Marketing 19: Whole Foods Consumer Behavior and Market Research Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior, focusing on Whole Foods as a case study. It explores the purchase decision-making process, buyer behavior theories (including generic, cultural, environmental, and internal theories, as well as the stimulus-response model), and the impact of various factors (psychological, socio-psychological, sociological, economic, cultural, and lifestyle factors) on consumer choices. The report also delves into market research objectives, techniques (quantitative and qualitative), and the use of primary and secondary data. A significant portion is dedicated to a customer satisfaction survey, its objectives, and the evaluation of its success. Furthermore, the report includes an examination of market size trends, key competitors, and a SWOT analysis to provide a holistic understanding of Whole Foods' market position and consumer behavior dynamics. Finally, the report concludes with an assessment of the range of techniques used and the overall success of the customer satisfaction survey.

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Running Head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer Behavior

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
Purchase Decision Making Process..........................................................................................................3
Buyer Behavior Theory............................................................................................................................4
Impact of Factors.....................................................................................................................................5
Definition of Terms..................................................................................................................................6
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................7
Market Research Objectives....................................................................................................................7
Market Research Techniques..................................................................................................................9
Secondary Data......................................................................................................................................10
Validity and Reliability...........................................................................................................................10
Market Research Plan............................................................................................................................10
Task 3........................................................................................................................................................10
Market Size Trends................................................................................................................................10
Key Competitors....................................................................................................................................12
SWOT Analysis.......................................................................................................................................13
Task 4........................................................................................................................................................14
Range of Techniques.............................................................................................................................14
Customer Satisfaction Survey................................................................................................................14
Review of Survey Success......................................................................................................................17
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................18
References.................................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction
For this paper, Whole Foods has been chosen as the case study organization to discuss
about purchase decisions, buyer behavior, market research, techniques, secondary data role and
customer survey. Whole Foods is the American supermarket that sells the goods without any
artificial preservatives (Whole Foods).
Task 1
Purchase Decision Making Process
There are five steps through which a customer goes to form purchasing decisions. The
first step is problem recognition in which the need to purchase a product is created. For example,
people in USA buy the grocery items from Whole Foods due to its commitment to sell food
without any artificial preservatives (Han, 2012). Hence, the need to eat and consume only
healthy food has generated or motivated the customers to think about Whole Foods (Sokolowski,
2013). The second step is information search in which data related to the product needed is
searched by using different means like internet, social contacts, newspaper, television, radio,
magazines etc. For example, data about Whole Foods is easily available over the internet, can be
discussed with social contacts, newspaper and magazines also have advertisements of Whole
Food products like organic one also that are nowadays have become the trend due to changing
lifestyle of consumers. This type of information search is known as selective search (Krafft &
Mantrala, 2009).
The third step is evaluation of alternatives in which the available options in terms of
different brands or range of products are analyzed as per the requirements and needs. In this step,
consumers of Whole Food evaluate the available options like other retailers including Wal-Mart,

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Costco, Traders Joe etc. The fourth step is product choice, in which product is chosen based on
associated benefits. For example, after analyzing the available options, customers choose Whole
Food due to its wide variety of natural food products that are also available in organic form.
Buyer Behavior Theory
There are various buyer behavior theories like generic, cultural, environmental and
internal theory. Each theory explains the rationale behind the specific buyer behavior theory.
These can be discussed as below:
Generic Theory: In this theory, customers follow a generic model of decision making to
buy products or services. For example, in case of purchasing grocery, the generic model is used
by the customers.
Cultural Theory: As per this theory, culture is a set of values and beliefs that has a great
influence over the buying patterns of the people (Penn, 2017). For example, in America, people
prefer to buy grocery items from varieties of supermarkets instead of relying only on a single
store. Hence, this factor has also generated competition and challenges for Whole Foods due to
which it invested in natural and organic food range to attract the customers.
Environmental: According to this theory of buyer behavior, buyers show different buying
patterns depending upon the situation. For example, if there is enough time, prices are compared
at convenient stores, but if there is hurry, any bottle that come first is picked up by the customers
(East, Singh, Wright & Vanhuele, 2016).
Internal Theory: As per this theory, people buy as per their lifestyle and living standards.
Family also exerts a great influence over the customer purchasing decisions. For example, if
there is pattern of eating natural and organic food, the people will buy it from stores like Whole
Foods.

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Stimulus Response Model: According to this model, marketing (product, price, place and
promotion) along with other stimuli (economic, social, cultural and technological) enter into the
black box of customers to develop some response (Cant, Strydom & Jooste, 2009). For example,
customers prefer Whole Food products as they are promoted by marketing and social impact of
consuming natural and organic food have also acted as stimuli for the customers due to which
they buy grocery items from Whole Foods (Bonoma & Zaltman, 2011).
Figure 1.1: Stimulus Response Model (Buyer behaviour: stimulus-response model, 2015)
Impact of Factors
There are different factors that influence the buyer behavior or motives. These are as
below:
Psychological factors: Psychological factors like attitude, motivation, beliefs, perception
etc that influence the buying behavior of the customers. For example, customers buy the organic
products of Whole Food, as they feel that their basic needs for healthy precuts are effectively
fulfilled by the retailer as compared to other firms (Klöckner, January 5, 2012).
Socio-psychological factors: Socio-psychological factors like actual, thought and
imagined factors also affect the buying decisions of the customers (Matic, 2013). For example, if
consumers are buying the natural and organic foods from Whole Foods, it is based on or
stimulated by their though of getting the benefits of these products.

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Sociological factors: Sociological factors like social groups, social norms etc also shape
the buying decisions of consumers (Shoham & Dalakas, 2003). For example, due to positive
word of mouth by the social groups, people prefer to buy the grocery items from Whole Foods.
Economic factors: Economic factors like GDP, interest and inflation rate also affects the
buying decisions. For example, if there is recession in the economy of the country, it will also
drop the purchasing of the customers. However, basic products like grocery items can’t be
compromised even during market fluctuations, but the sale of expensive grocery items like
organic one may drop due to tightening of the budget.
Cultural factors: Cultural factors also influence customer behavior. For example, culture
of eating healthy foods, natural food etc also motivates the customers to buy the products of
Whole Foods.
Lifestyle and life-cycle factors: Lifestyle and life cycle factors like eating habits; living
standards etc also influence the buying decisions of the customers. For example, due to
increasing obesity in America, people have started reducing their calorie intake and eating only
organic food to ensure healthy eating (Samli, 2012).
Customer and prospect profiling: Customer also influences the buying behavior like
friends, family and peers. In addition, data about the consumers if available to the sales
personnel, it also results into the buying patterns by maximizing the sales of the goods.
Definition of Terms
There are several terms like brand loyalty, company brand image and repeat purchase.
All these terms have interrelationship with each other (Simmons, 2008). Brand loyalty can be
defined as the loyalty towards a particular brand or product. In addition, company image is the
reputation build in the mind of the public. In other words, due to this brand image, customers

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develop loyalty towards the brand of the company. Furthermore, due to brand loyalty, repeat
purchase occurs. For example, in case of Whole Foods, the company has a brand image of cheap,
convenient and quality products for the customers. Due to this brand image, customers have also
developed a brand loyalty towards the food products like natural and organic offered by Whole
Foods. This brand loyalty for Whole Food results into frequent visits by the customers at the
stores of Whole Foods and 365. These frequent visits result into repeat purchase that is the
reason of huge success and growth of Whole Foods in the American Market despite slow
economic conditions of the country in the past also.
Task 2
Market Research Objectives
Market research plays an important role in understanding about the buyer behavior. By
using the data or information gathered from the market research, it is possible to formulate
customized product offerings for the target market (Kotler & Armstrong, 2013). There are
various market research companies that have their own benefits and limitations. For example,
these companies provide accurate and updated information about the target market. However,
their services are costly and sometimes there are also issues of reliability and validity. Hence,
these kinds of issues should be considered while approaching any market research company. To
address these issues, only well known and reliable companies like Euro monitor, Forbes.com,
Mintel, Market Research etc should be approached.
As per the market research and trends, it is observed that the company introduced 365 a
new store in the direction of avoiding losing its customers to rival firms. The concept of 365 will
be based on the process of cannibalization, where preference will be given to prepared foods
over packaged food and digital price chips will be there. With the help of this new store, the

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company will be able to avoid losing its customers to rival firms. 365 will use customers of
Whole Foods, but it is also positive for the net sales of the business. However, there are several
challenges faced by Whole Foods, as its net sale dropped in 2016. So, there is a need to conduct
a market research and device a market research plan to identify the reasons and suggest some
strategies to Whole Foods. For Whole Foods, below will be the market research objectives:
 To assess the market trends of natural and organic food
 To evaluate the customer reaction
 To suggest options to boost sales in coming years
To achieve these objectives, it is important to select several sources of data collection.
These are as follow:
Primary Sources: These are first hand information that is collected by using different
sources like questionnaire, survey, observation, focus group, telephonic, face to face interview
etc.
Secondary Sources: Secondary sources are second hand information that is already
collected or present over a similar topic or concept. Under this, scholarly articles, reports, case
studies, books, journal articles, company website, magazines etc are used to gather information
for the research (Collins, 2010).
For this research, use of both primary and secondary data will be done to collect
information for Whole Foods. Under the primary market research, a customer survey will be
conducted. This survey will consist of 10 questions that are closed ended (Gbadamosi, 2016). It
will help to assess the reactions and perception of the consumers about new stores and its
products.

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Data: Customer and competitor data play a major role in any kind of market research, as
it provides the basis of formulating the business strategies like marketing one. However, while
using the competitor or customer data, ethical standards should be followed or considered. For
example, there are chances that sometimes companies use data of customers or competitors for
their own benefit at the expense of their privacy or confidentiality. These kinds of practices are
against the ethical norms or theories like Utilitarian, which states that actions should produce
maximum good for the society. Hence, these aspects should be considered while approaching or
using the competitor or customer data (Hackley, 2003). Like, personnel of Whole Foods should
use their customer data to avoid losing customers to competitors but in a fair manner.
Market Research Techniques
There are different types of market research techniques that can be used to conduct
market research. These are as follow:
Quantitative: In this technique, use of quantitative methods like graphs, charts, statistical
measures etc is done to collect the information.
Qualitative: In this market research technique, use of qualitative methods like survey,
questionnaire, interviews, observation etc are used. These methods apply qualitative measures or
aspects to gather information for the market research to achieve the marketing research
objectives for the organization (Goddard & Melville, 2004).
To achieve the marketing research objectives of market plan, qualitative methods like
survey, questionnaire and secondary data will be used for Whole Foods. Under this technique,
survey method will be used to gather information about the market for Whole Foods to
recommend it strategies or actions for improving its sales in coming year.

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Secondary Data
For the market research, use of secondary data will be also done. For this, books,
scholarly articles, journal articles, peer reviewed, magazines, case studies, reports etc will be
used to gather data to address the research issue chosen for Whole Foods (Thompson & Martin,
2010).
Validity and Reliability
In a market research, to maintain the validity and reliability is not an easy task. To ensure
these two aspects, it is essential to select the sample size wisely. In addition, the hiring of the
respondents should be done by keeping in mind their relevance to the market research. For this
research, total 100 customers will be chosen as the sample size. This sample size will be chosen
by using the random sampling (Szmigin & Piacentini, 2014). Furthermore, hiring will be done by
considering their suitability and reliability with the research objectives. In other words, these
customers should be the regular visitors of Whole Foods. Only these kinds of customers can
offer proper insight for developing valid results to address the current issues faced by Whole
Foods. There are chances of interviewer bias.
Market Research Plan
To address the above stated market research goal, it is important to have some plan in
hand. For the market research plan, objectives are chosen based on SMART pattern. In addition,
both primary and secondary data will be used to gather relevant information.
Task 3
Market Size Trends
The market size is large for Whole Foods and trend is changing due to changed
demographics and psychographic factors. These can be discussed as below:

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Healthier eating: In America, people are moving towards adapting healthier eating to
maintain their wellness and health. For example, Wellness tonics are in trend this year that
should be considered by Whole Foods (Whole Foods Market serves up top 10 trends for 2017,
2017). In addition, products from byproducts are also in higher demand due to their innovative
features for the customers. Coconut is used in everything whether it is the replacement of refined
sweetened or beauty products. The rising use of coconut also reflects its demand among the
consumers.
On the go beauty: In 2017, the trend of natural beauty products that are simple in
application and multitasking is on the rise. So, this trend will also affect the buying patterns of
Americans. Whole Foods should increase their natural beauty product range to attract and retain
the customers. These products should be made available at both 365 and its parent stores. For
example, mineral fusion, multi-stick, organic coconut oil etc is several natural beauty products
that are higher demand in the market (Pofeldt, 2016).
Figure 1.2: Organic Foods (Menayang, 2016).
Mindful meal: According to the market research, there is trend of preparing some mindful
meals. These meals are aimed to save time, reduce cost and waste and be healthy. In other words,
consumers are adopting some healthy recipes instead of frozen products. In this direction, firms
like Whole Food has introduced freshly made video series that highlights recipes and ingredients

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that shoppers prefer to buy to maintain their healthy lifestyle (Whole Foods Market serves up top
10 trends for 2017, 2017). So, Whole Foods should also introduce innovative recipe range over
its website to attract the customers and its sales, as customers if watch the video, they will also
tend to buy the ingredients needed to prepare the meals. So, the marketing personnel of Whole
Foods should keep this factor in mind that they have all the ingredients that they market over its
website though the videos of healthy recipes.
Purple Products: Trend of purple products is also increasing among the customers in
countries like America. For example, use of purple cauliflower, black rice, purple asparagus,
purple corn, purple sweet potatoes etc are on the rise (Hoyer, MacInnis & Pieters, 2016). The
reasons of this trend are the power or capacity of purple food in terms of its nutritional and
antioxidants properties that are rich in purple food. So, Whole Foods should also consider this
trend and increase the number or quantity of purple food products to attract the customers
towards its stores whether it is 365 or Whole Foods. It will help to gain momentum in terms of
its net sale in the year 2017 that will also fill the gap of 2016.
On the basis of above market trends, it is clearly visible that future demand for natural
and organic food products is likely to rise. So, this trend should be well articulated in the
marketing mix strategies of Whole Foods and its 365 store to attract the attention of customers.
Key Competitors
There are various supermarket chains operating in America that pose challenges to the
market share of Whole Foods, but out of these few are the key competitors. These are Costco,
Trade Joe and Sprout Farmer Market. These competitors also sell organic and natural food
precuts to pose challenges to the market share of Whole Food in USA (Whole Foods). Hence, the