Understanding on-the-go consumption: Identifying and quantifying its determinants

Although the amount of food and beverages consumed on-the-go has been increasing, existing research has not sufficiently examined this behavior. This study uses a mixed methods design with a qualitative study to identify four determinants of on-the-go consumption: time pressure, price consciousness, health orientation, and enjoyment. Combining the qualitative results with Behavioral Decision Theory, eight hypotheses are derived about the influence of the four determinants as well as their interrelations. Hypotheses testing and predictive validity assessment are based on two large-scale consumer samples, one main study and one validation study. The results confirm a significant influence of utilitarian determinants (time pressure and price consciousness), though they are less important than the hedonic determinant. Implications for retail managers are presented, as these results challenge conventional practices. Moreover, existing theory is extended beyond a distinction between utilitarian and hedonic motives by regarding health orientation as a hybrid determinant of on-the-go consumption.     

Managing transformations in retail agglomerations:Case Itis shopping center

Shopping centers have received much interest in recent years. This interest comes as many centers have struggled with declining footfall and the demise of many large anchor tenants. The bankruptcy of one anchor tenant has often led shopping centers into a downward spiral from which there is no return. In this paper, we provide an example of how a shopping center can develop sustainably in the transforming retailscape. Our findings highlight the role of the shopping center management in the success of contemporary shopping centers, particularly in crafting a tenant mix in which each tenant has a role to play.     

Understanding retail branding: conceptual insights and research priorities

With the growing realization that brands are one of a firm's most valuable intangible assets, branding has emerged as a top management priority in the last decade. Given its highly competitive nature, branding can be especially important in the retailing industry to influence customer perceptions and drive store choice and loyalty. We integrate lessons from branding and retail image research to provide a better understanding of how retailers create their brand images, paying special attention to the role of the manufacturer and private label brand assortment. We also highlight some important areas that deserve further research in the form of three sets of research priorities.     

Determinants of retail patronage: A meta-analytical perspective

The retail patronage idea includes such key concepts as store choice and frequency of visit. In this study, the authors synthesize previous empirical studies through a formal, critical review of retailing literature. The meta-analysis suggests that various predictors (e.g., service, product selection, quality) are strongly related to shoppers’ retail choice, whereas others (e.g., store attitude, store image) are important antecedents of shopping frequency. However, the relationships between the predictors and retail patronage vary according to the study characteristics (e.g., experimental vs. other designs). The authors offer implications for retailing research and practice.     

Understanding consumption in social virtual worlds: A sensemaking perspective on the consumption of virtual goods

Virtual consumption involves consuming virtual goods in cyberspace. Virtual consumption activities are evolving into an essential activity in social virtual worlds. Despite the growing importance of this activity, little research examines this phenomenon. The current study investigates the fundamental question of how users understand the consumption of virtual goods. Using the theory of social representations and core-periphery analysis, this study elicits and analyzes the social representation of virtual consumption. Study participants are 154 Second Life users. Results identify 32 concepts and relationships representing the collective perceptions of virtual consumption in this social virtual world. Social representation map interpretations point to several key themes that provide a foundation for future investigations of virtual economy consumption behavior.     

Mechanism of retail therapy during stressful life events: The psychological compensation of revenge consumption toward luxury brands

During times of stress and challenging life events, individuals often seek coping mechanisms to build resilience and manage emotional distress. Recently, Korean consumers have exhibited a rise in revenge consumption of luxury products as a response to the uncontrollable COVID-19, deemed one of their most stressful life events. Consequently, this study explores the precursors of revenge consumption and investigates whether indulging in luxury goods can improve consumers' psychological well-being within the context of retail therapy. Drawing on Compensatory Control Theory (CCT), our proposed model empirically tests the relationship between negative emotions, shopping motivations, revenge consumption behaviors, self-esteem, and subjective well-being. Data were gathered from 324 South Korean participants via an online survey, all of whom had purchased luxury products during the pandemic. The results of the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis reveal the process of psychological compensation through luxury consumption, which had a therapeutic effect on self-esteem and subjective well-being. Additionally, Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) depicts income-based differences in the revenge consumption mechanism. These findings highlight that when individuals experience a lack of control, anxiety, or fear, they seek measures to recover their psychological state through luxury purchases. This study also offers valuable insights for luxury brands considering strategies to support customers’ well-being during stressful life events.     

Understanding how retail environments are perceived: a conceptualization and a pilot study

A conceptual framework for understanding how perceptions of retail environments are formed is developed in this paper. In developing the framework, three main issues receive theoretical attention. First, the problem of conceptualizing retail environments is tackled. Second, the dimensions of environmental perception are discussed from the standpoint of retail arenas. Third, the factors that moderate how different retail environments are perceived are treated producing a few research propositions. The article also reports the findings of a pilot study. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are conducted and they show that the separate perceptual dimensions manifest themselves in distinct ways in different retail environments. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and future research suggestions are spelled out.     

A relational performance model for developing innovation and long-term orientation in retail franchise organizations

A relational performance model is developed to show how innovation and long-term orientation can be evaluated and monitored within franchised retail service organizations. Using principles of justice from social exchange theory as a guide, our performance model measures how franchisee entrepreneurial passion (EP) and perceptions of fairness help to promote innovation and long-term commitment across retail franchise organizations. We test our model using data collected from one large U. S. retail service organization ($5B+ annual revenue) and its independent franchise operators. We discover that targeting distributive justice (or fairness) helps to leverage the EP of the independent operators for promoting innovation, while both procedural and distributive elements of the organizational justice climate help to enhance franchisee's long-term commitment. Moreover, we find that retail franchise operators perceive organizational justice differently than do corporate district managers, which suggests several important implications for both research and practice.     

Hedonic vs. utilitarian consumption: A cross-cultural perspective based on cultural conditioning

This study investigates the effects of cultural conditioning, product type, and benefit claim type on attitudes and brand personality perceptions among consumers from a society that is more culturally conditioned towards utilitarian consumption (Shanghai, China) and an economy that is less culturally conditioned towards utilitarian consumption (Singapore). Our findings reveal that consumers in Shanghai preferred ads promoting utilitarian rather than hedonic products. They also rated brands of utilitarian products as more sophisticated, competent, exciting, and sincere than hedonic products. No such difference was observed among Singaporeans. These consumers preferred hedonic over utilitarian products but did not perceive them as being different from utilitarian products in terms of brand personality. Theoretical and managerial implications are forwarded, together with directions for future research.     

Understanding the usability of retail fashion brand chatbots: Evidence from customer expectations and experiences

The existing literature suggests that chatbots tend to provide automated and generic responses that may not fully address complex customer inquiries, particularly when additional guidance is required. To improve the usability of retail fashion brands, this study examines how socially constructed experiences and expectations influence customer interactions. Data was collected from various sources, including online reviews, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions, to enhance the credibility of the results. The research reveals that individuals in the retail industry demand a broader variety of fashion products and more sophisticated capabilities to bolster the reminiscence of their shopping experiences. Retail fashion chatbots hold potential in recommending items that align with customers' preferences and goals, yet it is crucial for developers and brand managers to address numerous usability challenges and provide multilingual assistance to boost user engagement. Moreover, optimizing fashion retail chatbots is vital to reduce battery consumption, curtail instances of conversation window freezing, and hasten response times. This study provides a novel research framework that offers valuable insights on how to enhance the retail customer experience by improving interactivity, compatibility, credibility, and other factors that promote the use and adoption of retail fashion chatbots.     

Switching up the delivery game: Understanding switching intention to retail drone delivery services

Drone delivery services have been gaining momentum in retail due to the surge in digital commerce, and retail giants are seen making significant progress in delivering parcels with minimal human intervention. However, the wider diffusion of drone delivery services requires an in-depth understanding of consumers' switching intention from traditional delivery services to drone delivery services. To address this gap, the present study aims to propose and validate an asymmetric model encompassing innovation barriers, shopping motivations, and individual differences (i.e., inertia and affinity for technology interaction) in understanding consumers’ switching intention. An online survey was conducted. The data was analyzed using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results revealed five configurations with different combinations of causal antecedents.     

A process for evaluating retail store efficiency: a restricted DEA approach

A managerial process is developed for assessing the efficiency of 552 individual stores for a multi-store, multi-market retailer employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Incorporating assurance regions into a DEA model allowed for a more complete specification of inputs and outcomes than usually found in DEA applications. This procedure permitted the researchers to capture top management's strategic thinking. Practical usefulness of the process' results is illustrated with respect to two management issues: evaluating store managers and identifying critical success factors (CSFs).     

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.     

Hedonic consumption experience in videogaming: A multidimensional perspective

Prior research primarily considers consumers' hedonic gaming experience, defined as an individual's level of pleasure, emotional gratification, and enjoyment from playing a videogame, from a unidimensional perspective. However, given the growing range of technology-enabled, hedonic game-related (e.g., aesthetic, competition, or social) elements, we argue that this one-dimensional view is rapidly becoming dated. Correspondingly, we propose a broadened multi-dimensional perspective of videogamers' hedonic experience, as informed by hedonic consumption theory and the theory of planned behavior. Using a sample of 294 gamers, our results confirm the existence of gamers' multi (i.e., seven)-dimensional hedonic consumption experience comprising escapism, fantasy, role-projection, emotional involvement, enjoyment, arousal, and sensory experience. We also find that gamers' emotional involvement, enjoyment, arousal, and sensory experience, in particular, drive their attitude formation toward a videogame, in turn impacting users' videogaming intent and behavior. We conclude by discussing implications that arise from our research.     

Delineating retail conurbations: A rules-based algorithmic approach

Retail conurbations may be defined as market areas with high intra-market movement. A limited range of approaches has been used to delineate such retail conurbations. This paper evaluates a simplified version of an existing zone design method used to define labour market areas, the Travel-To-Work-Area algorithm (TTWA), for application in a retail context. Geocoded loyalty card spend data recorded by Boots UK Limited, a large health and beauty retailer, were used to develop retail conurbations (newly termed Travel-To-Store-Areas (TTSAs)) for several UK regions using this algorithm. The output TTSA boundaries displayed significantly greater intra-zone flows compared to existing retail conurbation delineation approaches. There is thus scope for researchers and analysts to broaden the zone design approaches used to develop retail conurbations.     

Incorporating big data within retail organizations: A case study approach

The rapid growth in consumer-generated Big Data that are mostly sourced from various types of mobile devices and sensor technologies has placed increasing competitive pressure on retailers to leverage such data within their location decision-making practices. This paper examines the incorporation of Big Data within retail organizations. Through the analysis of three in-depth case-studies of major retail-related organizations operating in Canada, this research addresses the following two inter-related objectives: (i) to identify the awareness, availability, and development of Big Data environments; and, (ii) to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with new Big Data-based decision support systems within retail organizations. The characteristics of an ideal data environment for Big Data adoption and development to take place are identified. The key findings reveal that while there was general awareness of the importance of Big Data, it was evident that the adoption and development of Big Data decision support was heavily reliant on a data environment that promotes transparency and a clear corporate data strategy.     

Understanding omni-channel shopping value: A mixed-method study

This paper aims to investigate the omni-channel shopping value (SV) by proposing and empirically testing an omni-channel SV model based on SV literature and omni-channel literature reviews to identify the key omni-channel concept characteristics. A mixed-method design combining quantitative (n = 59) and qualitative (n = 17) methods in an abductive logic was adopted. The four key findings were omni-channel SV is caused by touch points’ SV; this causal effect is moderated by omni-channel shopping perceived consistency; but the content and measure of the constructs must be reconceptualized in the omni-channel shopping context; and physical shopping's nature evolves in both its utilitarian and social dimensions.     

Collaborative consumption in China: An empirical investigation of its antecedents and consequences

The aim is to clarify the impact of values on the general attitude towards collaborative consumption in a Chinese context, and the impact of the general attitude towards collaborative consumption on the intention to use and actual use of various specific collaborative consumption services. A total of 600 responses were collected in 2019. The results showed that non-ownership orientation, guanxi networking orientation, materialism, novelty orientation, and frugality orientation significantly influenced positively collaborative consumption attitude. It was also found that the impact of guanxi networking orientation on collaborative consumption attitude was mediated by non-ownership orientation. The results also showed that general collaborative consumption attitudes positively influence the intention to use all specific collaborative consumption, such as shared bicycles, shared cars, shared goods, carpooling services, and peer-to-peer accommodation. Moreover, the predictive power of the intention to use collaborative consumption on actual use is only strong in shared bicycle and carpooling services.     

Food waste in the retail sector: A survey-based evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

This paper explores the issue of food waste in the Lithuanian retail sector. A questionnaire survey was designed in order to collect the relevant data from both the largest retail chains with stores around the country and companies with small-scale stores in rural areas. The present case is interesting as the literature on Central and Eastern European countries is scarce in the sense of the quantification of food waste. In this paper, the amounts of food waste among different food product categories are discussed and then extrapolated to approximate food waste in retail trade for Lithuania by using sales revenue as a key parameter. The results suggest that food waste in the Lithuanian retail sector amounts to 36.4 thousand tonnes or 13.0 kg per capita per year. Fruits and vegetables account for more than a half (63%), whereas meat (products) come next representing some 9% of food waste. Therefore, these products can be considered as the major targets for valorisation schemes and other measures aimed at mitigation of food waste.     

Impulse buying and variety seeking: A trait-correlates perspective

Impulse buying and variety seeking are low-effort feelings-based behaviors, yet the similarities and differences in their socio-psychological origin are under-explored. This article addresses this gap with a conceptual framework incorporating several individual and situational factors with a focus on three relevant consumer traits — consumer impulsiveness (CI), optimum stimulation level (OSL), and self-monitoring (SM). Findings from a survey with retail shoppers about their actual purchase decisions show that both CI and OSL have a positive association with the level of impulse buying and variety seeking. However, CI is more strongly associated with impulse buying and OSL with variety seeking. Moreover, SM relates negatively with impulse buying and positively with variety seeking; it also moderates the influence of CI and OSL on both the behaviors in opposite directions. Finally, the article discusses the contribution of this research, its limitations and some directions for future research.