Identifying the Correlation Between the Gender and Knowledge of the South African Consumer in the Selection of Grocery Products

The knowledge that consumers have of products and services as well as other factors serves as an indicator as to which product or store to “pickâ€. The products and store location add to the ease with which consumers are able to cherry pick. This article has its focal point the South African customer and the motives for cherry picking and to establish if there is a relationship between price knowledge, consumer knowledge and gender. To some extent, it was expected that females would be more knowledgeable about prices of grocery products and this was indeed the case. These same consumers are also well informed about promotions on grocery products. The research concludes that gender has an influence on the knowledge that the South African consumers have on product prices, the types of stores and product assortment. The results also show that the South African consumers are able to confidently cherry pick over more than one day due to their increased knowledge of prices offered on different products at different stores. This wider level of knowledge results in them being able to participate in cherry picking more readily than a consumer who has more limited price knowledge. The research findings also clearly indicate that there is a significant relationship between price knowledge, consumer knowledge and gender.

 

Keywords - Customer behaviour, product knowledge, loyalty, cherry picking, product price knowledge; and gender