What Do People Think About Wal-Mart?

To get a better idea of what my classmates thought about Wal-Mart, I conducted in in-class survey with the following questions:

How often do you shop at Wal-Mart? ___More than once a week ___Once a week ___ 2-3 times per month ___Less often If you answered less or more often, about how often do you shop at Wal-Mart? We often hear news reports about Wal-Mart mistreating and underpaying its associates.  Do you believe that is representative of most Wal-Mart employees? ___Agree   ___Disagree Many of the products from Wal-Mart are manufactured and shipped from foreign countries such as China.  Does this affect your decision for shopping at Wal-Mart? ___Yes   ___No             What is your reasoning? Which of Wal-Mart’s competitors (Target, Whole Foods, Costco) do you also shop at and which do you prefer?

Keep in mind that this survey was conducted with a very limited sample (with a classroom size of about 30 people). Also keep in mind that it was conducted at De Anza College in Cupertino, California.  According to the Census Bureau, the median household income in Cupertino is $120,201. 

(source: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0617610.html) 

Having mentioned this, the results of the survey are as follows:

As you see, the majority of my classmates shop at Wal-Mart less often.  In fact, several of them even commented that they NEVER shop at Wal-Mart.  Not a single person visits more than once a week and only one person in the entire class visits once a week.

Do You Believe That is Representative of Wal-Mart Employees?

Over two-thirds of the class believes that mistreating and under-paying employees is fairly normal at Wal-Mart.

This time, over two-thirds of the class decided that the fact that Wal-Mart sells many products manufactured overseas in countries like China does not affect their decision for shopping there.  Here are some of the interesting explanations of why or why not people decided shopping there:

No	“They’re cheap so I doubt their quality.”
	“Wal-Mart is monopolizing small towns and they are not good for the economy.”
	“I know that those individuals in Asia and other countries are exploited.  I don’t like that.”

Yes	“If I can get to choose, I would prefer other countries than China but I know it’s impossible and almost everything’s
	produced in China.”
	“Because almost everything is from China.”
	“Wal-Mart is a business and foreign products allow more profits.”

[primary research]