Who shops at Fred Meyer?

Who shops at Fred Meyer? Qualitative Research by: Becky Ellis and Cathy Holtcamp

Procedures and Methods • Our research question – Is there a dominant theme for the shoppers at a local Fred Meyer?

Procedures and Methods • Design – Emergent research design with time sampling data collection. • Observations were made in 1 hour increments at different times and different days.

Procedures and Methods • Cathy began to see a theme emerge and began taking notes as to the age of shopper and whether the shopper was alone or not. • Data was collected by observation only at various times – Thursday late morning, Saturday early evening, Sunday early afternoon and Monday early evening.

Procedures and Methods • Becky observed the shoppers from the vantage point of the in-store Deli.

Procedures and Methods • Cathy observed the shoppers from a bench across from the U-Scan check out

Procedures and Methods • Data was collected without pre-conceived ideas. No discussion was attempted prior to the data collection. • The data was well triangulated using 2 researchers at the same location but at different days and times. Observations were made at 4 different times and days.

Procedures and Methods • Trustworthiness: • Prolonged engagement – 4 hours • Persistent observation - several days • Well triangulated • Peer debriefing done after all data was collected • Data was shared, compiled and analyzed during the debriefing • Study was thin, but sufficient data was obtained

Analysis • We started with a rich description of the shoppers we observed until half way through we discovered a theme presenting itself. • Using emergent design we began to code our observations differently.

Analysis • Single verbs were used to describe the shoppers we saw: • Age • Under 20, 20-40, 40-60 and over 60 • Gender • Male, female • Status • Single, couple, or family

Analysis • Coding was done by consensus and the rich descriptions were changed to simple categories • There was active dialog as to where the shopper fit in the new scheme • Shoppers fit into one of 14 different categories • No inference was made about the thoughts, feelings, or actions of the shopper

Findings • The dominant theme that emerged was that shoppers are solitary figures that do not interact with others while shopping

Findings • Exemplar: Solitary female entered the store, bought a few items, knew how to work the machine, paid with cash using the correct amount of bills and change, exited the store without uttering a word.

Findings • Additional Themes: • 62% of shopping done by females • Thursday found 28% of shoppers fit the family category (one or more children with a parent) • Largest group of shoppers, 44% were females between the ages of 20-40 • 21.5% shopped alone and 22.5% shopped as a family

Findings • One over-arching concept emerged – Americans have gone from using the shopping experience as a social event to a solitary event.

Implications • Marketing tool • Health Promotion • – Used to target certain populations for sampling purposes (if the target population is solitary middle aged females you could find them at Fred Meyer on a Saturday afternoon)

Limitations • Observations were sporadic • Limited to 4 one-hour sessions • Data collection was superficial in nature

Conclusion • The research question was answered without doubt. • The dominant shopper at this local Fred Meyer is female, solitary, middle-aged.

Who shops at Fred Meyer?