Abstract:

Grocery retail is highly competitive and it became even more competitive with the development of discounters, the retail formats that constantly increased their market shares. Consequently, the consumers’ perception of retail price image and its influence on consumer behaviour became quite an important factor for retailers. Although consumers visit grocery stores very often, it is not possible for them to remember the exact prices of products they purchase and therefore, they develop an opinion about retailers’ prices. Based on their own purchase experience, experiences from people in their reference groups or retailer’s communication, consumers can have an opinion on the prices at a certain retailer, regardless if they visit their store very often, occasionally or never. This paper explores the reflective retail price image through five dimensions and their influence on consumers’ purchase intentions. After conducted regression analysis, two models are compared – for high and low store patronage. Results suggest that dimension value for money has the strongest influence on purchase intention in both cases, followed by price level. Price perceptibility is positively influential in the case of high store patronage, while price processibility is negatively influential in the case of low store patronage. Evaluation certainty is not significantly influential in any case, confirming that consumers assess retailers’ prices mostly without knowing the exact prices.