Cultural influences on consumer satisfaction with impulse and planned purchase decisions

This study examines factors thought to influence consumers' planned and impulse purchase decisions including subjective culture (individualist or collectivist consumers) and the presence of another person at the time of purchase. Data was collected in four countries — the USA, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. The results indicate that overall, consumers are differentially influenced by others in planned and impulse purchase situations, even after controlling for price. These differential influences can be explained by culture. Compared to more individualist consumers, more collectivist consumers are likely to be more satisfied with an impulse purchase when another person is present at the time of purchase.     

Consumer shopping value, satisfaction and loyalty in discount retailing

To date, few researchers have conducted comprehensive examinations of the relationships between consumer shopping value, satisfaction and loyalty in retailing. Further, the majority of extant research has been limited to upscale retail sectors where the role of the salesperson is crucial and long-term relationships are common. In order to extend the findings of previous research to additional retail sectors, the current study investigates the complex interrelationships between utilitarian and hedonic shopping value and important retail outcomes for discount retailers. Utilitarian and hedonic shopping value are found to influence key outcome variables including satisfaction, loyalty, word of mouth communication and share of purchases in the highly competitive discount retail sector.     

The impact of shopper mood and retail salesperson credibility on shopper attitudes and behaviour

This paper examines the effect of shopper mood and salesperson credibility in a retailing context. It predicts that shoppers in good moods will respond positively to a high-credibility salesperson but not a low-credibility one. Using a three-way full-factorial experimental design, this notion is supported. Credible salespeople are found to have a positive effect on shoppers in good moods, but not bad moods, with respect to salesperson evaluations, to purchase intentions and to intentions to seek out the salesperson in subsequent shopping.     

How in-store educational and entertaining events influence shopper satisfaction

While recent years have seen an increased use of educational and entertaining events within the store environment, little seems known about how consumers value such events. This study investigates how the staging of education and entertainment-focused in-store events impacts on consumers’ value perceptions, arousal levels and store satisfaction. It is hypothesized that such events have a positive effect on store satisfaction but that their effects are moderated by a shopper’s motivational orientation. Findings from a scenario-based experiment among 786 shoppers from two retail categories (hardware and computer stores) provide support for this. The findings show that task-oriented consumers derive more value and satisfaction from an education-focused event than from an entertainment-focused event, while recreation-oriented consumers appreciate either type of event. The study findings imply that providing education themed events is a safer option for retailers than providing entertainment-focused events because education satisfies a wider range of shopper needs. Shoppers overall derive pleasure from entertainment but task-oriented shoppers tend to also see it as a hindrance to the convenience of shopping, with the result that for these shoppers the hosting of entertainment-focused events may result in reduced store satisfaction levels.     

Share of wallet in retailing: the effects of customer satisfaction, loyalty cards and shopper characteristics

In retailing, consumers typically patronize multiple outlets. Thus, an important issue is why consumers vary in how they divide their purchases across outlets and how outlets can get a greater share of consumer expenditures. Two potential avenues for increasing customer share are to raise customer satisfaction, and increase repeat purchase through loyalty cards. This study examines the effects of customer satisfaction and loyalty cards as well as consumer characteristics on customer share spent on the primary grocery store. The findings suggest that customer satisfaction has a positive, albeit modest, effect on share while consumer economic shopping orientation has a negative direct effect on share. The economic orientation of shoppers, their felt importance of a personal relationship with store personnel, and the level of their aggregate purchase volume moderate the effect of satisfaction on customer share. Finally, the results provide mixed support for the impact of loyalty cards on customer behavior.     

Temporal and financial risk assessments: How time and money constrain shopper behavior and influence purchase solutions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand the constraints that make shopper behavior unique from consumers and how those constraints manifest themselves in retail purchase solutions.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized value laddering and phenomenological research methodologies to explore the data gathered from 39 interviews of male and female grocery shoppers.FindingsThis research examines the perceived constraints on shopper resources. The data reveal that all shoppers perceive themselves to be constrained by both finances and time. These findings hold across all income, age, and employment strata. As a result, price and convenience no longer function as segmentation tools. Instead, pricing and convenience become thresholds setting shopper “floor” expectations for retailers, service providers and brands.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to grocery shoppers largely located in the southern US. Future research could expand on the variety of product categories and conditions explored, along with the cultural diversity of the participants.Practical implicationsShoppers' broader view of purchase relationships reduces the importance of transactional savings. Shopper consideration of total market basket value, allows for more focus on services and relationships to drive shopper value. Shopper constraints can result in purchase outcomes different than what consumer research would indicate.Originality/valueThis research is the first to examine elements which may constrain shoppers, particularly temporal and financial risk assessments, and how they impact shopper purchase solutions.     

Effects of shopping centre re-investments and improvements on sales and visit growth

PurposeEstablished shopping centres have in recent years experienced increasing competition due to a steady increase in newer and bigger centres as well as online shopping. How could existing centres compete on such terms?Design/methodology/approachThis analysis is based on interviews with 96 shopping centre managers in charge of malls that existed in 2008 and 2014, about their improvements during a three-year period and the effects on sales and number of visitors from one year before and one year after that period. The investments and improvements are structured and analysed mainly along seven common categories of shopping centre attributes recognised as determinants of customer satisfaction and/or patronage behaviour in existing research.FindingsThe results show significant positive relationships between shopping centres' improvements and the growth in sales as well as visit rates. The effects are, however, more significant for sales than visit growth. The forms of investment that yielded the greatest positive effect are improvements in physical dimensions such as access, atmosphere the retail mix. Increased investments in less physical dimensions such as promotions, entertainment, refreshments and service had little or no effect.Originality/valuePresent studies on centre renovations and improvements are merely case studies or studies of single cases, but this study deals with larger number of cases and long-term effects. In contrast to previous research on shopping centres and the role of satisfaction and patronage, with recommend balance between physical and non-physical aspects, this study highlights the importance of physical capital dimensions.     

The effect of digital signage on shoppers' behavior: The role of the evoked experience

This paper investigates the role of digital signage as experience provider in retail spaces. The findings of a survey-based field experiment demonstrate that digital signage content high on sensory cues evokes affective experience and strengthens customers' experiential processing route. In contrast, digital signage messages high on “features and benefits” information evoke intellectual experience and strengthen customers' deliberative processing route. The affective experience is more strongly associated with the attitude towards the ad and the approach behavior towards the advertiser than the intellectual experience. The effect of an ad high on sensory cues on shoppers' approach to the advertiser is stronger for first-time shoppers, and therefore important in generating loyalty. The findings indicate that the design of brand-related informational cues broadcast over digital in-store monitors affects shoppers' information processing. The cues evoke sensory and affective experiences and trigger deliberative processes that lead to attitude construction and finally elicit approach behavior towards the advertisers.     

The effects of mall renovation on shopping values,satisfaction and spending behaviour

Managers renovate malls to keep up with newer shopping centres and retail formats that erode traffic. This paper investigates shoppers׳ psychological processes that trigger changes in spending behaviour in the renovated mall. Renovation has a direct impact on the perception of the mall atmosphere and an indirect one on shoppers׳ hedonic and utilitarian values, satisfaction, and spending. Renovation affects shoppers׳ spending through the perception of utilitarian shopping benefits.This study is the first of its kind to explore the effects of mall renovation on shoppers׳ spending. It focuses on the effect of renovations on shoppers׳ holistic perception of the mall atmosphere. The hedonic benefit contributes more to shoppers׳ satisfaction than does the utilitarian value. However, the utilitarian value affects shoppers׳ spending while the hedonic value does not.     

Urban design and tenant variety influences on consumers' emotions and approach behavior

This paper extends Mehrabian and Russell's Stimulus-Organism-Response framework to investigate the influence of two selected environmental variables – esthetic design and tenant variety – relating to an urban shopping area on consumers' emotional states and actual shopping responses. Results of a survey conducted in an Italian town center show that the variety of tenant-mix positively affects both pleasure and arousal while esthetic design has a significant influence only on pleasure. Moreover, emotional states induced by the urban environment exert a different influence on shopping outcomes, with pleasure increasing the amount of money and time spent, and arousal positively influencing unplanned shopping and negatively affecting time and money. The paper concludes by discussing managerial and research implications for both retailing and urban marketing.     

In-store quality (in)congruency as a driver of perceived legitimacy and shopping behavior

This research builds on the institutional theory literature to investigate the impact of retailer’s in-store quality (in)congruency on consumer shopping behavior. Specifically, considering the consensual view of legitimacy as a variable of main interest to explain organizational survival, this research focuses on legitimacy as the mediating variable explaining the effects of in-store quality (in)congruency on shopping behavior. Results from a scenario-based experiment show that in-store quality (in)congruency affects legitimacy such that when merchandise quality is low, a high store environment quality leads to lower legitimacy. Also, the results show that legitimacy acts as a mediator that induces a decrease in shopping behavior. By highlighting perceived legitimacy as the underlying mechanism explaining the effect of in-store quality incongruency on consumer behavior, this research offer new insights for retailers.     

Predicting consumer behavior with two emotion appraisal dimensions: Emotion valence and agency in gift giving

Decades of emotion research have demonstrated the unique influences of many specific emotions on consumer behaviors. These countless numbers of emotion effects can make it difficult to understand the role of emotions in consumer behavior. The current research introduces a parsimonious framework that can predict the effects of emotions on the consumer behavior of gift giving with just two appraisal dimensions: valence and agency. A series of studies examining gift giving reveals that positive emotions exert positive effects on gift giving, independent of their agency. In contrast, agency does predict the effects of negative emotions on gift giving. Negative self-caused emotions increase gift giving, whereas negative other-caused emotions decrease gift giving. These findings seem to hold for inactive and active emotions, and for uncertain and certain emotions. Together, these findings make a unique theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding of emotions in gift giving. Moreover, it provides a pragmatic framework for both academics and practitioners.     

How national culture impacts teenage shopping behavior: Comparing French and American consumers

The global teen market has significant spending power and an important impact on the world economy. However, much remains unknown about the social motivations of teenage consumers and cross-national cultural differences in teenage shopping. This research studies teenage shopping motivations in two nations: the U.S., which is a highly individualistic national culture with low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance, and France, which is perhaps a somewhat more collectivist, more inter-dependent national culture with high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance. This research samples 570 teenage consumers. Susceptibility to peer influence (SPI) drives teenage consumer shopping in France, while both need for uniqueness (NFU) and SPI motivate teenage shopping in the U.S.     

Customer participation and citizenship behavioral influences on employee performance, satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intention

Despite increasing awareness of the importance of customer behaviors in service delivery, understanding consequences relating to employees receives little attention. Therefore, using data from a large electronic firm relating to customers, employees, and managers, this study examines the effects of customer participation and citizenship behavior on employee performance, satisfaction and commitment, as well as indirect effects on turnover intention. Furthermore, the study examines how similarity and likeability moderate the effects of customer participation and citizenship behavior on employee satisfaction. The study also includes a laboratory experiment and provides further support for causal direction. The article discusses marketing implications of the results.     

Cross-channel free-riding consumer behavior in a multichannel environment: An investigation of shopping motives,sociodemographics and product categories

Cross-channel free-riding, in which consumers use one retailer′s channel to prepare a purchase and then switch to another retailer′s channel to purchase, can substantially erode profit margins. This research aims to understand such free-riding from a consumer empowerment perspective, investigating shopping motives and sociodemographic covariates, as well as how this behavior might differ across product categories. A survey study of decision-making behavior shows that cross-channel free-riders mainly seek to fulfill price comparison, convenience and flexibility needs. The likelihood of free-riding is higher when consumers adopt cross-channel rather than single-channel behavior, which highlights a negative outcome of multichannel retailing. The likelihood of cross-channel free-riding differs across products but not sociodemographic covariates. The findings can be used to develop recommendations for managing retention strategies.     

The role of emotions in utilitarian service settings: The effects of emotional satisfaction on product perception and behavioral intentions

The role of emotions in hedonic service settings is well established, but their role in utilitarian service settings has received scant attention. This research attempts to fill this gap by investigating the effects of customers’ perceptions of service quality and servicescape on their emotional reactions, and their perceptions of product quality and subsequent behavioral intentions. Data are collected from 189 clients/patients who visited an optometry clinic. The study reports that perceived service quality (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) and service environment (atmosphere and layout) both increase positive emotional satisfaction. In turn, positive emotional satisfaction leads to a high perception of product quality, high recommendation, patronage intention, and likelihood of purchase. Additionally, product quality perceptions have a significant positive impact on behavioral intentions.     

Human versus spatial dimensions of crowding perceptions in retail environments: A note on their measurement and effect on shopper satisfaction

Perceived retail crowding was originally conceptualized as having two dimensions, but subsequent empirical work in marketing has treated the construct unidimensionally. This paper reports a series of lab and field studies that examine the dimensionality of the construct and its relationship to store satisfaction. Two alternative crowding measures are tested. Results suggest that perceived retail crowding has distinct human and spatial dimensions that affect satisfaction differently.     

Economic influences on perceived value,quality expectations and customer satisfaction

Consumer research has extensively analysed psychological determinants of customer satisfaction. As macro‐level customer satisfaction data were not available until recently, researchers have only taken first steps towards analysing economic determinants of customer satisfaction. Based on a more complex conceptual framework and on data from Germany and Japan, this article examines how economic processes influence the perceived value of goods and services, quality expectations and customer satisfaction. Using principal component analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling, this study finds that perceived value is positively influenced by both economic growth and lagged economic expectations. Customer satisfaction is positively influenced by economic growth and negatively by current economic expectations, with half of the impact mediated by perceived value. Economic expectations positively influence expectations regarding the quality of goods and services. These results imply that consumer researchers should no longer ignore economic influences on consumer attitudes. Marketing managers are advised to be cautious not to misinterpret economic‐induced variations in customer satisfaction as caused by corporate performance.     

The influence of culture,emotions, intangibility,and atmospheric cues on online behavior

This paper examines how emotions and website atmospheric cues influence service tangibility and consumer attitudes. The proposed model was compared across three cultures: North America (Canada and U.S.), China, and the Middle East. The findings support the overall model and demonstrate several non-invariant paths across the groups. Particularly, the results suggest how the influences of two emotional dimensions (pleasure and dominance) on consumer perceptions of site atmospherics vary across cultures. Moreover, the effects of service tangibility dimensions (physical tangibility, specificity, and mental tangibility) on consumers' attitudes toward the website and service vary significantly across the three cultures. Mental tangibility has the greatest influence on North American customers' attitudes, while physical tangibility and specificity have the greatest impact on Chinese and Middle Eastern customers' attitudes, respectively.