What consumers really want: InterMopro, InterCool, InterMeat 2012 and LZ commission a consumer study

The study "Germany at the counter” provides surprising insights on the topic of sales and pre-pack counters as well as self-service shelves.


The international trade fairs InterMopro (dairy products), InterCool (frozen foods, ice cream, technology) and InterMeat (meat and sausages) 2012, held from 23 to 25 September 2012 in Düsseldorf, do not rely on general trend reports, but are rather becoming active themselves. Together with the food magazine Lebensmittelzeitung, Messe Düsseldorf commissioned Rheingold, a renowned institute for qualitative market analysis, to conduct the study “Germany at the counter”. It is the main objective of the study to gather surprising consumer insights on the topic of “the counter”, whereby the consumer behaviour at service and pre-pack counters as well as at the self-service shelves will be examined.

The results of the study will be presented at the trade fairs in September 2012. They are meant to provide the retail trade with input regarding best practice examples and offer a strategic assessment of existing counter staging options. The survey will focus on three main topics: 1. The psychology of counter shapes, 2. Product focusing within one counter segment (differences between cheese and meat at the service counter) and 3. Integration of the counters into various trade landscapes and their specific purchasing conditions (for example, the Aldi self-service counter versus the Edeka self-service counter).

It is intended to psychologically differentiate the basic counter worlds, such as service counter, pre-pack counter and self-service shelf, from the consumers’ point of view. On the one hand, expectations, fears, requirements, desires and hopes in connection with the counter worlds will be examined, and on the other hand, implicit and explicit staging rules within the different worlds will be revealed.

The integration of the counter shapes and their product worlds into the retail landscapes and the corresponding different emotional worlds and purchasing conditions shall be identified. The effects of these comprehensive retail landscapes with their emotional worlds on the staging of counters shall be captured from the consumers’ point of view and provide retailers with important know how for their market design.

Further information is available online at
- http://www.intermopro.de
- http://www.intercool.de
- http://www.intermeat.de