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.     

The impact of customer awareness of manufacturer name disclosure on retail brand attitudes and loyalty in Korea

This paper explores the impact of exposing the name of the manufacturer on a retail brand product upon national brand loyalty, retail brand loyalty and store loyalty, It does so by exploring customer attitudes towards retail brands in South Korea, where there is a legal requirement for retail brands to portray the manufacturer׳s name. For international retailers entering markets where such disclosure is a legal requirement an understanding of the implications of this for retail brand management is essential. The findings suggest that in the Korean case revealing the name of the manufacturer who supplies the retail brand on the product packaging has a positive influence on attitudes towards retail brands, although it did not mitigate the perceived risks held by customers towards retail brand products in general.     

Effect of self-congruity with sponsorship on brand loyalty

The purpose of the paper is to extend self-image congruence research into the corporate sponsorship literature in marketing communications. We do this by developing a conceptual model showing how self-congruity with a sponsorship event affects brand loyalty. The model posits that self-congruity with a sponsorship event has a positive influence on brand loyalty, especially under two conditions: (1) when customers are aware of the firm sponsoring the event, and (2) when customers are involved with the event. The model was tested using data collected from five different surveys (total N = 1588) involving Nextel mobile communications services (brand) in relation to NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (the sponsorship event). The results provide some degree of support for the model.     

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.     

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.     

Assessing the relationship between loyalty program attributes, store satisfaction and store loyalty

After a decade of research there is still much to understand about the relationship between loyalty programs and whether they deliver on their promise of building customer loyalty towards a store and understanding the mediating role of store satisfaction. Our results suggest that loyalty program as a summary construct, explains a significant proportion of the variance in store satisfaction and store loyalty. However, disaggregation of the construct into hard versus soft attributes, promotes greater specificity, precision and accuracy in uncovering the differential impact on store satisfaction and store loyalty.     

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.     

Store brands and retail differentiation: the influence of store image and store brand attitude on store own brand perceptions

Store's own brands can provide important opportunities for retail differentiation if they are considered by consumers to be uniquely associated with store image. A survey of shoppers measured attitudes toward individual stores’ images and store brand perceptions, as well as general attitudes toward store brands. A regression analysis demonstrates a positive relationship between consumers’ perceptions of individual store own brands and their associated store's image dimensions and attitudes toward store brands in general.     

The influence of price and brand loyalty on store brands versus national brands

Abstract

This article investigates how price and brand loyalty of three frequently purchased product categories can influence the purchase decision process of store brands versus national brands. A multinomial logit model was constructed to analyse the data obtained from a consumer panel. The results confirmed that brand loyalty is the main variable which influences the purchase decision process of both national and store brands. The influence of price on the purchase decision process is product specific. There is a clear distinction between the buyer's profile of store brands and national brands. But there is no evidence of any correlation between demographic variables and national brands or store brands.     

The relationship between store image and store brand equity: A conceptual framework and evidence from hypermarkets

Retailers are making considerable efforts to improve their brand management. The challenge they face, however, is how best to integrate coherently their stores, as brands, and their various distributor brands (store brands, private labels, etc.), in order to increase their brand equity and offer the market differential value that will stimulate customer loyalty. From this perspective, it is crucial for retailers to investigate the relationship between the store and their own brands. This study proposes two theoretical models showing the mechanism whereby store image helps increase the equity of a specific type of distributor brand (the store brand). The approach used in this analysis is based, on the one hand, on defining brand equity through its components, using the model in Aaker (1991), and on the other, on including (social and strategic) corporate dimensions in measuring store image. The empirical research made in the hypermarket sector in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa backs the majority of the proposed hypotheses. The results show that store image can be used by retailers to influence all components of store brand equity, essentially through its commercial and strategic dimension. This research is intended to address the clear lack of research on store brand equity.     

品牌忠诚度驱动模型的研究与应用

由于企业的营销思路和消费者的心理存在较大的差异,导致营销活动没有达到预期的效果,引入品牌忠诚度驱动模型的目的是为企业提供一种对消费者行为进行全面诊断的结构性框架,以此来研究消费者是如何看待品牌而品牌又是如何打动消费者的,帮助企业在提高消费者忠诚度和争夺最有价值的消费者等方面制定策略。     

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.     

The moderating effect of individual level collectivist values on brand loyalty

In today's dynamic business environment the success of a firm often depends on its ability to create brand loyalty. While there is a large body of research exploring brand loyalty and its antecedents, little has been done to examine how the relationship between these antecedents and brand loyalty is moderated by consumer differences in individual level collectivist values. This understanding is important however as consumers high in individual level collectivist values have been found to make different brand choices than consumers low in individual level collectivist values. We develop and test theory that suggests consumer differences in individual level collectivist values have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between perceived value, perceived quality, brand trust and brand loyalty. The results show that consumers high in individual level collectivist values are significantly more loyal to a focal brand, especially when brand trust and perceived quality are at relatively low levels.     

The importance of retail brand equity and store accessibility for store loyalty in local competition

Previous research shows that the success of a retailer depends on strong retail brands and attractive, easily accessible store locations. However, little is known about the relative importance of retail brand equity and store accessibility for store loyalty in different local competitive contexts. To provide insight into this issue, we conduct on a cross-sectional study of 4151 interviews and objective data on 30 stores of a focal retailer and its local competitors. We find that store loyalty benefits more from a strong brand than from a conveniently accessible location and that location can benefit from a strong brand. We also find that competitor’s brand equity has an especially negative influence on store loyalty towards a focal retailer and that the strength of the effects of brand equity and location accessibility on store loyalty depends on the local competitive context.     

Understanding brand and dealer retention in the new car market: The moderating role of brand tier

Dealers may contribute to brand retention through their sales and service efforts. In this study we investigate the degree to which dealers contribute to brand retention and how this contribution is moderated by brand tier. To this end we distinguish between economy, volume and prestige brands. We also investigate how the effectiveness of dealer instruments to increase dealer retention differs across these brand tiers. We collected data on brand retention and dealer retention among consumers who recently purchased a new car. Our findings show that dealers selling volume brands are able to improve brand retention rates. In contrast, dealers of prestige and economy brands are unable to affect brand retention. In line with the notion of brand-dealer fit we also find that the effects of dealer extrinsic service quality and dealer payment equity on dealer retention differ between prestige, volume, and economy brands. Extrinsic dealer service quality has the smallest effect for dealers selling economy brands, while dealer payment equity is the most important determinant of dealer retention for these dealers.     

Multiple store patronage: The effects of store characteristics

The present study contributes to the literature on multiple store patronage in two important directions. First, it examines whether consumers׳ perceived importance of store characteristics have effects on multiple store patronage. Second, it examines the relationship between multiple store patronage and consumers׳ share of wallet at the primary store. Our results show that consumers who attach high value to sales promotions are more likely to visit multiple stores. However, store characteristic factors generally did not exert significant effect on multiple store patronage. Furthermore, we find that multiple store patronage and share of wallet are not interdependent and the profiles of consumers in terms of them do not share many common characteristics.     

Customer brand personality perception: A taxonomic analysis

Abstract

The brand personality concept has received considerable attention. However, researchers have paid little attention to how homogeneous consumer brand personality perceptions are. This study attempts to fill this gap by analysing survey data (n?=?603) collected from respondents evaluating seven mass-market consumer brands. Using cluster analysis, it identifies four typical brand personality constellations. The authors find variance among brand personality perceptions across brands, but more interestingly also within perceptions of individual brands. This result points to issues in implementing brand personalities in marketing practice. The article concludes with theoretical and managerial implications.     

基于消费者感知价值的品牌忠诚研究

消费者的品牌忠诚能给企业带来诸多营销优势,消费者的品牌感知价值是品牌忠诚形成的主要驱动因素。消费者的品牌感知价值存在性别差异和品类差异,这种差异直接影响消费者品牌忠诚的形成。对企业进行市场细分及制定差异化品牌营销战略具有重要借鉴意义。     

Supermarket consumers and gender differences relating to their perceived importance levels of store characteristics

Family grocery shopping is the accepted domain of women; however, modern social and demographic movements challenge traditional gender roles within the family structure. Men now engage in grocery shopping more freely and frequently, yet the essence of male shopping behaviour and beliefs present an opportunity for examination. This research identifies specific store characteristics, investigates the perceived importance of those characteristics and explores gender, age and income differences that may exist. A random sample collection methodology involving 280 male and female grocery shoppers was selected. Results indicated significant statistical differences between genders based on perceptions of importance of most store characteristics. Overall, male grocery shoppers considered supermarket store characteristics less important than female shoppers. Income did not affect shoppers' level of associated importance; however respondents' age, education and occupation influenced perceptions of price, promotions and cleanliness.     

The effects of in-store themed events on consumer store choice decisions

Retailers are increasingly using in-store events to provide shoppers with unique experiences that will enhance shopping value and help differentiate their stores from competitors. However, relatively little is known about how consumers respond to experiential retail events in terms of their store choice decisions. The purpose of this research was to find out how in-store retail events affect consumers in terms of their store choice decisions. The paper presents findings from a discrete choice experiment that manipulated the presence of different types of in-store themed events in a do-it-yourself (DIY) category. Participants were 312 randomly recruited residents of Melbourne, Australia, who had recently shopped at a hardware store. The experiment was implemented as a mail-back survey. Using logit models the authors assess the effects of the in-store events along with those of various traditional store attributes, including store appearance, price image and distance, on consumer store choice decisions.