Groundbreaking survey of UK responsible consumerism pinpoints Morrisons’ ethical edge over Tesco and Asda

25/09/2009

www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx

A new survey quantifying the competitive effect of ethical food shopping habits on major UK supermarket chains has identified Morrison’s as the prime beneficiary of recession-hit responsible shoppers.

Morrisons, which enjoyed the fastest summer growth rate of the Big Four and last week announced a same-store sales rise of 7.8 per cent (excluding fuel and VAT) in the six months to August 2, sits alongside Waitrose and Sainsbury in terms of the proportion of shoppers buying ethical foodstuffs in the study by Responsible Research .

The Reality Bites study by the Responsible Research consultancy, based on tracking actual food purchases over the worst months of recession, shows buying responsibly remains a significant influence on shopper decision-making despite the downturn.

The study forms the basis of a presentation on responsible consumerism which Responsible Research is to make to the ESOMAR International Market Research Congress in Montreaux, Switzerland on September 16.

The report shows Morrisons, which sits alongside Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op in terms of levels of responsible purchases, has successfully married a value and ethical offer attractive to responsible consumers. Tesco, which lost ground over the survey period, lags behind with ASDA – with proportions of responsible shopping more in common with that of the price-led discounters.

The in-depth study by Responsible Research, the first of its kind to track actual food purchasing behaviour against the professed green attitudes of individual shoppers, also reveals that the dominance of price messaging means consumers now see less distinction between rival chains.

“The retail landscape has become much more uniform in recession with price and value-led promotions dominating. Looking to the future, consumers won’t be easily weaned off the scale of current promotional offers when they have already experimented with shopping elsewhere,” said Responsible Research’s Claire Rutherford who led the study.

“Food retailers clearly need to maintain a focus on value but our survey shows the edge they can get, both in terms of influencing the demographic of their customer base and sales, by paying attention to the 25 per cent of UK food shoppers who not only say they are concerned about green issues but actively shop their talk and buy responsibly.

“Morrison’s have done well in the move to British meat added to the in-store market environment which effectively replicates and re-invents the local shopping parades of old within a modern setting while placing strong emphasis on local produce. Their strategy appears to be to make significant changes but in a simple way and they communicate these to customers effectively.”

In terms of attracting the kind of shoppers who actively buy responsibly, Morrison’s outperformed the Big Four in British products, low food miles, seasonal produce and green packaging.

Tags: Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Co-op, British produce, Big Four, Retial Landscape, Local shopping, Low food miles, Seasonal produce, Green packaging,

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