IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04785139.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Consumer reactions to packaging-free product dispensers: a variety of buyers’ profiles to consider

Author

Listed:
  • Didier Louis

    (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - Nantes Univ - IAE Nantes - Nantes Université - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - Nantes Université - pôle Sociétés - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université)

  • Fabien Durif

    (UQAM - Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal)

  • Cindy Lombart

    (Audencia Business School)

  • Olga Untilov

    (Audencia Business School)

  • Florence Charton-Vachet

    (Audencia Business School)

Abstract

This study investigates consumer reactions to dispensers offering solid packaging-free products (e.g. pasta, lentils, cereals) integrated in a delimitated area in a grocery store. More specifically, the research examines the impacts of the overall appeal of packaging-free solid food product dispensers and their perceived ease of use on consumers' intention to use these dispensers and purchase packaging-free products. Moreover, using a set of variables, different buyer profiles are highlighted. Design/methodology/approach The field study for this research was conducted in a delimitated area (i.e. a shop within a shop) dedicated to solid packaging-free products (e.g. pasta, lentils, cereals) in a university cooperative store in the province of Quebec, Canada. A total of 456 buyers and consumers of packaging-free products from this store took part in the field study and completed our survey. Findings This study shows packaging-free dispensers' overall appeal and perceived ease of use to be determinants of consumers' intention to use these dispensers and purchase packaging-free products. The Rebus (response-based procedure for detecting unit segments) method highlights the need to consider three buyer profiles (enthusiastic, pragmatic, and sceptical) with different reactions to the specific dispensers used by retailers for packaging-free products. Originality/value This study focuses on buyers' reactions to packaging-free dispensers in stores, during the purchase process, whereas previous ones highlighted the drivers of and barriers to consumer adoption of packaging-free products (before the purchasing process starts). It also points to the need to fine-tune the segmentation of consumers of packaging-free products, which must be based not only on consumers' previous experience or familiarity with these products but also on the integration of their drivers and barriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Didier Louis & Fabien Durif & Cindy Lombart & Olga Untilov & Florence Charton-Vachet, 2024. "Consumer reactions to packaging-free product dispensers: a variety of buyers’ profiles to consider," Post-Print hal-04785139, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04785139
    DOI: 10.1108/IJRDM-12-2023-0693
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04785139v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04785139v1/document
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/IJRDM-12-2023-0693?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. F. Francesca de Canio & G. Viglia & C. Lombart, 2024. "Package-free products: How to improve pro-environmental buying behaviors among consumers," Post-Print hal-04315034, HAL.
    2. De Canio, Francesca & Viglia, Giampaolo & Lombart, Cindy, 2024. "Package-free products: How to improve pro-environmental buying behaviors among consumers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    3. Gesa Henriette Marken & Jacob Hörisch, 2019. "Purchasing unpackaged food products [Der Einkauf unverpackter Lebensmittel]," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 165-175, December.
    4. Didier Louis & Cindy Lombart & Fabien Durif, 2021. "Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores," Post-Print hal-03379616, HAL.
    5. Fuentes, Christian & Enarsson, Petronella & Kristoffersson, Love, 2019. "Unpacking package free shopping: Alternative retailing and the reinvention of the practice of shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 258-265.
    6. Sianne Gordon‐Wilson & Pratik Modi & Jacqueline K. Eastman, 2022. "Values, personality traits, and packaging‐free shopping: A mixed‐method approach," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 546-561, April.
    7. Horstmann, Felix, 2017. "Measuring the shopper's attitude toward the point of sale display: Scale development and validation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 112-123.
    8. Amon Rapp & Alessandra Marino & Rossana Simeoni & Federica Cena, 2017. "An ethnographic study of packaging-free purchasing: designing an interactive system to support sustainable social practices," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(11), pages 1193-1217, November.
    9. Louis, Didier & Lombart, Cindy & Durif, Fabien, 2021. "Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. De Canio, Francesca & Viglia, Giampaolo & Lombart, Cindy, 2024. "Package-free products: How to improve pro-environmental buying behaviors among consumers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    2. Elisa Monnot & Fanny Reniou & Sarah Lasri, 2023. "Packaging-free products: when retailers and consumers (re/mis) appropriate the packaging functions," THEMA Working Papers 2023-20, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    3. Fanny Reniou & Elisa Robert-Monnot & Sarah Lasri, 2025. "Packaging-free shopping: when retailers and consumers (re/mis)appropriate packaging functions," Post-Print hal-04882563, HAL.
    4. Giovanna Piracci & Fabio Boncinelli & Leonardo Casini, 2023. "Investigating Consumer Preferences for Sustainable Packaging Through a Different Behavioural Approach: A Random Regret Minimization Application," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 1-27, October.
    5. Anne Müller, 2024. "Connection Points: The Dynamics of Recruitment to Packaging-Free Shopping," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 29(3), pages 596-611, September.
    6. Song, Jiawen & Cai, Lanhui & Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin, 2023. "Exploring consumers’ usage intention of reusable express packaging: An extended norm activation model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. László Bendegúz Nagy & Brigitta Unger-Plasek & Zoltán Lakner & Ágoston Temesi, 2023. "Confidence in organic food: a cross-country choice based conjoint analysis of credibility factors," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Mangirdas Morkūnas & Marija Kotryna Grišmanauskaite˙, 2023. "What Really Drives Loyalty in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Market?," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 197-212, July.
    9. Kumar, Prashant & Utkarsh,, 2023. "Effects of in-store information quality and store credibility on consumer engagement in green retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Paweł Brzustewicz & Anupam Singh, 2021. "Sustainable Consumption in Consumer Behavior in the Time of COVID-19: Topic Modeling on Twitter Data Using LDA," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    11. Carmen Bălan, 2020. "How Does Retail Engage Consumers in Sustainable Consumption? A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.
    12. Klara Wenzel & Elisabeth Süßbauer, 2021. "Exploring Domestic Precycling Behavior: A Social Identity Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-31, January.
    13. Ulrich, Isabelle & Cacho-Elizondo, Silvia & Damay, Coralie & Loussaïef, Leïla, 2024. "A practice theory perspective on apparel sharing consumption models exploring new paths of consumption in France and Mexico," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Mikah O. Oliver & Iva Jestratijevic & James Uanhoro & Dee K. Knight, 2023. "Investigation of a Consumer’s Purchase Intentions and Behaviors towards Environmentally Friendly Grocery Packaging," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    15. Reinares-Lara, Pedro & Martín-Santana, Josefa D., 2019. "Managing point of purchase advertising: Effectiveness in terms of recall and recognition," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 289-296.
    16. Moore, Simon & Bulmer, Sandy & Elms, Jonathan, 2022. "The social significance of AI in retail on customer experience and shopping practices," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    17. Fanny Reniou & Elisa Monnot, 2023. "Consumer Discipline: A Safeguard to Maintain Sustainable Consumption Patterns," THEMA Working Papers 2023-19, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    18. Kolesnik, N., 2023. "Implementation of the concept of sustainable development in food retail: Latent semantic analysis of SMM communication 2015-2021," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 60(3), pages 79-102.
    19. Fuentes, Christian & Cegrell, Olivia & Vesterinen, Josefine, 2021. "Digitally enabling sustainable food shopping: App glitches, practice conflicts, and digital failure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    20. Louis, Didier & Lombart, Cindy & Durif, Fabien, 2021. "Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04785139. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.