Asda and Sainsbury’s management received a grilling from MPs during a parliamentary committee, but consumers are unfazed by the mega-merger, new research suggests.

On Wednesday, the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee chair Neil Parish dragged Asda boss Roger Burnley and Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe over the coals, claiming the duo had engineered the merger for their own ends.

As part of his tirade, Parish accused the pair of providing “Mickey Mouse” figures and “cutting suppliers’ throats”.

But according to data compiled by Walnut exclusively for Retail Week, the general public appears to have a far more laissez faire attitude towards the merger.

A consumer poll of more than 2,000 UK shoppers revealed a surprising ambivalence towards the £13bn Sainsbury’s-Asda combination.

Despite being dubbed a landmark deal, which Sainsbury’s claims could save shoppers as much as 10% on essential items, around half of shoppers said they feel neutral towards it. Only 30% of respondents felt negatively about the deal.

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Their fears may stem from the many mooted negative ramifications, such as possible store closures, a squeeze on farmers and suppliers, or the creation of a grocery monopoly.

A fifth of people think it is a good idea, perhaps swayed by Coupe’s argument that food prices will drop when the firm has more buying clout, or conscious of the grocer’s need to innovate as the pace of change and intense competition hots up.

While negative sentiment is consistent regardless of where respondents shop, most of those who feel positively about the merger already shop in Asda and Sainsbury’s. Older respondents were more pessimistic than younger shoppers.

In terms of price and convenience, more people think the deal will have negative implications.

Over a third of people doubt it will lead to the price cuts pledged by Coupe and Burnley, with shoppers over 55 the most sceptical.

Just 18% say the deal will make them more likely to shop at Sainsbury’s or Asda in the future.

The proposed deal poses a significant opportunity to grow Argos, which Sainsbury’s acquired in 2016.

Sainsbury’s has already installed Argos in 191 supermarkets and believes there is scope for as many as 250 Argos shop-in-shops within Asda too.

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The Walnut poll finds that a third of shoppers would be likely to shop at an Argos shop-in-shop if one opened in their local Asda.

Unsurprisingly this increases to half among consumers who already do their main grocery shop at Asda.

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Walnut asked shoppers: where do you do your main grocery shop most often? The lion’s share, 30%, said Tesco.

If Sainsbury’s and Asda merge, and these shopping habits do not change, 31% will do their main shop at the newly created business, pushing it just slightly ahead of Tesco.