M&S Hits the Spot according to TNS Survey 16/6/00 The beleaguered high street retailer will be suitably cheered by findings from a new attitudinal survey from Taylor Nelson Sofres. This reveals that Marks & Spencer's customers donšt mind paying more for quality and believe that M&S food is of higher quality than other retailers'. The survey, "Insight into Marks & Spencer", questioned 1,600 M&S food shoppers on how much they spend in M&S, what their food shopping habits are, and what their attitudes are to shopping at the store. The survey, which runs twice a year, focuses on the high-spending M&S shopper who is, typically, older, more upmarket and living in a one or two-person households. They are also defined as a group who spends 25% of their total grocery spend in M&S, and 55% of them spend more than £15 per visit, while 79% of them visit the retailer for food more than once a week. "Trust", "quality" and "choice" are the three most important factors for the M&S shopper. 72% agreed with the statement "you can trust M&S food"; 64% agreed that the food is of a higher quality than that of other retailers'; and 59% claimed they don't mind paying more for that quality. Over half the respondents (63%) agreed that they like the choice available, although 23% wished there was more of a selection to choose from.