Customers' relationship with their grocery store: Direct and moderating effects from store format and loyalty programs

This paper aims: (i) to characterize the priorities designed and implemented by grocery retailers concerning relationship marketing with customers; (ii) to analyse customers’ relationship with their grocery store and to evaluate store format and loyalty programs as key determinants of this relationship. Exploratory interviews were conducted with grocery store managers. Two independent samples of Portuguese customers answered a questionnaire and collected data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. Main results suggest that supermarkets lead to higher levels of customers’ trust (directly) and customers’ loyalty (indirectly). Furthermore, the positive effect of customers’ satisfaction on customers’ loyalty is higher for members of grocery store loyalty programs.     

The impact of hard discounter presence on store satisfaction and store loyalty

Hard discounters, such as Aldi and Lidl, have become more important in the last decade. Recent research suggests that the presence of a hard discounter (HD) decreases customers’ share of wallet. In this study, we aim to understand why this occurs, by considering how HD presence affects store attributes and store satisfaction. In particular, we investigate whether HD presence affects store satisfaction formation as well as the effect of store satisfaction on share of wallet. We analyze Dutch data on store attribute evaluations, store satisfaction and share of wallet. Our results show that HD presence decreases convenience evaluations of a store, satisfaction and share of wallet. Moreover, we show that the relationship between convenience and store satisfaction becomes more important when a HD is present, while we then also find a stronger positive relationship between satisfaction and share of wallet. Simulations based on our model estimations show that especially price-oriented retailers should fear decreases in share of wallet when a HD is present.     

Retail relationships and store loyalty: A multi-level perspective

An important factor in retail store loyalty is interpersonal relationships between retail salespeople and customers. However, relationships can also exist at the person-to-store level. This paper examines the linkages between trust in a salesperson, trust in the store, and repeat purchase intention. A model of store loyalty which includes relationships at both the person-to-store as well as person-to-person level is tested. The findings reveal that for those with an interpersonal relationship, trust and commitment to the salesperson are directly linked with purchase intention as well as indirectly through store attitude. For customers without a salesperson relationship, trust in the store leads to loyalty indirectly through store attitude, but does not have a direct impact on purchase intention. The results illustrate the existence of multi-level relationships between customers and stores and how those relationships link to store loyalty. The research adds to our understanding of the complexity of relationship retailing, while providing further evidence of the value of generating and maintaining interpersonal relationships as a retail strategy.     

Store and store format loyalty measures based on budget allocation

In highly competitive environments, such as retail markets, characterized by a growing heterogeneity of demand and the proliferation of new retail formats, cross-shopping behavior between stores and formats is becoming increasingly common. This process makes customer loyalty a key strategic challenge for retailers that want to consolidate their position within the market. To contribute to the analysis and comprehension of this reality, the authors propose and assess different objective indicators of store loyalty, store format loyalty, and intra-format store loyalty based on budget allocation. Specifically, they analyze the role of retail format in observable loyalty patterns in a market. Through an empirical analysis of grocery purchase patterns of a sample of 580 Spanish households, the authors find that diverse objective loyalty indicators based on budget allocations provide very similar information from a practical point of view. They also find that consumers' regular use of various formats (specifically, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and discount stores) for their purchases explain observed disloyalty better than does purchasing in several stores within these formats. The observed patterns reveal that retail formats define differentiated store profiles that relate to the benefits sought in different purchase situations.     

Factors that influence manufacturer and store brand behavioral loyalty

This study examines the factors that are linked to consumer goods brands having unusually high or low behavioral loyalty, after controlling for the association between brand size and loyalty that occurs due to the ‘double jeopardy’ effect. Behavioral, or repeat-purchase loyalty is measured as the brand's average share of category requirements (in volume) among its buyers over a 12-month period. We examine a range of factors that theory or past evidence suggests are associated with higher or lower behavioral loyalty, including brand type (store brand/manufacturer brand), price level, promotion intensity, as well as average brand volume per occasion and pack size. Using extensive US panel purchasing data, we find that store brands exhibit relatively higher behavioral loyalty than manufacturer brands. We explain the theory behind this result. We also find that the brand's average pack size and volume bought per occasion has a markedly positive association with behavioral loyalty. Finally, we find that the effect of low price on excess loyalty is moderated via a positive association with average volume purchase per occasion. These findings add to the body of knowledge relating to patterns in behavioral brand loyalty for both manufacturer and store brands, as well as the marketing-mix factors that influence it.     

Private label usage and store loyalty: The moderating impact of shopping value

This study endeavours to develop and analyze a conceptual model that sheds light on the moderating impact of utilitarian and hedonic shopping values in determining the relationship between private label usage and store loyalty. In a test with data collected from 267 consumers, conceptual framework was analyzed by using structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that a negative relationship was observed between private label usage and store loyalty. However, utilitarian shopping value converts this existing negative relationship between private label usage and store loyalty into a strong positive association. This study offers such interesting implications for managers that developing marketing strategies oriented to create utilitarian shopping value during the shopping experience may enable retailers to enhance their store loyalty in a positive way in the long run. Prior research has not approached the private label product phenomenon from a shopping value perspective. Hence, this study attempts to measure the moderating impact of shopping value on the linkage between private label usage and store loyalty for the first time.     

Effects of store loyalty on shopping mall loyalty

The key purpose of this paper is to bridge a research gap in shopping mall literature by investigating the relationship between store loyalty and shopping mall loyalty. The paper also examines the effects of perceived store value and store relationship commitment on store loyalty en-route to loyalty towards the shopping mall hosting the stores. The study shows that store loyalty influences shopping mall loyalty under certain conditions and that such an influence is moderated by the geographic distance between the consumer and the shopping mall. Further, the study found that distance has a moderating effect on the relationship between perceived store value and store loyalty, but not on the association between relationship commitment and store loyalty. The insights provided by this study offer academics, retailers and shopping mall managers a richer understanding of the relationships between store loyalty and its antecedents, customers' distance from the mall, and shopping mall loyalty.     

Creation of consumer loyalty and trust in the retailer through store brands: The moderating effect of choice of store brand name

Within the current economic context, store brands play an important role in differentiation strategies based on assortment and positioning in terms of distributor prices. To begin with, this study identifies three determining aspects of retail loyalty and trust: satisfaction with price levels, the perceived image of the assortment and loyalty to the store brands (SB). Secondly, this study proposes a theoretical relational model among the aforementioned aspects. Finally, this study analyzes the moderating role that the strategy of choosing SB name (umbrella brand label vs. brands different from the label brand) plays in the relationship between loyalty to SB and loyalty to and trust in the retailer. By including this moderating variable, we seek to contribute to current academic research and to provide insights into the importance that SB strategy (label vs. own name) has for the effect of loyalty to SB on the relative results of the retail company. Our research results show that making the umbrella SB name the same as the label brand name increases the positive effect of customer loyalty to SB on loyalty to the retailer, but not the effect of trust on this loyalty compared to chains that use SB names different from those of the label. These results have important implications for management.     

Impacts of retail brand personality and self-congruity on store loyalty: The moderating role of gender

The present study was an effort to investigate the impacts of both retail brand personality and self-congruity, using them together in the same study, on store loyalty. Subsequently, this study explored the moderating role of gender in these relationships of retail brand personality and self-congruity with store loyalty. Questionnaire was used to collect data (n=355) using systematic sampling from department store shoppers of age 18 years and above in Kolkata, a metropolitan city of India. Multivariate data analysis techniques like exploratory factor analysis, structural equation modeling were used to analyse the data. Results revealed that both retail brand personality and self-congruity constructs have positive impacts on store loyalty and gender significantly moderates these impacts. Arguably, this paper is the first to examine the three constructs namely, retail brand personality, self-congruity and store loyalty using them together in the same model. Academic and managerial implications are further discussed.     

Satisfaction and image as mediators of store loyalty drivers in grocery retailing

The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of satisfaction and image as mediators of four store loyalty drivers (store location, service quality, assortment, and price) within a comprehensive cause–effect model. The analysis employs a more holistic view of the store loyalty model than is common in a retailing context. It is based on the consistent macro-oriented National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) approach. This makes it an important cross-over study, both enabling a comparison of results across industries and providing a more solid base for model validation. The data source is a survey among customers of a chain-based Norwegian grocery store which is analyzed by partial least square (PLS) and covariance-based structural equation (LISREL) estimation. A change in customer's perception of store image, where image is measured as a reflective ‘overall’ latent variable, has the expected direct significant effect on loyalty. But in addition, image will also serve as an important mediator between satisfaction and loyalty, and this is a rather uncommon result in a retailing context. Another significant finding is that a customer's perception of store assortment only influences perception of image and ultimately loyalty indirectly via satisfaction, whereas price evaluation and service quality works directly both through image building and satisfaction creation. Satisfaction creation seems to be more important for store loyalty than image building.     

Exploring customers’ store loyalty using the means-end chain approach

The study is aimed at revealing the relationships in terms of customer store loyalty by using means-end chains (MEC) analysis, in order to examine the linkages between department stores’ service attributes, involvement, satisfaction and loyalty each of which the customer regards as important. In the study, customer involvement, satisfaction and service quality are connotations that are strongly linked with the customer store loyalty, with service quality being the element to which the platinum tier customers attach the most importance. Data are gathered for a MEC analysis by interviewing 34 platinum tier customers of department stores individually. The results reveal that platinum tier customers are department store customers with a relatively high degree of involvement which is likely to have a positive impact on both core and peripheral service quality, satisfaction toward store loyalty. Although there are numerous studies in the literature that use the means-end chain model to examine customer value within the realm of consumer behavior, few studies discuss platinum tier customers’ store loyalty which is a phenomenon currently receiving a great deal of interest. In contrast to prior research, three connotations are integrated in the study to represent the content and structure of stores’ loyalty attributes for MEC analysis which can offer a different perspective and better understanding for developing highly targeted marketing strategies.     

The impact of private labels on consumer store loyalty: An integrative perspective

This research studies the role of private labels (PLs) on consumers’ store loyalty. It offers an integrative approach that comprises several store loyalty drivers (in-store and economic factors), analyzing the role that PLs play among different types of retailers. Data were collected through an online survey. Using structural equation modeling, we run our analysis across different retail formats, assessing which factors lead to store loyalty and to what extent PLs contribute to it. Findings suggest that depending on retailers‘ market positioning, different factors contribute to loyalty and that the impact of PLs is mostly significant for medium-cost and premium supermarkets.     

The effects of store brand loyalty on store loyalty: evidence from the Spanish market

This article studies the impact of retailers' store brands on store performance. Specifically, we analyze the extent to which store brands contribute to store loyalty. On the one hand, a positive relationship between customers' familiarity with and loyalty to the retailer's own brand and customers' loyalty to the retailer should result from the potential of the store brand to differentiate the retailer. On the other hand, an negative relationship between customers' familiarity with and loyalty to the retailer's own brand and customers' loyalty to the retailer may result from store brands' association with more price-sensitive customers, who have a higher propensity to buy at different stores that offer the best bargain. The empirical analysis, conducted with a sample of customers of leading retailers in the Spanish detergent market, shows no relationship between store brand loyalty and loyalty to the retailer. Although the purchase of store brands relates positively to higher loyalty to the retailer, this relationship deteriorates with the degree of exclusivity of store brands within the customer's shopping basket.     

Store brand and store loyalty: The moderating role of store brand positioning

Despite extensive research, the relationship between store brand loyalty and store loyalty remains uncertain. Recent research suggest a nonmonotonic relationship between store brand loyalty and store loyalty: positive up to a certain store brand loyalty level, after which it becomes negative (inverted U). However, existing arguments suggest this relationship may relate to the competitive positioning of store brands, especially their price?Cquality positioning. The more quality-oriented the store brand positioning, the more favorable the effect of store brand loyalty appears to be on store loyalty. An empirical study, focused on retailers that simultaneously offer several store brands with different price?Cquality positions, corroborates this proposition. The store brand loyalty level at which store brand loyalty induces a negative effect on store loyalty occurs earlier when the store brand positioning stresses price instead of quality.     

Self-service technology in supermarkets – Do frontline staff still matter?

This paper uses the concept of psychological distance under construal level theory to explore the differences in the customers’ evaluations of overall store quality, satisfaction and loyalty, based on their experiences with the traditional staff-checkout method and the relatively new self-checkout machines. Two empirical studies, a field survey with retail shoppers in UK (N1 = 313) and an online survey with members of a consumer panel in Australia (N2 = 474), show that the perceived quality of staff-checkout has a stronger positive impact on the overall store quality, satisfaction and loyalty, than the quality of self-checkout. Similarly, satisfaction with staff-checkout has a stronger positive effect on store satisfaction and loyalty, than the satisfaction with self-checkout. Finally, loyalty to staff-checkout also has a stronger positive influence on store loyalty, than the loyalty towards self-checkout. These results show that despite growing use of self-service technology, frontline staff continue to be important for overall store evaluations.     

An investigation into the link between consumer's product involvement and store loyalty: The roles of shopping value goals and information search as the mediating factors

This research proposes a theoretical model explaining the roles of multiple mediating factors – product quality, service quality, and information search –in the association between product involvement and store loyalty. The extant literature has examined different determinants of store loyalty but paid less attention to understand the link between product involvement and store loyalty and the underlying mechanisms. This study contributes to the literature by a) providing a comprehensive framework of involvement – loyalty link and b) investigating complex mediation effects. In this study, survey data were subjected to regression analysis to test parallel mediation and serial mediation effects of product quality, service quality, and information search in the link between consumer's product involvement and store loyalty. The results indicate that both product quality and information search mediate the association between product involvement and store loyalty. In addition, both product quality and service quality mediate the association between product involvement and information search. Results also indicate that product quality and information search work as serial mediators in the association between product involvement and store loyalty. For additional level of analyses, data were also subjected to Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA). Theoretical and managerial implications are also provided.     

Patterns of store patronage in urban China

Reported is a formal investigation of store patronage in urban China. Using consumer panel data for sales of packaged goods through store types and named store chains, patterns of sales, loyalty and duplication are examined. Observed patterns are benchmarked against predictions from the NBD-Dirichlet model. Findings are generalized across six product categories in the packaged-goods retailing sector of Shanghai. Crucial aspects of store type/chain patronage are shown to be regular and predictable: patronage levels co-vary with market shares, average frequencies of patronage do not vary as much, few consumers are exclusively loyal, a majority of consumers are divided in their loyalty, and they patronize other store types/chains in line with market shares. Special groupings of store types/chains are not found. All these results occur for the buying of both contemporary and traditional products.     

Experiencing atmospherics: The moderating effect of mall experiences on the impact of individual store atmospherics on spending behavior and mall loyalty

Retailers invest in atmospherics to create effective environments that engage shoppers in their shopping journey and promote business success. However, the link between store-level atmospherics and mall-level experiences remains opaque. In a quasi-experimental field study, we confirm that the quality of in-store atmospherics positively impacts in-store spending and reveal for the first time that it also positively influences loyalty intentions toward the mall as a whole. Both effects are mediated by perceived store atmosphere and moderated by mall experiences. The effects on spending are stronger for shoppers who are seeking hedonic experiences (seductive, recreational, and social) and are less interested in the functional experience. However, the impact on mall loyalty is stronger for shoppers pursuing material (functional) and avoiding social experiences. For retailers and mall owners, these findings underscore the importance of matching store atmospherics with mall experiences. Similarities and differences in the effects of atmospherics between and within the store and mall levels are discussed.     

Effects of loyalty program rewards on store loyalty

This investigation examines consumers' preferred loyalty program (LP) designs across two retail contexts, grocery retailing and perfumery, with varying degrees of personal involvement. The research employs in-store full profile conjoint analysis by using the following attributes: timing of the reward, reward compatibility with the store's image, and tangibility.Our research reveals that the underlying effects of reward types on preferences and intended store loyalty differ depending on the level of consumers' personal involvement. In sectors with high personal involvement, compatibility with the store's image and intangible rewards increase LP preference and loyalty intentions. The time required to obtain the reward (immediate/delayed) has no impact. In sectors with low personal involvement, immediate and tangible rewards increase LP preference and loyalty intentions. Compatibility with the store image has no impact.     

Impacts of product,store and retailer perceptions on consumers’ relationship to terroir store brand

This research shows that consumers’ relationship to terroir store brand, measured through attachment and two facets of brand loyalty (attitudinal and behavioral) is respectively influenced by their perceptions of the product, retailer and store. More specifically, the perceived authenticity of the products of the terroir store brand and its perceived value have a positive and significant influence on the attachment and behavioral loyalty of the regular buyers of this store brand and a positive and significant influence on the attachment of its occasional buyers. Trust in the retailer has a positive and significant impact on the behavioral loyalty of the regular buyers of this terroir store brand while perceived image of the store has only a positive and significant impact on the attitudinal loyalty of its occasional buyers.