Current theory of the consumer behaviour assumes that the consumer is a cognitive man, who during the purchase of goods and services enters the process of evaluation and selection to choose out of the current supply the product, which best satisfies his/her needs. During this process the consumer exploits information on the products, product attributes and evaluation criteria. The essence of the purchase decision-making is in the information process. The method recommended for the survey of collecting and processing information obtained from the purchasers is to ask respondents to "think loudly". During the course of purchase one makes the verbal record called "purchasing record". One applies analogous principle of "shadowing" at natural conditions. We modified this method into auto-snapshot programme and verified it in the group of 174 extramural students. These students prepared the purchasing record as a part of their study term exercise on the subject "Consumer Behaviour". They analysed their purchase from the following viewpoints: purchase type, influence of retail trade motivations, the scope of decision-making process, criteria used at the evaluation of purchasing alternatives and the applied rule of decision-making. We have chosen for this paper information gaine4d in the two groups of stores: grocery shops outside Bratislava and hypermarkets on the territory of the Slovak Republic. Special attention was paid to the two partial aspects of the purchase decision-making it the store: (a) the way of evaluation and selection of purchasing alternatives, (b) types of purchase that enable to characterise the system of purchases and the influence of motivations in the store that implement them. Criteria and rules for the decision-making. Collected purchasing records did not bring about any new information on the applied evaluation criteria related to the purchasing alternatives. Criteria deduced from the product attributes prevailed in the evaluation. Exceptionally, and with the negative impact, one appreciated the products using evaluation criteria of the purchase location in form of hygiene requirements. The occurrence of the generally applicable criterion of the country of origin was rare too. This criterion was declared by none of the respondents-customers of hypermarkets. The method of survey enabled to register the way in which purchasers utilised the evaluation results of specific product attributes for the final decision in product selection. Among decision-making procedures non-compensating rules clearly prevailed, above all the rules based on the consumer's experience. This corresponds with the consumer habits stressed by respondents of both groups of stores. Difference registered consisted in the fact, that while in the stores outside Bratislava consumer habits related both to the product and to the relevant store, in hypermarkets consumer habits related almost solely to the products and the examples of declared loyalty were rare. Due to the lower purchasing frequency and a short period of hypermarkets' existence one discovered marked elements of uncertainty in many, even regular, visitors. Stronger position among various decision criteria acquired the aspect of price. As expected we registered cases of decision-making process known as diversity seeking, above all in hypermarkets. Purchase type. When comparing the structure of purchases in hypermarkets with those carried out in food stores owned by Slovak companies outside Bratislava one discovered that purchasers in hypermarkets declared higher share of generally planned items at the expense of specially planned items. In this connection the occurrence of replacement items and purchases not executed decreased. More than 80% of items bought in hypermarkets resulted from the decision taken directly in the store. Commentaries accompanying purchasing records confirmed the assumption on the differentiated purchasing strategies. At the same time one enclosed into the category of the specially planned purchases those items that consumers decided to buy after having read the offering leaflets of business companies; that means purchases planned as a reaction to the retail trade advertising and to the activities of retail trade promotion. The evidence, however, on the frequent situation when demanded goods is temporarily missing in the store signal, that even such a purchase plan may not be carried out. Relatively mild reactions of purchasers to stock out situations and their willingness to visit the store again are not only surprising, but require also an explanation. One finds therefore as justifiable to dedicate further survey of the purchasing behaviour just to the problem of the selection of purchase location in the context with the investigation into the loyalty to the store. The experience gained by the verification of the purchasing record could be helpful to get the satisfactory answer.
