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.     

Relative effects of store traffic and customer traffic flow on shopper spending

This article examines the relative effects of store traffic and customer traffic flow on shopper spending in a single study. An analysis of Croatian hypermarket survey data indicates that store traffic alone does not adequately explain shopper spending. Instead, gross customer traffic flow and realized customer traffic flow are stronger drivers of money spent. The article contributes to the retailing literature by clarifying the respective roles of store traffic and customer traffic flow. Recognizing the greater revenue-generating effect of in-store traffic flow, retailers should better design their store layout and merchandizing strategies to optimize traffic movement and boost store performance.     

Retail store formats,competition and shopper behavior: A Systematic review

This study presents a systematic review of literature covering 178 articles relating to physical store-based grocery retail formats. The research questions for the review were based on drivers of consumer choice and response to marketing activities across store formats, competitive effects and conduct in the context of format evolution, and the interplay of retail formats with societal stakeholders and environmental context over time. The review reveals substantial evidence on drivers of shopper choice among formats including intrinsic household characteristics, time value factors, shopping goals and motivations, and actionable retailer factors such as location, assortment, pricing, promotion. The evidence is scarcer where such marketing activities are difficult to vary. There is limited consensus that inter-format competition is more intense than intra-format. The modernization of formats globally was found to change the way they compete and how consumers behave toward them. There is evidence of substantial impact of entry of new formats, but less guidance for incumbent retailers on how they should respond. Several gaps were identified, and research directions included a typology for format types, the role of technology, a call for more causal evidence, and deepening the empirical base for intra- versus inter-format competition and drivers of format choice.     

When service fails: The role of the salesperson and the customer

Service failures and consequent recoveries have been identified as a critical determinant of customer retention. Hence, effective service recovery programs warrant further exploration. In particular, with the current emphasis on relationship selling, salespeople should learn how to improvise to serve their customers effectively, including solving problems when service failure occurs. Therefore, alternatives to current common practices in industry should be investigated. The results of the present study suggest that by providing customers a choice of service recovery options, salespeople can augment customers' sense of control and ultimately their satisfaction with the service recovery and the overall service transaction. The investigation also proposed that customer satisfaction would be contingent upon the importance of the service. However, study findings revealed that this was not the case. Implications of the findings are also discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impact of mood on customer behavior: Staff mood and environmental factors

This review looks at the effect of staff/server mood on customer/client mood and various outcome behaviours such as such as product and service evaluation. It also looks at the role of other stimulus factors such as scent, sound and light on customer affect and cognitions and thence the effects on purchase behaviours. Based on the service-profit chain model, this review considers the scattered research which empirically demonstrates the impact of staff mood upon customer mood and behaviour. The review then goes on to discuss the various ways in which a customer's mood influences their buying behaviour, as well as considering why and when this occurs. Other physical factors that influence customer mood are also considered. Implications for the management of sales staff and sales environments are considered.     

Perceived customer showrooming behavior and the effect on retail salesperson self-efficacy and performance

The increasing product commoditization and price transparency afforded by online retail channels have left many brick and mortar stores bearing the costs associated with being used as a physical showroom without reaping the rewards of the final sale. As customers continue to take advantage of retail stores to gather information and turn to competing channels for purchasing, the role of the retail salesperson has shifted and retailers have been left without a clear understanding of how to manage this change in the retailing landscape. In this research, we first define “showrooming” – and investigate individual (i.e., salesperson)-level experiential consequences of perceived showrooming. We find negative relationships between perceived showrooming and salesperson self-efficacy and salesperson performance, which are positively moderated by salesperson coping strategies and cross-selling strategies. Our findings suggest that the negative effects of showrooming can be combated though specific salesperson behaviors and strategies. Further, exploratory findings at the store level reaffirm a negative relationship between perceived showrooming behaviors and performance. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and offer specific managerial actions to address showrooming.     

Jokes in the store and its effects on customer satisfaction

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of employee use of jokes embedded in face-to-face conversations with customers. Our main finding – derived from experiments in which employee use of jokes was manipulated – was that jokes reduced customer satisfaction. This reduction occurred regardless if jokes were related or unrelated to the employee’s overall message. Our results also indicate that the use of jokes had a negative impact on perceived message relevance, and that perceived relevance mediated the link between employee use of jokes and customer satisfaction. In addition, our results show that no joke usage vs. joke usage did not produce different emotional responses. This suggests that the impact of jokes on affect is attenuated when jokes are embedded in conversational content.     

Exploring the relationship of perceived automotive salesperson attributes, customer satisfaction and intentions to automotive service department patronage: The moderating role of customer gender

This study examines the relationship of perceived automotive salesperson attributes and customer satisfaction behavior in the purchase experience leading to the patronage of a service department in an automotive dealership. Logistic regression analyses indicate that gender moderates the relationship of the perceived salesperson attributes and customer satisfaction as well as intentions for service department patronage. The model distinguishes users from non-users of the service department and does this better for females than for males. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of the managerial implications and directions for future research.     

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.     

The effects of mentoring on salesperson commitment

This paper examines the impact of having a mentor on mentoree affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization and occupation. Hypotheses are developed comparing salespeople with and without mentors, and mentorees with mentors inside and outside of the organization. Data was collected from a national sample of salespeople. The results indicate that having a mentor is positively associated with mentoree affective and normative organizational commitment, and affective, continuance and normative occupational commitment. Results also indicate that organizational mentors, as opposed to external mentors, are more strongly associated with mentoree affective and normative organizational commitment. Finally, organizational mentors do not have a greater impact on the facets of mentoree occupational commitment than mentors outside of the organization.     

Psychological contracts and fairness: The effect of violations on customer service behavior

A conceptual model of the effect of psychological contracts and associated fairness perceptions on customer service organizational citizenship behaviors (CSOCB) is presented. Psychological contracts, individually held beliefs regarding employer-employee reciprocal expectations and obligations, provide a basis for the comprehensive perception of organizational justice. In turn, justice perceptions result in CSOCB, or externally directed extra-role behaviors. When customer contact employees perceive violations, these behaviors are likely to be either negative or a reduction of positive behaviors. Future research is discussed.     

The effects of empathy on salesperson effectiveness

Empathy is often described as a trait possessed by successful salespeople. Empirical studies that have uncovered a positive relationship between empathy and sales have failed, however, to use empathy measurement techniques deemed appropriate in counseling- psychotherapy, the field where most research pertaining to the empathic construct has been conducted. The research reported in this article examines the relationship between a salesperson's empathy and sales performance by using one of the most clinically acceptable empathy measurement instruments: The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory. The empathy levels of salespersons were determined by new-car customers. Sales representatives' empathy ratings were then compared with their sales performance. The results of the research contradict the a priori assumption that empathy is positively related to sales performance.     

Influence of salesperson characteristics and customer emotion on retail dyadic relationships

Retail salespeople often serve as a critical nexus between retailers and their customers. Salespeople can provide information and service that assist customers during the purchase process. Through buye–seller interaction, salespeople conceivably will influence how customers feel when shopping; in essence, salespersons are likely to have an impact on customers' emotions. Prior research has found that customer emotions have beneficial effects for both the store and the salesperson. Although previous work has considered the effect store environment has on customer emotions, no extant research has examined how customer emotions emerge after interacting with salespeople or what the outcomes of those emotions are. Consequently, this paper examines potential precursors of customers' emotions that arise during interaction with retail sales personnel, as well as consequences of those emotions. A conceptual framework is developed, propositions are posited, and retail management and research implications are presented.     

Creating customer repurchase intention in Internet retailing: The effects of multiple service events and product type

Internet retailing literature shows that customers׳ experience with a retailer׳s website and order fulfillment separately influence repurchase intention. This study examines these two experiences׳ interactive effects on repurchase intention. Our research model includes a product type as a moderator, because the type of product can likewise affect a customer׳s experience with the retailer׳s website and order fulfillment. Results of multiple-group structural equation modeling (SEM) from customer reviews of 306 Internet retailers demonstrate that the interactive effects of a web site experience and order fulfillment are significant. In the interactive mechanism, order fulfillment experience is proven to serve as a proximal cause of repurchase intention. The moderating role of product type is significant as well. This finding suggests that practitioners should have unmatched measures for retailing different types of goods.     

The moderating roles of shopper experience and store type on the relationship between perceived merchandise value and willingness to pay a higher price

In the retail domain, we consider the moderating influence of shopper experience (high versus low experience) and store type (high- versus low-priced stores) on a model that identifies three distinct routes (economic, affective and informational) from perceived merchandise value to willingness to pay a higher price. Each route accounts for a different outcome arising from merchandise value and leading to willingness to pay a higher price. Analyses of data obtained from a sample of 600 shoppers at four grocery stores provide results for specific hypotheses related to each moderator and each distinct route. The results of multiple sample analyses show that the economic route is stronger for high experience shoppers as well as for high-priced stores. Findings pertaining to hypotheses for moderation of both the affective and informational routes are mixed. We discuss the importance of these findings for retail managers as well as for future research.     

The effects of relationship length on customer profitability after a service recovery

Marketing Letters - Relationship length and its implications for service recovery have rarely been quantified in terms of cross-buying and customer profitability. Based on a sample of 935 customers...     

The effect of perceived economic mobility on customer aggression toward service employees: A darker aspect of customer behavior

The current research illuminates perceived economic mobility (PEM) as a causal antecedent of customer aggression. Study 1 with large‐scale panel data shows that PEM is positively related to attribution of poverty to personal characteristics and self‐centered intention to change jobs. Study 2 based on an experimental design shows that PEM causally induces customer aggression. Study 3 reveals that the effect of PEM on customer aggression varies depending on income; PEM increases customer aggression among low‐income earners, but the effect disappears among high‐income earners. Study 4 examines control over service employees to get self‐beneficial outcomes as a mechanism for the interaction effect of PEM and income on customer aggression. A moderated mediation analysis shows that the indirect effect of PEM on customer aggression through the proposed mechanism is significant among low‐income earners but not among high‐income earners. In sum, main findings of the present article are threefold: (a) PEM induces customer aggression, (b) income moderates the causal relationship, and (c) control to get benefits explains the joint effect of PEM and income on customer aggression. By delineating the dark side of PEM in consumer behavior, this study provides useful marketing implications for lessening side effects.     

The store-as-a-brand strategy: The effect of store environment on customer responses

Despite their significance within the apparel industry, retailers selling just their own brand of apparel (single-brand apparel retailers) have not been examined for the relationship between their store environment and customer responses. This study explores the effect of store environment on customers’ internal evaluations and behavior toward single-brand apparel retailers. Further, to understand the store-as-a-brand strategy, this study examined whether customers have similar cognitive and affective perceptions toward the store versus merchandise. A mall intercept survey was conducted and a non-recursive structural equation model was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. This study found that social, design, and ambient cues as well as merchandise cues influence internal evaluations and ultimately approach behavior toward single-brand apparel retailers. This study also affirmed that the store-as-a-brand concept is valid for a single-brand apparel retailer.     

The effects of mood,gender, and ad context on type of elaboration and product evaluation

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mood, gender, and ad context in relation to item-specific and relational elaboration, product evaluation, and purchase intention. Specifically, mood, gender, and ad context were posited to interact. The findings supported hypotheses predicting that mood interacted with gender to influence the type of elaboration. The findings also demonstrated that mood, gender, and ad context interacted to influence product evaluation and purchase intention. Furthermore, the findings showed that mood did not override gender predisposition of elaboration. Instead, mood acted to enhance elaboration that is predisposed by gender. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed regarding how women and men in different mood states process information in different ad contexts.     

In-store music and aroma influences on shopper behavior and satisfaction

Retail markets are increasingly competitive and retailers continuously look to differentiate their retail offering. One way to differentiate is by providing a pleasant and exciting shopping ambience. This paper experimentally tests the effects of music (volume high or low) and aroma (vanilla scent present/absent) on young fashion shoppers in a real retail setting. Results show that volume of music and the presence of a vanilla aroma both have a significant impact on shoppers' emotions and satisfaction levels. Additional analysis reveals that the arousal induced by music and aroma results in increased pleasure levels, which in turn positively influences shopper behaviors, including time and money spend, approach behavior, and satisfaction with the shopping experience. Direct effects of arousal on behaviors as well as an interaction effect between music and aroma on pleasure and time spent in the store are also present. The paper contributes to the better understanding of shoppers' emotions and shopper behaviors in response to in-store atmospherics and offers retailers practical insights into how to create competitive advantage by customizing the atmosphere in their stores.