Perceived Risk in Grocery Outlet Selection: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia.

More than two decades ago in his now-classic work Bauer provided a thought-provoking conceptualisation of consumer behaviour. Bauer proposed that, "consumer behaviour involves risk in the sense that any action of a consumer will produce consequences which he cannot anticipate with anything approximating certainty, and some of which at least are likely to be unpleasant"[l]. Because consumers may be uncertain about the outcome of a choice among alternatives and may be concerned about the consequences of a poor decision they tend to develop risk handling strategies by either reducing the consequences of failure or by increasing the certainty of outcome. Recognising that perceived risk may be a deterrent to the consumers' decisions to act when confronted with choice situations such as selection of brands or products, marketers can also take several measures to help them reduce their anxiety[2]. Since the emergence of Bauer's conceptualisation, explanation of consumer behaviour as risk taking and effectiveness of alternative risk reduction methods have been examined in a variety of situations. Perceived risk is an integral component of the contemporary models or theories of consumer behaviour[3]. The purpose of this study is to assess if perceived risk is a determinant of supermarket patronage by using Saudi Arabia as a case in point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]