Determinants of Store Type Choice in the Food Market for Fruits and Vegetables

Store choice decisions in the food retailing industry have been widely discussed in the literature. The importance of pricing, quality and assortment is known, and the influence of sociodemographic variables is small. In this paper, a mixed multinomial logit model is used to study the relationship between specific attitudes of households and their store type choice for fruits and vegetables. The mixed logit model includes a random intercept for the different store types and therefore allows for individual taste variation. Household attitudes are about quality, freshness, environment, advertisement, organic food and prices. Additionally several sociodemographics and interaction terms are included. Household attitudes and the actual point of purchase show which of these attitudes influence store type choice, and assuming there is a true relation between these choices, an implied image order of store types can be established.