Photo-elicitation: Using photographs to read retail interiors through consumers' eyes

Researchers studying experiences in retail environments have typically focused their attention towards positivistically examining the influence of individual atmospheric variables upon customer behavior. In this respect photographs are common environmental simulation techniques. This approach concerns not only researchers active in consumer culture, but also interior architects and retail designers, working in a disciplinary tradition that maintains that interiors function as “Gestalt” environments, interacting with their users. In this paper, the authors aim to develop understanding of retail environments as sites of complex sensory experiences and the application of photo-elicitation as an interpretive research methodology concerning experiences in retail environments. The paper discusses the results of two exploratory studies within selected retail environments, and demonstrates the value of photo-elicitation in gaining insight into experiences in retail interiors. Photo-elicitation thus contributes new knowledge of the retail environment, and adds value to positivistic research approaches that have predominated in this field.     

Environmental color,consumer feelings,and purchase likelihood

This study tested the effects of red and blue in a shopping-related context. Red and blue were selected because of their opposite color properties. Prior color research has shown that red is perceived as negative and tense as well as physically arousing. Blue, on the other hand, has been identified as calm, cool, and positive. Two laboratory experiments were conducted. In both experiments, retail environments were simulated using predominately red or blue colors. Both experiments corroborate the differential effects of red and blue that prior research suggested. Specifically, more positive retail outcomes occurred in blue rather than red environments. More simulated purchases, fewer purchase postponements, and a stronger inclination to shop and browse were found in blue retail environments. The second experiment helps to identify a plausible explanation to color effects. The results indicate that the affective perception of color rather than the arousal dimension of color may be responsible for the outcome. The positive effects of blue and the negative perception of red may have influenced the results. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Store of the future: Towards a (re)invention and (re)imagination of physical store space in an omnichannel context

This paper explores the future of the physical store within omnichannel retail and specifically, the prerequisites of the designed retail environment in optimizing customer experience. Adopting an exploratory qualitative approach, primary data was obtained using semi-structured interviews with 20 industry experts.The research makes a valuable contribution to the dearth of extent literature on experiential store spaces of the future, specifically within the fashion field. By connecting three topics of academic research - Omnichannel retail, the role of the physical store and in-store customer experience - it serves to suggest the prerequisites for designed retail environments in optimizing customer experience.     

Overcoming information overload in retail environments: Imagination and sales promotion in a wine context

Information overload is a common problem in retail environments. Reducing information in a retail environment is not always feasible or desirable given the plethora of products and extent of limitations on retailers in terms of merchandising and display decisions. Therefore, retailers need other ways of overcoming information overload than simply reducing the amount of information. However, extant research is unsettled with respect to arguments in favor of and against adverse effects of information overload. To enhance our understanding of these issues, the present research presents two studies that investigate the moderating role of consumer decision processing approaches in an information overload retail space. The findings reveal that the consumer imagination offers a more efficient processing route, circumventing the frustration associated with information overload and leading to enhanced consumer outcomes compared to the less efficient consideration route. Further, heuristic processing triggered by sales promotions in high information retail environments lead to piqued arousal and enhanced consumer imagination, ultimately bolstering consumer responses to the product. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

Retailing in Canada and the United States: Historical Comparisons

Although Canada and the United States are comparable in many ways, the retail environments of these two countries are not identical. This paper explores the evolution of the retail environments of both countries to identify the sources of these differences and provide prospects for the future. It appears that the differences in retail environment observed have their origins in population differentials and differing cultural philosophies of the countries. Although the retail environments of Canada and the United States have been converging for some rime, it is unrealistic to expect that the differences will disappear.     

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.     

Liar,liar, my size is higher: How retailer context influences labeled size believability and consumer responses to vanity sizing

The present research applies anchoring theory to investigate the influence of retail environments on consumer responses to vanity sized garments. The findings reveal that responses to vanity sized garments in classic retail environments and department stores are diminished, because these retailer environments foster greater anticipation of accurately sized apparel. Meanwhile, disbelief in vanity sized garments is suspended in trendy and off-price retail environments, because anchoring effects set up expectations that vanity sizing may be more likely in these environments. The findings are supported by the mediating explanation of believability for classic and department store contexts but not for trendy and off-price environments. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

Small shop survival – The financial response to a global financial crisis

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), many of which are small retail shops, remain the largest employer in the western world. Yet the financing of their fixed and working capital investments remains under-researched. This study focuses on this topic by examining Eurozone wholesale and retail SMEs enterprises at the peak of the 2008 financial credit crisis. In order to do this, an innovative analysis of existing theories in retail finance and policy research using generalised multilevel structural equation modelling is performed to establish how retail SMEs sourced capital during this period. This analysis, a first of its kind in wholesale and retail SME research, finds that pecking order theory, the independence of investment and financing, as well as the contest for financial resources between fixed and working capital do not hold for wholesale and retail SMEs. Moreover, it is found that government grants and subsidised loans were not used by SMEs in this sector of the Eurozone as primary sources of finance during the aftermath of the 2008 global credit crisis. Crucially, it is posited that a business environment characterized by stronger legal rights and deeper credit information did not improve SMEs’ access to external finance. The authors recommend that further research should be pursued in this field in order to improve current understanding of the resilience of retail SMEs for future global financial crises.     

Testing Retail Marketing-Mix Effects on Patronage: A Meta-Analysis

Retailers have always worked to establish close relationships with customers through the retail marketing mix. Thus, the literature has a long tradition of testing the effects of various instruments on retail patronage. This meta-study synthesizes prior research into one comprehensive framework. We use 14,895 effect sizes reported by more than 239,000 shoppers from 41 countries extracted from 350 independent samples, to test the impact of 24 marketing-mix instruments on retail patronage. Specifically, we investigate the direct and indirect effects of these instruments on store satisfaction, word of mouth, patronage intention, and behavior. Product and brand management related instruments display the strongest effects on most outcome variables, whereas price, communication, service and incentive management instruments affect only selected outcomes. Distribution management turns out to be of secondary importance. However, the effectiveness of these instruments depends on the specific shopping context (food/non-food, shopping frequency, single store/agglomeration, hedonic/utilitarian), the retail environment (gross domestic product, country innovativeness, retail sales share, retail employment, Internet era), and the employed method (participant type, study design, data source). Specifically, we reveal most differences for hedonic shopping environments and developed countries. Also, the store’s advertising and atmosphere have gained importance in the Internet era, while purchase incentives, in-store orientation, and store location have lost relevance. This study contributes to a synoptic understanding of the comparable effectiveness of retail marketing instruments on retail patronage. It offers insights into the effectiveness of marketing-mix instruments and provides guidance on whether and when to invest in them. It also presents an agenda for future research on marketing-mix instruments.     

Shaping Retail Brand Personality Perceptions by Bodily Experiences

Customer experiences play an important role in retail brand management. This research investigates how bodily experiences in retail environments influence customers’ perceptions of retail brand personalities. Based on research on human personality perception, we propose that bodily experiences transfer metaphoric meaning to customers’ brand perceptions. In a field experiment and a lab experiment we manipulated participants’ bodily experiences (feeling of hardness and temperature) and consistently found a metaphor-specific transfer of experiences to retail brand personality perceptions (on the dimensions “ruggedness” and “warmth”). A third study reveals the mechanism behind the effect and demonstrates concept activation elicited by bodily experiences in customers’ minds.     

Linking Retail Strategy,Atmospheric Design and Shopping Behaviour

Although not usually recognized in the published work in retail atmospherics, the environment created by retail managers is an important strategic variable. Most of the work in atmospherics has focused on consumer reactions to environments while the strategic dimensions of this decision have largely been ignored. The present paper explores this gap by focusing on the managerial dimensions of store atmosphere by linking retail strategies and atmospheric design with consumer behaviours and issues. This discussion underscores the necessity for retail managers to have specific goals for the atmosphere in mind before creating a store design since the retail environment is capable of eliciting a wide range of behaviours from consumers.     

Retail corporate groups: Challenges of omnichannel management in Japan

Abstract

The omnichannel varies across countries due to different retail environments and retailers’ growth strategies. The Japanese big retailers’ omnichannel can be characterized by having multiple retail formats, such as department stores, general merchandise stores, convenience stores, specialty stores, Internet stores, and so on. They have grown by multiplying retail formats to appeal to different customer segments, and they have unique challenges in managing an omnichannel with many retail formats. These are (1) extremely wide variety of merchandise, (2) enormous quantity of data from transaction, inventory, logistics, and customers, (3) different organization structures and management, and (4) unique organizational capabilities in each retail format. From these challenges, we could propose further research issues as follows: (1) theoretical consideration of boundary-spanning functions among retail formats, (2) international comparative analysis reflecting the different conditions in each country, and (3) clarifying the characteristics of the omnichannel shopper in the Japanese omnichannel environment.     

Don't ignore the floor: Exploring multisensory atmospheric congruence between music and flooring in a retail environment

In retail environments, consumers commonly evaluate products while standing on some type of flooring and concurrently being exposed to music; however, no study has examined the interaction of these two atmospheric cues. To bridge this gap, this research examines whether retailers can benefit from creating multisensory atmospheric congruent rather than incongruent retail environments of flooring and music. The results of an experiment in a real retail store reveal positive effects of multisensory congruent retail environments (e.g., soft music combined with soft flooring) on product evaluations. This study provides a new process explanation with consumers’ purchase‐related self‐confidence mediating these effects. Specifically, consumers in congruent rather than incongruent retail environments experience more purchase‐related self‐confidence, which in turn leads to more favorable product evaluations. Furthermore, this study shows that consumers with a low rather than a high preference for haptic information are influenced more by multisensory atmospheric congruence when evaluating a product haptically.     

Trauma's effects on shopper choice confusion: The role of psychological hardiness and retailer strategies as mitigating factors

Retailers must understand how trauma influences the consumer shopping journey and identify ways to mitigate any potential adverse effects. Two studies were conducted to explore trauma in the retail environment. First, a conceptual model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on survey data collected from 324 participants. Findings indicate that consumers who report previously experiencing traumatic events feel anxiety while shopping in retail environments, negatively influencing their ability to make purchase decisions. This outcome is due to challenges in adequately assessing stressful environmental stimuli and developing positive coping mechanisms. Consumer propensity for psychological hardiness was found to moderate this relationship. Next, a follow-up qualitative study from 110 consumers who reported experiencing instances of trauma identified potential ways for retailers to help consumers who have experienced trauma feel more comfortable in shopping environments. These findings extend research on trauma and consumer shopping behavior by identifying its impacts on choice confusion and stress appraisal and suggesting how retailers can support shoppers through a trauma-informed approach.     

Store environment,emotions and approach behaviour: applying environmental aesthetics to retailing

This exploratory study examines the influence of store environment on emotions and behaviour tendencies. The study brings insights from research on external environments to the study of store environment. We combined the idea of three distinct dimensions of emotions (pleasantness, arousal and dominance) and the role of mediating approach-avoidance behaviours with two variables taken from the field of environmental aesthetics – complexity and order. Twenty-four colour photographs of four sections of two grocery stores were rated by a sample of 43 subjects on their degree of complexity and order. A second sample of 87 subjects rated the same photographs on emotions and approach-avoidance tendencies. The relationship between complexity and order and reported pleasantness and arousal was consistent with findings regarding external environments. The three emotional dimensions mediated an inverted ‘U’ relationship between complexity and approach behaviour tendencies, as expected. Order had a positive correlation with approach behaviour tendencies. The study suggests the importance of examining general variables (such as complexity and order) in the context of retail environments and provides ideas for extensive research.     

Assessing the Impact of Price Promotions on Consumer Response to Online Stockouts

The recent growth of e‐commerce technologies has disrupted the traditional retail environment, leading to more consumers shopping online. While the manner in which consumers shop is changing rapidly, our understanding of how changing consumer behaviors affect retail supply chain management is lacking. In particular, our understanding of how consumers react to stockouts in an online shopping environment remains unclear. Making the challenge even more difficult is the fact that price promotions are heavily used to attract consumers in an online retail environment where consumer switching costs are low. This research develops a theoretical framework, based on expectation‐disconfirmation theory, to explain the effect of price promotions on consumer expectations of product availability and their reactions to stockouts in an online retail environment. Surprisingly, our findings suggest that consumers are actually less dissatisfied with a stockout of a price promoted item than a nonprice promoted product and are less likely to switch to another retailer's website. These findings may suggest that price promotions actually create a type of switching cost in the online retail environment, leading to interesting implications for researchers and supply chain managers.     

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.     

Toward a new business model of retail industry: The role of brand experience and brand authenticity

While the customer-to-manufacturer (C2M) business model has received increasing attention as a new business model for e-commerce and retail industry, little is still known about it and the effect of its approach. This study aims to understand how brand-related stimuli in C2M environments affect customer responses as the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The outcomes reveal that the Sensory, affective, and intellectual aspects of brand experience positively influence brand authenticity. Brand authenticity has a positive effect on behavioral intention, such as reuse intention and word-of-mouth. Additionally, this research finds that social presence moderates the association between the sensory aspect of brand experience. Thus, this study can suggest a C2M business model as a means of sustainable operation of the retail industry to both researchers and practitioners in relation to the retail industry.     

A Simulation Model Of Multi‐Echelon Retail Inventory With Cross‐Channel Product Returns

This study explores the relationship between a retailer's product returns processing structure and Multi‐Echelon inventory system performance under cross‐channel and same‐channel product returns policies with nonstationary demand. Our research contributes to the growing body of reverse logistics literature, offering insight into how a retailer's logistical returns management strategy can impact inventory effectiveness in cross‐channel retail environments. Adopting a contingency framework, we develop research hypotheses which we test through experimentation on a Multi‐Echelon retail inventory system within a discrete‐event simulation. Model parameters are derived from data collected from a large U.S. retailer of consumer durable and nondurable goods. We find an amplifying effect of a cross‐channel returns policy on the positive relationship between a decentralized returns processing structure and inventory effectiveness. Further, through our analysis of nonstationarity in demand and resulting returns, we uncover strong main and interaction effects that seasonal demand variation can have on inventory outcomes, even under only moderate levels of seasonality. Our results highlight the need for firms to align logistical structures for returns processing with the returns policy and the external environment, while also lending credence to calls within the logistics literature for improved modeling of nonstationary demand in inventory management research.     

Employee Mere Presence and Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction

Existing research suggests that humans are hardwired to be sensitive to the presence of other humans, and that the mere presence of someone is likely to affect human behavior. So far, however, this issue has been under‐researched in physical environments in which retail and service transactions take place and with respect to the mere presence of employees. This study examined empirically if the mere presence of an employee in a physical environment has an impact on customer affect (in terms of pleasure) and customer satisfaction. Two between‐subjects experiments, in two different settings, showed that the absence of an employee produced lower levels of pleasure and lower levels of customer satisfaction than the mere presence of an employee. The results also indicate that pleasure mediated the association between employee presence and customer satisfaction. In addition, a field study with mystery shoppers confirmed that the employee absent condition produced lower levels of satisfaction than conditions in which employees were visible.