GOODRICH KENDALL 10:

RESEARCH STUDY THAT EXAMINES IF THE PLACEMENT

OF PRODUCTS OR INCENTIVES
PLAY A ROLE IN A CONSUMERS BEHAVIOR

Prepared for
Brian Wester
Goodrich Kendall 10 Theater

Prepared by
Stephanie Batterson
Marina Nuckles
Erin Silkowski

April, 2014

Table of Contents
Kendall 10

Page

Executive Summary

iv

Introduction

Research Questions

Method

Results
Interview

Observation

Focus Groups

Conclusions and Recommendations

13

References

16

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Executive Summary
The basis of the research was designed to uncover answers for the store manager of
Kendall 10. Kendall 10 is a movie theater located in Oswego, IL. They cater to the surrounding
areas. An interview was conducted with the store manager, Brian Wester, and the topic that came
up most often was the placement of candy and if the placement affects the purchasing process.
There were seven observations total and purchasing patterns were looked for when buying
candy. Later focus groups were conducted there were 22 people who participated. The questions
asked participants about the way they make purchases at the theater, what they do when they
purchase candy, and after being shown two pictures of differently placed candy, which candy
stuck out the most. The objectives sought during the interview, observations and focus groups
are as follows; product placement and how it affects consumer purchasing, incentives and if they
have an impact on candy purchases, and the actual packaging of the product and how appealing
it is to the consumer.
After analyzing our data we discovered that consumers were more likely to purchase
candy if it was offered with some type of incentive, consumers were more likely to purchase
candy if they had an outside influence, and packaging does have an effect on consumers when
they are looking directly at the candy case. We also found students prefer not to purchase candy
at all and would rather bring candy in from an outside source and focus group respondents who
were 40+ only purchased candy if the theater stocked their favorite.

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Introduction
Many Americans have different types of pastimes; one of those pastimes may be going to
the movie theater. When going to the theater, after buying the tickets, many may go straight to
the concession stand and get their favorite snack to have while watching the movie. The
concession stand has so many choices though, so how does one decide? Do they go with their
favorite snack, what sounds good at the time, or what the cheapest item on the menu is? This
decision that they are making may depend all on how the items are presented to them, or the
placement of the items. Choosing what type of candy one may want from the concession stand
could be decided by how the candy is placed, or presented to the customers. The decision could
also be decided by impulse, or by what color of packaging is more appealing to the customer.
While visiting a movie theater many get their go to item at the concession stand,
popcorn, but there is also always an array of candy. Moviegoers are starting to notice the candy
though, and the sales of candy have been growing over the last few years (Lindell, 2011). This
number could start to grow even more, if theaters focus on the placement of the candy as well as
offering incentives. Placement of the candy can be more powerful than consumers believe. The
way consumers view the candy could possibly set off a positive effect, or a negative effect. This
effect could be influenced by the emotions felt towards the candy. For example, when a
consumer sees a Sour Patch Kids commercial and has a positive emotion towards the
commercial, the effect of seeing the candy would be positive. Zimmerman (2013) states,
emotions experienced while watching a commercial are transferred to products placed in the
commercial. This could also transfer to the candy that is around this one certain type of candy.
Meaning, movie theater operators need to be paying attention to the reputation of the types of
candy and what other candies they are placed by.
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Another way the placement of candy could influence consumers to make a purchase,
could be placing the candy outside of the cases. If moviegoers are able to grab the candy they
want and go, this seem more appealing to choose candy. Having the candy on a rack presented to
the consumer could possibly lead to more impulsive buying as well. Lindell (2011) writes, the
candy somehow looks more real when its out on the rack near the customer. With customers
thinking the candy is more real, they may be willing to purchase the product. Customers may
also be able to think about what the candy is going to taste like in their mouths, or what
memories they have that relate to the candy. This also leads to temptation. Our culture of
consumption leads us to surrender to temptation and purchase something without considering the
consequences of the buy (Zimmerman, 2012). Purchasing the candy may be negative to ones
wallet or diet, but the impulse to buy the candy is just too strong. With placing the candy on a
rack outside the case, the candy would be more in the sight of the customers. Having the candy
outside the case can help with making out what the different products are, as well as what the
products actually are.
Next, color of packaging can also influence how the customer makes a decision to purchase
candy. The brightly colored packaged products are more likely to catch the eye of the consumers.
Different colors on the packages could also tap into the consumers feelings and emotions.
Certain colors are meant to bring out a feeling or sense in a person, such as, red maybe making
one hungry. Packages that appeal to these senses are more likely to be chosen. Managers should
be aware of how colors play a role in placement as well. Pomoni (2011) writes, certain products
gain increased marketability because of color. Because of this, maybe the more colorful
packaged candy should be around the dull colored products helping them stand out. Pomoni
(2011) also writes, Consumers classify products into expensive and below average based on
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color. Managers should take this into account as well, by using the brighter colored packages to
blend in with the others so they all appear similar.

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Research Questions
General Questions
1.

What do you most often purchase when you go to the theater?

2.

What theater do you most often visit and why?

3.

Does the amount of calories in theater items influence your purchasing decisions? Why?

4.

If popcorn was not an option, what would be the next item you would buy?

5.

What type of candy do you prefer (ex. chocolate, gummy, sour, caramel)?

6.

Do you typically know what type of candy you want to purchase before you even get to the
theater?

7.

What influences you to pick the candy that you purchase at the theater?

8.

Does price play a factor in your purchase? If yes, why?

9.

Does the theater you attend stock your favorite candy? If no, what would you suggest?

10. Do other people you see movies with influence you when purchasing candy?
11. Would you be more likely to purchase candy if it was offered with some type of incentive?
12. Do you buy candy with the intent to mix it with another food? (ex. popcorn and snocaps)
Picture of Candy: The participants will be shown a picture of the candy cases from two different
situations. The cases will be arranged based upon the findings from our observations.
1.

Show a picture of the candy case from least popular candy to most popular and ask the
participants which candy their eye is drawn to first. (Have them write on the survey) *see
demographic survey*

2.

Show a picture of the candy case from the most popular to least popular candy and ask the
participants which candy their eye is drawn to first. (Have them write on the survey)

3.

In both of the pictures shown, was your eye drawn to the same candy?
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4.

Were you looking for your favorite candy?

5.

Did the order of the candy change your perspective?

6.

Did you notice a candy you have never seen before at a theater?

7.

What made you draw your attention to the candy you selected and wrote on the survey?
Demographic Questionnaire
Age: ________

Gender: (a) Male

(b) Female

Annual Income:
(a)

Under $9,999

(d) $50,000-$69,999

(b) $10,000-$29,999

(c) $30,000-$49,999

(e) $70,000-$89,999

(f) $90,000+

How often do you visit a theater near you?

(a)

Once Weekly

(d) Yearly

(b) More than once weekly

(c) Monthly

(e) Never

Do you normally purchase candy with your concessions?

(a)

Yes

(b) No

Candy Case 1: ______________________________________________________

Candy Case 2: ______________________________________________________

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Method
The approach to our method was to work with a company that would allow us to hypothesize
different consumer behaviors, so the store manager at Kendall 10 would be able to choose from
one or have examples to come up with his own idea. We proposed this list to Brian Wester,
theater manager at Kendall 10, and he was able to choose a few subjects. Some of the consumer
behaviors proposed to Brian, and a few subjects he came up with himself, were Candy
Placement, Lighting, Placement of Games, and Flyer Size. From here this allowed us to focus in
on one particular subject and we choose candy placement and if its position affects the way
consumers purchase it. When the interview was over, we then started our observations which
allowed us to see which types of people were buying candy and what times they were doing it.
The information from our observations allowed us to type up a script for the focus group. Three
focus groups were conducted, all from different categories of people. When the focus groups
were completed, we analyzed the data to give us a better understanding of the topic. All of the
information we collected allowed us to make recommendations for Kendall 10 and also how they
should proceed with future research.

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Results
Interview
The interview with Brian Wester, the manager at Kendall 10 took place on February 25,
around 11:30am. The theater manager, Brian Wester, kindly agreed to take time to help us with
our consumer behavior interview, observation and focus group project. The topic Wester agreed
to let us observe was, Does the placement of product or incentives plays a role in a consumers
behavior?, in the concession stand. Our interview consisted of eight questions. Our main focus
of the interview was to ask about the different ways they have tried to market candy and how,
currently, they have their cases set up to better serve the consumer. We asked how often you
change the display arrangement of your candy, if ever. Brian said, We change the candy in the
display when we get rid of a candy or get a new one. The candy is only displayed in a way that it
fits in the case. We then asked Brian what the top three candies selling were, to see if there
would be any fluctuation during our observations. The top selling candies are, (1) Sour Patch
Kids, (2) Buncha Crunch, and (3) Sour Patch Watermelon, we also made the observation all
three of these candies are located on the middle shelf on the candy display. When asked if the
theater would stop selling a particular candy if it were not performing as well as the others, Brian
said the decision would not be up to the theater alone, it would have to be a corporate decision to
be implemented theater-wide. The next question asked if there was any reasoning for the way the
candy is displayed now. The candy was only displayed how it fit best in the case. Brian was then
asked if Kendall 10 would be willing to display candy a different way outside of the case. He
said, Yes, depending on what the display was and who was paying for it, Kendall 10 would be
willing to showcase a different candy and test results of sales. Next we dove into if customers
would be more inclined to purchase candy if it was an incentive. Brian then said that Kendall
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does have a promotion where customers can purchase a large drink and popcorn and receive a
particular candy for free. Most times Nestle is partnered with because discounts are given on the
candy when the offer is taking place. We asked what age groups were seen most often
purchasing candy. Brian shared that he most often saw parents buying candy for their children.
He also noticed that when children come without an adult and purchase concessions, that they
will buy an Icee and a package of candy. He said that young adults and adults will purchase a
drink popcorn and possible a nacho, pretzel or hotdog and older couples will only purchase a
popcorn. Finally, to conclude the interview, we asked Brian what candy he would like to see
come to Kendall. He said he would like to see Junior Mints be a regular. Many customers ask for
Junior Mints and he believes that the sales would be easily made.
Observation
The observations took place from March 1, 2014 to March 17, 2014. From March 1 to March 7
we observed how customers make candy purchases set up as Kendall has always had their candy
displayed. From this data we re-organized the candy from the most bought candy to the least
bought candy. The candy was set up this way from March 8 to March 12. On March 13 the
candy was flipped. The cases reflected the least bought candy to the most bought candy. The
candy was displayed this way until March 17. We first observed on a Wednesday night, no candy
was sold during this time. The customers bought their tickets, moved to the concession line, and
purchased their popcorn and pop. The second observation conducted was on a Friday night
around 7pm. It was very busy and there were a lot of families attending the movies. Half of
theater attendees purchased candy, either for themselves or for their children. The parents bought
primarily M&Ms plain and Twizzlers. Teenagers came to the theater this night and purchased
primarily Sour Patch Kids and Sour Patch Watermelon; a total of six were bought during this
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time period. On Sunday we observed at 4pm. During this time the theater offered discounted
ticket sales to all customers, regardless of age. Sunday we observed many families with children
at least under the age of 12 attended. We observed families with smaller children, around 6 and
under, would purchase M&M Peanuts. Friday the observation took place around 2 pm. We
observed, during this time many mothers would bring their preschool aged children. The candy
purchased most was Reeses Pieces (2), Sqworms, (1), and Chewy Sweetarts (2). We also
noticed that the child had a decision in the purchasing process. For example, the mother would
say, How about M&Ms? the child would reply, No, I want Sqworms. and the decision to
purchase M&Ms were thrown out of the purchasing process. On March 16, observations took
place at 11am. This is a very active time for the movie theater. Many families attend the movies
at this time of the day on the weekend and we observed that the children were the big decision
makers when it came to deciding what candy to buy. The candy bought the most was Sweetarts
(8), Sour Patch Watermelon (4), Sour Patch Kids (4) and Sqworms (3). On Monday, March 17
the observation was at 7pm. During this time there was a wide variety mix of customers ranging
to young teens to families. There was limited candy bought during this time frame, but the most
bought candy we observed was, M&M Peanut (2), Kazoozles (2), and Sqworms (2).
Focus Groups
Three focus groups were then conducted. The first consisted of parents and their children
who were twelve or under. Group two was anyone over the age of forty. The final group was
formed of young adults, anyone between the ages of 18-25. We decided to choose these groups
because from our observations, these were the different groups of people who we saw visiting
the theater most often during different parts of the day. Questions asked made the participants go
through their purchasing process while visiting the theater.
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In the first focus group, consisting of parents and their children under 12, we saw how
much of an influence the children really had on their parents decision. We found that 100% of
participants claimed that their children did have an influence in their purchasing process when
buying candy. The parents would purchase what their child wanted, as well as the candy they
wanted. The parents expressed their favorite candy, which differed from their childs each time.
When asking questions to the first focus group, there was a lot of discussion between the
children and the parents. The children in this group were the ones to remind the parents what
purchasing decisions they made when going to the theater. When talking about what influences
the candy they get when going to the theater with friends though, the children said that they
usually get what their friends are getting. The different influences within this focus group were
very apparent. We noticed when talking to the children about the different candy at the theater,
they tended to mention the more colorful packaging candies, or the ones that were more kid
friendly. The parents in this group were more attracted to just their favorite candy, or products
similar to their favorite. The influence of thinking of their favorite candy was always on their
mind. While with the children, when looking at all the candy, many different candies were on
their mind. As for placement when the parents were asked questions about the candy case, they
seemed to mention that they were looking more in the middle of the candy case rather than what
candy caught their eye. The kids discussed looking at the two candy cases differently. When
looking at the two cases the candy that caught their eye was based more on color. Sometimes the
kids just picked their favorite candy even though they were instructed not to. A few common
themes found in the focus groups are as follows, 86% of participants visit the theater monthly
and 14% visit at least once a week. When asked if they purchase candy or not, four out of seven
participants said yes, and three said no. In the demographic survey, the average income,
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excluding children, was $53,750. When participants from this focus group were asked to look
quickly at pictures of two candy cases with the candy set up differently, they were asked to look
at the picture and write down what candy they saw first. The most popular candies for case 1
were, M&M Plain and Sour Patch Kids. In the second case, Sour Patch Kids and Skittles were
the most popular, respectively.
In the second focus group, participants who were 40+ were asked about their candy
preferences at the movies. Participants of this group either had children that were over the age of
13, or had grandchildren. There were four females and three males that participated in this focus
group. The average annual income for this group was $68,400. When asked how often they
patronize the theater, five said they go yearly, and three said they visit the theater monthly. When
asked if they normally purchase candy at the theater, six of them said no, unless they were with
children or grandchildren, and only one said yes. This group seemed to be more similar to the
first group, because of the influences that were involved. The grandparents in the group were
basing a lot of their answers on how their grandchildren picked the candy, because the theaters
they visit do not stock their favorite candy. Their decisions were highly persuaded by the candy
their child or grandchildren wanted rather than their favorite. This 40+ focus group was also
particular about candy being an incentive. The candy being offered as an incentive, for example
if one were to buy a large drink/popcorn and getting a specific candy for free, would only make a
difference if it was one they personally enjoyed. As for the placement of the candy, this group
also just looked at the middle of the candy cases. The most popular candy for looking at case 1
was M&M Plain and for candy case 2, Skittles.
The final focus group consisted of participants from the ages 16-25. There were five
women and three men. 62% of participants visit the theater monthly, 25% visit yearly and 13%
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visit more than once weekly. The average annual income for the participants in this focus group
was $27,125. 100% of participants claimed they do not purchase candy when they visit the
theater. These responses differed from the other two groups. With their responses, we found
participants were set in their ways and only had one main outside influence when it came to
picking candy at the theater, if someone else was buying and they had to compromise. During the
focus group, participants did admit to being cheap and not wanting to buy candy at the theater.
The students chose to buy the lower priced candy beforehand and bring it in. Some of the
participants did say they bought candy from the theater, but it is always the same candy when
they do. This made it obvious to us that many consumers do not pay attention to the placement of
the candy. If the theater has the consumers favorite candy, that is what they are going to get.
Again when it came to the placement of the candy in the cases, many of the students said that
they just focused on the middle of the picture shown. This shows that if the candy case at the
theater did not supply the students favorite candy, their attention would be drawn more to the
middle of a case, possibly choosing a candy from that section. The most popular candy chosen
from candy case 1 was Sour Patch Kids and M&M Plain. From candy case 2, Sour Patch Kids
were chosen again. When asked if the participants would be more inclined to purchase candy if it
was offered as an incentive, all participants said they would buy the upgraded popcorn/pop to get
the free candy. This was interesting, based on the fact that all of the members of the focus group
were set on their favorite candy at the theater.

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Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion
After analyzing the results, we found that the arrangement of the candy in the cases does
not have an effect on the consumer behavior. The percentages throughout the weeks were too
close to determine whether the candy should be displayed a certain way in the candy cases. We
did see the best variety of sales come from the week the candy was displayed from the most
bought candy to least bought candy. That week there were multiple candies that made a jump in
sales, but the top selling candies were almost always consistent. The data has shown that Sour
Patch Kids, Sour Patch Watermelon and Buncha Crunch almost always have been shown in the
top five candies sold.
The focus groups gave us insight that placement of candy does make a difference when a
consumer is shown the candy and asked to look for the candy that most catches their attention.
Any candy that was placed on the middle and bottom shelf was seen first. Participants said that
they noticed those particular candies first because of the packaging and also the ease of reading
the name of the candy. Price also plays a little role and the choice of the candy because
consumers are there to have a good time and are willing to splurge for a day out of the house.
Based on the answers we were given, it may be best to put the candy that the theater wants to sell
more of on the middle shelf, and more popular candies on the top shelves and around the sides of
the less popular candy.

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Implications
With the research that was conducted, we noticed many implications. The first
implication was the packaging of candy had played a role in the choosing of the candy during the
focus group. Also during the focus group, the participants always had their favorite candy on
their mind. When shown the picture of the candy case, the participants were told not to look for
their favorite candy; they ended up doing so anyways. The brighter color of the packages
naturally attracts the eye of the consumer. The next was that students did not purchase candy at
the theater because of the high price and their low income. The students would purchase from an
outside source and bring or sneak the candy into the theater.
Recommendations
As a group we would recommend a couple of actions that Kendall 10 could take with the
placement and sales of candy. The first recommendation, for placement, was taking the candy
out of the case. The candy being placed out of the case may be more appealing to the customers.
When the customer is making a purchase, they are not looking down at the candy, but up toward
the deals on the wall. Bringing the candy out of the case could also help the customers make out
the candy actually is, in focus groups, many participants claim the packaging was hard to read
because the boxes were so small. With the candy in the case, the glass can distort pictures or
words on the box making it hard to recognize. The chance of an impulsive candy decision may
also be improved if the candy is out and presented right in front of the customer. The second
recommendation for placement is moving the candy case higher into the customers line of
vision. With the bright colors of the candy packaging, mixed with the lighting in the case, this
could catch the eye of more customers. This placement of the case could also lead to more
impulsive candy buying decisions by being where the customers eyes are the most. Kendall 10
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can also offer an incentive that included candy such as, buy a large drink and large popcorn, and
receive a free box of a particular candy. Depending on the candy being offered, more consumers
would be inclined to make the bigger purchase.
Further Research
For further research, we recommend that Kendall 10 looks into the buying power of their
consumers and how that influences their theatre purchases. These buying power influences
could include children and grandchildren as well as peers and family members. Another issue
that Kendall 10 can further research is the use of a paired deal such as buying a popcorn and
getting a box of candy free. This could include changing which type of candy would be offered
in the deal. This was shown in our focus groups that this type of deal came with high interest.
And the final topic that we see that could use some further research is that if the change of the
candy cases over time plays a significant role in the candy purchases.

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