REFINEMENT AND VALIDATION OF SCALES FOR MEASURING PERCEIVED SOCIAL RISK, BUYING BEHAVIOUR AND RETAIL STORE CHOICE

Abstract

Since consumers frequently are uncertain about the consequences of their store and purchase decisions, they frequently perceive a certain degree of risk when making a retail store choice. The purpose of this study, was to refine and validate an instrument for measuring perceived social risk, buying behaviour and retail store choice for Generation Y female students in South Africa. The questionnaire was developed by identifying perceived social risk, buying behaviour and retail store choice indicators from the literature, generating corresponding items and pretesting the tool with female students. Factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory) determined the validity of the questionnaire and the reliability was assessed using Cronbach alpha coefficient measures of internal consistency. In light of the results, the characteristics and multidimensional perspective of the variables appear to be useful in advancing knowledge about perceived social risk and buying behaviour in relation to retail store choice among Generation Y female university students. Recommendations as well as limitations and avenues for future reach are alluded to.

Keywords

• Generation Y, Buying behaviour, Perceived social risk, Retail store choice