Abstract:
The survival of the businesses in the contemporary challenging business context is
assured upon the existing and potential customers’ perception. The Sri Lankan
supermarket sector has a high growth prospect and intensified competition with the
arrival of global supermarket chains into the existing competitive context. Therefore,
it is essential that they retain their existing customers’ loyalty while trying to
penetrate the market with the attraction of potential customers. Mostly, consumers
tend to have second thoughts about a purchasing decision. Therefore, the research
objectives were to identify the factors affecting consumer post-purchase cognitive
dissonance among millennials in the Sri Lankan supermarket industry and to provide
recommendations to minimize the negative effects. Using the snowball sampling
technique, the data were gathered from 198 millennials based in Sri Lankan Western
Province. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire via Online
Surveys and analysed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple linear
regression. Based on the analysed results, it can be assured that there is a significant
and positive relationship among the independent variables such as importance of a
purchasing decision, cognitive view, product quality and promotional tools, and the
dependent variable which is the consumer post purchase cognitive dissonance. The
study will benefit the supermarket owners, relevant suppliers, and marketers to take
proactive measures to minimize or eliminate the factors that result in post-purchase
cognitive dissonance.
