Gail Clendening
Bemidji State University
Forced to Shop Cheap?: Relationships between Opinions about Wal-Mart, Income Levels, and Shopping Behavior
The purpose of this study was to determine how closely opinions about Wal-Mart correlate to how often people of different income levels shop there. It was hypothesized that with increases in income, people are more likely to have shopping patterns that more closely reflect their opinions about Wal-Mart.
Methods
Subjects and Sampling
A purposeful cluster sample of 28 classes was chosen to represent a broad range of students. The majority of classes offered at Bemidji State University are located in six buildings. Beginning with the 3rd class on the list of spring courses, every 10th course was chosen until one course at each undergraduate level (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000) in each of the six buildings was selected. Prior permission of the professor was obtained. If a professor did not permit the survey to be administered in that class, the next listed same level class in the same building was selected as a replacement. There were four replacement classes.
A total of 389 students from Bemidji State University participated in the study. The results of 342 surveys were easily entered into the database; additional tabulation is necessary to complete the data set. All results in the following text are based upon the 342 surveys.
The average age of respondents was 21.71, the youngest respondent was 16, and the oldest was 63. Students reported forty-eight different majors. The declared majors were primarily from mass communications (32), biology (33), education (36), and
business (36).
All Bemidji State University administrative staff and faculty listed on the mailing list were given the opportunity to participate in the survey. The results of these surveys have not yet been entered into the database.
Procedure
Students were administered survey questionnaires in the classrooms. All participation was voluntary; the Human Subjects Committee at Bemidji State University approved data collection. Directions were given when handing out the surveys directing students to hand in a blank survey to indicate a choice to not participate. Four surveys were returned blank.
All administrative staff on the mailing list were mailed the survey with a cover letter stating the intent of the survey and directions for returning it.
All faculty on the mailing list were mailed the survey with a cover letter stating the intent of the survey and directions for returning it. All participation was voluntary; the faculty senate was notified as to the intent of the survey. A reminder e-mail, with directions on how to obtain a second copy of the survey, was sent out two weeks after the initial mailing.
Limitations
There were limitations to this study. It was only administered at Bemidji State University. Students who did not show up for class the day the survey was handed out missed the opportunity to participate. There is a possibility not all of the administrative staff and faculty were listed on the mailing list used. Those not on the list had less opportunity to fill out the survey. Honesty of the people filling out the survey could not be controlled.
Results
The administrative staff and faculty surveys have not been entered into the database yet; therefore, comparisons in different income levels are not yet available. The following results are all from the easily entered student surveys.
Twenty five point one percent of the students reported doing 76-100% of their shopping at Wal-Mart. 30.4% reported 51-75%; 12.6% reported 26-50%; 26.0% reported 1-25%; 5.8% reported that none of their shopping was done at Wal-Mart.
Of the people who reported doing 50% or more of their shopping at Wal-Mart, 42.9% said price was the most important factor; 41.4% said convenience was most important. 39.3% said convenience was the second most important factor; 33.0% said price was the second most important factor.
Of those who do less than 50% of their shopping at Wal-Mart, 23.7% reported “poor service, unpleasant atmosphere, etc.” as the most important reason; 18.4% reported “other”; and 14.0% reported “I disapprove of one or more of their practices.”
There were five questions asking people to rate their knowledge about Wal-Mart’s practices as mostly positive, mostly negative, or neutral. The topics were 1) employee wages, benefits and working conditions at Wal-Mart; 2) hiring and promotion practices at Wal-Mart; 3) labor conditions of Wal-Mart domestic and overseas suppliers and sub-contractors; 4) environmental awareness and practices; 5) charitable giving and community support.
Eight people answered mostly positive to all five of these questions. To the question “Where did you get most of your knowledge about Wal-Mart”, two responded they work(ed) there, one work(ed) for a competitor, one said from observation, one person’s mom worked there for 20 years, two said from television, and one said from friends. To the question “What is your overall attitude toward Wal-Mart,” one person said somewhat negative, the other seven said mostly positive. All eight reported that their knowledge of Wal-Mart does not affect their shopping habits.
Twenty-two people answered mostly negative to all five questions regarding knowledge about Wal-Mart’s practices. Sixteen of them rated their number one knowledge source: nine from friends, one from observation, two from television, two from radio, one from books and one from news. The other six did not rate in order of importance, but said their sources of information were television, friends, college classes, newspapers, and alternative Internet sites. Sixteen report their attitude toward Wal-Mart as mostly negative. Six report their attitude as somewhat negative. Seventeen of these people say their knowledge affects their shopping habits; five people said their knowledge does not affect their shopping habits.
How much do students believe the average amount they spend each time they visit Wal-Mart? Ten point five percent said $10 or less; 31.9% said $11-20; 27.2% said $21-30; 9.6% said $31-40; 14.3 % said $41 or more; and 6.4% said they don’t shop at Wal-Mart. Ttwenty-two people reported doing no shopping at Wal-Mart on this question as opposed to twenty reporting no shopping at Wal-Mart in the first question.
One hundred twenty-six respondents (36.8%) said they go to Wal-Mart once a week or more. One hundred eighteen (34.5%) go 2-3 times per month. Thirty-eight people (11.1%) go once per month. The remaining sixty people (17.5%) go less than once per month.
One hundred forty-one students (41.2%) reported an annual personal income of less than $5,000; 112 or 32.7% reported making $5,000-$9,999; 46 or 13.5% reported making $10,000 to 14,999. Twelve point six percent said their income was higher than $15,000 or did not respond.
Forty-one point two percent said they spend $25 or less on items such as food, clothing, hardware, electronics, toiletries and drugs, etc., but not eating in restaurants. Thirty-two point seven percent (141 people) responded $26-50; 13.5% (112 people) said $51-75; 9.1% (46 people ) said $76-100; 1.5% (five people) said $101-150; 1.5% (five people) said $151-200; and .6% (two people) did not answer.
Graph 1 shows how closely student attitudes and percentage of shopping done at Wal-Mart correlate. This relationship (where r equals approximately .56) can be classified as a medium relationship. It is expected the faculty will have a higher value for r, therefore showing a stronger relationship. This is only a correlation. One cannot deduce a causal relationship from this kind of study, only that the two variables are occurring at the same time.
Discussion
The results are interesting. It was expected that even less of a correlation between students’ attitudes and shopping patterns would exist. It will be interesting to see the results of both the administrative staff and the faculty. It is believed the faculty will show the strongest correlation and the administrative staff the smallest correlation. This is based on the life cycle model from macroeconomics. This theory state people spend an annuity of what they expect to earn in their lifetimes. The administrative staffs most likely feel their income level is about where it will be for their lifetime. Students, while they do not earn much now, believe they will earn more in the future and will tend to shop based that income level, not their current earnings.
Bemidji State University
Forced to Shop Cheap?: Relationships between Opinions about Wal-Mart, Income Levels, and Shopping Behavior
The purpose of this study was to determine how closely opinions about Wal-Mart correlate to how often people of different income levels shop there. It was hypothesized that with increases in income, people are more likely to have shopping patterns that more closely reflect their opinions about Wal-Mart.
Methods
Subjects and Sampling
A purposeful cluster sample of 28 classes was chosen to represent a broad range of students. The majority of classes offered at Bemidji State University are located in six buildings. Beginning with the 3rd class on the list of spring courses, every 10th course was chosen until one course at each undergraduate level (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000) in each of the six buildings was selected. Prior permission of the professor was obtained. If a professor did not permit the survey to be administered in that class, the next listed same level class in the same building was selected as a replacement. There were four replacement classes.
A total of 389 students from Bemidji State University participated in the study. The results of 342 surveys were easily entered into the database; additional tabulation is necessary to complete the data set. All results in the following text are based upon the 342 surveys.
The average age of respondents was 21.71, the youngest respondent was 16, and the oldest was 63. Students reported forty-eight different majors. The declared majors were primarily from mass communications (32), biology (33), education (36), and
business (36).
All Bemidji State University administrative staff and faculty listed on the mailing list were given the opportunity to participate in the survey. The results of these surveys have not yet been entered into the database.
Procedure
Students were administered survey questionnaires in the classrooms. All participation was voluntary; the Human Subjects Committee at Bemidji State University approved data collection. Directions were given when handing out the surveys directing students to hand in a blank survey to indicate a choice to not participate. Four surveys were returned blank.
All administrative staff on the mailing list were mailed the survey with a cover letter stating the intent of the survey and directions for returning it.
All faculty on the mailing list were mailed the survey with a cover letter stating the intent of the survey and directions for returning it. All participation was voluntary; the faculty senate was notified as to the intent of the survey. A reminder e-mail, with directions on how to obtain a second copy of the survey, was sent out two weeks after the initial mailing.
Limitations
There were limitations to this study. It was only administered at Bemidji State University. Students who did not show up for class the day the survey was handed out missed the opportunity to participate. There is a possibility not all of the administrative staff and faculty were listed on the mailing list used. Those not on the list had less opportunity to fill out the survey. Honesty of the people filling out the survey could not be controlled.
Results
The administrative staff and faculty surveys have not been entered into the database yet; therefore, comparisons in different income levels are not yet available. The following results are all from the easily entered student surveys.
Twenty five point one percent of the students reported doing 76-100% of their shopping at Wal-Mart. 30.4% reported 51-75%; 12.6% reported 26-50%; 26.0% reported 1-25%; 5.8% reported that none of their shopping was done at Wal-Mart.
Of the people who reported doing 50% or more of their shopping at Wal-Mart, 42.9% said price was the most important factor; 41.4% said convenience was most important. 39.3% said convenience was the second most important factor; 33.0% said price was the second most important factor.
Of those who do less than 50% of their shopping at Wal-Mart, 23.7% reported “poor service, unpleasant atmosphere, etc.” as the most important reason; 18.4% reported “other”; and 14.0% reported “I disapprove of one or more of their practices.”
There were five questions asking people to rate their knowledge about Wal-Mart’s practices as mostly positive, mostly negative, or neutral. The topics were 1) employee wages, benefits and working conditions at Wal-Mart; 2) hiring and promotion practices at Wal-Mart; 3) labor conditions of Wal-Mart domestic and overseas suppliers and sub-contractors; 4) environmental awareness and practices; 5) charitable giving and community support.
Eight people answered mostly positive to all five of these questions. To the question “Where did you get most of your knowledge about Wal-Mart”, two responded they work(ed) there, one work(ed) for a competitor, one said from observation, one person’s mom worked there for 20 years, two said from television, and one said from friends. To the question “What is your overall attitude toward Wal-Mart,” one person said somewhat negative, the other seven said mostly positive. All eight reported that their knowledge of Wal-Mart does not affect their shopping habits.
Twenty-two people answered mostly negative to all five questions regarding knowledge about Wal-Mart’s practices. Sixteen of them rated their number one knowledge source: nine from friends, one from observation, two from television, two from radio, one from books and one from news. The other six did not rate in order of importance, but said their sources of information were television, friends, college classes, newspapers, and alternative Internet sites. Sixteen report their attitude toward Wal-Mart as mostly negative. Six report their attitude as somewhat negative. Seventeen of these people say their knowledge affects their shopping habits; five people said their knowledge does not affect their shopping habits.
How much do students believe the average amount they spend each time they visit Wal-Mart? Ten point five percent said $10 or less; 31.9% said $11-20; 27.2% said $21-30; 9.6% said $31-40; 14.3 % said $41 or more; and 6.4% said they don’t shop at Wal-Mart. Ttwenty-two people reported doing no shopping at Wal-Mart on this question as opposed to twenty reporting no shopping at Wal-Mart in the first question.
One hundred twenty-six respondents (36.8%) said they go to Wal-Mart once a week or more. One hundred eighteen (34.5%) go 2-3 times per month. Thirty-eight people (11.1%) go once per month. The remaining sixty people (17.5%) go less than once per month.
One hundred forty-one students (41.2%) reported an annual personal income of less than $5,000; 112 or 32.7% reported making $5,000-$9,999; 46 or 13.5% reported making $10,000 to 14,999. Twelve point six percent said their income was higher than $15,000 or did not respond.
Forty-one point two percent said they spend $25 or less on items such as food, clothing, hardware, electronics, toiletries and drugs, etc., but not eating in restaurants. Thirty-two point seven percent (141 people) responded $26-50; 13.5% (112 people) said $51-75; 9.1% (46 people ) said $76-100; 1.5% (five people) said $101-150; 1.5% (five people) said $151-200; and .6% (two people) did not answer.
Graph 1 shows how closely student attitudes and percentage of shopping done at Wal-Mart correlate. This relationship (where r equals approximately .56) can be classified as a medium relationship. It is expected the faculty will have a higher value for r, therefore showing a stronger relationship. This is only a correlation. One cannot deduce a causal relationship from this kind of study, only that the two variables are occurring at the same time.
Discussion
The results are interesting. It was expected that even less of a correlation between students’ attitudes and shopping patterns would exist. It will be interesting to see the results of both the administrative staff and the faculty. It is believed the faculty will show the strongest correlation and the administrative staff the smallest correlation. This is based on the life cycle model from macroeconomics. This theory state people spend an annuity of what they expect to earn in their lifetimes. The administrative staffs most likely feel their income level is about where it will be for their lifetime. Students, while they do not earn much now, believe they will earn more in the future and will tend to shop based that income level, not their current earnings.
posted by Louise Mengelkoch at
12:47 PM
