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University of Massachusetts Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems
University Store Survey (S98-E)

Executive Summary: Over 98% of the students surveyed have visited the University Store located in the Campus Center. Of these 462 students, more than 55% shop at the Store at least a few times per month. The most popular items purchased at the University Store are UMass clothing, computers, software and accessories, school and office supplies, and art supplies. The most common reasons offered for not shopping at the University Store were that the prices are too high and that the store is inconvenient.

On Tuesday, March 24, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey for the University Store to evaluate students' shopping patterns and preferences. Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 990 undergraduate students who were randomly selected by computer from the University’s database. Of these, 598 were successfully contacted and 469 (78.4%) agreed to be interviewed. See Table 1 for the final disposition of the sample and Table 2 for a demographic summary of the respondents. The response rate for the survey was 47%.

First, respondents were asked if they had ever visited the University Store located in the Campus Center. Nearly all of the students (98.5%, n=462) had visited the store. More than half of the students who had visited the store (55.6%, n=257) shop there at least a few times per month. More than three-quarters of the respondents (81.1%, n=369) reported having purchased something the last time that they shopped at the University Store. Figure 1 indicates the frequency with which students shop at the University Store.

Figure 1. Frequency with which students shop at the University Store.

PRODUCTS
The next battery of questions asked students to indicate how important it is to them that the University Store sell certain types of products. The most important products that students identified were school and office supplies, which 95.1% (n=444) said are very important or somewhat important for the store to sell. Four-fifths of the students feel that greeting cards, posters, and knickknacks (79.2%, n=369) and personal hygiene products, health products and beauty aids (79.1%, n=368) are very important or somewhat important. Figure 2 shows all of the products that Pulse Interviewers asked students about.

Figure 2. How important is it to you that the University Store sells each type of item?
(those saying "very important")

SHOPPING PREFERENCES
The next battery of questions asked students about their shopping preferences in the Amherst area.
Slightly more than four-fifths (82.5%, n=373) of students surveyed said that when they shop for health and beauty items, they usually go to CVS, while only 3.3% (n=15) go to the University Store. On the other hand, 77.6% (n=239) of respondents usually shop at the University Store for UMass clothing. Figure 3 shows what percentage of students usually shop at the University Store for each type of item.

Figure 3. Percentage of students who usually shop at the University Store for each item.

Finally, students who indicated that they do not usually shop for particular items at the University Store were asked their reasons for shopping elsewhere. The most common responses were that prices at the University Store are too high, the store is inconvenient, and the selection is too small. Figure 4 illustrates the responses for each item type.

Figure 4. Why students do not usually shop for particular items at the University Store.

Item-by-Item