Developing marketing strategies for green grocers: An application of SERVQUAL

Successful food retailing depends to a significant degree on providing a positive shopping environment for consumers. The SERVQUAL format is one way of gathering information about shoppers' ideal and actual ratings of an outlet's characteristics. Three modifications of the conventional application of the questionnaire are described. Implementation of the methodology is shown to be an effective tool for a retailer to identify strengths and weaknesses with respect to patrons' evaluations of outlet characteristics. Six green grocers were selected to reflect the diversity of outlets in a state, and the survey was conducted in the spring of 2000. Results indicate consumer ratings vary by feature group for ideal, actual, and actual minus ideal subgroup scores. The information can be used to generate better store‐specific strategies to meet consumer expectations. [EconLit citations: C42, Q13.]