Attitudes Towards and Satisfaction with Cooperatives in Alberta: A Survey Analysis

The purpose of the study is to assess the attitude towards, and satisfaction of residents of Alberta to their cooperatives. A mailed questionnaire to 1500 Alberta residents, with a 16% response rate is analyzed using Likert scales and the theory of planned behavior. The majority of the respondents are males, aged 45 or older, and earn incomes of $49,000 or less. They are reasonably educated with a high school, college or university degrees. Results of the analysis also show a population that has a general positive attitude towards and is satisfied with their cooperatives as is reflected in assessing the performance of their cooperatives as good. Further analysis using the theory of planned behaviour show that respondents' attitude towards their cooperatives is the single most important and significant predictor of their patronization behaviour. However, there are still issues of concern to be addressed for current and past members. These include the inability of management to include members in the decision making process as well as issues of member training and education for the current members, and for the former members who left because they found the experience not rewarding or unable to use the services of their cooperatives when they moved.