Alet C Erasmus

Gordon Institute of Business Science University of Pretoria

Multi-method research was conducted in South Africa to explore the personal values that shape millennial men's clothing retail store choices when purchasing semi-formal/ smart workwear for themselves. The qualitative phase comprised in-depth, personal interviews with 25 participants, implementing soft laddering to elicit the preferred attributes an...

Many established clothing brands did not survive the global COVID‐19 pandemic, while some unexpectedly departed from countries such as South Africa which is a gateway for clothing imports in Africa. This raised questions about consumers' legitimacy perceptions of clothing brands, hence brands' worthiness of support during trying times. This study s...

Crowdfunding has the potential to change the historic standards of the financial services industry and reduce gaps between supply and demand economics. Over the past ten years, it has received increasing attention. However, the potential that crowdfunding holds in less fortunate economic contexts where SMEs are probably needed the most has not yet...

Researchers often depend on humans to share their opinions, perceptions, experiences, or expertise concerning particular matters, which is a daunting task. As the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) continues to change the way we do things, electronic data collection is becoming a more viable alternative considering consumers' increased c...

Over time, researchers have explored and used diverse methodologies and innovative techniques to gain a better understanding of consumer behaviour. The laddering technique, in particular, has drawn considerable interest in recent years. Scholars across various fields have produced valuable findings using the Association Pattern Technique (APT) as a...

Food literacy has been advocated by many recent researchers as an individual or society’s ability to better interact with their food and nutritional needs. These researchers maintain that current illnesses resulting from our lost ability to maintain good health by interacting sensibly with our food intake, can be ‘reclaimed’ if individuals and soci...

Orientation: Experiential settings are becoming more popular to differentiate conventional brick-and-mortar retailing which now faces fierce competition from multiple other retail platforms. Research purpose: The study aims to identify and explain the internal driving forces that positively predict consumers’ impulsive behaviour in experiential re...

As an emerging economy, South Africa (SA) is characterised by a growing economy and increased consumption levels that have harmful environmental consequences. Currently, SA produces among the highest greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) in the world (OECD, 2013) and its energy needs surpass that of several developing co...

Introduction: In this technological age, products constantly change to reflect scientific progress and to give industry a competitive edge in terms of products’ exclusiveness and product differentiation. Unfortunately consumers do not always understand the implications of sophisticated technologies that are introduced to the market. From the perspe...

Many researchers have devoted much time and effort to explain the undesirable health outcomes associated with an excessive intake of certain types of fast foods. Particularly vulnerable, are young adults who move out of their parents' homes to live on their own, and then begin to rely on the multitude of so‐called “food away from home” options whic...

This study aimed to describe consumers’ retrospective satisfaction with food labels within the expectancy (dis)confirmation paradigm and to investigate the likelihood of food labels influencing consumers’ product choices. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional survey approach was followed to explore and describe consumers’ satisfaction with a...

Town houses or cluster homes refer to housing developments where the exterior façade of adjacent units are architecturally identical or very similar. A pertinent disadvantage of this type of tenure is that residents are not allowed to alter the exterior of their homes to reflect personal differences. This study focussed on the probability that resi...

The investigation referred to consumers' purchase of a fairly complex household product focusing on consumers' persuasion knowledge as a possible indication of consumers' self-confidence, a personal characteristic that has largely been neglected in consumer behaviour literature to date. The sample comprised 461 experienced consumers who were recrui...

Three emotional and three cognitive aesthetic indicators that affected the way consumers viewed purposely styled images and subsequently how these image aesthetics influenced their behavioural intent. The assumption was that food stylists could alter image content in order to positively affect consumers’ behavioural intent, bettering the use of foo...

This study investigated consumers' fresh produce purchasing and consumption practices and their tacit and explicit knowledge of climate change to indicate their potential to take efforts to mitigate climate change seriously. Findings of a survey confirmed that consumers fail to comprehend the implication of their unrealistic demands on retail. ABST...

At present, the South African (SA) energy supply per person surpasses that of several developing countries in the world notwithstanding the energy crisis in the country and the evidence that SA produces among the highest greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) in the world. The problem is aggravated by an increased demand...

Climate change is an issue recognized not only by developed countries but also emerging economies such as South Africa (SA). With the number one trend for 2014, ‘limiting food waste’ is proclaimed key in curbing climate change. In SA, 31% of food, mostly fresh produce, is wasted annually notwithstanding that more sustainable consumption of this com...

Theoretically, private labels should benefit lower income consumers by saving them money. South Africa is an emerging country with high unemployment rates where consumers could benefit from purchasing value for money private labels. Although the market share of private labels has risen in this country, it has not achieved the success of global coun...

ABSTRACT: Theoretically, private labels should benefit lower income consumers by saving them money. South Africa is an emerging country with high unemployment rates where consumers could benefit from purchasing value for money private labels. Although the market share of private labels has risen in this country, it has not achieved the success of g...

This study provides evidence of consumers’ perception of the complexity of a variety of product/service decisions in terms of a complexity continuum and indicates how such categorization is influenced by specific demographic characteristics, specifically gender, age and education level that are predominant in terms of consumer socialisation. A surv...

This study provides evidence of consumers׳ perception of the complexity of a variety of product/service decisions in terms of a complexity continuum and indicates how such categorisation is influenced by specific demographic characteristics, specifically gender, age and education level that are predominant in terms of consumer socialisation. A surv...

Empirical evidence regarding pro-environmental motivation and intent almost exclusively addresses conditions in First-world scenarios. This study examines the role of motivational factors in emerging consumers’ environmentally significant intent and highlight the relevance of awareness of environmental issues, moral norms, guilt, subjective norms,...

This study was initiated by a project involving the renovation and renewal of an existing building in which the Student Health Services (SHS) of the University of Pretoria (UP) is accommodated. In following an EBD approach, the design process commenced by collecting facts and information. A qualitative case study was conducted to explore and descri...

Worldwide, clothing retailers that offer similar merchandise and even the same brands are flanked almost next to one another in shopping centres. Clothing retail therefore appears to be poorly differentiated, and it is not always clear why consumers prefer to patronize one store and avoid another. This study explored female consumers' expectations...

The South African major household appliance sector has shown significant growth in recent years as more previously disadvantaged consumers gain spending power and access to electricity supply. The 2008 energy crisis, which had a significant impact on the local economy was, however, a stark reminder that energy resources are not unlimited. Informati...

This paper reports on an investigative study of food magazine readers' responses when examining food images matched with aesthetic indicators. Findings could guide food stylists in compiling food images to better communicate intended messages. The Q‐sort method applied in this study is a reliable psychometric technique that involves the use of phot...

Consumers’ choice of private brands reflects distinct differences in terms of product categories, and indications are that demographic and psychographic factors are also influential in terms of the sales of private vs. national brand foods. This study investigated the relationship between selected demographic and psychographic variables and consume...

This research investigated consumers’ consideration of product attributes concerning their choice of major household appliances to explicate the pertinence of functional attributes versus other concerns such as environmental issues and status-bearing factors. A cross-sectional survey was performed amongst middle- to upper-income households in Tshwa...

In recent years fear of crime has become an important motivation for South African families to move into security estates rather than residing in free standing homes in open neighbourhoods. Those who can afford housing in security developments not only provide their families with a sense of security and safety, but also acquire a desirable lifestyl...

Abstract Although not regarded as the major culprits in terms of the degradation of the world's resources, consumers in developing countries such as South Africa should be encouraged to realize their potential contribution to save our planet. This research investigated consumers' prioritization of product choice criteria in a prominent product cate...

A worldwide increase in household debt since the turn of the century has created considerable concern about the indebtedness of households, especially those in emerging economies that have been hit particularly hard by the global economic slump. In this study, the credit consumption of consumers in Swaziland (N = 264) was investigated by means of a...

Retailers’ insatiable need to prosper in a competitive market place probably explains why certain elements of their service offering are attended to more meticulously than others. For some time now, researchers across the world have therefore shown particular interest in service quality as an indication of retailers’ service excellence. This resear...

OPSOMMING Die groot getal navorsingspublikasies oor klientediens gedurende die afgelope dekade dui op die belangrikheid van die onderwerp. Studies het onder meer getoon dat verbruikersfasilitering ‘n belangrike bydrae ten opsigte van uiteindelike verbruikerstevredenheid en veral ten opsigte van verbruikers se geneigdheid tot winkel lojaliteit, maak...

Interest in soy foods has increased with consumer awareness of its health benefits, especially with soy-related ingredients being utilized as one of the major sources of high-protein fortification. The aim of the present study was to assess South African (SA) consumers' opinion of soy and soy products through different statements on consumption, ta...

Evidence that consumers in emerging economies are more tolerant of ineffective customer service (CS), instigated an investigation into controllable elements of the service offering in a specific context in South Africa, namely, appliances sales departments in retail stores. The research aimed to identify possible shortcomings in CS amidst evidence...

This exploratory study conducted in the developing context of South Africa describes the role of extrinsic cues relating to the retailer's image and store brand in young urban consumers' choice of interior textile products. In adopting a phenomenological ap-proach, rich descriptive data reveals the significance of store atmosphere, price and qualit...

Store cards are generally much easier to obtain than most other credit systems, and are therefore afforded less respect than, for example, bank credit cards. Many consumers who adopt store cards are not necessarily competent to manage the credit limits that are so generously approved. Overspending thus seems almost inevitable. Evidence to substanti...

This was an exploratory and descriptive study of the role of social motives and consumer stereotyping in selected upcoming consumers' choice of large electrical household appliances. Symbolic interactionism served as a perspective to the study, combined with a cognitive approach. A qualitative research strategy was followed using unstructured inter...

Verbruikerstevredenheid, 'n na-aankoopevaluering dat 'n gekose produk aan 'n verbruiker se verwagtinge voldoen of dit oortref (Engel et al, 1995), word algemeen as die ideale uitkoms van verbruikersbesluitneming voorgehou. Verbruikerstevredenheid verlig die interne spanningstoestand (kognitiewe dissonansie) wat veral met die aankoop van hoë-risikop...