The food shopping experience of older consumers in Scotland: critical incidents

Abstract

The number and proportion of older people in the UK are increasing and it has been found that this population segment is a nutritional risk group. Food choice research and health promotion reports have sought to identify the influences on diet and the food retailing sector has been found to particularly impact upon older people. Low income, poor mobility and an inability to access food shops disadvantage many. This paper considers the food shopping experiences of older consumers by identifying, through critical incident technique, positive and negative aspects of the food shopping activity. A total of 120 interviews were conducted and 248 incidents collected from people aged 60/65+ in various locations in Scotland. Content analysis produced eight primary categories and 22 sub‐categories of key elements in the shopping experience. The main factors that contribute to the quality of the shopping experience were merchandise related, retail practices and staff issues. The internal store environment, accessibility, external shopping environment and personal factors were also identified and featured both positive and negative incidents, with social aspects only having positive incidents.

Cognitive age and grocery-store patronage by elderly shoppers

“…Store formats and attributes influence shopper logistics. The literature on elderly consumers mentions, in particular, the following store attributes as determinants of satisfaction with stores and, consequently, of store patronage: accessibility of the store and the products within the store, pricing and product-related attributes, and atmosphere (Hare, Kirk, & Lang, 2001;Keillor, Parker, & Erffmeyer, 1996;Meneely, Burns, & Strugnell, 2008; see appendix for the operationalization of these constructs). Depending on the consumer's age, the role of such attributes varies so they have different effects on satisfaction with and behaviour related to a (patronised) store (Goodwin & McElwee, 1999;Lumpkin, Greenberg, & Goldstucker, 1985;Moschis et al, 2004).…”

“…Personal mobility and cognitive ability play an important role in whether or not elderly shoppers are able to find their way around a store and locate the products they are looking for (Hare et al, 2001). …”

The economic and social role of small stores: a review of UK evidence

“…It is not surprising therefore that the decline has reduced retail diversity across UK towns, with direct economic and social repercussions (Thompson 2007). Closure of small community shops has been shown to lead to a reduction in social contact (Hare et al 2001) and more fragile local economies, especially in inner-city communities (Guy and Duckett 2003).…”

“…Needy contexts include: (a) geographically isolated communities and rural areas (Dawson 1976;Smith et al 1997), such as the socially excluded in deprived inner city areas, who, because of their lack of mobility, tend to have rely on convenience purchases from local stores which tend to be more expensive (Guy and Duckett 2003;Piacentini et al 2001;Strugnell et al 2003), as well as dispersed and remote rural areas where the dependence on small stores is reflected in the pressure to open longer hours, offer a wide range of general merchandise and food, and meet specialist needs (Byrom et al 2003;Dennis et al 2002;Paddison and Calderwood 2007); (b) elderly consumers, for whom small stores within city centres are especially valuable since they make frequent use of these locations during the daytime (Bromley et al 2005) and therefore when such stores are lost to communities, this can have an extreme effect by reducing their social contact (Hare et al 2001); (c) agricultural workers who suffer when local store access is poor (Fitch 2004); and (d) disabled consumers, who have been acutely affected by the decline in local shops and who are particularly vulnerable to this change in retail provision, because many traditional outlets in older street premises, unlike newer builds, have been built with little thought to people with disabilities (Gant 2002;Schmidt et al 2005). Such findings underline the centrality of small shops to a variety of disadvantaged groups, and highlight just the how little is known about the processes that shape shopping routines (Williams and Windebank 2003;Williams and Hubbard 2001) and leading to social exclusion by constraining access to stores.…”

What’s local? Access to fresh food for older people

“…It is widely claimed that the recent decentralisation and commodification of food retailing in many western cities has significant impacts on older and less mobile people, by creating 'food deserts' that put them at greater nutritional risk than the wider population, particularly in terms of access to fresh food (Herne, 1995;Hare, et al, 2001;Clarke, et al, 2004;Wilson, et al, 2004;Community Food and Health Scotland, 2010). It has also been claimed that such an approach to food distribution diminishes many older people's lives, for a range of reasons related to social and culinary alienation and stress (Hare, et al, 1999;Meneely, et al, 2009), leading to questions about distributional equity (Morgan, 2010;Morgan and Sonnino, 2010) and public health (Ellaway and Macintyre, 2000;Kyle and Blair, 2007).…”