3 - 9 August 2000

Standard Publications survey on Sunday shopping

64 per cent in favour of Sunday shopping

by David Kelleher

Nearly 64 per cent of respondents in a survey said they would like certain shops to open on a Sunday, with 35.7 per against and 0.7 per cent undecided.

The survey found that in terms of gender, males were proportionately more in favour than their female counterparts (74.7 per cent vs 59.4 per cent respectively). Younger people were also more in favour of Sunday shopping, but as many as 52 per cent aged over 65 said they agreed shops should open as well.

When respondents were asked whether Sunday shopping would have a negative effect on religious and family life, 17.6 per cent said that it would negatively affect the religious life of the Maltese while and 24.7 per cent said it would negatively affect family life.

The survey was carried among 300 telephone interviewees during the last week of June. Speaking to The Malta Business Weekly, Prof. Mario Vassallo, who was commissioned by Standard Publications - publishers of The Malta Business Weekly, The Malta Independent and The Malta Independent on Sunday - to conduct the study, said that the results were indicative of a change in shopping culture in Malta.

"The report certainly indicates that there is a change in the culture. The results show that the preoccupation that taking away Sunday will negatively affect the people's religious and family life is not as high as one may have expected," Prof. Vassallo said.

In fact a number of respondents remarked that family life could be strengthened if its members manage to go shopping together, as they would be able to do on a Sunday.

"The study also highlighted certain social patterns in shopping behaviour that are related to socio-economic status. Different age groups have different wishes and want different types of shops to open on a Sunday," he added.

The survey was based on a set of 300 telephone interviews in Malta and Gozo, which represent all the households that have a telephone installed in Malta.

Prof. Vassallo explained that a telephone interview has a slightly higher sampling error than a person-to-person house-based study, but the system how calls were made ensured that everybody has an equal chance to be selected. The sampling error for this type of study ranges between (2.5 and five per cent).

Although interviews were generally held with the person who answered the phone, a number of male respondents preferred to refer the call to a female respondent in their household when the subject of the call was explained. In fact, of the total respondents in the sample, 72.3 per cent were female.

"The sample profile is a good representation of all the socio-economic groups and of the different age groups. In respect of gender, however, the sample is weighted towards females. This is not surprising as many of the male respondents passed the call to a female in the house. This shows that in Malta, the female is still the person most likely to be responsible for the family shopping and related activities," Prof. Vassallo told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Sources for routine shopping

A total 42.7 per cent said they preferred small shops, 34 per cent, small supermarkets, 38 per cent used large supermarkets, while only 2.3 per cent said they used the open air markets for the shopping needs.

Respondents were asked which outlets they considered to be a necessity on Sunday. Pharmacies, confectioneries and stationeries were among the outlets highest in demand at 96.3 per cent, 78.3 per cent and 73.7 per cent respectively.

The demand for supermarkets to open on Sunday was also relatively high at 59 per cent.

Those in low demand were butchers (10.7 per cent), pet shops (14 per cent), greengrocers (17.3 per cent) and grocers (28 per cent). There are some interesting details however when the results are examined in detail.

Sunday shopping and Maltese mores

"Respondents were first asked three separate but general questions on their views on Sunday shopping; the first was whether shops should open on Sundays. They were then asked whether Sunday shopping would negatively affect the religious life and custom of the Maltese and whether Sunday shopping would negatively affect family life," Prof. Vassallo said.

"What is interesting in the replies to the first question is that while socio-economic grouping and female gainful employment are not significant factors, newspaper readership is," he added.

The highest incidence of those who agree that shops should not open on a Sunday is to be found among readers of Il-Mument, 53.3 per cent against a total average of 35.7 per cent. The highest percentage of those in favour of Sunday shopping are among readers of The Malta Independent (71.9 per cent).

34.6 per cent of those who do not want shops on Sunday to open believe it will have a negative effect on religious life. However, only 8.4 per cent of those in favour of Sunday shopping said it will affect religious life in a negative way. These figures add up to 18.8 per cent of all Maltese believing that Sunday shopping is bad for the practice of religion.

Interestingly enough, in both groups of respondents, the highest incidence is recorded among those who read Il-Mument on Sunday (with 62.5 per cent and 28.6 per cent respectively), and are followed by readers of The Sunday Times (with 53.3 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively).

Similar results were obtained from respondents on the issue of family life. 44.9 per cent of those who do not agree with Sunday shopping said it would affect family life in a bad way. In addition, among those who agreed to Sunday shopping another 13.6 per cent also admitted that it would negatively affect family life. Among those who disagree that shops should open on a Sunday, the highest percentage (75 per cent) was recorded by readers of Il-Mument. Similarly, from the group who oppose Sunday shopping, 43.3 per cent and 55.6 per cent said that they read Sunday Times and The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Highlights of the survey