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University of Massachusetts Amherst
SARIS - Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems
University Store Survey (S99-C)

Executive Summary: Almost 98% of the students surveyed have visited the University Store. Of the 398 students who have visited the store, more than 55% report that they shop there at least a few times per month. The items which respondents feel it is most important to be able to purchase at the University Store are school and office supplies, calculators, UMass clothing, and greeting cards, posters and knickknacks. When asked about where they usually shop for certain categories of items, students listed the University Store as the most likely source for UMass clothing and school and office supplies. The most common reason offered for not shopping at the University Store was that the prices are too high.

On Tuesday, February 23, 1999, Project Pulse conducted a telephone survey for the University Store to evaluate students’ shopping patterns and preferences. Pulse interviewers attempted to contact 878 undergraduate students who were randomly selected by computer from the University’s database. Of these, 523 were successfully contacted and 416 (79.5%) 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 47.4%.

First, respondents were asked if they have ever visited the University store located in the Campus Center. Nearly all of the students (97.8%, n=397) have visited the store. More than half of the students who have visited the store (55.4%, n=160) report that they shop there at least a few times per month. More than three-quarters of the respondents (86.6%, n=336) said that they purchased something the last time they shopped at the University Store. Figure 1 shows 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 95.3% (n=382) said were “very important” or “somewhat important” for the store to sell. Over three-quarters of respondents feel that calculators (78.5%, n=314), UMass clothing (77.9%, n=313), and greeting cards, posters and knickknacks (76.8%, n=308) are “very” or “somewhat” important. Figure 2 shows the perceived importance of 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

Pulse interviewers asked respondents a series of questions about where in the Amherst area they usually shop for various categories of products. The University Store was the most likely source for UMass clothing (57.1% of respondents) and for school and office supplies (45.7% of respondents). Figure 3 shows the proportions of students shopping at the University Store or its closest reported competitor, and of students who say that they do not shop for that kind of item.

Figure 3. Proportions of students shopping at the University Store or its closest competitor for particular classes of items.

Finally, students who indicated that they do not usually shop for particular items at the University Store were asked their reasons for that decision. The most common response was that the prices are too high. Figure 4 summarizes the reasons students offered for each category of merchandise. Poor service was the least important response, never exceeding 3.4% for any category and generally representing less than 1% of the responses. It is therefore not included in the figure.

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

Item-by-Item