Parameter Stability in Cross-Sectional Models of Ethnic Shopping Behaviour

Various research projects in the past have attempted to determine the extent to which individual patterns of consumer spatial behaviour may be considered to be invariant or quasi-invariant. Most notable in this regard have been those studies adopting a format of revealed space preference. However, there are difficulties associated with the use of this approach. The present endeavour offers an alternative set of analytical procedures which, although incapable of ascertaining whether spatial behaviour is invariant or otherwise, afford the researcher the opportunity to assess the degree of statistical similarity existing among observed patterns of interaction displayed by assorted groups of consumers. In this respect the present contribution may be viewed as complementing the technique of revealed space preference. The tools employed were developed by econometricians interested in testing the stability of sets of coefficients generated by different regression equations. Evidence of stability among regression parameters connected with shopping models suggests that many of the intricate problems of spatial consumer behaviour may possibly be simplified to more manageable proportions. An empirical investigation of the utility of these econometric methodologies was made in an examination of the significance of a number of selected factors on the spatial allocation of grocery expenditures by four ethnically diverse groups of consumers in Kingston, Jamaica. The substantive results concerning the determinants of ethnic budget behaviour are discussed, together with the processes involved in reducing the initial complexity of the shopping problem under scrutiny.