Literature suggests that major political and socio-economic transformations may influence the measurement and dimensionality of consumer awareness.
The study examined the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness after transformation in the political and socio-economic environments in Zimbabwe.
There is a dearth of research to validate whether or not the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness changes as the environment changes.
Data were collected from a cross-section of 305 consumers using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Consumers were intercepted at shopping malls. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse data.
The study confirmed that consumer awareness comprises five dimensions, namely product knowledge, bargain hunting, general consumer knowledge, price consciousness and information search. However, the study found that only 16 items, instead of the proposed 25, were relevant in measuring consumer awareness. Product knowledge, bargain hunting and information search were each measured by four items, whilst general consumer knowledge and price consciousness were each measured by two items. The other nine items were shown to be of no value.
The study recommends that marketers and policymakers in developing and transition economies, such as Zimbabwe, consider these five dimensions when conducting consumer awareness research or when planning consumer awareness programmes.
The study provided evidence that the dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness does not change as the socio-economic and political environments change. However, items used to measure the dimensions need to be updated from time to time.
As the world increasingly becomes a global village, international trade has gained momentum. There has been a wide range of products crossing national boundaries (Ranjbarian, Rojuee & Mirzaei,
Consumer awareness describes the extent to which consumers are aware of or alert to their rights and responsibilities in the marketplace (Rousseau & Venter,
Knowledge of consumer awareness is critical in the development of product policies. Policies that ensure that products are labelled correctly, that consumers can understand important information presented in advertising or that minority groups are not disadvantaged can be crafted based on the knowledge of consumer awareness. Likewise, as they understand consumers better, marketers are likely to meet the consumers’ needs (Solomon,
Studies on the measurement of the construct of consumer awareness are scarce, specifically in emerging markets. The notable studies on the measurement of consumer awareness were conducted about two decades ago in South Africa (Rousseau & Venter,
The current study, therefore, was conducted in Zimbabwe to explore and validate the dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness through the processes of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings of the study contribute to the current body of consumer awareness knowledge because literature does not provide evidence of a study that has validated the dimensionality of the consumer awareness scale after transformations in the socio-economic and political environments. Zimbabwe has experienced major political and socio-economic transformations since the last time consumer awareness was measured in the mid-1990s (Rousseau & Venter,
The focus of the literature review is on consumer awareness and consumerism in Zimbabwe.
As the pace of globalisation accelerates, there has been an increase in the movement of products across national boundaries (Ranjbarian
As a construct, consumer awareness is a subset of consumerism (Du Plessis
Ishak and Zabil (
Consumer awareness is concerned with the alertness of consumers to their rights and responsibilities in the process of product exchange (Rousseau & Venter,
Consumers International (
Consumer responsibilities are concerned with the ability to form independent opinions with regard to an individual’s own consumption behaviour, which can be argued for and acted upon (Rousseau & Venter,
The only organisation that deals with consumer issues in Zimbabwe is the CCZ, a quasi-government organisation whose principal objective is to be a watchdog for consumers (CCZ,
The CCZ has successfully conducted surveys on various goods and services, enabling the provision of research-based information and also to unearth the malpractice of businesses in Zimbabwe (CCZ,
The main objective of the study was to explore and validate the dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness in Zimbabwe. The specific objectives of the study were: (1) to determine the dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness in Zimbabwe and (2) to compare the present findings with those of Rousseau and Venter (
A quantitative approach was adopted in this study. Bryman (
According to Zimstat (
Sample profile
Description | |
---|---|
Gender | |
Male | 139 (45.6) |
Female | 166 (54.4) |
Age | |
18–19 | 4 (1.3) |
20–24 | 56 (18.4) |
25–29 | 80 (26.2) |
30–39 | 93 (30.5) |
40–49 | 61 (20.0) |
50–59 | 11 (3.6) |
Highest level of education | |
Grade 7 | 1 (0.3) |
ZJC | 18 (5.9) |
O-Level | 21 (6.9) |
A-Level | 33 (10.8) |
Diploma | 98 (32.1) |
Bachelor’s degree | 102 (33.4) |
Master’s degree | 28 (9.2) |
Doctoral degree | 4 (1.3) |
Monthly gross income (US$) | |
Less than 500 | 128 (42.0) |
500–999 | 86 (28.2) |
1000–1499 | 55 (18.0) |
1500–1999 | 18 (5.9) |
2000+ | 18 (5.9) |
Of the 305 respondents, 45.6% were male and 54.4% were female. Age was distributed as follows: 1.3% of the respondents were aged 18–19, 18.4% were aged 20–24, 26.2% were aged 25–29, 30.5% were aged 30–39, 20.0% were aged 40–49 and 3.6% were aged 50–59. In terms of the highest level of education attained, the distribution was as follows: 0.3% had attained Grade 7, 5.9% had attained ZJC, 6.9% had attained O-Level, 10.8% had attained A-Level, 32.1% had attained a diploma, 33.4% had attained a bachelor’s degree, 9.2% had attained a master’s degree and 1.3% had attained a doctoral degree. In terms of monthly income, 42.0% were earning less than US$500, 28.2% were earning between US$500 and US$999, 8.0% were earning between US$1000 and US$1499, 5.9% were earning between US$1500 and US$1999, whilst 5.9% were earning at least US$2000.
Literature suggests that the most comprehensive scale to measure the construct of consumer awareness is the one developed and successfully applied by Rousseau and Venter (
Dimensionality of the consumer awareness scale
Dimension | Items | Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α) |
---|---|---|
Bargain hunting | I check the newspaper each week for bargains. | 0.69 |
When I see a ‘special’ advertised on TV or radio I always follow it up. | - | |
I always shop at more than one store to compare prices and take advantage of the lowest priced item. | - | |
I like searching for bargains at seasonal sales auctions. | - | |
I always try to obtain the best deal. | - | |
General consumer knowledge | Consumers in Zimbabwe are not aware of their legitimate rights when it comes to doing business or engage in shopping. | 0.59 |
More attention should be paid to consumer awareness programmes in school education. | - | |
Too few consumers in Zimbabwe read consumer articles in newspapers and magazines. | - | |
Zimbabwe consumers are not aware of the laws available to protect their consumer rights. | - | |
Consumer organisations in Zimbabwe deserve better support from consumers. | - | |
Product knowledge | Checking expiring dates on perishable food items is essential for ensuring fresh produce. | 0.60 |
I always look for a guarantee on expensive products before deciding on the purchase. | - | |
It is important to share product information with friends and relatives. | - | |
Product knowledge is one’s best guardian against exploitation. | - | |
I keep a watch on the media for new products and services that may be useful to me. | - | |
Information search | I always consult brochures and pamphlets for information before buying durable goods. | 0.65 |
Seeking information from relatives prior to make a final choice is always a good idea. | - | |
Sales staff can be an important source of product information. | - | |
Before purchasing a particular product I usually compare various brands to choose the best. | - | |
I usually read newspaper advertisements for obtaining product information prior to purchase. | - | |
Price consciousness | Choosing ‘no-name brands’ is a good way to beat inflation. | 0.73 |
Price is the most important factor to me in choosing an item. | - | |
When a product is offered at a discount price I am more tempted to buy it. | - | |
Before deciding where to go shopping, I usually try to find out whether any specials are being offered. | - | |
I always compare prices of similar products on display in the store. | - |
As shown in
Literature suggests that major political and economic transformations within a country are likely to influence how consumer awareness is measured (Donoghue & De Klerk,
Items AWNS1–5 measured bargain hunting.
AWNS6–10 measured general consumer knowledge.
AWNS11–15 measured product knowledge.
AWNS16–20 measured information search.
AWNS21–25 measured price consciousness.
Slight modifications to the original scale were made in order to make it applicable to the current environment in Zimbabwe:
On the first item on the scale (AWNS1), the word ‘newspaper’ was replaced with ‘media’.
On the second item on the scale (AWNS2), the word ‘radio’ was replaced with the phrase ‘the other media’.
On the eighth item on the scale (AWNS8), the phrase ‘online and electronic sources’ was added at the end of the statement.
On the 20th item on the scale (AWNS20), the phrase ‘read newspaper advertisements’ was replaced with ‘consider advertisements’.
Respondents were asked to rate the statements based on a seven-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 7 (‘strong agree’). Whilst Rousseau and Venter (
The respondents were intercepted at shopping malls and asked to respond to questions as they purchased products from major supermarkets whilst the researcher coded the responses. The general attitude of the respondents towards the study was positive; however, differences could be noticed in the two cities under investigation as indicated by the response rates (see the section on the research participants). In Harare, the respondents were more responsive in taking part in the study than in Bulawayo.
Data were cleaned, coded and entered into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was then performed in order to determine the factors underlying consumer awareness. This was followed by reliability analysis using Cronbach’s alpha. Correlation analysis was also performed to determine whether or not the factors were related, checking for convergence validity. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was also executed in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 21 to confirm the significance of the dimensions of the construct of consumer awareness.
EFA was performed in SPSS version 21 to determine the factors underlying the construct of consumer awareness. The initial step was to test for sampling adequacy and whether or not data permitted EFA to be performed. This was done using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. The sample was found to be adequate (KMO statistic = 0.760). Data were found to permit EFA (chi-square = 1378.759; degrees of freedom = 171;
Results of exploratory factor analysis
Factor | Items | Mean | Standard deviation | Factor loadings | Item-total correlations | Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Product knowledge | AWNS11 | 6.44 | 1.172 | 0.752 | 0.622 | 0.778 |
AWNS13 | 5.89 | 1.347 | 0.741 | 0.602 | - | |
AWNS14 | 6.07 | 1.199 | 0.687 | 0.594 | - | |
AWNS7 | 5.84 | 1.426 | 0.601 | 0.498 | ||
Bargain hunting | AWNS5 | 5.75 | 1.523 | 0.685 | 0.417 | 0.629 |
AWNS2 | 3.95 | 1.791 | 0.668 | 0.366 | - | |
AWNS3 | 5.59 | 1.747 | 0.590 | 0.463 | - | |
AWNS4 | 4.14 | 2.045 | 0.566 | 0.378 | - | |
General consumer knowledge | AWNS8 | 5.22 | 1.693 | 0.824 | 0.520 | 0.684 |
AWNS9 | 5.29 | 1.735 | 0.815 | 0.520 | - | |
Price consciousness | AWNS23 | 4.86 | 1.752 | 0.688 | 0.427 | 0.598 |
AWNS24 | 4.41 | 1.837 | 0.538 | 0.427 | - | |
Information search | AWNS15 | 5.09 | 1.581 | 0.749 | 0.415 | 0.580 |
AWNS16 | 5.04 | 1.702 | 0.732 | 0.413 | - | |
AWNS20 | 4.46 | 1.676 | 0.481 | 0.318 | - | |
AWNS19 | 5.97 | 1.197 | 0.463 | 0.311 | - |
Extraction method: Principal component analysis.
Rotation method: Oblimin with Kaiser normalisation.
Rotation converged in 19 iterations.
Based on eigenvalues ˃ 1.00.
Total variance explained = 59.654%.
Loadings of less than 0.4 were suppressed.
Initially, six factors were extracted from the data. However, one of the factors not presented in
As shown in
The next step was to determine the reliability of the sub-scales that measured the extracted factors. This was done using Cronbach’s alpha as shown in
CFA was performed in AMOS version 21 to validate the five-dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness (see model fit indices in
Model fit indices
Measurement | Index |
---|---|
Sample size | 305 |
Chi-square (χ2) | 253.612 |
Degrees of freedom ( |
94 |
2.698 | |
Goodness of fit index (GFI) | 0.901 |
Adjusted GFI (AGFI) | 0.900 |
Bentler comparative fit index (CFI) | 0.916 |
Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) | 0.070 |
The measurement model
As illustrated in
The next step was to assess the measurement model estimates. The estimates show that the model fit is significant. All factor loadings (standardised regression weights in the measurement model) were higher than 0.4 (Field,
Correlations between dimensions of consumer awareness
Correlations between factors | Estimate | CR | P | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Product knowledge | | Information search | 0.611 | 4.502 | *** |
Product knowledge | | Price consciousness | 0.322 | 3.897 | *** |
Product knowledge | | General consumer knowledge | 0.446 | 5.226 | *** |
Product knowledge | | Bargain hunting | 0.549 | 4.632 | *** |
Bargain hunting | | Information search | 0.416 | 3.374 | *** |
Bargain hunting | | Price consciousness | 0.564 | 4.923 | *** |
Bargain hunting | | General consumer knowledge | 0.275 | 3.143 | 0.002 |
General consumer knowledge | | Information search | 0.212 | 2.178 | 0.029 |
General consumer knowledge | | Price consciousness | 0.234 | 3.055 | 0.002 |
Price consciousness | | Information search | 0.427 | 3.883 | *** |
***,
The CRs ranged between 2.178 and 5.226, an indication that that they were sufficiently large. Although they correlated significantly, the dimensions of consumer awareness did not highly correlate (correlations ranged between 0.212 and 0.611). This implies that, although these dimensions are related, they can still be regarded as different in Zimbabwe.
The study sought to examine the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness in Zimbabwe, a developing and transition economy. The choice of Zimbabwe was motivated by the fact that the country has experienced major political and socio-economic transformations since consumer awareness was last measured in the mid-1990s. As documented in literature, major transformations in the political and socio-economic environments may influence the measurement of consumer awareness.
In support of the seminal work on the dimensions of the construct of consumer awareness by G.G. Rousseau and Venter (
These findings imply that the general factor structure of the construct of consumer awareness did not change due to changes in the political and socio-economic environments. However, the items that measure the factors underlying this construct are subject to variation as the environment changes. The plausible explanation is that items on the scale are likely to be influenced by environmental conditions, rendering them inapplicable in the present environment. For example, major transformations in technology have affected the socio-economic environment – the way people do business has changed significantly over the past few decades due to technology (Cateora, Gilly & Graham,
The study recommends that marketers and policymakers in developing and transition economies such as Zimbabwe consider the five dimensions of the construct of consumer awareness, namely product knowledge, bargain hunting, general consumer knowledge, price consciousness and information search when conducting consumer awareness research or when planning consumer awareness programmes. Marketers are advised to provide adequate information concerning products. This can be done by including the necessary information on packaging. Informative advertisements can also be shown on television or can be aired on radio. Print media such as newspapers can also be used to provide information to consumers. Providing product information to consumers is likely to make it easier for consumers to make informed purchase decisions. The relatively high levels of education urge marketers to explore technology-driven information campaigns such as social media. Media, especially electronic media, has obviously also globalised. The study is also useful in directing marketers’ efforts towards the 16 items that have been shown to be currently relevant and avoiding waste on the other nine, which are not applicable any more. On the other hand, policymakers should come up with awareness programmes that focus on educating consumers in terms of general consumer knowledge, how to search for product information and how to maximise their utility when purchasing products. Moreover, marketers in developing and transition economies should pay particular attention to price, as this appears to be an important factor determining consumer awareness.
The study has limitations that provide a point of departure for future research. The sample was limited to Harare and Bulawayo, the two major cities in Zimbabwe; yet Zimbabwe has several other cities. Moreover, the greater proportion of the population of Zimbabwe is based in rural areas. It is therefore recommended that future studies consider other cities as well as rural areas in order to have a more representative sample. Besides, it is recommended that future research replicate the present study in other developing and transition economies to validate the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
C.M. (Chinhoyi University of Technology) oversaw the collection and analysis of the data and contributed to the choice of methodology, the interpretation of the results, the conclusions drawn from it and the writing of the manuscript. F.T. (University of South Africa) contributed to the choice of methodology, the interpretation of the results, the conclusions drawn from it and the writing of the manuscript.