becoming more controlled and considered consumers.

The ‘Self Conscious Shopper’ juggles between offers on brands, buying own label and continuing to buy favourite brands - she has a ‘Flexible Wallet’ and will protect the purchases that are important to her. The main goal is to make savings whilst still achieving value, and she has a 2-stage decision-making process which involves both emotional and rational value assessments.

The ‘Self Conscious Shopper’ is information hungry, receptive to ideas that will aid her new lifestyle! This means she pays more attention to media and advertising. Brands need to work harder in the current climate, reinforcing the emotional benefits and increasing focus on the rational benefits.

Please click on the link below to download a summary of the research findings.