Functional Illiteracy and Coping Mechanism : A Study on Functionally Illiterate Consumers’ Decision Making

Purpose: To manage the self-service concept in the retail outlets, a better functional and structural knowledge is required which functionally illiterate consumers do not show, leading to face marketplace challenges, thereby ending up developing a coping mechanism (Viswanathan et al, 2005:15). Functionally illiterate consumers apply certain decision rules as coping mechanisms. (Viswanathan et al 2005:22). The study's goal is to identify the coping strategies employed by consumer groups who are functionally illiterate. Design/methodology/approach: The study was cross-sectional in nature. To unearth the coping mechanism used by such consumer groups, an interviewer administered questionnaire was employed. The respondents were qualified for the main study using the results of a screening exam. The convenient sampling was considered most suitable. Questionnaire items were adopted from the study on females purchase behavior in Botswana (Morapane, 2012)Findings: The findings showed that consumers created coping mechanisms to deal with issues in the marketplace. Through such tactics, they demonstrated a desire in changing the status quo. In terms of the coping strategies employed by functionally illiterate consumers in the marketplace, Consumers appeared to use both confrontative and avoidant coping mechanisms. Originality/value: The current study uncovers the coping strategies employed by functionally illiterate consumers when they encounter challenges related to marketing mix elements while taking purchase decisions for food products