An exploratory study of grocery shopping stressors

Many factors affect the store patronage decision, e.g. location, service levels, pricing policies, merchandise assortment, store environment and store image, but very little research has considered stress as a determinant. This is despite the increase in dual income families and longer working hours which are making general shopping a more stressful activity for many families because of time pressure and lack of response by retailers. This exploratory research confirms grocery shopping to be stressful, but time pressure was mentioned as only one factor causing shopping stress; other factors included: crowd density, staff attitude and training, store layout/relocation, impulse purchasing pressure, location, product assortment, music, and lighting. The article concludes by proposing a shopping stress curve for future examination.