Measuring Food Store Image Using Kelly’s Repertory Grid

This article reports the findings of a study designed to elicit the constructs, or axial dimensions, which are used by shoppers when comparing and selecting food stores. Using Kelly's Repertory Grid, a method ideally suited to construct elicitation, a questionnaire has been devised which can be used by food retailers to measure the image both patrons and non-patrons have of their stores. Recommendations for data analysis include both simple and more complex calculation involving factor analysis and multiple regression. An important outcome of the study has been the confirmation of Repertory Grid as a valuable technique for the investigation of image; it has not been widely applied in the service industries but could be profitably used wherever image is felt to be an important factor in consumer choice behaviour.