Reference no: EM133633613

Assignment:

Grocery Store Observation

Identify a person, at the grocery shopping location, who will become the focus of this research study. The essence of observation is best captured through disguised methods; inevitably, when we know that we are being watched, it creates changes in our behavior. You will be the "researcher" and the person chosen at the field site will be the "participant."

For this assignment, the "field site" is any grocery store or supermarket. You should find a participant who has the primary purpose of shopping, not just a brief trip (consider likely indicators of this intention).

Investigate two dimensions of supermarket behavior, cognition (i.e., psychological processes) and social organization, as well as providing recommendations for managerial insight and reflections. To answer these questions, you need to observe the person of your choice shopping in a grocery store. From your observation you should:

A. Cognition

• What sort of classification scheme is represented in the way items are arranged in a supermarket?

• On what basis does the shopper make selections of what to buy?

• How does the shopper use his/her knowledge of the particular supermarket (or supermarkets in general) in the form of a "cognitive map" to organize his/her shopping, so as to obtain whatever he/she came to buy?

• Any additional observations and inferences which are pertinent to this portion of the study(and its premise).

B. Social Organization

• Who goes to a supermarket?

• What are the social rules for getting a cart, traversing aisles, selecting items, ordering special cuts of meat at the meat counter or deli (etc.)..., and checking out?

• What are the general social rules that govern behavior or shopper demeanor and interactions?

• What happens if the rules are violated?

• Any additional observations and inferences which are pertinent to this portion of the study (and its premise).

C. Recommendations & Reflections on Conducting Observations

• What changes in atmospherics (light, color, smell, temperature, etc.), design, strategy, etc. could be implemented to improve outcomes for both the consumer and the firm?

• What problems and/or opportunities were observed in the retail environment?

• What are key consumer issues/challenges/opportunities learned from the observation?

• How would you advise your consumer/other consumers regarding the observed behaviors?

• What was difficult and/or easy about this activity?

• What did you learn about conducting observations?

The finished product will include:

1. A map of the grocery store, showing the places from which you made your various observations;

2. Your raw notes (the notes you wrote while in the grocery store);

3. Your cooked notes (the notes you typed up, filling in the holes);

4. Your answers to the questions about cognition and social organization (above) - expressed as much as possible through your data (be specific about how the dataanswers the questions and quote directly from your cooked notes, when appropriate),and;

5. Your reflections on the process of doing the assignment, your problems (andsolutions) for investigating the questions, and what you learned by conducting and writing about the observation.