Abstract:
The paper reports on an empirical study of purchase decision making in grocery
markets. Against the central research question, “Does decision making become more
extensive with more involving product purchases?“, measurements of attitudebehaviour
consistency were made in three product fields which are known to engender
significantly different levels of consumer involvement. The Extended Fishbein Model
was used as the metaphor for decision making and models were estimated for each
product field using LISREL VII to determine the fit between product and normative
beliefs, behavioural intention and actual purchasing behaviours.
The results for our analysis are consistent with prior theory and support the hypothesis
that the efficacy of the model in grocery markets increases as purchase involvement
increases. The practical implications for marketing management competing in each
market are discussed and the limitations of our research design are highlighted.
