AN ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
ON BLACK FRIDAY
1.
Introduction
The
purpose of this study was to observe and analyze the consumer behaviors of the
Black Friday customer. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is a term used
by the retail industry in the United States that signifies the start of the
Christmas holiday shopping season. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth
Thursday of November; therefore, the holiday shopping season runs from the
Friday after Thanksgiving Day and continues until December 24, the day before
Christmas. Black Friday is not considered an official national
holiday; however, many employees have Thanksgiving Day off along with the following
day, which increases the number of potential shoppers on that Friday. The origin of Black Friday is based on an accounting
term when records were kept in ink with red signifying a loss in profits and
black signifying a profit. Retailers generally operate in the red
(unprofitable) throughout the year and depend heavily on the holiday season
sales to end the year in the black with a profit (Black Friday, n.d.).
With
the “hype” of Black Friday, customers are exposed to a retail environment that
can stimulate frustration and aggression. Black Friday is traditionally known
for long lines with customers waiting outdoors in cold weather waiting for the
store to open, confusion and chaos of customers once the retail doors are
opened for business, heavily crowded stores, a limited amount of products
available at a reduced price, long checkout lines, and the lack of availability
of advertised sale products.
Previous
literature suggests that changing the physical store environment will affect
cognitive, emotional and behavioral reactions of customers (Donovan, Rossiter,
Marcoolyn, & Nesdale, 1994; Eroglu & Machleit,1990; Machleit &
Eroglu, 2000; McGoldrick, Betts, &
Keeling, 1999; Potter, 1984) and the environmental conditions are likely to
have a detrimental effect on the nature of service interactions (Bellizzi &
Hite, 1992; Bitner, 1992; Prus,1986).
The media has widely documented aggressive consumer behaviors in the Black Friday
environment (Barbaro, 2006; Cline, 2005; Jones, 2006; Rozhon, 2004). The Frustration Aggression Theory developed by
Dollard, Miller, Doob, Mowrer, and Sears (1939) served as the conceptual
framework for this study. These researchers proposed that frustration and
aggression have a cause and effect relationship, as frustration causes
aggression and results from frustration. Frustration is a feeling of tension
that occurs when efforts to reach certain goals are blocked. When this occurs, various aggressive
behaviors can result. Black Friday
shopping is a phenomenon where aggressive human behavior may surface as
customers are frustrated by long lines, crowded stores, and limited product
availability of sale items. Previous Black Friday research has focused on sales
reports, however, the reports are not academically based and have hav not been published
in the academic literature. The current
study used observational methodology to analyze the shopping behavior of Black
Friday consumers, providing a unique contribution to the literature. Observing shoppers’
behavior on Black Friday allowed the researchers to measure actual behavior, as
opposed to relying on self-reports from the media. In addition, observers recorded consumers’
comments, which afforded some insight into the shoppers’ state of mind.
2. Methodology
2.1 Design
A categorical instrument developed by the researchers was divided into
three sections: in-line observations prior to the store opening, store entry
observations, and individual customer observations. Each instrument also provided an open-ended
item for observers to record general consumer comments heard in-line and in the
store. Operational definitions were developed by the researchers by adapting
previous research by Ekman (1992), Gottman, et al. (1995), and Lee and Dubinsky (2003). After receiving
university approval for the instrument, a pilot test was conducted. Nine items
were developed for the in-line observation and measured the approximate number
of customers waiting for the doors to open, the overall emotions and behaviors exhibited
by the customers, the presence and absence of shopping companions, and customer
demographics. Cronbach’s alpha, a coefficient of reliability, was computed for
the in-line section items. Results
revealed an alpha coefficient of .81, indicating that the section had good
reliability.
Seventeen individual items
measured the emotions and behaviors of
customers as a group upon store entry. Observers circled the approximate
percentage of customers that exhibited each behavior under question (e.g., courteous,
punching, tripping, cart bumping).
Percentages were presented to the observers as categories; each category
represented 10% of the consumers (e.g., 0-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%). Other items in the “store entry” section of
the instrument assessed the number of customers who fell down or were injured,
the length of time the chaos upon store opening lasted, and the products sought
by customers once inside the store.
Products sought by consumers were measured in the same manner that behaviors
were, that is, using categories of percentages. Cronbach’s alpha was .73 for
the store entry observations section. Individual consumer behavior instrument
items included gender, age, and the emotions and behaviors exhibited by the
individual shopper. Observers circled emotions and behaviors that individual
shoppers displayed from a list of 15 potential emotions and 20 potential
behaviors. Cronbach’s alpha was .70 for the individual customer behavior items.
Undergraduate and graduate students serving on the observation team attended two three-hour training sessions.
Each observer selected her or his own retail store as an observation site. Upon
arrival at the store, observers documented in-line customer behavior. When the
doors to the retail store were opened, observers documented the emotions and
behavior of consumers upon store entry.
After the “rush” during store entry, the observers selected one consumer
and documented her or his emotions and behavior. Observers continued recording
until ten observations of individual consumer emotions and behavior were
completed.
3.
Results and Discussion
Overall, 22 observers completed
222 individual observations. Chronbach’s alpha coefficient was computed to establish
the reliability of the instrument. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient values range
from 0 to 1, with higher numbers indicating stronger reliability. Results
revealed an alpha of .40, indicating low, but acceptable, reliability. The dimensionality of the individual behavior
item measure was analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis with an
orthogonal rotated factor solution (i.e., varimax) to maximize the variances of
the factors. Findings indicated that
the items accounted for 65% of the total variance within in-line behaviors and revealed
11 factors with eigen values greater than one.
However, quite a few of the items
cross-loaded onto more than one factor so subsequent factor analyses were conducted,
removing items that cross-loaded until the results revealed eight “clean”
factors (without any cross-loadings). An eight factor solution accounted for
62% of the total variance, which is adequate for an instrument of this nature.
However, behaviors were analyzed individually, as opposed to in categories, as
the researchers were primarily interested in the frequencies of individual
behaviors displayed on Black Friday.
3.1 Gender-Based Comparisons of Shoppers
Two
way contingency table analyses with Chi-squares were conducted to determine
whether males or females were more likely to exhibit any of the behaviors under
consideration while shopping. As
supported by previous literature (Omnitel, 2006), findings indicated that
females were more likely than males to exhibit happiness X2 (1,
N = 221) = 7.09, p = .008, Φ = .18. (Note:
Φ or “phi” can be computed much
like a correlation coefficient.
Traditionally, phis of .10, .30, and .50 represent small, medium, and
large effect sizes, respectively). More
specifically, 31% of females exhibited happiness compared to only 13.3% of
males.
3.2 In-Line and Store Entry Customer
Behaviors
Fourteen stores opened at 6am and
seven opened at 5am. A majority (80%) of observers noted more than 50 customers
in-line when the stores opened. When the
doors to the stores opened, 52% of the observers reported that the ensuing
chaos lasted up to 30 minutes, while only 14% noted chaos for more than 30 minutes. Nineteen-percent of the observers reported
that some of the customers “fell down or appeared injured” when the store
opened. Observers recorded customer comments as they waited in-line for stores
to open. Customers discussed and reminisced about “how bad the last Black
Friday was.” Conversations also related to the actual physical presence of the
shoppers in-line, for example, “this line’s getting long,” or “how many people
are in-line?” Observers noted confusion amidst the shoppers about which line
was appropriate or what doors of the store to enter first. Observers noted
frustration and aggravation amongst the customers and recorded statements such
as “Idiots!” and “I’ve been here all night, I’m going home.” Other customers expressed thoughts and
feelings such as, “Are we crazy our what?” and “This is an awfully strange way
to spend a morning!” Other observations included in-line customers arguing with
police officers, young children cursing at people in-line, and the people at
the end of the line were mad and rude. Observers also indicated that news crews
were at the scene reporting on a nearby car accident and the lack of parking
availability.
3.3 Individual Customer Observations
Individual observations lasted up
to 65 minutes with the average individual observation lasting 7.14 minutes (SD
= 5.52). Of the shoppers observed, 73% were
female and 27% were male. Observers most often reported calmness (47%),
courteousness (32%), happiness (27%), and excitement (24%) among the shoppers. The
most often observed negative customer behaviors or emotions included anxiety
(25%), irritability (24%), and tiredness (23%) (See Table 1). Observers
indicated that 60% of the shoppers appeared to have a specific product in mind,
particularly electronic media items, such as DVDs, DVD players, televisions,
digital cameras, digital photo frames, Wii, Playstation3, and X-box games. It
appeared that 59% of the shoppers appeared to purchase an item because it was
on sale, while 60% appeared to purchase a gift item. Just under one-third (29%) of the shoppers
appeared to purchase items for themselves.
It appeared that 18% of the shoppers examined product labels and 25% of
the shoppers compared products and prices.
3.4
Customer Perceptions and Reactions Related to Employees and Store Environments
“No one knows nothing.” Despite
the poor grammar, this statement reflected some of shoppers’ perceptions about
the stores and staff during Black Friday sales. Other comments included
“There’s no sign. That’s stupid!”, “Now
I need to spend more to buy the bag?”, and “My coupon has expired and that’s
not the rebate advertised.”Negative commentary about the prices, logistics,
signage, and helpfulness of the stores and their employees were also observed
emotions of some Black Friday shoppers.
One frustrated shopper was angry as employees were bringing out more of the
“sold out” items and placing these items in various locations throughout the
store. Another customer negotiated with
a salesperson for a substitute of an unavailable product. Later, the same
frustrated shopper had to seek out the price checker for improperly labeled
DVDs.Overall, the emotions and behavior of the Black Friday shopper appeared to
be calm (47%), courteous (32%), happy (27%), yet observers also witnessed
anxiety (25%) and irritability (24%). Unfortunately, these negative emotions
could result in potentially dangerous behaviors which pose a safety concern for
store personnel and other shoppers.
