A National Consumer Agency report on the influence of price on consumer behaviour.

1. National Consumer Agency
Market Research Findings:
Shopping and Pricing
March 2011
Research Conducted by

2. Table of Contents
2
 Key Points
 Section 1: Shopping and Pricing
 Section 2: Grocery Shopping
Making Complaints
 Research Background & Methodology
 Profile of Sample

3. Key Findings - I
3
• 17% of consumers find it difficult to compare prices. Areas cited
most difficult:
• Building related services, Pharmacies, Supermarkets.
• 57% of consumers say price is the main influencing factor in
determining where to shop.
•
Making Complaints
“Reasonable value for money” has changed notably from
consumers’ perspective since 2004 in the following areas;
Increases: - Pubs (19%), Supermarkets (15%), Hairdressers
(13%), Shops Selling Clothing (12%)
Decreases: - Telecom Providers (18%), Local newsagents
(15%), Holidays (13%), Dentists (12%), Banks (11%), Solicitors*
(12%) and Auctioneers* (14%)
*Note: Over 50% of respondents recorded a “Don’t Know” answer in relation to these sectors

4. Key Findings - II
4
• In relation to grocery shopping:
• 72% choose where to shop based on price
• 79% prefer long term lower prices instead of special offers and
regular promotions.
Making Complaints
• 73% of consumers are more likely to pick up special offers while
in their usual store than to visit a particular store based on
specials offers advertised.
• Overall Avg. Grocery Basket - Branded 65%, Own Brand 35%
•Branded - Beer (89%), Tea/Coffee (84%), Baby Products
(81%)
•Own Brand - Toilet Tissue/Kitchen Rolls (74%), Household
Cleaning Products (67%) and Milk (56%).

5. 5
SECTION 1:
Making Complaints
Shopping and Pricing

6. Shopping Around
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
6
Comparison of prices
Nov/Dec- Nov/Dec- Nov/Dec-
10 Jun-10 09 Jun-09 08
% % % % %
I always
compare/shop around
for better prices 24 26 25 32 29
71% 67%
I sometimes Making Complaints
74% 75% 75%
compare/shop around
for better prices
47 48 42
43 46
I very rarely
compare/shop around
for better prices 19 21 13
17 16
I never compare/shop
around for better
prices
10 9 12 9 12

7. Most Likely to Shop Around In ....
Within the Last 12 Months
(Base: All who compare/shop around for better prices – 707)
7 71%
Secondary
Primary Tertiary
% % %
Supermarkets 75 Restaurants, take-
always or hotels
37 Pharmacies 23
Shops selling Personal care e.g.
clothing/footwear 74 Hairdressers 35 Waste service` 22
beauticians
Petrol stations Making Complaints
57 Convenience
32
stores/newsagents
Travel agents 20
Entertainment outside
Insurance products &
services 52 Car dealers 30 the home e.g. Cinema, 20
concerts
Communication services
TV services
including home phone, 45 providers 30 Pubs 17
mobile, internet
Shops selling furniture Entertainment at
or household appliances 45 home e.g. DVDs 29 Bus & train transport 14
Airlines Building and related Education providers
42 services 28 13
Banking products Doctors, hospitals or
Energy suppliers 39 25 13
services other medicals

8. Difficulty Comparing Prices?
8
%
Building related services e.g. 12
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000) tradesmen
12
Pharmacies
%
Supermarkets 12
Financial institutions 9
9
Making Complaints
Doctors
Yes Insurance companies 8
17%
Utility companies 6
Telecommunications 6
Clothing 5
Pubs 5
# All others 4% or less

9. Frequency of Using Price Comparison Sites
9 72% (Base: All who use the internet – 724)
%
Yes, all the time 7 (8) Higher amongst
33% Rest of Leinster 43%
Yes, sometimes 45-54 year olds 40%
26 ABC1 F50+ 38%
(28)
Very rarely
Making Complaints
20
(16)
Higher amongst
No, never 55+ 61%
47 Not confident 61%
(48)
() = June 2010

10. Key Influencing Factors in Determining
Where to Shop
(Base: All Aged 15-74 – 1,000)
10
Strongest Influencing Factor
Nov/Dec ‘10 June ‘10 Nov/Dec ‘09 June ‘09 Nov/Dec ‘08
% % % % %
Price
57 Making Complaints
72
65 70
64
Convenience 19
17 22
13 13
Shopped there previously 12
7 10 8
Service 6 9
Other 3 5 6 5 2
Don’t know 3 1
2 2 2
2 1
2

11. Most Important Factors in Deciding where to Shop
for Goods/Services – I
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
11
Convenience Clothing or Furniture or
Supermarkets stores/newsagents footwear household
appliances
% % % %
Price/value for
money/special offers 20 26 25
29
Making Complaints
9 8
Convenience i.e. Location,
parking etc. 19 35 15
17
Range of products/services
17 21
13 23
Quality of products/services
16 11 9
Familiarity/past experience 10 8
7 9
7 3
Customer service
Advertising 7 8 1
3 6
Recommendation 2
2
1 1
2
1 4 5
Reputation/image

12. Most Important Factors in Deciding where to
Shop for Goods/Services – II
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
12
Pubs,
Doctors, restaurants,
hospitals or Pharmacies Personal care takeaways /
other medical hotels
% % % %
Familiarity/past experience 18 23 18
29
Making Complaints
21 12 19
Convenience i.e. Location,
parking etc. 15
13 14
Customer service 14
13 7
5 7
Recommendation from
family/friends 11 11 14 14
Quality of products/services 9 4 7 7
Reputation/image 9 14
Price/value for 16 14
money/special offers 8 12
Range of products/services 6 7 6
Advertising 1 1 1

13. Most Important Factors in Deciding where to Shop for
Goods/Services – III
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
13
Building and Energy Communications/ Banking
related suppliers TV services products and
services services
% % % %
Price/value for
money/special offers
17 12
24 22
Familiarity/past experience Making Complaints 8
17
18
14
Quality of products/services 16 11
15 7
16 4
Recommendation from 6 8
family/friends 14 6
Reputation/image 7 13 19
12
Customer service 15 10
10 5 10
Range of products/services
Convenience i.e. Location, 8 9 4
parking etc. 4 12 12
Advertising 5
2 3
2 2
Coverage 1

14. Reasonable Value for Money?
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
14
Primary Secondary Tertiary
% % %
Motor vehicles
Supermarkets (56) 71 Hotels (33) 38 (31% Don’t know) (19) 23
Clothing (50) 62 Telecom providers (53) 35 Banks (30) 19
Hairdressers (41) Making Complaints
54 34
Utilities (43) Dentists (29) 17
(66) Financial products
Local newsagents 51 Chemists (35) 34 (28% Don’t know) (32)16
Solicitors
Local shops (49) 47 Pubs (15) 34 (53% Don’t know) (18) 6
Trades people Auctioneers
Holidays (56) 43 (31% Don’t know) (39) 32 (59% Don’t know) (19) 5
Local convenience (22) 24
(44) 41 Insurance
stores
Restaurants (32) 40 Doctors (29) 24
( ) Figures refer to Consumer Rights National Survey Report 2004

15. Incidence of Checking Prices
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
15
Prices of Unit pricing of Special offers are
products products Receipts accurately recorded
on receipts
% % % %
16
All the time 32 31
38
51% 74% 71%
Making Complaints
84%
35
42 40
Sometimes 46 25
15
15
Very rarely 9 24
11 14
Never 7

16. 16
SECTION 2:
Making Complaints
Grocery Shopping

17. Overall Awareness of the Price of Everyday Goods
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
17
All responsible for the main grocery shop
– 495 (50%)
Nov/Dec Nov/Dec
Total
‘10 June ‘10 ‘09
% % % %
Very aware of the prices (5) 56%
13
(22) aware 20
of 74% 32 34
prices
Making Complaints
Fairly aware of the prices (4)
43
88% 89%
(49)
54
56 55
Don't really know the prices (3) 18
(13)
Somewhat unaware of the prices (2) 15 12
(9)
11 5 5
Not at all aware of the prices (1) 11 (7) 5 4
3 2 2
( ) = June 2010

18. Main Reasons for Choice of Supermarket for Main Grocery
Shop
(Base: All responsible for main grocery shop - 495)
18 50%
Wave 6 2010 Wave 5 2010 Wave 4 2009 Wave 3 2009 Wave 2 2008
% % % % %
Price 72 70 62 58 60
Convenience 49 55 43 49 47
Parking 22 Making Complaints 17
20 18 20
Late night opening 9 12 9 8 15
Quality of Product 12 12 10 11 13
Loyalty 10 10 10 8 6
Support local shops 8 6 6 6 6

19. Own Brand Versus Regular Brand
50% (Base: All main grocery shoppers – 495)
19
Nov/Dec 2010 June 2010 Nov/Dec 2009
% % %
Regular Own 36% Regular Own 38% Regular
Own 35%
Brand
65% Making Complaints
Brand Brand 64% Brand Brand 62% Brand
Regular Brand Higher
amongst:
- Males (70%).
- 55+ (69%).
- Those who are not aware of
the prices of everyday goods
(69%).

20. Own Brand Versus Regular Brand Preference – I
50%
(Base: All responsible for grocery shop who purchase each of the products - 495)
20
Beer Tea/Coffee Baby Breakfast Chocolate/
Products cereal sweets
Regular brand 89 84 81 80 73
Own brand 11 Making Complaints
16 19 20 27
Yoghurts Bread Fresh meat Frozen meat Soft drinks
Regular brand 73 72 72 71 70
Own brand 27 28 28 29 30

21. Own Brand Versus Regular Brand Preference – II
(Base: All responsible for grocery shop who purchase each of the products - 495)
50%
21
Butter/ Deli/Processed Toiletries Tinned/ Biscuits
spreads meat frozen food
Regular brand 68 68 66 63 57
Own brand 32 32 34 37 43
Making Complaints
Juice Milk Household Toilet tissue/
drinks cleaning products kitchen towel
Regular brand 55 44 33 26
Own brand 45 56 67 74

22. Change in Grocery Shopping Since the Start of the Year
(Base: All main grocery shoppers – 495)
50%
22
Nov/Dec ‘10
June 2010
Change in Grocery Shopping
%
% Cutting back on treats for you/family
55
53
Buying cheaper versions of products 42
(e.g. own brands rather than regular) 36
Taking more advantage of special 42
offers, using coupons, etc. 48
No
55% Making Complaints
45%
(45%) 33
(55%) Buy less 43
Yes
Spreading your grocery shopping over 30
different supermarkets and stores to get 35
the best value
Switched your main grocery shopping 8
from a different retailer to the one you 10
use now
Male (39%) 33% Started shopping up North (across the 6
Female (47%) 49% boarder) 9
Do without or cut back e.g. buy less 11
meat 14
() = June 2010

23. Preference for Price Cuts or Special Offers
(Base: All responsible for the grocery shop – 495)
23 50%
Nov/Dec June Nov/Dec
2010 2010 2009
% % %
Long term lower prices
Making Complaints
79 77 81
Regular promotions and 16
special offers 20 17
7
Don’t know 1 2

24. Special Offer Seekers?
50% (Base: All responsible for the grocery shop – 495)
24
%
Select a particular store to Females 26%
visit based on special 25 Males 19%
offers advertised 15-24’s 43%
Making Complaints
Male 78%
Visit your usual store and
Females 72%
pick up special offers while 73 55+ 86%
you are there
Don't buy special offers 2

25. 25
Research Background
and Methodology
Making Complaints

26. Research Background and Methodology
26
Nov/Dec 2007 Aug 2008 Nov/Dec 2008
Benchmark Wave 1 Wave 2
May/June 2009 Nov/Dec 2009 June 2010 Nov/Dec 2010
Making Complaints
Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6
Current Wave
 The research was conducted by means of face-to-face interviewing
with 1,000 people between the ages of 15-74.
 To ensure that the data is nationally representative, quotas were
applied on the basis of age, gender and social class.
 Interviewing was conducted over a four week period in
November/December 2010.

27. Profile of Sample – I
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
27
MAIN GROCERY
SEX AGE REGION SOCIAL CLASS SHOPPER
% % % %
15-24
17 Dublin
28
Male ABC1 48 50% 50%
49 25-34 F50+ Yes No
22
Making Complaints
Rest of
26
Leinster
35-44 19
45-54 16 Munster 28
Female 51 C2DE 52
F50-
55+ 26
Conn/ 18
Ulster

28. Profile of Sample – II – Main Grocery Shoppers
(Base: All Mainly Responsible for Grocery Shopping in Home – 495)
28 50%
SEX AGE REGION SOCIAL CLASS
% % % %
15-24
(17) 7
Male
(49) 22 Dublin 25
25-34 (28)
(22) 21 ABC1
F50+
(48)
50
Making Complaints
35-44
21
(19) 28 Rest of
Leinster
(26)
Female 78
45-54
(16)
19
(51) Munster
(28)
30
C2DE
F50-
(52)
50
55+ 32
(26) Conn/
Ulster 18
(18)
( ) = Total Sample

29. Profile of Sample – III – Internet Use
(Base: All aged 15-74 – 1,000)
29
USE INTERNET EVER PURCHASED BANKING
ONLINE ONLINE
(Base: All Internet Users - 724) (Base: All Internet Users - 724)
28%
No (28%) Yes No 30% 70% Yes No 52% 48% Yes
72% (32%) (68%) (56%) (44%)
(72%)
Making Complaints
% Yes % Yes % Yes
Male 70 Male 71 Male 51
Female 75 Female 67 Female 45
15-24 94 15-24 64 15-24 37
25-34 88 25-34 75 25-34 57
35-44 85 35-44 73 35-44 56
45-54 71 45-54 69 45-54 43
55+ 37 55+ 61 55+ 43
() = figures from June 2010