investigating the impact of visual merchandising on consumer buying behaviour

Investigating the Impact of Visual Merchandising on

Consumer Buying Behaviour: The Case Study of Mr.

Pretzels

DISSERTATION

By

Samuel Prior

Presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Masters of Business Administration of

University of Gloucestershire

University of Gloucestershire

July 2011

Investigating the Impact of Visual Merchandising on Consumer Buying Behaviour: The Case Study of Mr. Pretzels

Samuel Prior – University of Gloucestershire – 2011 2

ABSTRACT

The field of visual merchandising is being studied since the first

decades of the twentieth century, when local grocers used their windows to

display and advertise the variety of merchandise available. It was then called

displaying and the concept was soon adopted by big department stores

interested in advertising their merchandise in big glass windows by the

pavement. From then on, displaying evolved from the simple act of presenting

new merchandise to a communication tool not only responsible for advertising

products and services, but also for transmitting a message, bringing identity to

a brand and luring consumers by drawing their attention through the use of

very creative artistic designs.

The power of visual merchandising in attracting customers is the main

area of study concerned by this dissertation, which, using the case study of a

snack company called Mr. Pretzels, prompted to comprehend, to which extent

consumer buying behaviour can be impacted by visual merchandising

strategies. Guided by the interpretivism paradigm and based on a customer

survey performed via interviews and questionnaires, this study assessed via

thematic analysis and statistics the opinions and views of Mr. Pretzels

consumers, measuring and interpreting information in order to establish the

relationship between the key areas of interest.

The research findings, compared to academic frameworks raised from

comprehensive literature review exposed impressive results that clearly

demonstrate the importance of a well-prepared, consumer-focused visual

merchandising strategy in attracting customers and influencing buying

behaviour. Consequently, new frameworks were developed in order to

maximise the potential of the current visual merchandising strategy of Mr.

Pretzels, which will allow the company to grow even more and attract more

customers to each of its kiosks.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

None of this would have been possible, primary without my parents,

that in these twenty-seven years of life gave me all the support I needed, lots

of love and dedication, serving as example of honesty and conduct and being

by my side when I decided to come to London. I also owe my most sincere

gratefulness to my wife, first for taking me as her husband, and also for

supporting my ideas, being so comprehensive and confident at all times, good

or bad. I’m here because of her, and will be pleased to support her efforts now

that she will start her masters. We will do it together.

Furthermore, I would like to use this space to express my gratitude to

Mr. Luiz Penna, founder of Mr. Pretzels, who I was lucky to meet in December

2009 and was the first to spot my different approach to the business when

working as a sampler in one of his company’s kiosks. I would also like to

thank Ms. Marlene Makhoul, managing director of Mr. Pretzels (UK),

responsible for giving me the opportunity to learn and grow within the

company, and also for supporting this research by giving me permission to

perform the customer survey, foundation stone of this project.

At last but not least, to the lecturers and friends I had the pleasure to

meet while attending this MBA course, especially Dr. Wilson Ozuem,

supervisor of this paper and a man whose high quality standards and

requirements took our dissertation group to another level of commitment.



Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 6 1.1 ENQUIRY OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... 6 1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 7

1.2.1 MR. PRETZELS ............................................................................................ 7 1.2.2 VISUAL MERCHANDISING ........................................................................... 10 1.2.3 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ............................................................................ 12

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................... 12 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..................................................................................... 13 1.5 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................ 13 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ............................................................ 14 1.7 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 15

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 16 2.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 16 2.2 CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS 16 2.3 VISUAL MERCHANDISING ................................................................................... 21

2.3.1 THE ROLE OF VISUAL MERCHANDISING IN BUSINESS .................................. 23 2.3.2 VISUAL MERCHANDISING & SHOPPING ENVIRONMENT ................................ 26

2.4 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR .................................................................................... 28 2.4.1 THE CONSUMPTION PROCESS ................................................................... 29 2.4.2 BEHAVIOURAL MODELS .............................................................................. 31

2.5 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 36

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 37 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 37 3.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM 37 3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................................................... 42 3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY ...................................................................................... 43 3.5 TRIANGULATION ................................................................................................ 44 3.6 DATA COLLECTION METHODS ............................................................................ 46

3.6.1 PRIMARY DATA – QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE ........................................ 46 3.7 THE SAMPLE ..................................................................................................... 49 3.8 STRENGTHS OF THE METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 49 3.9 WEAKNESSES OF THE METHODOLOGY .............................................................. 50 3.10 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... 51

4. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ................................................................................. 52

4.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 52 4.2 DATA ANALYTICAL APPROACH: THEMATIC ANALYSIS 52 4.3 OVERALL PRESENTATION .................................................................................. 55 4.4 PRODUCT PRESENTATION ................................................................................. 58



4.5 QUALITY ........................................................................................................... 60 4.6 SAMPLING ........................................................................................................ 62 4.7 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 65

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................... 66 5.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 66 5.2 EVALUATION OF THE FINDINGS 66 5.3 ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE FINDINGS AND THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................ 70

5.3.1 VISUAL MERCHANDISING AS A TOOL TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE .... 71 5.3.2 CORRELATION BETWEEN VISUAL MERCHANDISING AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR ....................................................................................................... 72

5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 73 5.5 FURTHER RESEARCH ORIENTATIONS ................................................................ 75 5.6 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 76

6. REFLECTIVE LEARNING .................................................................................... 77 6.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 77 6.2 REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 77 6.3 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 79

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 80 APPENDIX A – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .............................................................. 85 APPENDIX B – QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................... 86



CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 ENQUIRY OVERVIEW

The main objective of this research is to investigate the impact of

visual merchandising on consumer buying behaviour. Using Mr. Pretzels, a

new entrant to the UK snack market, as a single case study, the research is

guided by the interpretivism paradigm, based on the triangulation of data

collection methods, utilising both structured interviews and pre-ranked answer

questionnaires in a customer survey in order to assess statistically and

thematically opinions and views of the brand and the impact of its visual

merchandising strategies on purchase decision. The study is divided in six

chapters and exposes the main findings of the survey, allied to extensive

review of current and past literature surrounding the main fields of study.

In the first part, an introduction of the study is considered, providing

information about the background of the studied company, its business model

and merchandising strategies, highlighting the reasons behind the chosen

topic and the relationship between researcher and organisation as well as the

objectives and questions of the research, demonstrating its rationale, scope

and limitations. Following the introduction, the second chapter presents an

extensive review of the literature regarding the themes in discussion,

underlining the views of experts and authors and significant theories that

supported the main research.

The second part introduces the methodology utilised in the study,

demonstrating the existent research paradigms and justifying the choice for

an interpretivism approach, followed by the adequacy of the inductive



approach an the strategy involved in the project, adding detailed information

on the data collection methods utilised, highlighting the importance of

triangulation as a way of obtaining better results in data analysis. Details on

the sampling methods are mentioned, and comparatively the strengths and

weaknesses of the chosen methodologies are exposed. The forth chapter

enclosures the second part of the study by bringing a comprehensive analysis

of the findings through the use of thematic analysis concerning the qualitative

data obtained from the interviews and statistic tools regarding the quantitative

data originated from the questionnaires, combining the two methods of data

collection and drawing a paradox between the information and key areas of

the themes researched.

Subsequently, the third and last part of the study is initiated in chapter

five, with the presentation of the major conclusion obtained from the results of

the data analysis, outlining recommended frameworks developed to improve

the company’s policies in order to attract more consumers through the use of

visual merchandising strategies, establishing the relationship between these

key areas and evaluating the findings, as well as suggesting topics for further

research regarding the themes. The sixth chapter reflects the personal

opinions of the researcher about the experience of developing a research

project and writing a dissertation, stressing the gains obtained during the

process and how this report will contribute to his career in business.

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.2.1 Mr. Pretzels

Mr. Pretzels is a snack company founded in 1994 by Mr.

Luiz Alberto Penna, a Brazilian with marketing,

distribution and sales background, having worked for companies such as

Johnson & Johnson, Philip Morris and Pepsi Cola. With his branding

experience, Mr. Penna aimed to create a product that would be at the same



time simple to make, adaptable to regional needs and obeying high quality

food standards, using only the finest materials in its composure (mrpretzels.com).

The original recipe follows the Dutch tradition on pretzel making but

was originated in Pennsylvania, taking years of research and development to

achieve outstanding level of quality, taste and adaptability to local needs. The

main characteristics of the product are its freshness, as it is produced on site

from scratch, according to a theatrically rolling method, its unique softness,

differing from traditional crunchy German pretzels, and a wide range of

flavours added to the plain final product, which enable consumers to have their snack according to their requests.

The main flavours include the best-seller cinnamon & sugar,

chocolate, hazelnut spread (Nutella), caramel (toffee in the UK), vanilla, and

also the savoury toppings salt, sesame seeds and Parmesan cheese. The

base dough is prepared minutes ahead of consumption and its flexibleness

enable local shops to adapt the product, creating variations of the pretzel and

its flavours, like the pretzel dog (a sausage roll originally developed by the

company but with variations like the extra large pretzel dog, created in

France) the pretzel pizza (a rolled pretzel with cheese filling, developed in

Brazil) and different toppings added to the original pretzel-shaped pastry like the guava jam, a success in Brazil.

The pretzels are hand made, according to a size and thickness

standard and are sold in units, packed in a specially made L-shaped bag,

enabling fast chain production and easy consumption. In 1994 the recipe and

business model were put to test in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the first

branch was opened, achieving huge success. In a couple of years, the

company was already expanding its operations into the United States,

opening branches in several states. The expansion continued and by the end

of the decade, Mr. Pretzels had tens of shops in Brazil only, followed by

expansion towards the rest of South and Central America (Bolivia, Peru,



Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic and St.

Lucia). In 2001, the expansion plans reached Europe, focusing firstly in the

British market. The first branch in England was opened at Bluewater

Shopping Centre, in Dartford, followed by Midsummer Place, in Milton

Keynes, and Westfield Shopping Centre, in West London. Branches were also

opened in France and the UAE. The company has now 6 branches within

England and expects to open a few more until the end of 2011. In total Mr Pretzels is present in 17 countries, with over 160 stores (mrpretzels.com).

The business model is comprised by company-owned branches and

franchising schemes, enabling individuals and companies with the interest

and financial structure to open a Mr Pretzels kiosk, based on a multi-unit

territory development. The model enables partners to build the branch in their

territory as well as leverage marketing and purchasing capability. The

company offers support on all developing stages (project, construction,

management, training, on-going research and development, marketing and merchandising).

The main merchandising strategies rely on live theatrical pretzel

rolling, where the entire production chain is visible to consumers, product

display, and sampling, where staff is allocated outside the shops to interact

directly with consumers, giving away free pieces of freshly baked pretzels,

according to local needs, ensuring the quality and freshness of the product as well as inviting consumers to experience its outstanding taste.

Coming to the UK as an MBA student, the researcher applied for a

part-time position in a recently opened Mr. Pretzels kiosk in Westfield London

in December 2009, being given the role of sampler, responsible for giving

away free bits of pretzels. In an attempt to perform a better job, in instead of

just standing outside the shop handling pieces of pretzels (which was the

expected outcome of the role), the researcher developed a much more

friendly set up for the sampling, embracing advertising and hosting, acting as



a mix of salesman and host, representing the company and its products and inviting consumers to experience it.

The consumers’ reaction was overwhelming and sales rates rose

steadily. Consumers got to know more about the product and the friendly

approach brought the same freshness of the product into the sales pitch.

During the 2009 Christmas season, the researcher got to know Mr. Luiz

Penna, the company’s founder. Watching the new sampling method recently

developed, Mr. Penna decided that it had to become a model for the other

branches and prompted the researcher to create a training program based on

sampling techniques. His bet on this fresh approach took the project to other

shops in the United Kingdom with good results in all areas that had potential to grow.

At this point the concepts learned from the MBA course brought the

researcher’s attention to study the impact of merchandising strategies in

consumer buying behaviour, specifically regarding Mr. Pretzels, and mainly

because of the researcher’s access to all management levels, its merchandising strategies and opportunity to perform a customer survey.

1.2.2 Visual Merchandising

The theme is vastly studied by the literature and, according to Morgan

(2008: 11), reassembles to the 19th century, where shopkeepers would try to

attract potential customers into their stores by displaying their finest

merchandise and also their names in a pompous way, in their windows or on

tables on the street, intentionally demonstrating to potential customers that

they were “opened for business and proud of the merchandise offered.”

Butchers and florists use this very same technique until today, and it is one of

the first signals of visual merchandising applied as a key factor to attract and maintain costumers.



The use of windows as a way to show outsiders the quality of a

product or service relies on the fact that good-looking merchandise or skilled

services would claim more attention from the public, being also a way of

advertising and communicate with potential customers. In a simplistic

comparison, according to Morgan (2008: 11) “a customer is attracted to buy

something or use a service by its display and placement.” The more attracted

the customer is by the qualities of a product or service, the more effectively he will respond to it.

By 1840s, the advancements of technology allowed the construction

of vast glass windows, taking display to another level. Great department

stores like the Bon Marche in Paris were among the first to assess its displays

in a way to draw the customers’ attention, not just by showing off their

merchandise but also aggregating value by linking their merchandise to the

brand’s identity and high social status (Bell & Ternus, 2006).

From these ancient times to this day, visual merchandising is being

vastly researched and play major role for small businesses or giant

department stores, reaching every sector of the retail industry, from snacks to

jewellery, not forgetting clothing & accessories and medicine & cosmetics. It is

certainly perceptive from a customer point of view that shops are all the time

trying to gather attention from the public, as a call to ‘come in and take a look at what we have to offer’.

From high street giants to small retailers in country villages, visual

merchandising is an important focus, indicating the identity of the company

and also signalling an imperceptible ‘welcome’ to customers, which will

correlate to that brand, as mentioned by Cahan & Robinson (1984: 20)

“according to the level of depth a brand or merchandise is able to

communicate, mainly by instigating one’s senses”. Visual and touch aids,

sounds and even smells are being used as merchandising strategies nowadays.



1.2.3 Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is being studied since the early days of trade, in

order to understand why and how consumers react to products, socially,

culturally and individually. Multidisciplinary field, studies on consumer

behaviour can be found on psychology, economics, marketing and social

sciences, corroborating the view of the research, that believes consumer

behaviour is about the interaction between society, individual and economy.

According to Blythe (2008: 5), Blackwell, et al, (2001: 6) mention that

consumer behaviour is “the activities people undertake when obtaining,

consuming and disposing of products and services.” In a more scientific

approach to this field of study, Bennett (1989), as mentioned by Blythe (2008:

7), says that consumer behaviour is “the dynamic interaction of affect and

cognition, behaviour, and environmental events by which human beings

conduct the exchange aspects of their lives.”

Clearly, consumer behaviour is a much more complex field than other

marketing areas, as it can involve a range of fields of study. Based on cultural

and social values, which are encountered regionally, each case must be

analised according to a set of pre-established factors, dictated by traditions

and values passed through generations, which, by the way, are getting more

and more globalized, especially due to the advent of multinational companies

exporting not only products but ideas and conceptual cultural models.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The intention of this research is to analyse whether the assumption

that customers react differently to a product (in this case a pretzel) according

to different merchandising strategies is true. By analysing the relationship



between visual merchandising and consumer buying behaviour, critically

evaluating its practical consequences in Mr Pretzels’ merchandising strategy, the aims and objectives are:

a. To review extant conceptual models and theoretical

frameworks related to visual merchandising and consumer buying behaviour.

b. To examine the impact of visual merchandising on consumer buying behaviour.

c. To recommend some practicable frameworks in which visual

merchandising could be used to improve consumer buying behaviour.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the research’s aims and objectives and in order to guide the

research on the impact of visual merchandising in consumer buying

behaviour, this study is designed to answer the following questions, which will

collaborate on building frameworks towards the improvement of Mr. Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategy:

a. Is visual merchandising an important tool for

companies like Mr Pretzels in terms of increasing sales and gaining competitive advantage?

b. Does visual merchandising affects Mr Pretzels’ consumers’ buying behaviour? To which extent?

1.5 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY



With the advent of modern shopping and leisure centres, competition

between brands soared and any differential generates competitive advantage.

Visual merchandising plays a major role in companies’ strategy, helping to

bring consumers closer and also addressing problems related to product and

store presentation. The frameworks presented by the field of visual

merchandising help organisations to achieve better results by enhancing

consumers’ shopping experience from all atmospheric aspects. Presenting

the right product, quality and price will determine consumers’ relationship with

the brand, intensifying loyalty and profitability. The researcher believes,

therefore, the field of visual merchandising is of extreme importance for the

success of any retail organisation. Mr. Pretzels was chosen as object of the

research considering the researcher’s access to all management levels.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is to research the effectiveness of Mr.

Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategies in consumers’ buying behaviour,

analysing their opinions through in-depth interviews and questionnaires,

handed out in one of Mr. Pretzel’s kiosk. Assessed primary and secondary

data, practicable frameworks in which visual merchandising could be used to

improve consumers’ buying behaviour were recommended.

As an academic research, there are limitations, especially in terms of

time, costs and access to the different areas where Mr. Pretzels’ kiosks are

located. Permission was granted by senior management to perform a

customer survey in a kiosk located at Lakeside Shopping Centre, in Thurrock,

satellite area of London, between 04 and 06 June 2011. The aim was to

interview and hand out questionnaires to thirty customers, generating data

that was then compiled in analytics tools (for the questionnaires) and

examined through thematic analysis (for the interviewees’ answers), which

generated comparable information which reflects the effectiveness of Mr.



Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategy in consumer buying behaviour. To

avoid waste of time, material and hoping to obtain more accurate answers

and opinions, a structured importance-graded questionnaire was used, as well

as open-end questions for the interviews. More details on the chosen data

collection method are described in chapter three.

1.7 SUMMARY

This first chapter was intended to give a brief explanation on the focus

of the research, the case study and the reasons why it fits the literature and

the proposed theme. The relevance of the theme in academic levels is

substantiated by concise analysis of the literature, revealing the links between

visual merchandising and Mr. Pretzels’ strategies.

An insight on the data collection method was carried out in order to

explain the motives that assemble the use of questionnaires combined with

interviews to obtain more definite answers, as well as opinions and views from

the customers. The next chapter brings a thorough and critic review of

academic literature on relevant themes, the evolution of important concepts

along history and how the retail industry and consumers adapt to it.



CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The second chapter comprises the structural theoretical framework

demanded by the research topic, through extensive analysis of current and

past literature on consumer behaviour and visual merchandising, highlighting

the major aspects concerning both areas, as a way of establishing the

relationship between them.

This section of the paper commences with conceptual clarifications of

the studied areas, in order to clearly attest their meanings and importance to

the research, followed by a more extensive and detailed literature review,

responsible for conducting the next chapters and establishing the patterns

that will be followed in order to explain the phenomena behind the theoretical

approaches.

2.2 CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS

As befits, clarification on the theme is necessary in order to establish

a common understanding of the researched themes. Visual merchandising

advents from displaying, or the art of creating a window that highlights the

brand and products that are being sold inside a shop. But as displaying

evolved and transformed into (or created) visual merchandising, confusion

risen in the form of questions like: Is displaying and visual merchandising the

same activity? Is the presence of both still noticeable or visual merchandising

took over? In essence, there are different approaches to the theme until

today.



Tucker (2003: 8) highlights the variety of approaches to the theme:

“Ask one person what visual merchandising is and they will tell you ‘store

windows’: Beautifully dressed mannequins behind huge plates of glass acting

as huge, immediate advertising billboards for the products right behind them.

(That’s one style of window dressing, but there are a million variations) Ask

another person and you will get an answer that interludes the windows, but

also takes in the entire in-store environment and may even go further into the

realms of graphics, audio-video media, point-of-purchase material, all the way

to the store as the total embodiment of the brand-the 3D brand.”

Besides the range of different opinions, in its bare essentials display

and visual merchandising is related to presenting a product and its best

features, evoking a strong response from potential customers. This approach

encompasses everything from window display, through product positioning in

a store, and, according to Tucker (2003: 8) “Elements such as how you draw

and guide a consumer through the store and the environment itself, right

down to the finishes.”

Cahan & Robinson (1984: 3) expose in their book a view similar to the

one from Tucker, where display is treated as part of visual merchandising:

“Display alone denotes the importance of the visual/artistic aspect of the

merchandise presentation. Visual merchandising encompasses the entire

merchandising concept. It includes both the artistic and the marketing

functions of the retail environment. Display is one aspect of visual

merchandising.” Mills and Paul (1972: 2) point out that “Visual Merchandising

is the presentation of a store and its merchandise to the customer through the

teamwork of advertising, display, special events, fashion coordination, and

merchandising in order to sell the goods and services offered by the store.”

In the early days though, visual merchandising was defined as

window display exclusively, since the big department stores throughout the

USA were in the early stages of properly merchandising their windows.

Kretschmer (1952: 1), refers to window display as “one of the most powerful



media of advertising in the world today. Often referred to as point-of-sale

advertising or visual merchandising, it leads all other forms of advertising in

sales return for dollar expended” Kretschmer (1952: 1) assess window

displaying as a medium like newspapers and magazines: “So great is the

impact of its sales potential that many large companies rely solely on window

display for advertising their merchandise. It is an established fact that through

clever window display a market can be created for anything from an airplane

to a zebra imported from Africa.”

In the seventies, visual merchandising was seen as successor to

display, as mentioned by the National Retail Merchants Association (1976: 1):

“To give this book the title ‘Visual Merchandising’ signifies something fairly

new in retailing. It is the integration of Display and Visual Presentation skills

with a good understanding or merchandising and a dedication to successful

merchandising. But it remains our function to do our absolute best with the

merchandise that is or will be available. Moving this merchandise quickly and

profitably is what it’s all about. To accomplish this is to be successful.”

Consumer buying behaviour is being studied since the early days of

trade, in order to track how consumers react to products, culture and their

own needs. As a multidisciplinary field, a good amount of views on the theme

were developed, according to each area of study, but mostly focusing on

discovering the patterns that mould purchase decision.

The Committee for Research on Consumer Attitudes and Behavior

(CRCAB) was founded in the USA in 1952 with the mission to discover why

consumers buy, in instead of previous studies that would identify consumers

as mere preference-machines. The focus of their studies on consumer

behaviour relied on consumer attitudes towards products, and revealed a set

of external and internal values that shape the decision-making process, as

mentioned by George Katona (Committee for Research on Consumer

Attitudes and Behaviour, 1958: 30-31): “Numerous investigations have

supported that consumer have great latitude either to increase their



expenditures on durable goods, and thereby reduce their rate of saving, or to

abstain from postponable purchases, and thereby increase their rate of

savings. Furthermore, it has been shown that the manner in which consumers

use their latitude depends on their attitudes regarding their own and the

country’s past and expected financial development.”

This study on consumer behaviour shaped the modern concept of

consumer and the attitudes one adopt when buying a product. The CRCAB

have found that consumer behaviour is not only affected by preference, but by

an extensive range of factors that would surcharge the preference: need,

economic condition (present and future), and reason to spend money. The

decision-making process was then classified as rational and irrational,

enabling greater comprehension of the consumer as a major player in the

economy of a country.

Lessig (1971: 16) states that “Today marketers realise that within the

mass market for a product, consumers differ not only in their response to

price, but also in responses to advertising, product design and style and other

merchandising variables.” In these terms, a consumer could be allocated into

a market segment, according to his response to advertising, product appeal

and other features that not only price. The consumer was analysed by his

beliefs and not by his social and economic conditions exclusively.

Foxall (1977: 26) Describes consumption as “a process which begins

well before a product is purchased and which extends well beyond it. Four

distinct stages can be recognised:

(i) The development and perception of a want or need;

(ii) Pre-purchase planning and decision-making;

(iii) The purchase act itself; and

(iv) Post-purchase behaviour, which may lead to repeat-buying,

repeat sales.”



Foxall unfolds consumer’s buying behaviour as a process where

social, psychological and business factors influence the consumer’s final

choice. This process is much more truncated as it depends on a series of

personal factors that shape one’s mind to buy or not to buy a product.

Howard (1989: 15-17) draws a parallel between consumer buying

behaviour and product life cycle (PLC), distinguishing the patterns of

behaviour consumers adopt according to the product life. The whole process

shows that the consumer develops a relationship with a product and work his

mind up to decide whether to buy it or not: “Products tend to go through these

three stages: introduction, growth and maturity. In adapting to these three

stages of the PLC, consumers acquire a pattern of behaviour that is different

for each stage. Each of the three stages of product life cycle reflects an

specific pattern of problem solving or decision making on the part of the

buyer: Initially Extensive Problem Solving (EPS), then, Limited Problem

Solving (LPS), and finally Routine Problem Solving (RPS). Each consumer’s

behaviour then can be classified into one of the three stages of the cycle,

according to two

characteristics: Amount of information available and speed of decision.”

Characteristics of Stages of Decision

Stage of PLC

Stage of Decision

Amount of Information

Used

Speed in Making Decision

Introduction EPS Large Slow



Figure 1: Consumer behaviour and the PLC

Source: John A. Howard: Consumer Behavior in Marketing Strategy

1989 – p. 17

2.3 VISUAL MERCHANDISING

The concept of visual merchandising is being studied for long and the

primary signs of its usage reassemble to the 19th century, where, according to

Morgan (2008: 11), local shops (fishmongers, butchers, florists) would display

their merchandise outside their shops, in an act to proudly present their

products and also highlight their quality and variety. It was then called

‘displaying’.

With the advent of glass technology, department stores started to take

seriously the art of window displaying, using their large windows as actual

stages with a mix of art and merchandise, creating a sense of provocative

eye-catching styles that would attract the attention of the people passing by

on the street. Harvey Nichols in London are amongst the first department

stores to partner up with well-known designers in the creation of window

displays (Morgan, 2008).

Some authors refer to the history of display as older as people’s first

inclination to decorate their bodies in a way to call for attention and signify

their importance in the early days of social living (Mills & Paul, 1974).

Growth LPS Medium Medium

Maturity RPS Small Fast



Nonetheless, display as we know nowadays was almost non-existent during

the first decades of the twentieth century. According to Mills & Paul (1974:

22), prior to this era “purchasing options were rare and there was no rush

from shopkeepers to urge for attention, as variety of goods wasn’t great.”

Spending was most related to daily consumption products like milk, bread and

essential clothing. The few who had the opportunity to spend a bit more were

more likely to be carried away by emotional excitement of a display.

With the emergence of the middle class and realising people were

willing to spend more in different kinds of merchandise, shopkeepers started

showing their merchandise in bunches in front of their shops and windows in

order to show the range of products available. Morgan (2008: 13) points out”

“By 1922, every merchant that could afford it had background of mahogany or

walnut, setting in the windows, but still with no sign of the glamorization seen

nowadays. There was no sales appeal, but only a desire to display as many

products as possible to attract more consumers as possible.”

Historically, Mills & Paul (1974: 24) mention that “the first signs of the

use of manpower strictly to manage displays reassembles to early 1900s, and

their functions were related to keep the displays clean from debris and place

as many items as possible in a window.” So-called window trimmers, the

display people were not fussed about artistic impressions, merchandising and

profit goals, but strictly to present the items sold in that given shop.

Mannequins were then presented to the public as one of the first window

props, but made of wax and weighting more than 300 pounds, they were

difficult to move and would melt in the sun like a candle, making it almost

impossible to use during the summer (Mills & Paul, 1974).

According to Diamond & Diamond (2007), art and display blended for

the first time right after the end of World War I in Europe, specially in

Germany, where there was interest by the artists of that time to prove art’s

functionality, specially in terms of commercially useful designs. The field of

displaying matured to this level especially after the 1926 Exposition of



Decorative Arts, held in Paris, where a variety of art objects, mainly made of

plaster of Paris were used in display windows, shifting the focus of the

consumer from the merchandise to an art proposition still in its early stages.

In the thirties, the advent of the surrealism and dream interpretation

methods created a whole new level of displaying, a wrong level though.

According to Mills & Paul (1974: 25): “Only a few display people were capable

of extracting success of this formula, creating a new breed of display people:

Professional Display Artists.” Their mission was to develop the concept that a

window could be used as an artistic frame that would invite the people walking

by the window to stop and take a closer look at it, not only to decode the

artistic message but also to realise the kind of merchandise being offered.

World War II interrupted the development of displaying, and by the

time it ended, retailers were gradually keen on hiring artists to elaborate

window displays. The focus this time was to set up display departments

staffed by artists, designers and interior decoration professionals, with a slight

understanding of merchandising. With the empowerment of the display

department came audacious and innovative ideas for window displays,

making use of modern forms of art and mannequins in natural set-ups,

bringing a good dose of the realism forgotten in the thirties (Peter, Olson, &

Grunert, 1999).

Visual Merchandising was known as window displaying until the late

fifties and early sixties, when it matured to a level of relevant importance to

the retail industry, By the seventies, it was accepted as a vital part of the retail

operation, aggregating to its theatrical settings, business-minded and budget

conscious concepts. Nowadays, as raised by Tucker (2003: 19): “visual

merchandising has evolved to a ‘propaganda machine’, geared by the

assumption of mega brands like Prada and Gucci, gaining special attention

from the public and media. The concepts behind a simple glass window

display are enormous and the budgets are gigantic.”



2.3.1 The Role of Visual Merchandising in Business

As retailers discovered the powerful attractive tool that displays are in

terms of bringing people to a shop or selling the image of a brand or life style,

visual merchandising progressed to a broader industry, with specific rules and

visions on budget, profit and sales targets and communication. The displays

or windows try to demonstrate how your personal or home images can be

enhanced, translating into merchandise the trends and desires of the current

society (Tucker, 2003). Large or small, every shop appeals to display in order

to attract more consumers, catch their attention and subsequently sell more

merchandise. Nowadays, visual merchandising is focused in appealing to

personal emotions, persuading potential customers to buy (Bell & Ternus,

2006).

The visual merchandising sector is now linked to the promotion and

sales departments, and a lots of imaginative men and women are responsible

to catch consumers’ attention not only to the merchandise but to a whole new

level of understanding of the brand and life style that is transmited. According

to Bell & Ternus (2006: 36) “they combine artistic understanding with profit

motive and pragmatism of the merchandiser, maintaining a high level of

excellence. Display is nowadays a competitive, calculating, psychoanalytic

profession of visual persuasion and selling.” The development of the sector

created an important niche of commercial art, adding pleasure, stimuli and

constructive understanding of better living promoted by the products of a

heavily industrial economy. A comparison between methods and concepts of

nowadays’ visual merchandising and ancient displaying is the best way to

identify the major changes that created this meticulous sector of the retail

industry:



Figure 2: Display evolution

Source: Cahan & Robinson, A Practical Guide to Visual Merchandising

1984 – p. 15

Where once the display people were responsible for “making pretty”,

the visual merchandising department is charged of “making sales” as well as

“making pretty” in a communicative unique way.

Intelligently analysed by Bell & Ternus (2006: 19), a working definition

of visual merchandising can be obtained by a simple glance at the dictionary:

“The adjective ‘visual’ relates to images that are transmitted into the brain by

the eye, while ‘merchandising’, as a verb, reflects the act of ‘promoting the

sale of certain commodities’.” In other words, visual merchandising can be

classified as the act of presenting merchandise through the use of visual aids,

creating mental images that urge consumers to make purchases. It is

primarily a silent selling process.

Supporting sales is not the only reason for visual merchandising

existence. It also helps supporting retail strategies. Retailers have their

mission statements describing how they will serve the target markets and also

what goals they want to achieve, based on a mix of promotional methods that

enable the company to let its targeted customer know who they are, what they

stand for and what they plan to do (Bell & Ternus, 2006).



The promotional mix is a set of communication tools used by

companies to get to their targeted consumers easily: Advertising, in-store

marketing, personal selling and special events are some of this tools and are

used to report the kind of merchandise is being sold in the stores. Advertising

describes why the merchandise offered is different, better, less expensive or

more glamorous than that offered by other retailers. When potential

customers arrive at the store after reading or viewing the advertising

campaigns, their only expectation is to see if whatever was promised in those

ads is matching the real thing, or the store merchandise. That’s where the role

of visual merchandising becomes more evident. The final goal is to

correspond to the promises echoed by the advertising. Making a pleasant and

productive shopping experience come true (Bell & Ternus, 2006).

Generally, visual merchandising is about supporting sales, retail

strategies, but most importantly, communicating with consumers. In this case,

the retailer is the message sender; the message itself is represented by the

store and its atmospherics (interior design, selling floor layout, merchandise

presentation, selling services, etc.), and the receiver is the potential consumer

that the message was sent to. If the consumer is open to receiving the

message and responds by coming to the shop and buying goods, the

communication process can be classified as successful. Every tangible aspect

of a store (see-able, hear-able, smell-able, touch-able) is capable of sending

messages to consumers and is wisely used by visual merchandisers (Mills &

Paul, 1974).

2.3.2 Visual Merchandising & Shopping Environment

Originality and differentiation are some of the cardinal rules of the

profession of visual merchandiser and the mix of art and handcrafting turned

to a commercial perspective makes the activity trick by nature. It’s not just

about art and expression, but also adapting artistic concepts in conceivable



and understandable commercial paradigms. As expressed by Mills & Paul

(1974: 46) “sales are always the final product and a good dose of persuasion

is used in order to catch passer-by’s attention. The creative process behind a

display serves as ignition to advertising, a spark that ultimately transforms the

potential consumer’s semiconscious interest in to desire for possession,

breaking down purchase barriers and facilitating the final decision-making by

the consumer.”

With the emphasis in the whole store environment and not just the

windows, visual merchandising is now responsible for the entire visual

appearance of the store. From colours on the wall to themes that are followed

worldwide, it is not about displaying merchandise but to communicate ideas

and enhance shopping experience. Diamond & Diamond (2007: 39) mention

the Disney stores as example: “When entering the store, the total environment

or theme concept immediately captivates everyone’s attention, especially

children’s, their targeted consumer, who are quickly taken by atmosphere and

persuaded to buy almost everything. Animated figures circulating the store,

big screens showing Disney movies for sale, walls covered in stuffed animals,

it all gets together to bring a unique shopping experience, a magical moment

where consumer’s behaviour is taken to a level of ease, enabling more sales.”

Diamond & Diamond (2007: 40) continue: “The theme concept or total

environment was initially developed by Banana Republic in their original

stores, where merchandise was focused on safari-styled clothing and apparel.

Until the brand changed its approach, all stores were covered in bamboo,

jeeps, palm trees, and anything that would bring the idea of a trip to the wild.”

Today, following the trend established by Banana Republic, merchandisers

like Nike in its Nike-towns, Adidas in their outlets and Warner Bros.

subscribed to this thematic approach to visual presentation and ambience.

Another break-through was achieved by Ralph Lauren’s approach to

their flagship store in New York City (USA). Antique and reproduction fixtures

were placed on the shop floor, recreating a classic-posh home atmosphere.



Merchandise is cautiously displayed on top of tables and in armoires that you

would find in elegantly designed houses, objects of fine art and beautiful

home accessories set the scene for an inviting and cosy scenario, where

consumers feel ‘at home’ (Diamond & Diamond, 2007).

Chains of restaurants soon spotted the fruit of success harvested by

retailers like Ralph Lauren. The themed approach was fully adopted by Planet

Hollywood, Hard Rock Café, and may others, creating an environment

reminiscent to an exciting setting. In places like this it is possible to have

dinner admiring an authentic Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, or the jacket used by

Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator”. Restaurants like these are full of

memorabilia and designs that take the consumer by surprise and highlight a

close relation to mega stars of the movies or music (Pegler, 2006). And that’s

not only related to food and drink consumption, as every restaurant feature

boutiques where all kinds of branded merchandise is sold, a marketing

technique that adds to the bottom line. The main element behind these visual

set-ups is a sense of uniqueness and differentiation, which can also be used

not exclusively to enhance the brand but also to captivate consumers in

particular seasons of the year, like Christmas.

2.4 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour is classified as the behaviour consumers

demonstrate when searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing

of products and services. This behaviour is intrinsically related to satisfaction,

so when looking for or buying a certain product, he consumer is in reality

seeking personal satisfaction. The subject focuses on how individuals make

decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on

consumption-related items. That includes how often they buy it, when they

buy it, why they buy it, how often they use it, how they evaluate it after the



purchase, the impact of this evaluation on future purchases and how they

dispose of it (Schiffman, Kanuk, & Wisenbit, 2010).

According to Solomon et al (2009), the field of consumer behaviour

can be classified as “the study of the processes involved when individuals or

groups of individuals choose, buy, use or dispose of products, services, ideas

and experiences to satisfy their needs and desires.” By ‘individuals’, agreeing

with Salomon, this study understands a wide range of people that go from a 6

year-old boy screaming at his mum for a new toy to a executive of a major

company deciding which sports car to buy with the bonus he just received.

Solomon et al (2009: 4) also mentions that “externalizing desires and

needs are in the root of consumer behaviour. It directs consumer to a brand or

product according to what he/she wants but it is also subject to society views

and opinions on determined subjects. It is a game of personal and public

desire, a human race that balances the inside and outside factors of life.”

There is also much of interest in the study of consumer behaviour by

social sciences in general, as a result of the awareness about the importance

of consuming in our daily lives, at work, at home, or in any other situation

involving social relationships. Consuming reflects not only our likes and

dislikes but patterns moulded by society and especially by brands and

effective communication skills of marketing strategies. Consumer behaviour

has its roots linked to our lives in its essence of the capitalist world we live in

(Tuck, 1976).

Schiffman et al (2010: 12) highlight that “consuming has important

outcomes to the economy, environmental and health policies, culture and

psychology. It is almost like a footprint of the human evolution in which

traditions and culture are always the pattern but not forgetting the relatively

new global culture of living, a mix of cultures and trends that mould our lives in

patterns that can be followed almost anywhere in the world.” It is the case of

giant fast food chains that change very little from country to country in respect



to traditionalisms and culture but in its essence is available throughout the

world.

2.4.1 The Consumption Process

In its early stages though, consumer behaviour was classified,

according to Lessig (1971:16) as “buyer behaviour and reflected the

importance of the interaction between consumers and producers at the time of

purchase.” The study of this fragment of human behaviour proved to be

wrong, as marketers understood that the simple act of buying is a mere

outcome of a complex decision-making process, where the decision to buy

something reflects deep insights of one’s life and culture, as well as external

factors like economy and politics that affect our lives everyday.

This expanded view of consumer behaviour emphasizes not only the

moment where the cash is handed over on the supermarket counter, but also

the whole consumption process, including the issues that really influence the

consumer before, during and after the purchase. Some of these issues can be

assessed in both ways: on a consumer’s perspective and also on a marketer’s

perspective, as shown below:



Figure 3: Some issues that arise during stages in the consumption process

Source: Solomon et al, Consumer Behaviour – A European Perspective

2010 – p. 7

As highlighted on the table above, many are the factors to which

consumer buying behaviour is subject during the three levels of the purchase

process. Consumer generally is the person who identifies the need or desire

to buy something, make use of it and then disposes the item. In many cases,

however, the costumer is not the consumer. The purchaser and user might

differ, like when parents buy their children the food they imagine appropriate

for them. In other cases, that might be the presence of an influencer, a person

who experienced the product before you and might give you his/her word on

it, approving or disapproving its features, or even based on his/her on

opinions and beliefs without having used the product, commenting for or

against the purchase. In other cases, a person might be the customer

responsible for the purchase of products that are used by many others (e.g.

Professional buyers in charge of purchasing office supplies), or, in reverse, a

group of people might be responsible for the purchase decisions:

Accountants, designers, sales people, each of them exerting their opinions in

all purchase stages. Organisationally speaking, companies and families are

almost on the same level, the later being of extreme importance for marketing

strategies (Solomon M. R., Bamossy, Askegaard, & Hogg, 2010).

2.4.2 Behavioural Models

Consumer behaviour has a interdisciplinary characteristic that reflects

its multi-faced impact in many other fields than marketing or psychology.

Universities, manufacturers, museums, advertising agencies and even

government bodies now employ consumer behaviour researchers. The

perspective of these areas is different from one another and depends on what

each area seeks to research (Blythe, 2008).



The various disciplines studying consumer buying behaviour are able

to describe, not exactly but abstractly, patterns that mould our behaviour

towards products and services. The description is translated into models,

guidelines that attempt to give a simplified version of the relationship between

factors that affect behaviour in general. Doing so they attempt to demonstrate

the variable relationship between models, like the impact of price raise of a

product in the other variables and the final outcome: to buy or not to buy?

Black box models

As explained by Bareham (1995: 3), “black box or economic models

are responsible for analytically or rationally understand the basic structure of

consumer buying behaviour, using simplistic assumptions” (e.g. If the price of

product A goes up, less customers will buy it):

Figure 4: The black box model

Source: Bareham, Consumer Behaviour in the Food Industry

1995 – p. 3

Decision-making models

Decision-making models are responsible for evaluating each of the

stages consumers go through in reaching a decision. The emphasis is on

internal cognitive processes, or the intrinsic steps that will end on a purchase

of this or that product, the selection of this or that brand or a refusal to by a

certain kind of merchandise (Bareham, 1995).

Consider a person buying a new home appliance, like a television set.

It is very unlikely that one simply pop in a shop and buy a new television set



straight away, not even considering the factors that might change his/her

impression about the product. In reality what happens is that the potential

customer will first balance if there is a need or desire for the television set,

then he/she will look around to check what is available, bearing in mind

factors like standards needed and economic situation (lack of funds is a major

aspect in the buying behaviour of the majority of society). Opinions from

friends and relatives are gathered about their experiences with similar

products, as close attention is paid to advertising campaigns promoting

television sets. Nowadays, electronic shopping tools enable consumers to

visualise in detail features of each offered product before they go to the

physical shop (as an option as the purchase process can be carried out

online) to live-try the equipment.

This chain of events and the time it takes for one deciding on buying a

product or not is critically related to its price and importance. After deciding for

the purchase and having it installed, another process starts, one of repeated

evaluation of the product throughout time. In the case of daily used products,

the process is much faster and repeated in a bigger scale, as an unconscious

decision:



Figure 5: An outline decision-making model


1995 – p. 4

Food preference and choice models

Hence the object of this study, it is of great significance to analyse

consumer behaviour models towards food choice. According to Bareham

(1995: 8) Yudikin (in Sheperd, 1989) “was amongst the first to list a range of

factors that can influence food choice in three categories:”

1. Physical Geography, season, economics, food

technology

2. Social Religion, social custom, social class,

advertising, nutritional education

3. Psychological Heredity, allergy, therapeutic diet,

acceptability, nutritional need

Since that time many more models were created, nonetheless,

Sheperd (1989), according to Bareham (1995:8) pioneered in terms of

“identifying two major sets of influences based on individual differences and

the food itself that can change one’s acceptance or rejection for a determined

kind of food:”



Figure 6: Generalised models of food choice


1995 – p. 9



A number of these models have the same features, being irrelevant to

demonstrate in this study differences mainly related to diagram design

properties. All food choice models take into account cultural and socio-

economic factors, personal characteristics such as age, gender, mood and

personal circumstances, using as paradigm factors intrinsic to the food itself:

method of preparation, taste, appearance and promotion tools (Khan, 2010).

In terms of food choice, there are four main fields of factors, which

play major role in guiding society and its consuming behaviour:

Political, economic and technical influences: Most governments have

food policies to avoid health problems or protect the economy of their

countries. The European Union for example, have changed the supply of food

throughout member-countries, ensuring that common patterns should be

respected when importing or commercialising food products in European

countries. Economically, the relationship between income, price, quantity and

quality play major role in the decision-making process. Recent natural

disasters elevated food prices that are negotiated as commodities and the

impact on the prices certainly had a good impact in buying behaviour

(Bareham, 1995).

Cultural and social influences: Long-term trends of what is acceptable

remain a major influential aspect in terms of purchase behaviour, specially

regarding food absorbed by religious and historical background (Bareham,

1995). Cultural, religious and historical aspects shape society’s view of what

will become part of an individual’s diet. Structure of family and workforce, as

well as household size are important factors to be considered, as well as the

individual consumer and his/her influence over a group of people.

Psychological influences: Ultimately, behaviour of consumers is

related to their attitude. A range of personal characteristics rises as the



decision-making process begins, partially related to their lifestyle (Bareham,

1995).

Marketing influences: Location of food outlets, retail strategies,

pricing, advertising, promotion, point-of-sale influences, and all marketing

tools are deeply structured to target a certain group of consumers, shaping via

communication processes their attitude towards products, especially when it

comes to food. A well-elaborated food ad certainly makes a great impact on

one’s mind (Bareham, 1995).

2.5 SUMMARY

Reviewing the literature corroborated the assumption that visual

merchandising and consumer buying behaviour are totally different areas of

study, nonetheless connected through an intrinsic relationship in terms of the

earlier being the ignition for the later. The consumption process is fuelled by

one’s desire or need, and this, by its turn, is developed through the

persuasion process developed by visual merchandising.

In terms of need and desire, especially in the food industry, visual

merchandising works to attract consumers using a great range of skills.

Stimulating their senses and impressions is the best if not unique way of

attraction in the snack industry, and each company spend loads of time and

money in preparing an environment that will bring a new experience to the

customer, and at the same time transmit a message that will be retained in

the customer’s mind, easing the decision-making process, while leading to

word of mouth publicity and loyalty.



CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

In this third chapter, the methodology used to guide the main

principles of this research is comprehensively analysed, as a way of justifying

the reasons why the chosen philosophical models are the most suitable to the

study. Following a logic order, the chosen philosophical paradigm leads to the

utilisation of specific research approaches, shaping its strategy and also the

selected data collection method.

The latter being of great importance to the practical side of the study,

as the responsible tool that, if correctly applied, is able to answer the research

questions and fulfil its objectives, especially in terms of obtaining the correct

amount of data, from a reasonable sample, which certainly allow the

researcher to perform a genuine data analysis, reflecting the proposed

problem and leading to recommendations towards the company’s practices.

At last, a brief clarification on the research strengths and weaknesses is

proposed by the researcher as a way of highlighting the most effective as well

the weakest points of the chosen methods, justifying the utilisation of such

tools in the research.

3.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM

Paradigm is a term used in science to reflect progress of a

determined practice based on people’s philosophies and assumptions of the

world and the social relations comprised in it, especially in terms of

knowledge. Paradigms are the guidance shaping the progress of the



research, creating scientific models that provide problems and solutions

based on a set of theories and methods of defining data.

Research paradigms or research philosophies as pointed by some

authors - as Saunders et al (2009: 108) - can be used in different levels and

loosely interpretation of the word might lead to confusion. Therefore, hence

clarify that paradigms can be classified on Philosophical level, reflecting

essential beliefs about the world, Social level, providing guidelines on the

conduction of the researcher’s work, and Technical level, specifying methods

and methodologies which should be observed when designing and planning a

research (Wilson, 2010).

The foundation stone of any research is the paradigm: From the way

it is written, passing through methods of data collection and analysis of

findings, to the desirable result and presentation of the research. As wisely

mentioned by Saunders et al (2009: 107), “personal views and opinions on

the world we live in shape our own paradigms” and the correlation between

personal views, area studied and applied methodology is the key to deliver a

well written paper, based on consistent data collection, explanation of findings

and creation of knowledge.

Social sciences and business researchers, especially Saunders et al

(2009: 108 figure 4.1) consider the existence of four major research

paradigms: Pragmatism, Positivism, Realism and Interpretivism. General

understanding of the different paradigms defines what is best for the research

and the desired result, depending on what its aims and objectives.

Pragmatism argues that the main function of a research is to answer

its questions and attend to its objectives as accurately as possible, erasing

the idea of an ideal paradigm for a certain research. In practice, to follow one

or another paradigm such as Interpretivism or Positivism is in some cases

unrealistic and the need for a broader analysis leads the researcher to work

on variables of epistemology, axiology and ontology. For some authors like



Guba and Lincoln (1994), as mentioned by Saunders et al (2009: 106) “the

choice between one of the paradigms is secondary to the ones of

epistemology, axiology and ontology”. This leads to an understanding that

mixed methods are possible and maybe the application of quantitative or

qualitative methods alone would be a mistake in some cases. The view is that

paradigms are not opposite to each other and can work in unison in order to

widen the range of methods utilised in a research.

Positivism is based on the work of natural sciences and its birth

recalls to the end of the nineteenth century, where social sciences researches

started to utilise practices restricted to natural scientists that had been highly

successful. The focal point is to understand the world around and the events

happening in it, without interfering in the process, or in other words, extensive

observation of a pre-existent reality, remaining distant from the subject and

not allowing personal views or bias to distort the conclusions (Fisher, 2010:

19).

A logical approach is needed, as the individuals in the society are not

analysed in subjective terms, but in a precise, objective and rigorous way,

leaving experience and intuition behind. Positivists point out that laws provide

the base for any explanation, based on the assumption that “social realty is an

independent body”, existing regardless of our awareness (Adams, Khan,

Raeside, & White, 2007). Through laws it is possible to anticipate and control

the phenomena in a cause and effect base. These causes and effects are

explained by linking casual laws and variables to theory, deductive or

integrated. The world is interpreted through law boundaries and the

interrelated variables help explain the reasons for that phenomena to happen.

The hypotheses are tested and confirmed, leading to development of

knowledge (Collis & Hussey, 2003). The positivist research is highly likely to

use very structured methodology, facilitating replication and repetition of the

methods used.



As pointed by White (2002: 43), realism also depends on scientific

enquiry, based on the assumption that our senses bring us a reality that is

true. The existence of objects and reality is independent of the human mind,

contrary to what is portrayed by idealism, which assumes that only the mind

and what is inside it that counts as reality. Like positivism, realism is keen on

analysing the world assuming a scientific approach, and it can de classified,

according to Saunders et al (2009: 114/115) and Fisher (2007: 20/21) in two

sources: Direct realism, which pictures reality as what we experience through

our senses, and Critical realism, branch which assumes that we experience

through our senses are images, or general aspects of objects, but not the

objects itself. What we se is a representation of what is real. Contrary to direct

realists, researches performed by critical realists take into account a multi-

layered approach to the world, as a constant changing environment that

enable comprehensive understanding of reality.

At last, Interpretivism, or phenomenological paradigm as suggested

by Collis & Hussey (2003), is the “study of social phenomena, or the

understanding of human behaviour in society, considering subjective aspects

of the individual, which is relegated by the positivists.” The focus is shifted

from numbers and large-scale variable comparison to a qualitative sphere of

understanding, as phenomenologists believe that “social reality is product of

the mind.” It is important from an interpretative point of view that personal

values and opinions are taken into consideration in order to enable a more

comprehensive and qualitative analysis of the subject. The importance is on

deciphering differences between humans as social actors, as each situation in

the world is unique and depends on the role played by humans in the theatre

of life. According to interpretivism we are in a continuous understanding of the

world surrounding us and adjust our own role according to the conclusions

gathered from this endless comprehension process.

It is argued by Ghauri & Gronhaug (2010) that interpretivism is the

most accurate method for business research, especially if the studied field is



related to human behaviour. Therefore, as the scope of this research is to

investigate the effects of visual merchandising on consumer buying

behaviour, naturally the chosen paradigm is interpretative, specially

considering that the essence of the study is to deeply analyse views and

opinions of customers of a product and extract useful information of their

acceptance (or not) of visual merchandising strategies and how it affects the

role played by individuals when faced by this scenario.

Contrary to positivistic, pragmatic and realistic positions, the focus of

this study doesn’t depend on variable analysis and extensive number of

patterns to be followed, neither would be valuable to this research the

examination of the reality involved in the retail market nor any adaptation of

concepts in order to better clarify the subject. It is notorious that the study of

human behaviour implies a deeply orientated insight into different forms of

understanding of a determined situation, this in order to verify possible parallel

or distinctive ideas/values on the same theme, as critically pointed by Fisher

(2007: 23). It is important for a company as Mr. Pretzels to fully understand

customers’ views of the products and the brand, generating margin for change

and improvement.

Research paradigms are accompanied by assumptions that guide the

progress of the study and balance the final conclusions in terms of

methodology. There are three main assumptions: Ontology, Axiology and

Epistemology (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010).

Ontology refers to the understanding of reality either objectively or

subjectively. The first refers to interpretation of reality independently of the

researcher and the social actors concerned, whereas the later portraits reality

as a consequence of actions performed by social actors, where there can only

be comprehension of the theme by profoundly studying the perceptions of the

creators of this reality, or, the social actors themselves.



Axiology is mainly the philosophical study of judgements and values,

and, as mentioned by Saunders et al (2009: 116), it argues that “our values

play a major role in the decision on how to manage and write a research”, for

example. In positivistic terms, values are not worth and unbiased methods of

data collection are the way to describe the correlation between variables,

whereas interpretivism argues that a deep insight into these values is needed

in order to form a complete judgement of the studied field. For this study the

axiological assumption relies on the value bond of the research,

comprehending the researcher as a part of the reality, in a subjective way.

Epistemology, as introduced by Wilson (2010: 79), is related to what

is adequate knowledge in a particular area of study. That varies according to

the paradigm chosen by the researcher. For positivists, knowledge comes

from researched objects that have an independent reality from the researcher,

whereas in interpretivism knowledge will rise from feeling and attitudes of the

social phenomena, included in this reality the researcher. Epistemologically,

this research comprises the understanding of social phenomena, focusing on

the details of the reality in place.

3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH

Research approaches are mechanisms used to build conceptual and

theoretical models, or in other words, the method used by the researcher in

order to develop knowledge/theory (White, 2002).

In the deductive approach, conceptual and theoretical models are

built and developed in the first part of the study, generating assumptions or

hypotheses. According to Saunders et al (2009: 125), these hypotheses are

then “rigorously tested on the field researched in order to prove or validate the

theory.” That is what is called ‘testing theory’, where commonly very

structured models and controls are put in place in order to establish the

correlation between variables. The aim is to operationalise the theory, in a



way to enable facts to be measured and theory proved (or not) as a

conclusion.

The inductive approach, on the other hand, works in direct opposition

to the deductive approach, as stated by Adams et al (2007), moving “from

specific to general.” Theory is developed from observation of reality,

concerned the actors and the context in which such events are happening.

Qualitative methods are used in a flexible way, in order to enable the

researcher to understand the layers forming opinions and values that shape

reality. Gathered data is the base for theory development and the findings are

wider and deeper in terms of personalisation. The span of the study is to fully

understand the meanings humans attach to events (Cameron & Price, 2009).

As might be expected, the focus of this research depend on the use of

the inductive approach in detriment of the inductive thesis, as the main point

is to deeply analyse opinions and views in order to fully comprehend the

modus operandi of the researched object, or the customers and their

judgements on visual merchandising. The analysis of behaviour requires wide

investigation of a certain phenomena and its social impact, and in business,

there is nothing more important than intrinsically research customers’ feelings

and opinions, avoiding rigid methodologies, which can limit conclusions.

3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY

Under the interpretivism umbrella, the main purpose of this study is to

qualitatively analyse the correlation between visual merchandising and

consumer buying behaviour. However, this qualitative analysis will be carried

out on a specific environment, an organization named Mr. Pretzels. For that

reason, in order to carry on the study of this phenomenon within a company,

necessity arise for broader analysis not only of the company and its

background but also of the customers and consumers that participate daily in

the activities of the company.



Therefore, this research was based in a single case study, which is,

according to Yin (2009:46) the “methodology used to explore a single

phenomenon”, in this case an organization, “using different methods to obtain

in-depth knowledge”. The study moves then to the application of a

questionnaire survey, which is a method of collecting primary data from a

certain amount of people, or sample, and interviews, which is the qualitative

background of any interpretivism research, enabling the accumulation of

opinions and views that will support the research objectives.

The background and history of the company was analysed, as well as

its merchandising strategy, providing a comprehensive understanding on its

growth throughout the years and also its objectives. Secondly, attempting to

answer the research questions, a customer survey in the form of a structured

ranked-answer questionnaire was carried out in order to identify the

correlation between the company’s merchandising strategy, highlighted in the

case study, and consumer buying behaviour, followed by interviews

performed with the questionnaire respondents as a way of gathering more

specific data regarding their personal views on the above-mentioned themes.

The purpose was to extract a mix of data, including opinions and values, as

well as general statistics from Mr. Pretzels’ customers about the impact of

visual merchandising in their purchase decision and views on the brand. Case

studies are characterised by allowing the researcher to perform various

research methods in conjunction, as mentioned by Yin (1994:13) and

highlighted by Fisher (2010: 69): “A case study uses a variety of research

methods and can happily accommodate quantitative data and qualitative

material.”

3.5 TRIANGULATION

As mentioned before, this research follows the interpretivism

approach, relying on qualitative data (interviews) in order to build theory,



however, the requirement of the study to comprehend consumers’ buying

behaviour took the researcher to apply a customer survey based on a ranked-

answer questionnaire. In literature, this mix of research methods is called

triangulation, which is, according to Saunders et al (1009: 146) “the

application of two or more different research methods in order to achieve the

research objectives completely.” The aim is to reduce the bias and enable a

wider understand of the researched subject, leading to a greater validity and

reliability.

Collis (2009: 85) highlights that there are four main types of

triangulation, developed by Denzin (1979):

Triangulation of theories – Theory taken from one discipline to

another in order to explain a certain phenomenon.

Data triangulation – Data collection at different times or from different

sources in the study of a phenomenon.

Investigator triangulation – Different researchers independently

collecting data of the same phenomenon in order to compare the results.

Methodological triangulation – Two or more research methods used to

collect and analyse the data.

The academic characteristic of this research could not fall into the first

three types of triangulation, since time and budget constraints are relevant.

Consequently, the triangulation process in this study involved the collection of

data based on a methodological mixture of case study, questionnaire and

interview.

Besides the fact that surveys are considered a data collection method

belonging to the positivistic school, the use of its features is perfectly

adaptable to this research. Stressing this view is Fisher (2007: 61/62): “It is

tempting but wrong to, to make and easy connection between research

methodology and particular methods. First because it is possible to use any of



the research methods to produce either quantitative material (numbers) or

qualitative material (words) and, second, because you can use qualitative

material to as part of a realist project and you can certainly use numbers to

illuminate interpretive research. In practice you can use any of the research

methods in any of the approaches.”

3.6 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Data collection methods can be described as the techniques utilised

in order to gather all information needed to achieve a desired level of

comprehension of the researched subject (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2010). The

data collection will depend on factors such what kind of material is desired,

what kind of phenomenon is studied and what type of information will be

extracted from the data. There is primary and secondary data, being the first

result of research into the unknown, or the act of gathering new information,

whereas the second relies on researching on known fields of information such

as literature. The greatest example of secondary data analysis in the literature

review performed by business students in order to acquire knowledge on a

specific theme, as verified in chapter two.

3.6.1 Primary Data – Qualitative & Quantitative

The main fields of exploration in primary data are qualitative and

quantitative, and each of these fields has a different set of methods that

should be used in order to satisfy the research objectives. As highlighted

above, this study is focused on obtaining both qualitative and quantitative data

in terms of understanding the views of customers using statistical and

analytical tools, as well as thematic analysis.

Qualitative data is the information gathered through interpretive

approach, and as mentioned by Ghauri & Gronhaugh (2010: 105) “normally



transient and understood only within a certain context, resulting in findings

with a high degree of validity.” The main methods of data collection using

qualitative data are interviews, observation and focus groups.

Interviews are a method of data collection that comprises selected

participants, where questions are placed in terms to find out what are their

personal views. The questions can be prepared before hand, as indicated by

Ghauri & Gronhaugh (2010: 126), “following a standardised system”

(structured), like a questionnaire survey, or not, as so the interview flow

according to the participant’s answers, “widening the range for information

gathering in personal opinions (unstructured).” Interviews can be performed

personally, via telephone or videophone (internet), and roughly the results will

be the same.

Through observation the researcher analyses a laboratorial or natural

setting without interfering in the phenomena or performing any kind of

questioning or appraisal. In business research that is called non-participant

observation, where the researcher is responsible to record people’s actions

without being involved. The second type of observation is called participant

observation, where the researcher becomes part of the phenomenon studied,

fully involving himself with the participants. (Saunders et al, 2009)

Focus groups are normally used in order to obtain data that is related

to feelings and values of a group of people, who are put on the same situation

or gathered to discuss a common problem. This method successfully combine

interviewing and observation, allowing fresh data to arise from group

interaction. (Wilson, 2010)

Quantitative data is related to the figures gathered by structured

approaches with the objective of describing and translating the studied

phenomenon statistically. Mainly used by positivists, quantitative data

collection is performed via self-completion questionnaires or structured

interviews (Cameron & Price, 2009).



Questionnaire is a list of very well structured questions that are

applied to a number of people as means to gather information that will help

answering the research questions. The questions are the same to every

researched object and depending on the type of questionnaire the same set of

answers is designed, in order to allow statistical analysis. (Adams, Khan,

Raeside, & White, 2007)

Questionnaires can be presented in a variety of forms. According to

Ghauri & Gronhaugh (2010: 121), there are self-administered questionnaires,

which are completed by the respondents and performed using the Internet,

post, or delivered by hand to each respondent, telephone questionnaires, and

structured interviews, which are the questionnaires where the interviewer

physically meets the respondent to personally address the questions.

Differently from the semi-structured or unstructured interviews, the structured

interview follows a defined set of questions.

This research, making use of triangulation of methods, as previously

mentioned, was based on the administration of self-completion ranked-answer

questionnaires composed of ten questions in which the respondents rated

assumptions according to personal preferences, choosing from the options:

Agree, Tend to Agree, Not Sure, Tend to Disagree, Disagree.

Additionally, as required by the philosophical approach of

interpretivism and in order to allow further thematic analysis, a five question

structured interview about impressions and personal opinions on critical

themes was administrated, using the same respondents of the questionnaire,

facilitating multiple analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, balancing

general and statistical information and personal opinions, as can be verified in

chapter five. The researcher, using a sample of thirty customers of the Mr.

Pretzels kiosk at lakeside Shopping Centre, in Thurrock, London, performed

both interviews and questionnaires.



3.7 THE SAMPLE

Regarding the approach used in order to select the participants of the

customer survey and interview, or the sample used to gather the primary data,

it is crucial to mention how the development of the criteria generated the best

possible group of respondents for this study. Mainly, sampling can be

classified as probability or representative, and non-probability or judgemental.

Saunders et al (2009: 213/233) describe the earlier as “most commonly

associated with survey-based research strategies, where you need to make

inferences from your sample about a population”, while the latter as “based on

subjective judgement” enabling “in-depth study that focuses on a small case

selected for a particular purpose.”

The research method utilised in this study followed the second option,

mainly because of the lack of time and funds to perform a bigger survey

involving the whole population, also known as the consumers from all Mr.

Pretzels kiosks. Therefore, following the non-probability sample, the

researcher adopted the convenience approach, where the participants were

chosen haphazardly from Mr. Pretzels consumers of a kiosk located at

Lakeside shopping centre, in Thurrock, London, a location chosen by its

proximity to London and also for having a sitting area which could be used to

perform the survey with the minimum level of comfort for the respondents.

3.8 STRENGHTS OF THE METHODOLOGY

The main strength of the methodology is related to the fact that the

researcher works for the company and had authorisation from senior

management to perform any kind of data collection at any of Mr. Pretzels’

kiosks, at any given date, adding a lot of flexibility to the researcher’s work.

Additionally, a very strong point rises from the use of the triangulation of

methods, which allowed the research to be more comprehensively analysed,

especially towards the comparison between qualitative and quantitative data,



widening the findings and conclusion, enlarging the possibilities in terms of

recommending new frameworks.

Furthermore, all participants were approached while consuming

pretzels in the kiosk environment, allowing for a more adequate judgement of

the assumptions mentioned in the questionnaire, as well as deeper insight

when responding the interview. Another plus advent from the fact that the

kiosk used in the research was opened few months ago (February 2011),

allowing the researcher to collect fresh impressions from the respondents,

most of them being new to the brand and product.

3.9 WEAKNESSES OF THE METHODOLOGY

The weaknesses of this study are mainly related to its academic

nature. Therefore low funding and time constrain were the major obstacles

trespassed by the researcher. The possibility of performing the customer

survey and interview in only one kiosk also affected the reliability and validity

of the whole research, since a bigger picture could be painted by the

assessment of the whole population of Mr. Pretzels’ consumers and

customers, or in other words, could the survey be performed in all Mr.

Pretzels’ kiosks, the result would give us a clearer picture on consumer

buying behaviour in contrast to the implemented visual merchandising

strategies, which are applied simultaneously and uniformly in every kiosk.

Sample selection, therefore, was also affected, as the available universe of

research was constrained to a limited number of customers, while a study

comprehending a more extensive time frame could be used to gather more

views and opinions.



3.10 SUMMARY

This chapter highlighted the approaches and strategies applied by the

researcher when performing the data collection, defending the utilisation of a

single case study, followed by triangulation of methods concerning the

collection of qualitative and quantitative data in a interpretivism paradigm, as

well as the benefits risen from the use of inductive approach.

Nonetheless, the methods utilised in order to select the sample were

clarified as to determine the reasons the research was performed in a certain

shop and with a certain number of respondents, culminating in the analysis of

the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen methodologies, concerning

explanation on how factors related to the academic nature of this paper

influenced the outcome of the research.



CHAPTER FOUR

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter refers to the analysis of the data gathered by

questionnaires and interviews performed on 06 June 2011 at a Mr. Pretzels’

kiosk in Lakeside, a shopping centre located in Thurrock, London. The figures

were transformed into information through various methods of data analysis,

mainly statistical in respect to facts gathered via questionnaire (quantitative

information) and thematic in respect to the answers gathered via interviews.

The object of this analysis is to assess sensitive themes of visual

merchandising and customer buying behaviour in order to find traces that can

lead to answer the research questions and fulfil its objectives.

4.2 DATA ANALYTICAL APPROACH: THEMATIC ANALYSIS

Thematic analysis is a process to be used along qualitative

information, enabling the researcher to encode opinions, views and values

into quantitative data. Boyatzis (1998) defends the view that thematic analysis

is intrinsically related to our way of seeing, or observing information and

situations. Coding information provides an insight that might be correct in

one’s point of view and completely wrong in another’s. That’s because

thematic analysis is dependant of personal views: Observing, understanding,

recognising, encoding and interpreting facts are processes currently done by

all of us in our everyday lives, and relies mainly on personal insights, not

excluding a business research, where our personal knowledge acts like a

filter, straining relevant information to form judgements. In order to justify this



view, Boyatzis (1998) mentions Coffey and Atkinson (1996: 27), who state

“Coding can be thought about as a way of relating our data to our ideas about

these data”.

Clarke & Braun (2006) highlight the flexible characteristic of thematic

analysis. In comparison to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

and grounded theory, thematic analysis is “not wed to any pre-existing

theoretical framework, and so it can be used within different theoretical

frameworks, and can be used to do different things within them.” On the other

hand, as mentioned by Boyatzis (1998), “time efficiency and information

manipulation are the biggest drawbacks of thematic analysis. Encoding

qualitative information requires a pre set ‘code’, which may be a list of

themes, or a model of trends and qualifications that are related to a theme.” In

turn, a theme can be described as “a pattern latent in the information, which

describes and arrange possible observations or interprets features of the

phenomenon, according to its depth.”

Development of the analysis through the thematic approach is

possible by using three main levels of coding, although most authors refer to

these steps as not necessarily sequential, but overlapped during the study.

Green and Browne (2005) define the coding steps as:

Initial Coding: First stage consisted in filtering the information

collected and identification of applicable concepts that can be useful in

answering the research questions.

Developing a Coding Scheme: After discovering the main elements

compounding the data collected, re-classification is necessary in order to

separate these elements into codes, forming the themes which will be utilised

in the analysis.

Coding the Data: In this final step, the remaining data is then added to

the specific set of themes previously coded in order to fulfil the analysis with



every piece of data collected. The result is a classified rank of information,

ordered by its relevance to the research and its objectives.

In the researcher’s point of view, there is a fourth or hidden step to the

formulation of coded data. Following Aronson (1994), it is important to

intercalate the themes with relevant literature, as a way of widening the

researchers knowledge of the discovered patterns. This will allow the

researcher to “build a valid argument for choosing the themes”. The use of

thematic analysis in this research advent from its flexibility, as stated above,

and also for giving the researcher the opportunity to accumulate all pieces of

this great puzzle called qualitative data into more recognisable and organised

fields or themes of reference. This organised approach facilitates mapping

the key assumptions fuelling the research, as highlighted by Cameron & Price

(2009: 437): “This is extremely useful when you come to map out the

arguments that you wish to make in discussing your research findings

because each batch can be used as the basis for a particular part of your

discussions.” Following extensive interpretation of the interviews and pattern-

underlining, the researcher singled out four main themes that seem

appropriate for analysis:

Major Theme Perceived Benefits Key Issues

Overall presentation Visual aids, kiosk and staff

presentation as tools to attract customers.

Differentiation

Staff Attitude

Brand Image

Product presentation Visual aspects of the product and its preparation can captivate customers.

Senses Stimulation

Product's Healthy Image

Live Preparation

Quality Balance between price and quality in customers' choice. Freshly Baked Image



Importance of Price

Importance of Quality

Sampling Visual merchandising

strategies and its implications on customer buying behaviour.

Significance of Consumers’ Experience

Customer Satisfaction

The Role of the Sampler

As mentioned in chapter three, the interviews were supported by a ten

question questionnaire, which was elaborated bearing in mind the extraction

of general concepts and views of accordance or discordance to the visual

merchandising approach adopted by the organisation. The researcher’s

objective was to combine these two data collection methods in order to better

interpret the circumstances faced by customers when making a purchase

decision.

4.3 OVERALL PRESENTATION

Overall presentation is related to all visual aspects engaged by the

company as a way of transmitting a message. Clearly the message Mr.

Pretzels want to show is of an organised, clean and dynamic snack shop, with

a bit of differentiation from competition in terms of product quality and

freshness. When asked about the overall presentation of the kiosk, one of the

respondents mentioned:

“My impressions of Mr. Pretzels’ overall presentation are of a tidy place where we can assess the production from beginning to end, differently from other snack shops where you are presented with the final product without being able to see what happens in the kitchen or how the product got to you.”

Evidently, the above-mentioned respondent is experiencing Mr.

Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategy, which is preparing the final product in



front of the customer, bringing an idea of freshness not found in any other

snack chain. The goal is to achieve competitive advantage through

differentiation, especially in the highly disputed market of snack shops.

Additionally, the kiosks are built in an open-plan approach, with glass walls

around the most of the kiosk, allowing potential customers to watch the whole

production chain. At several times children and families are attracted by the

possibility of learning how a pretzel is made, and at this point the staff also

interact with the customers, by explaining what is being done, as well as

entertaining the children.

Nevertheless, it is not only the kiosk that sends this message, but also

the staff and their attitude towards the customers and the product, as the

researcher could evaluate by one the respondent’s (between 26 and 34 years

old) answer:

“The staff seem pretty organised and hygienic, all of them wearing hairnets an gloves when manipulating the pretzel, which give me a good image of Mr. Pretzels and ensure the quality of your product. I was well-treated and could see that they were in good spirits, greeting customers and smiling.”

In visual merchandising, the way a product or brand is shown to the

public gives the idea of a wider picture, like a statement of intentions, and the

staff is specifically responsible for passing this message around, acting

according to the brand’s necessity. Yet, the word ‘acting’ doesn’t transmit the

right idea of the kiosk’s atmosphere. It is not relevant for the company to have

staff acting in a certain way, but to be part of a philosophy, to think and work

as a team, in a relaxed but at the same time serious environment.

The researcher’s experience can be taken into consideration to point

out that in reality the staff was motivated to perform, not to act. They were

happy working for Mr. Pretzels because the environment presented to them

adopts this ideal. When correctly managed, human resources are of precious

value to the brand, and knowing this, the company implemented a bonus

policy based on monthly sales, as well as giving the staff opportunity to grow



within the organisation in the form of a career plan, something not taken into

consideration by many of the industry entrants. The result is a highly

motivated staff, that well trained, is able to perform better and transmit the

right image, an important point in visual merchandising and customer

satisfaction.

The questionnaire was an important tool to

assess the overall impression of customers in

relation to Mr. Pretzels’ overall presentation.

A vast majority of customers believe that the

looks of a Mr. Pretzels’ kiosk is able to attract

their attention, and the researcher believe

that the reason for that is mostly related to

the live product preparation. Those who didn’t

agree to the statement completely tend to

agree that the kiosk is able to communicate a

good message.

In terms of quality, the kiosk

design give the customer the unique

opportunity to assess production, and

their response when asked about it was

equally satisfactory. Due to the fact that

Mr. Pretzels is the only snack shop in

many shopping centres to offer an open-

for-all approach to production, customers

are intrigued and at the same time thrilled

by the fact that what they see is what they

get, differently from other snack shops

where pictures in menus differ from the

real product. It is a simple and elegant

idea.



Customers’ views on staff presentation, another crucial point to the

success of a brand, could be assessed in the questionnaire, and the response

was convincing:

Almost one third of the respondents

mentioned not being sure if staff

presentation affect their purchase

decision, while the majority points

out that being well treated by staff

and their presentation and manners

are important factor, impacting on

purchase decision.

4.4 PRODUCT PRESENTATION

The process that triggers our will to buy a certain product, especially

food products, is intrinsically related to senses stimulation. In terms of product

presentation, Mr. Pretzels offers certain differentiation by freshly baking its

products, and that is where lies their competitive advantage. The pretzel is

prepared from freshly mixed dough and baked in open conveyor ovens, which

claim the customers’ visual attention but also intrigue them with smells and

other senses. As the pretzel is coming out of the oven, it exhales the scent of

fresh bread, which already attracts one’s nose, but after the hot pretzel is

coated on cinnamon and sugar, the smell changes to something that recalls

Christmas. The strong smell of the cinnamon allied to the freshly baked bread

spread around the surrounding area of the kiosk, and it is not usual to see

customers walking around trying to figure out where that smell is coming from.

Subsequently, the customer is prompted by staff to try a sample of the

product, and at this moment other senses come into action. Touching and

eating the sample allow the customer to feel the texture and temperature of

the freshly baked pastry, as well as the unique taste of cinnamon and sugar.



The sampler then briefs the customer about its quality, pointing to the

production area, where the live preparation is taking place. When asked about

product presentation, a lady between 35 and 44 years old gave this answer:

“The presentation of the pretzel is something very interesting. I’ve felt intrigued about the smell of cinnamon in the air and when I tried the product and was informed that it is freshly baked, the idea of quality came into my mind. I could see the pretzel being made, and differently from many other shops, it seemed to me that the pretzels were a healthy way of having a treat.”

At this point, the customer’s way of life and personal views are

imposing the message that the pretzel would be better for her than other pre-

made products, basically because it smells fresh, it tastes fresh, and it is

baked, though not loosing its taste. That is one of the most important parts of

Mr. Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategies: Product presentation including

a fresh approach to snacks, not commonly seen in other brands.

In the questionnaire, the general

response from the interviewees

was also towards good views of Mr.

Pretzels’ product presentation: 64%

of the interviewed customers claim

that product presentation affects

their purchase decision, and

considering this rates Mr. Pretzels

is doing a good job in terms of

attracting customers, not based on

promises, but on reality. The fresh

approach to product presentation involves a mix of sense stimulation and

differentiation from competition. Being able to see and taste the pretzel before

making a purchase normally shifts the balance in the company’s favour, as

few are those who don’t like the taste of fresh pastry and cinnamon & sugar.



4.5 QUALITY

Quality plays a major role in any industry, but especially in the food

market. Snacks and food kiosks found on shopping centres and the high

street are full of advertisings highlighting the quality of their products, the

origin of the raw materials utilised and freshness in preparation. In some

areas like the fast food sector, not only quality but price also causes a big

impact on customers’ purchase decision. To act in a market like this is

common sense that the strategy must be price or quality focused, or a

balance of both, in the case of Mr. Pretzels.

Visual aspects of a product are intrinsically related to its quality and

price, and it is very hard to balance both factors and target the market in the

right way. Mr. Pretzels’ objective is to galvanise product quality and price,

using one to balance another. In comparison to other snack shops, a pretzel

is more expensive, but in terms of quality the advantage is notorious, as

highlighted above.

Being able to offer a fresh product elevates the cost of the product

made by Mr. Pretzels. In instead of having only one person to take care of the

oven and heat frozen pretzels and another person to take care of the till, Mr.

Pretzels kiosks are always packed with staff taking care of manufacturing a

fresh product. In instead fighting in a saturated market, Mr. Pretzels is a

company focused on deviating from the common path, innovating by bringing

freshness to its product, and consequently quality.

That is the view customers’ carry as well. Most of the interviewees,

when asked about Mr. Pretzels’ product quality in comparison to the

competition asserted pro quality opinions. Important mention one of the

answers, from a respondent in between 26 and 34 years old:

“I feel that Mr. Pretzels’ products are of better quality in comparison to its competitors because I can see how the product is made and it tastes fresh. Other shops just give you a pre-made product, and sometimes the taste and aspect of the food don’t feel as fresh as this.”



And this customer is pretty much right. That is the effect Mr. Pretzels

want to extract from customers when experiencing their products, and in

comparison to other snack shops remains clear the view of a fresh product. In

terms of competition though, Mr. Pretzels loose customers that seek for lower

prices, since this slice of the market is more interested in saving their money

than paying for quality. It is virtually impossible to reduce the cost of the

pretzel without changing the way it is made, and in reality such change is not

a necessity in the company’s horizon. Most of the current customers adopt the

view that being able to see how the pretzel is made enhance their opinion

about its quality, as it can be verified in the chart below:

Confidence is something crucial to a

brand, and that is exactly how Mr.

Pretzels is thriving in the snack

industry, competing with giants like

Krispy Kreme and Millie’s Cookies.

Customers’ confidence in Mr.

Pretzels’ products is a natural

process, due the nature of the

business. The company and its

kiosks are designed to pass this

message.

As previously mentioned, Mr. Pretzels’ quality policy surpass its price

policy. But what the customers think of it? In the researcher’s opinion if a

product is marketed the right way nothing can go wrong, so it is really a matter

of finding your public, people that embrace the same ideas of the company. If

a company wants to serve quality food, there will be people willing to buy it,

no matter the price, and vice versa.

In this point Mr. Pretzels is doing well and tend to attract people

willing to pay a bit more for a better quality snack, that attract customers by its

freshness and impacting flavour, as can be verified in the chart below:



Besides almost 20% of the

respondents pointing not being

sure about quality overlapping

price, the great majority of Mr.

Pretzel’s customers are keen on

buying a product that is valued by

its quality. Even the customers who

are no sure about the importance

of quality in their buying behaviour

came to Mr. Pretzels and bought

the product, and that is a great

fact. So, even people that don’t rely on quality so much are regular customers

of Mr. Pretzels, but why? In the researcher’s opinion, the taste of the product

affects this slice of the market. And customers can only assess the taste by

trying the product, what took this research to analyse another important factor

of Mr. Pretzels’ merchandising strategy: Sampling.

4.6 SAMPLING

Giving products for free might be an idea far from reality for the major

snack brands, specially because these companies are well established in the

market and don’t need to prove themselves anymore. American pretzels were

not a common product in the UK, so the strategy when implementing the

company’s operation in this country was to keep the sampling running in all

shops, at all times, in order to assess as many potential customers as

possible and captivate new shares of the market. Not many strategies were

so successful than sampling for Mr. Pretzels, and it worked in such a way that

all shops opened in the UK but one (which won’t be mentioned for

professional reasons) flourished, based on extensive sampling.



During the interviews, not surprisingly, all customers, without

exception, attested that the samples affected their purchase decision, as

mentioned by one of the respondents:

“Samples affected my purchase decision simply because the pretzel is wonderful and as soon as you taste it you want more.”

Another respondent mentioned:

“While trying a sample the guy offering it proved to be a great salesman, explaining all the features of the product and also highlighting its main characteristics. Being able to try before you buy helps the decision-making.”

Their opinions underline the two main aspects of sampling in Mr.

Pretzels: Offering the freshest pretzel and describing the product in detail in

order to paint the right picture and consequently attract new customers. Some

people come and go during the day trying the samples all the time, but even

so, sooner or later they would be stopping by to buy a pretzel of their own.

This statement is proved by

the answers obtained in the

questionnaire, where more than 70%

of the respondents assured that would

come back to the shop to buy a pretzel

sooner or later, just after trying a little

piece of the product. In the

researcher’s interpretation it is an art

to attract new customers by sampling.

It requires great level of attitude and

sensitivity. The sampler needs to be

agile in his/her sales pitch (performed

in a couple of seconds while the potential customer is trying the pretzel), and

astute as to play the role of a host, offering the best customer experience

possible.



Not surprisingly, the level of response

acquired from the questionnaire show

how a good sampling can achieve

great sales results: 30 out of 30

respondents totally agree with

sampling being an effective way of

attracting customers, 100% of

satisfactory answers. This information

shows how happy customers for being

able to try a new product and be

surprised by a new business concept.

Most of the English people know pretzels from Germany and are not

so keen on trying Mr. Pretzels’ products thinking it would be hard, salty and

crunchy, perfect for a beer but not for a sweet snack in a shopping centre.

That is when the attitude and sense of the sampler come into play. By

explaining the customers that Mr. Pretzels offer a different product, which is

freshly baked, soft and warm, they realise the pretzel they are thinking about

is not what is being offered. They then give it a try and rapidly change their

minds.

For that reason, harmony between

sampler and sample is needed, in

order to make the maximum of the

customer’s experience. In the

questionnaire this theme was

approached and the responses

follow: A good job by the sampler

implicates in improved image of the

brand and product, turning

sampling into an experience. Being

able to highlight the main aspects



of the product and approach the customers in a friendly way are the key

features for the success of a kiosk. Improved image of the brand and product

experience result in customer satisfaction and loyalty, main reasons for the

long-term survival of any business.

4.7 SUMMARY

This chapter is undoubtedly the main part of this research. Being able

to analyse the data gathered through the interviews and questionnaires is

certainly the top point for any researcher. The findings of this research were

able to tell a lot about the customers’ view on a great variety of themes:

quality, price, loyalty, sampling, merchandising strategies, and kiosk and

product presentation and brand image.

Remain clear to the researcher that Mr. Pretzels chose the right

strategy to tackle its competitors in UK soil, especially in terms of bringing the

customers a new experience and a relatively new product to the market.

Sampling is the key factor for the success of the sales and the greatest idea

was to offer a fresh made product which is rolled and baked in front of the

customer, not only intriguing by the live rolling but also for playing with the

senses of potential buyers.

Mentioned the benefits of the merchandising strategies, the

researcher would be too confident in assuming everything is working and in

perfect order. There is always room for improvement and that is what is going

to be analysed in the next chapter.



CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

The fifth chapter of this study is responsible for linking the information

gathered through extensive literature review and the findings obtained from in

depth interviews properly reinforced by a questionnaire in order to clarify

points of specific sensitivity as well as general opinions and views of the

brand, the company, and its visual merchandising strategies.

This section will also bring a review of the research’s aims and

objectives, in an effort to justify the key factors that contribute to the merge of

visual merchandising and customer buying behaviour, in terms to establish

the correlation between these two fields of study, and how improvements in

one area can lead to impacts in the second.

Furthermore, clarified the research problem and solved the main

questions, recommendations for further improvements on the studied field will

be offered as matter of changing some approaches to visual merchandising

strategies, especially concerning its impact on customers’ purchase decision.

Finally, a brief contribution to further studies is considered as to allow those

who are interested in this field of study to benefit from this paper as guidance

for future projects.

5.2 EVALUATION OF THE FINDINGS

The matter of visual merchandising and its impact on customer buying

behaviour is certainly of great influence on the retail industry, especially in the



snack area, where competition is fierce and fresh approaches to well known

strategies might bring the perceived competitive advantage every retailer

wants. Considering that Mr. Pretzels is a relatively new entrant to the British

snack industry, this is an issue of major importance. The company is being

fuelled by fresh ideas since its establishment in Puerto Rico, and that is what

keeps Mr. Pretzels on the edge, alongside the basic business concept, that

can simply be adapted to contrasting scenarios.

The foundation stone of its success, in the researcher’s opinion is the

fusion of these two factors: A basic, simple business idea, or the product in all

its conceptual simplicity, and new approaches to marketing and

merchandising. The unpretentiousness of the product allowed the company to

expand in many different countries around the globe. It is simple to make, and

adaptable to different perspectives and cultures (flavours can be added, sizes

and shapes can be changed), keeping its basic recipe: Freshly baked dough

coated on the customer’s favourite topping. Added to this factor are the

merchandising strategies, creating differentiation, and so, competitive

advantage. Being able to transmit the correct message fuels the conception of

a brand in the customers minds, as previously mentioned by Tucker (2003:19)

“stores have in their core the function of representing the brand in the most

innovative ways, granting that consumers will keep in mind a concept of their

products and the correlation to the brand’s name and heritage.”

The data gathered through interviews and the administration of

questionnaires stresses the efficiency of this brand-customer communication

and the existence of a

connection between

visual merchandising and

customer buying

behaviour, to the point

where was possible to

measure customers’



impression on various of the merchandising strategies adopted by the

company, the responses being nothing but a general agreement that there is

an impact to be measured from the implementation of merchandising

strategies on customer buying behaviour, as it can be verified from the overall

answers obtained via questionnaire:

The questions from both interviews and questionnaires were directed

to estimate the real impact of visual merchandising on customer buying

behaviour, not tending to defend the company or its strategy, but in contrary,

to test its strength in a very competitive industry. Even though, a margin of

77% of the questionnaire’s respondents agreed with most, if not all the

statements that were put in front of them. Questions designed to measure the

impact of external and product presentation, staff approach to customers,



sampling and product quality in relation to visual merchandising, were in its

majority successful in demonstrating that as more innovative in terms of visual

merchandising and respectful in dealing with customers, more the company

tend to succeed. In Mr. Pretzels’ case, building the whole shop around

customer experience and performing activities like sampling based on

customer hosting are the key factors for their success. In terms of consumer

behaviour, this approach can be classified as the most valuable part on the

development of a buying process, as mentioned by Foxall (1977:26) and that

comprises, in its first phase, “the development and perception of a want or

need.”

The in depth interviews also highlighted the massive agreement from

Mr. Pretzels’ customers in relation to its visual merchandising strategies, the

most important being the live-rolling process, in which the product is

completely made in front of the customers from scratch: From mixing the

dough to adding the flavours, passing through the baking process, it is all

done in front of the customer, and the result of this open-plan production

design is, according to the answers obtained in the interviews, a high

confidence of customers in product quality, withdrawing attention from the

most delicate share of the business, which is product price.

Mr. Pretzels is a relatively new snack shop for many of the potential

customers, and the visual merchandising strategies help them making the

purchase decision, especially taking into consideration the relationship

between consumer buying behaviour and product life cycle, as mentioned by

Howard (1989: 15-17), highlighting that a new product is likely to be an

extensive problem solving for the consumer, that needs a large amount of

information to decide whether to buy or not to buy.



5.3 ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE FINDINGS AND THE RESEARCH

OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS

As in any research, the purpose of this study was to comprehend

certain phenomena and establish a link between them in order to build up

theory and solve related problems. Have said that, important is to review its

objectives and questions, as a way to conclusively answer the research’s

proposed problem:

Research Aims & Objectives:

a. To review extant conceptual models and theoretical

frameworks related to visual merchandising and consumer buying behaviour.

b. To examine the impact of visual merchandising on consumer

buying behaviour.

c. To recommend some practicable frameworks in which visual

merchandising could be used to improve consumer buying behaviour.

Research Questions:

a. Is visual merchandising an important tool for

companies like Mr. Pretzels in terms of increasing sales and gaining competitive advantage?

b. Does visual merchandising affects Mr. Pretzels’ consumers’ buying behaviour? To which extent?

The aims and objectives need to be analysed in conjunction to the

research questions, singularly, in order to highlight the main findings of this

research in comparison to the problem presented at the initial stages of this

study, drawing a conclusion regarding the main themes approached.



Subsequently, recommendations were drawn as a form of fulfilling the third

research objective, especially in terms of how the current visual

merchandising strategies can be improved in order to achieve competitive

advantage.

5.3.1 VISUAL MERCHANDISING AS A TOOL TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

The first main purpose of this research was to find out whether visual

merchandising is an important tool for Mr. Pretzels, in terms of gaining

competitive advantage. The kiosks flourished mainly relying on visual

merchandising strategies, and consequently the expansion of the brand within

the UK was also planned bearing in mind the maintenance and improvement of merchandising strategies as a plan.

The main visual merchandising strategies consist of live pretzel

preparation and sampling, two strategies similarly not taken into consideration

by the competition, and there rely Mr. Pretzels’ first advantage: differentiation

and fresh approach to an industry already packed with competition. By

engaging in being as transparent as possible with its products, Mr. Pretzels

allowed potential customers to acquaint themselves with the brand and its

products, highlighting of course the most important part of the strategy:

Customers are able to assess the production chain entirely, enhancing confidence in the product and also in the brand.

In relation to sampling, nothing better for a new entrant than putting its

products to a test, allowing potential customers to draw their initial

impressions of the product and also eliminating possible pre-judgements in

relation to the kind of product is being sold. In this scenario it is possible to

say that Mr. Pretzels mastered the sampling policy very wisely, first for always

offering samples of freshly baked soft pretzels for customers familiarized to

the German way of making the same product, eliminating the bad image



some consumers had about the later version of it. The second aspect of

sampling relies on its quality: The pretzel being sampled is the same offered

to customers, as fresh as possible, and as the sampler cut it into pieces, not

only the freshness is revealed, but also the smell of the cinnamon combined

to fresh pastry, making pre product very appealing to the public. Combine to

the product, a friendly approach to customers when sampling tie the whole

product experience, generating sales on the short, medium and long terms, as

some people try the product and buy it straight away, whereas others come

back later during the day to make purchases and even others that try the

product in a Mr. Pretzel kiosk located in one shopping centre and, when visiting another shopping centre some time later, decide to make a purchase.

Therefore, the research’s focus on interpreting visual merchandising

as a tool for to establish competitive advantage can be accepted as true, as

Mr. Pretzels case study was able to fulfil the topic completely, especially on

account of the widely used visual merchandising strategies applied by this organisation.

5.3.2 CORRELATION BETWEEN VISUAL MERCHANDISING AND CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

The second and last research question attempted to focus not only on

the effectiveness of Mr. Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategies, but also to

analyse the impact of these strategies in the company’s customers.

Therefore, in order to assess their views and opinions, interviews were carried

and questionnaires administrated to thirty of Mr. Pretzels’ customers from a kiosk at Lakeside Shopping Centre, located in Thurrock, London.

The findings revealed an interesting pattern of behaviour from the

interviewed customers, that can be amplified as to build a general concept on

how Mr. Pretzels’ visual merchandising strategies are linked to customer

buying behaviour. To a large extent, it was possible to measure that the life-



support strategy of Mr. Pretzels as a business is intrinsically related to visual

merchandising. The customers respond to it all the time, especially when

intrigued by the fact that the product is being made in front of them, and also

by the constant sampling that allow them to taste and evaluate the product

without really having to pay for it. Customer satisfaction, as assessed in

chapter four, is inherently connected to product experience and quality, and

Mr. Pretzels is delivering both messages to its customers on a daily basis.

The quality is ensured by the both rolling process and free tasting, while

product experience is embarked by product presentation and friendly approach by the staff when dealing with customers.

5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS

At last but not least, the important objective of supplying the studied

subject with recommendations that if followed tend to be successful. Taking

into account the findings obtained from primary data analysis, becomes clear

that Mr. Pretzels’ customers want to straighten the bond between them and

the brand. Levels of acceptance are strong enough to point that the

organisation is sailing the calm waters of prosperity, but in the researcher’s

point of view some alterations to the current visual merchandising strategy

should be implemented in order to establish a pattern of behaviour, especially when it comes to sampling.

The kiosk where the survey took place had been previously targeted

by the company’s head-office in the UK to be part of a training program that

consisted of improving staff attitude and posture when sampling, the

researcher being pointed as responsible for carrying out the program. After a

week of training and talks to the staff about their impressions on sampling,

remained clear that a change of approach when dealing with customers was

needed. The staff was not engaging with customers the right way, or

sometimes not engaging with customers at all, due mainly to: lack of



understand of the English language and lack of interest in performing the role of sampler, classified by many as the worst role within the kiosk.

Therefore, a change of approach was due in terms of recreating the

image of the sampler, from worst to best role in the shop. Clearly, the sampler

does not endure so many difficulties during the day because he/she is outside

the kiosk engaging with customers, while the rest of the staff is suffering with

the production cycle or doing other activities that involve physical

engagement, like stocking materials, so that was a plus. Secondly, from being

just a person standing outside of the kiosk handling free food, the sampler

was elevated to the condition of host and salesman, bringing customers to the

shop and consequently generating more sales. The concept brought to the

staff was that sampling is more difficult than it seems, (And it really is!)

especially if you want to captivate customers in instead of just boringly

handing pieces of pretzels away. It requires perception, education and a good

dose of wit and business sense to succeed in this area of the shop, where the

mechanical activities are forgotten, giving space to a more mental and

delicate action. If sampling is taken as a serious business activity in instead of

a mechanical function, it works to the point where sales figures rise and the

sampler stands out from the crowd, being able to grow within the company faster than the others.

The result of this new approach to the role of sampler opened the

staff eyes for opportunities they had never considered, like becoming a

supervisor or manager of a kiosk, and also motivated them to do things

differently, mainly because from the rise on the sales comes a cash bonus for

the employees of the kiosk. After four months in red and a month of training,

the sales rate rose considerably and the staff was receiving their first bonus ever.

Although this is a good example of how sampling can be used as a

way of motivating staff and generating more sales, not every shop in the Mr.

Pretzels chain adopted this approach, and this is why the main



recommendation the researcher could possibly think of relies on implementing

training programs especially designed to boost the role of the sampler and

motivate the staff in every kiosk to a point where anyone is able to sample

correctly and with the enthusiasm needed in order to succeed.

Additionally, another effective recommendation would be to change

the recruitment process of the company as a way to allow managers to track

people especially for the role of sampler, people enthusiastic about sales, with

a good English language background and determined to stand on his/her feet

outside the kiosk captivating, convincing and charming customers all the way until a purchase is made.

5.5 FURTHER RESEARCH ORIENTATIONS

This paper has covered the key aspects related to visual

merchandising and customer buying behaviour in the snack industry,

especially analysing the case of Mr. Pretzels. However, lots of fields remain to

be explored for those who want to experience more about the correlation

between these two areas of study.

Based on the findings of this research, future terms might be inclined

in discovering how staff training and development help improve visual

merchandising strategies, with special focus to the role of the sampler.

Additionally, remains clear to the researcher that other brands could make

good use of sampling and other merchandising strategies adopted by Mr.

Pretzels in their activities, so it would be interesting to put in practice some of

these strategies in other environments, in order to assess its effectiveness.

Furthermore, in the field of consumer behaviour, would be of great importance

to study the impacts of customer loyalty for brands like Mr. Pretzels, as a way

of assessing what brands can achieve with customer loyalty strategies and

how this kind of relationship between customer and brand evolves along the

time, and what can be done to captivate more and more customers. In many



ways, this study can serve as a base for further questioning on the impact of

visual merchandising in consumer buying behaviour in other industries, being

useful as a point of comparison and further investigation.

5.6 SUMMARY

This chapter has considered the main findings obtained from the

analysis of primary and secondary data in terms of establishing the links

proposed by the research questions and objectives, assessing firmly each

problem that initially evoked the research itself. From the findings and

literature review was possible to draw a comparative approach between

research objectives and the final results of the study, generating a clear

picture of the impact of visual merchandising on consumer buying behaviour.

It was proved that the initial assumptions of this paper were right in pointing to

the investigation of this phenomenon, especially because the correlation

found was of really strong. Apart from that, this chapter was also a way of

clarifying future themes of study that could arise from the findings here

presented. Many are the issues involving visual merchandising and consumer behaviour and there is still plenty to be done.



CHAPTER SIX

REFLECTIVE LEARNING

6.1 INTRODUCTION

The objective of this last chapter is to assess the progress the

researcher made as a Master in Business Administration student, especially

regarding the confection and development of this paper throughout the final

semester of the course and the effects of this development in present and future expectations, personally and professionally.

6.2 REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

The confection and development of this study certainly contributed

towards my development as student, professional and person. As a new

entrant to the academic research world, as I’ve never been requested to

deliver such work in my degree in law, this paper gave me a clear picture on

all methods and methodologies that surround this kind of work, especially in

terms of logically developing the title, research objectives and questions, followed by the review of current literature and analysis of findings.

As an international student I believe there is also a plus regarding the

development of this paper, which is elaborating a piece of research in English.

One of the major obstacles in this case was adapting myself to the academic

and business terms involved, creating a specific vocabulary that will certainly

contribute towards my future professional life. Being able to articulate and

transmit ideas in proper business English is something that very few people

are able to do, especially in Brazil, where English courses, in the majority, develop your communication skills only in basic areas of the language.



In terms of logically organising a research process, the gains were

enormous as I was the only responsible for managing time and resources,

giving me a good view on how to work on budget and following short

deadlines. Additionally, my understanding of the various academic themes

absorbed by this research project was certainly taken to another level,

considering that the fields of study here presented were deeply researched,

widening my perceptions on key factors like merchandising and consumer

behaviour, especially bearing in mind my background in law, area in which

these themes are not included in the course curriculum. I believe that

business concepts, allied with my knowledge of law will blend in an interesting multi-faced approach to business management and regulations.

In terms of business and professional life, this paper gave me the

invaluable opportunity of writing and researching about something I’m part of.

Working for Mr. Pretzels only increased my interest for this kind of business

and thankfully my efforts to grow as a professional within the company are

flourishing, tending to achieve a better perspective after the completion of this

study. As far as I’m concerned, nothing like this was ever done to this

company in the UK, and being able to assess customers’ impressions on the

brand and its merchandising strategies certainly put me in a position where I

will be able to address problems related to these areas, especially in terms of

comprehending what are the needs of the English consumer and developing strategies towards the expansion and growth of the company in this country.

In summary, many were the obstacles that appeared during the

elaboration of this research project. Overcoming these difficulties only brought

me more confidence, comprehension, and knowledge, and that is the most

important part of it all. I can now consider myself a prepared professional,

ready to take any responsibilities in, what is for me, a new but, nonetheless promising stage of my life working in business.



6.3 SUMMARY

This chapter brought to light what was the essence of this work for the

researcher: the learning process and its link to career perspectives. The skills

acquired while developing a research project for the first time are of great

importance and will guide the researcher in his future steps towards a

professional life focused on business.



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APPENDIX A

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What are your impressions of Mr. Pretzels’ overall presentation?

2. Why did you choose Mr. Pretzels rather than other snack shop?

3. Did product presentation make any difference in your purchase decision?

Why?

4. Do you feel Mr. Pretzels’ products are of better quality in comparison to the

competition? Why?

5. Has the sample affected your purchase decision? How?



APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Age group:

18 – 25 26 – 34 35 – 44 45 – 60 61 or above

2. External presentation of Mr. Pretzels’ kiosk drew my attention.

Agree Tend to agree Not sure Tend to disagree Disagree

3. Staff presentation affects my purchase decision.


4. Product presentation affects my purchase decision.


5. The fact that the pretzels are freshly baked affects my purchase decision.


6. Being able to watch how the product is made enhanced my confidence in

its quality.




7. Free samples are an effective way of attracting customers.


8. Trying a sample will certainly bring me back to the kiosk to make a

purchase, sooner or later.


9. A friendly approach by the staff improves the image of the brand and

enhances product experience.


10. Product quality and presentation are more important than its price.


investigating the impact of visual merchandising on consumer buying behaviour

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