THE FACTORS AFFECTING POST-PURCHASE CONSUMER DISSONANCE AMONG MILLENNIALS: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SRI LANKAN SUPERMARKET SECTOR

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.