THE IMPACT OF DISRUPTIONS ON ROUTINIZATION OF GOAL-DIRECTED GROCERY SHOPPING BEHAVIOR Adeline P. Ong Doctor of Philosophy A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Management Business Portfolio Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia December 2006 DECLARATION I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone. The work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award. The content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program.
Any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged. Ong Date ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my supervisor, university, friends, and family: Thank You for making a difference. Kosmas To Kos, for being an excellent supervisor, friend, and mentor. My Smyrnios absolute appreciation for your guidance and vivacity, and for enlightening me with the baffling world of statistics, structural equation modeling, and experiments.
I’ve come a long way owing to your education. Your confidence and patience are much valued. Thanks too for availing yourself on every occasion. I find your simple philosophy that students are priority truly inspiring.
With pleasure, I’ll still be terrorizing you during those much-needed coffee breaks. Harmen My sincere thanks to Harmen and David for your valued support Oppewal & Associate and guidance. Your expertise within the fields of consumer Prof. David Bednall behavior and experimental design has cultivated my passion for teaching and research further.
RMIT and RDU I am grateful for the scholarship, without which I would not have pursued my PhD unreservedly. Prue, thanks for responding to my countless emails and questions. You and the rest of the team at the Research Development Unit (RDU) have been especially supportive. Monash University & Sincere thanks to Monash University and the Monash Research MRGS Graduate School (MRGS) for laying the groundwork of my undergraduate, honors, and postgraduate experience.
I appreciate the financial and scholastic support you have provided. Mai Phan, Yan Huang, For the tears and joys we experienced together as office mates. & friends Thanks for sharing your life with me, coping with my sporadic moments, and making my doctoral experience an unforgettable one. Now who said PhD students were dull and boring? iii Sherman Ting My unreserved and humble gratitude to my dearest Sherman.
Thank you for being my pillar of support, never doubting but always believing in me. Your unconditional love, patience, and companionship kept me sane, especially during the most trying times. Thanks for your indispensable effort in reviewing my work as well. All those sleepless nights are appreciated greatly.
And let’s face it – what would you do without your routines? Lareina Ong Special thanks to my lovely sister. You have and will always be my role model. I am grateful for your time in editing my work, despite your heavy schedules. Your aptness and attention to detail are valued truly.
Family To mum, dad, sis, and Benny: My wholehearted thanks for your prayers and concerns. The chicken soup helped. Wittily, your investments have been worthwhile. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37, New International Version).
iv CONTENTS Page Declaration ……………………………………………………………………………………. v List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………… x List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………………. 5 Significance and Justification for this Research ……………………………. 5 Distinctions between Routines and other Related Concepts ………….
6 A Contribution to Current Understanding of Consumer Routines …. 7 The Role of Goals in Routinized Behaviors ……………………………. 8 A Model of Routinization …………………………………………………. 9 The Impact of Disruptions on Routines ………………………………….
10 Routines from a Grocery Shopping Perspective ………………………. 12 Overarching Research Objectives and Approach …………………………. 13 Outline of Thesis Chapters …………………………………………………. 14 Chapter 2 Conceptual Background …………………………………………………….
16 Empirical Research on Consumer Routines ………………………………. 16 Current Conceptualizations of Routines ………………………………. 19 Current Conceptualizations of other Repetitive Patterns ……………. 20 Routines versus Habits …………………………………………………….
20 Similarities and Distinctions between Routines and Habits. 21 Routines versus Rituals …………………………………………………… 22 Similarities and Distinctions between Routines and Rituals. 23 Routines versus Loyalty …………………………………………………. 23 Similarities and Distinctions between Routines and Loyalty.
23 Routines versus Addictions ………………………………………………. 23 Similarities and Distinctions between Routines and Addictions. 24 Summary of Key Differences ……………………………………………. 24 Towards A Working Definition and Hypothesized Framework of Routines.
26 Drivers of Routines: Goal-Centeredness ………………………………… 26 Script Theory …………………………………………………………… 26 Goals ……………………………………………………………………. 28 Structural Aspects of Routines: Situational Contexts …….…………… 34 Contextual Nature of Routines …………………………. 34 Effects of Situational Stability on Routines ………. 35 Structural Aspects of Routines: Anticipated Temporal Conditions ….
36 Time Allocation and Structuring ……………………. 36 Impact of Time Pressures on Routines ………. 37 Instrumental Aspects of Routines: Repetitive Value ………. 38 Variety-Seeking Behavior and Optimal Stimulation Level ……….
40 Sunk Costs and Switching Barriers …………………………………. 41 Familiarity and Expertise ……………………………………………. 43 Working Definition and Hypothesized Framework of Routines ………. 45 Anticipated Temporal Conditions ………………………………….
46 Impact of Disruptions on Consumer Routines ………………………. 46 Significance of Disruptions ………………………………………………. 46 Associations between Routines and Disruptions ………………………. 48 When Disruptions Affect Routines Minimally ………….………… 49 Investigating the Influence of Disruptions on Consumer Routines ….
50 Significance of Studying Routines in Grocery Shopping ……………. 54 Chapter 3 Study 1: Establishing Routinization ……………………. 56 Background and Research Objectives ……………………. 57 Participant Selection Process …………………….
57 Semi-Structured Interview Schedule ……………………. 61 Data Analytic Procedures ……………………. 64 Results and Discussion ……………………. 76 Summary of Main Issues Arising from Cases ……………………….
81 Effects of Risk-Taking Attitudes on Routinized Behaviors ……. 82 Further Factors Relating to Grocery Shopping Routines …………. 83 Conclusion of Case Analyses …………………………………………. 86 Focal and Peripheral Goals Drive Routines ……………………… 86 Multi-Leveled Characteristics of Goals and Behaviors ………….
88 Enactment of Goals for the Purpose of Value Achievement …… 90 Extension of List of values for Grocery Shopping ………………. 94 Definitional Ambiguity between Situational Contexts and Anticipated Temporal Conditions ………………………………… 94 Supporting Role of Situational Contexts in Routine Maintenance …………………………………………………………. 95 Associations between Situational Contexts and Goal- Centeredness ………………………………………………………… 98 Anticipated Temporal Conditions …………………………………. 100 vi Page Supporting Role of Anticipated Temporal Conditions in Routine Maintenance ……………………………………………….
100 Associations between Anticipated Temporal Conditions and Goal-Centeredness …………………………………………………. 103 Definitional Ambiguity between Repetitive Value and Goal- Centeredness ………………………………………………………… 103 Functional Role of Repetitive Value in Routine Maintenance …. 104 Associations between Repetitive Value and Other Model Components …………………………………………………………. 107 List of Common Repetitive Values ……………………………….
107 Further Factors Relating to Grocery Shopping Routines …………. 110 Conclusion of Template Analyses ……………………………………. 111 Fundamental Concepts of Routinization and Routine Perpetuation Following Disruptions ……………………………………. 113 Conceptual Model of Routinization ………………………………….
113 Conceptualization of Routine Perpetuation Following Disruptions 114 Situational Contexts ………………………………………………… 115 Anticipated Temporal Conditions ………………………………… 115 Repetitive Value ……………………………………………………. 115 Limitations of Study 1 ……………………. 116 Implications of Study 1 ………………. 118 Script Theory ………………………………………………………… 118 Goal-Related Theory ……………………………………………….
119 Concept of Routines ………………………………………………… 119 Means-End Chain Theory …………………………………………. 120 Developed Conceptual Model of Routinization …………………. 120 Clarification of Definitions and Relationships …………………… 121 Insights from New Methodological Contributions ……………… 121 Applied Contributions …………. 122 Goals and Personal Values ………………………………………… 122 Model of Routinization …………………………………………….
122 Effects of Routine Disruptions ……………………………………. 123 Typology of Repetitive Values ……………………………………. 123 Chapter 4 Study 2: Impact of Disruptions on Routines. 125 Background and Research Objectives …………………….
126 Participant Selection Process. 126 Socio-Economic Status. 126 Marital Status and Other Household Indicators. 128 Grocery Shopping Indicators.
130 Scale Development Process. 135 vii Page Anticipated Temporal Conditions. 135 Risk-Taking Attitudes. 136 Social Desirability Bias.
137 Structure of the Online Experiment. 139 Data Analytic Procedures. 143 Exploratory Factor Analyses. ……… 143 Structural Equation Modeling.
150 Exploratory Factor Analyses …. 151 Structural Equation Modeling …. 153 Assessment of One-Factor Congeneric Measurement Models ……. 155 Anticipated Temporal Conditions ……….
156 Risk-Taking Attitudes ………. 156 Personal Values: Self-Direction/Achievement …………………. 156 Personal Values: Enjoyment ………. 157 Personal Values: Maturity/Security ……….
157 Assessment of Multi-Factor Measurement Models ………. 157 Estimation of Hypothesized Structural Model ……………………. 158 Assessment of Construct Reliability, Variance Extracted, and Construct Validity ………. 158 Fitting the Hypothesized Structural Model ……………………… 162 Invariance Testing of the Hypothesized Model’s Factorial and Latent Mean Structures ….
164 Invariance of Factorial/Covariance Structures …………………. 164 Invariance of Latent Mean Structure ……………………. 171 Behavioral Differences between Low and High Risk Takers ……. 178 Testing for Common Method Bias: Social Desirability …………….
181 RQ1: What are the Key Components Supporting a Model of Routinization? ……………………………………………………………… 181 Overall Fit of the Structural Model of Routinization ………………. 181 Goal-Centeredness, Situational and Temporal Conditions, and Instrumentality of Repetition Support Routines ………………… 182 Goal-Centeredness Influences Situational, Temporal, and Instrumentality Aspects of Routines ……………………………… 183 Instrumentality of Repetition Reinforces Situational and Temporal Aspects of Routines ……………………………………. 184 Impact of Risk-Taking Attitudes on Goal-Centeredness ………. 186 Personal Values Relevant to Grocery Shopping Routines ……… 187 viii Page Nonsignificant Associations Related to the Structural Model of Routinization.
188 RQ2 and RQ3: Does the extent of disruption conditions and disruption levels impact differently on a model of routinization?. 190 RQ4: Given that behavior is goal-centered, what are the effects of no, minor, and major disruptions on routinized grocery shopping behavior? …………. 194 Summary of Main Issues. 196 Limitations of Study 2 …………………….
198 Implications of Study 2 ………………. 200 Goal Matching Theories ……………………………………………. 201 Decision Making Theory …………………………………………… 201 Research Contributions …………. 202 Methodological Considerations …………………………………… 202 Scale Development ………………………………………………….
203 Effects of Routine Disruptions ……………………………………. 204 Subconscious, Intentional Routines ………………………………. 206 Exploratory versus Goal-Directed Search ………………………. 206 Consumer Control over Disruptions …………………………….
207 Significance of Understanding Consumer Values ………………. 209 Unique Contributions in View of the Primary Research Problem and Questions ………………………………………………………………………. 209 Development of a Model of Consumer Routinization, including the Role of Goals. 210 The Impact of Disruptions on Goal-Directed Routines ……………….
211 Implications and Recommendations for Future Research ………………. 213 Do Routines Perpetuate following Disruptions Owing to Goals or the Changing Environment?. 213 What is the Impact of Routine Strength on Routine Maintenance Following Disruptions?. 214 Issues Concerning Goal Consciousness and Automaticity …………….
215 Does the Concept of Bounded Rationality Make Consumers Cognitive Misers or Decision Optimizers?. 215 Educating Healthy-Living Routines for Policy Implementation ……… 216 Influence of Mediating Variables on the Model of Routinization ……. 219 Appendix A Initial List of Items Considered for Pretesting …………. 271 Appendix B Online Experiment.
273 Appendix C P-Plots of Nine Measures Relating to Routinization …………………… 292 ix LIST OF FIGURES Page Summary Figure S.1 Conceptual Model of Routinization of Grocery Shopping Behavior ……………………………………………………. 2 Chapter 2 Conceptual Background Figure 2.1 Hierarchical Arrangement of Scripted Supermarket Behavior …….2 Hierarchical Goal Structure of Grocery Shopping .3 Goal Setting and Goal Pursuit in Consumer Behavior ….4 Hypothesized Model of Routinization of Grocery Shopping Behavior .5 Grocery Shopping Stressors .6 Continuum of Functions for Using Shopping Lists …….7 Research Design involving Studies 1 and 2 …………. 54 Chapter 3 Study 1: Establishing Routinization Figure 3.1 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for Participant Selection 58 Figure 3.3 Relationships between Focal and Peripheral Goals …….4 Marge’s Grocery Shopping Goals and Behaviors ……….5 Kelly’s Grocery Shopping Goal Structure ……….6 Supporting Role of Situational Context in Routine Maintenance .7 Supporting Role of Anticipated Temporal Conditions in Routine Maintenance .8 Facilitating Role of Repetitive Value in Routine Maintenance ….9 Conceptual Model in Routinization of Grocery Shopping Behavior. 113 Chapter 4 Study 2: Impact of Disruptions on Routines Figure 4.1 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for Participant Selection 126 Figure 4.2 Adopted Script for Grocery Shopping Event for Study 2 134 Figure 4.4 Webpage Description of Participants Grocery Shopping Trip …………………………………………………………… 141 Figure 4.5 Hypothesized Structural Model of Routinization Following Assessment of Measurement Models ……….6 Final Hypothesized Structural Model of Routinization … 163 Figure 4.7 Repeated Measures Path Diagram of Routinized Behavior between No-Minor Disruptions and Minor- Major Disruptions ………………………………………….