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This paper aims to explore buying decision factors and approaches of companies operating in manufacturing industry in Croatia.

The data collected by company survey were analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, cluster analysis and cross-tabulation analysis.

Results show that manufacturers are influenced by six distinctive factors when making purchasing decisions. These are supplier’s flexibility, supplier’s reliability, interdepartmental communication, top management support, routine purchases and buyer’s price sensitivity. Manufacturers can be classified in four different groups according to their buying decision-making patterns.

This paper provides a set of factors and approaches which might help selling companies and sales representatives understand the purchasing practices of buying company better, and develop adaptive selling approaches accordingly.

Based on a literature review and field research, an instrument of organizational buying behaviour was developed and tested in the Croatian manufacturing industry. The factors of organizational buying behaviour patterns were identified, and the typology of buying decision approaches applicable for manufacturing industry was developed.

Based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this study examines how safety measures, related assistance and tangible benefits affect consumers' emotional and cognitive states, leading to behavioural responses in an uncertain store environment.

The proposed model was tested with the survey data collected from grocery shoppers in Japan and Croatia (n = 314 in each country) and analysed using structural equation modelling.

Safety measures and related assistance decreased perceived threat in Croatia, enhanced arousal in both countries and caused fear in Japan. Tangible benefits reduced fear in Japan and increased arousal in Croatia. In a crisis, perceived threats push unplanned buying and motivate consumers to protect themselves. Arousal drives unplanned buying but diverts consumers from health-focussed behaviour. Loyalty can be gained if fear is controlled.

To retain consumers, retailers should secure a safe shopping environment that reduces fear and provides enough benefits to outweigh the threat.

Using the S-O-R framework, this study enriches the literature on consumer behaviour in a pandemic by contributing new insights into (1) the impact of safety measures and tangible benefits as stimuli, (2) the organismic response through affective and cognitive states, (3) health-focussed behaviour as a novel outcome and (4) comparing the effects in the two countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge, awareness and concern of young consumers towards avoidable and “edible” food waste, and identify groups of individuals based on their attitudes. In addition, this study describes demographic and behavioural characteristics of each group.

The data were collected by a questionnaire conducted among university students in Croatia. Factor and cluster analyses were applied to identify the groups of individuals with similar attitudes towards food waste.

Results show that there are five factors that represent the knowledge, awareness and concern about food waste of young people – awareness of food waste problem; concern about economic aspects of food waste; health concern; concern about environmental impact of food waste; and awareness and concern about expiration date. Based on those factors, four groups of consumers were identified: consumers concerned about economic effects of food waste; unaware consumers neglecting food waste; well-informed consumers; and fully aware consumers, but not ready to take health risk.

The results of the study can be used by marketers and policy makers when planning food waste reduction activities to focus their campaigns towards consumer niches, based on the typology of young consumers.

This study provides a typology of university students based on their knowledge, awareness and concern about food waste in Croatia, as an example of a transition and new EU member state, where the issues about food waste are relatively new and underexplored topic.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual and societal determinants of online privacy concern (OPC) and behavioral intention of internet users. The study also aims to assess the degree of reciprocity between consumers’ perceived benefits of using the internet and their OPC in the context of their decision-making process in the online environment.

The study proposes comprehensive model for analysis of antecedents and consequences of OPC. Empirical analysis is performed using the PLS–SEM approach on a representative sample of 2,060 internet users.

The findings show that computer anxiety and perceived quality of regulatory framework are significant antecedents of OPC, while traditional values and inclinations toward security, family and social order; and social trust are not. Furthermore, the study reveals that perceived benefits of using the internet are the predominant factor explaining the intention to share personal information and adopt new technologies, while OPC dominates in explanation of protective behavior.

Although the authors tested an extended model, there might be other individual characteristics driving the level of OPC. This research covers just one country and further replications should be conducted to confirm findings in diverse socio-economic contexts. It is impossible to capture the real behavior with survey data, and experimental studies may be needed to verify the research model.

Managers should work toward maximizing perceived benefits of consumers’ online interaction with the company, while at the same time being transparent about the gathered data and their intended purpose. Considering the latter, companies should clearly communicate their compliance with the emerging new data protection regulation.

New extended model is developed and empirically tested, consolidating current different streams of research into one conceptual model.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of brand preference and type of shopping trip on the relationship between replacing a delisted national brand (NB) with a retailer’s private label (PL) brand (premium vs standard) and private label switching (PLS), that is switching from NB to PL.

Inside a major French retail chain store, an experiment with 1,392 NB buyers tested the impact of replacing NB with PL on PLS.

Results stress the positive contribution of PL replacements after NB delisting on buyers’ switching behaviour at different brand preference levels and shopping trip types. A main-choice NB for a major trip shopping benefits a PLS to premium PL. However, when a fill-in shopper looks for a secondary brand, competition between PL standard and NB may not be as weak as suggested in earlier studies.

The limitation of this study is that respondents reported their purchases instead of actually buying.

This study highlights that the retailers that delist some NB brands in the category should adopt a strategy either to develop premium or standard PLs, depending on consumers’ brand preference and shopping trip type.

Delisting is an opportunity to question the NB product competitiveness towards PL.

The study is based on actual delisting and replacement, combined with a large sample, unlike previous studies. Moreover, it bridges two important areas of research: conflict in marketing channels and PL introduction in retailers’ assortment decisions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate decision‐making styles of young consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It aims to test the applicability of Sproles and Kendall's Consumer Style Inventory (CSI). The paper also aims to segment young consumers based on their decision‐making styles (CDMS), profile consumer segments, and explore differences in gender and household income among segments.

Data were collected by means of a self‐administered survey. The sample consists of 600 young consumers from 18‐24 years of age, students from two large universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficients; K‐means cluster analysis, Chi‐square test, and two‐proportion z‐test.

Factor analysis identified 20 items and six CDMS factor solution. The results further indicate that young consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina might be classified in five segments according to their decision‐making styles. Young males were shown to be impartial, middle ground consumers, while females were more hedonistic‐oriented consumers. There were no significant differences in household income among segments.

The paper provides an empirical evidence of applicability of Sproles and Kendall's CSI instrument in the case of young consumers in developing transitional economy. The study shows that the CSI instrument might be used as a tool for segmenting and profiling young consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus it enriches CDMS literature.

The purpose of this chapter was to investigate consumer perceptions of retail agglomeration (RA) characteristics in Zagreb region. Perceived RA characteristics were compared between two major types of RA: Planned retail agglomerations (PRA) and Evolved retail agglomerations (ERA).

Data were collected with consumer survey and analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Findings indicate that four factors of RA characteristics can be identified: convenience, accessibility, atmosphere, and image. The shoppers’ ratings indicate the strength and weaknesses of RA, and also the dominant position of PRA as compared to evolved RA.

Results show that there were significant differences in shoppers’ perceptions between Planned and evolved RA in Zagreb region. Shoppers evaluated PRA better than ERA on all four factors. Convenience and atmosphere are the best-rated PRA characteristics. Managerial implications are discussed in the study.

This study aims to examine the impacts of demographic variables (gender, age, income, education) and food product involvement (FPI) on food-related consumer decision-making styles (CDMS).

Original Sproles and Kendall's CSI instrument (1986) was applied in the food-product context. Data were collected using consumer phone survey. Eight separate regression analyses were conducted to test hypotheses. In each model independent variables were socio-demographic variables and FPI, while dependent variables were eight food-related CDMS.

Regression analyses indicate that each of food-related CDMS are affected by different antecedent variables. Perfectionism, high-quality consciousness was affected by gender, age, income and FPI; Brand consciousness by age, income and FPI; Novelty consciousness by FPI; Recreational, hedonistic shopping consciousness by gender, age and FPI; Price consciousness by age, education and income; Impulsiveness by age, education and income; Confusion by overchoice by education and FPI, and Brand loyalty by education, income and FPI.

The study applies modified Sproles and Kendall's CSI instrument (1986) in the food product context. The present study also provides a more definitive conclusion about the relationships between demographics, FPI and food-related CDMS. The analysis determined how demographics and FPI affect food-related CDMS.

Despite having strategic inflection, retail set-ups in India have been continuously raising a challenge for suppliers of retail products aiming to all to target the right consumers in accordance with their ever-changing preferences. This adds a complexity to retailers offering services who seek valued information to devise a retail strategy by segmenting markets on the basis of consumer shopping orientations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and validate the consumer profile of out shoppers based on the shopping orientations.

The study has used descriptive research design. A total of 298 consumers from urban and rural areas of North Gujarat, India, were selected through quota-based sampling method and contacted personally to fill the self-rated structured questionnaire.

Collected data were edited and processed for first exploratory factor analysis to exactly know the factor structure of consumer perceived shopping orientation. Thereafter, cluster analysis was performed to identify consumer groups which were validated through multiple discriminant analysis. Three groups, namely, outshoppers, community-oriented in-shoppers and time-effective in-shoppers were cross-tabulated with consumers’ socio-demographics to extract the profile through chi-square analysis. Results were fairly consistent with the past studies.

The results of this study indicate consumers’ profiles based on shopping orientation to provide an input to retail services markets to devise strategy for targeting and positioning emphasising on outshoppers segment. Marketers do not consider them as an identical segment. Henceforth, more specific approach can be used for consumers who are frequently reflected through their psychographic portrait.

At macro level, study reveals some opportunities to retailers for penetrating into other segments of outshoppers. Furthermore, segmenting for retail services marketers has been ignored in past literature; the study addresses this gap by proposing bases in outshopping context for Indian businesses.