An investigation into the benefits and barriers of shopper marketing and the direct impact it has on the consumer buying decision process at point of purchase sales in the FMCG sector in generation X females

Abstract

The recent advent of shopper marketing has led to an increased need to understand the drivers of point of purchase sales in the FMCG sector. The author addresses this issue by examining how shopper marketing directly effects generation x females through identifying the emotional drivers and barriers in elements of the current shopping trip at the point of purchase. The research also aims to classify the different segments of generation x females to further understand their mind set when undertaking a shopping journey in an FMCG scenario. One of the most important advances in marketing thinking is the recognition that people, in their purchase decision-making, respond to more than simply the tangible product; shoppers respond to the total message conveyed by a FMCG retailer. While retailers are investing more heavily in shopper marketing it is still a significantly underutilised tool with elements being picked seemingly randomly, with functional and practical thinking being applied, instead of a holistic approach to the shopper marketing message. There is a structural common trace on the literature, recognising that generation x female shoppers are citizens with specific needs beyond consumption including emotional motivators, which should be effectively analysed and satisfied, adopting a complete shopper marketing approach. Though constantly developing new techniques, marketers and retailers are somewhat overlooking how generation x females react negatively to some of the shopper marketing efforts, viewing them as barriers to their end outcome of purchasing functional goods. The main contributions provided are the compilation of shopper marketing literature, the analysis and the identification of major issues in relation to the objectives, the research design and primary research and its analysis, the development of the hypothesis and directions for future research through recommendations. Author keywords: Shopper marketing, marketing, retail, in-store, generation X