A study of cross‐border outshopping determinants: mediating effect of outshopping enjoyment

Outshopping has been studied in the marketing literature for years, and research has identified some compelling reasons for people to shop out of their home country. Outshoppers literally go extra miles to outshop for better quality and assortment of merchandise, higher quality of personal service, more pleasant shopping atmospherics, and more competitive prices. In this study, we propose that outshopping enjoyment is not only directly related to outshopping, as are the earlier outshopping determinants, but mediate the relationships between those cognitive determinants and outshopping behaviour. In addition, we explore how patriotism and terror would affect people's outshopping frequency. Managerial and research implications are also discussed.     

Clothing outshopping in a rural Western community

Statistics reveal that over half of all women are gainfully employed outside the home. Professional working women have a certain status to maintain and it is reasonable to assume that their clothing needs might differ from women who are employed in other occupations and who remain in the home. Recent research has shown that considerable shopping occurs out of the local retail trade area (termed outshopping). Product-specific outshopping research has revealed clothing to be a product consumers are willing to out-shop to obtain. Professionally employed women might have to resort to outshopping more often than the other women in order to meet their clothing needs. For this project outshopping was defined to be the percentage of shopping which occurred at least 50 miles from the test site. This research represents the combined efforts of a graduate class studying trends in fashion merchandising; a telephone survey was developed and conducted by the class and responses from 100 female consumers were analysed using multiple step-wise regression. It was predicted and found that clothing outshopping behaviour could be significantly predicted by the degree of satisfaction with local retailing and number of children remaining in the home. Including the two variables professional/non-professional working status, and the age of female respondent as predictors, did not significantly improve the ability to predict outshopping behaviour. The implications for retailers are discussed.     

Investigating the impact of shopper personality on behaviour in immersive Virtual Reality store environments

The increasing availability of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) hardware in private households has opened up significant opportunities for innovations in online retailing. Online retailers can develop realistic, albeit simulated, three-dimensional retail environments that use immersive elements to create a more exciting online shopping experience. Nevertheless, to date, very little is known about how observed shopper behaviour in immersive VR store environments compares to existing knowledge in the physical or other online retail research literature. To that end, this paper focuses on human personality traits and whether these translate to familiar observations of in-store shopper behaviour. Specifically, the research examined the ‘Big Five’ personality traits – agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience, and their impact on purchase behaviours such as product inspection time, proportion of private label purchases, and impulsive buying. It is further investigated how the purchase behaviours impact the outcomes of the shopping trip. The results revealed a variety of expected relationships between purchase metrics and the outcomes of the shopping trip; however, in stark contrast to the findings of extant studies, shopper personality did not show any impacts on the investigated purchase behaviours. Further research is needed to determine whether this failure to replicate past studies of shopper personality was, in fact, due to differences in the store environment or rather due to the moving from survey-based method of shopper data collection to naturalistic observation. Nonetheless, this finding has important implications for e-retailing strategies and market research practices.     

shopper taxonomy for retail strategy development

Segmentation of shoppers has been explored by many academic researchers and business practitioners seeking to understand shopping behaviour or to develop marketing strategies for particular customer groups. Market segmentation holds the key to successful marketing strategy as it encourages understanding of the key variables that differentiate specific segments.

The shopper taxonomy determined through this study is based on a set of variables that is relevant and appropriate for shopper segmentation and reflects the key aspects important to shoppers in motivating shopping behaviour towards a specific retail location. This taxonomy extends the proposed motivational taxonomy of Westbrook and Black (1985), derived from Tauber's (1972) earlier research. Westbrook and Black defined this taxonomy through shopping motives, and identified categories of product-oriented, experiential and a combination of product and experiential shoppers. Their research findings, however, pointed to a six-cluster typology, defining department stone shopping around seven motivations aligned with evaluating options and acquiring the products, engaging in the sales process and gaining stimulation and affiliation through the retail environment.

The “apathetic”, “shopping-processed involved” and “choice optimisation” shopper segments described by Westbrook and Black align with the “have to” “experiential” and “practical” “segments found in this study in terms of their focus on the shopping activity itself and the affiliation and stimulation motives associated with the shopping activity. Other associations between shopper segments across the two studies are less clear, and may be explained through the differing purposes for which the studies were undertaken and resulting variation in the measures used to define the motivational constructs.     

Causal linkages between psychographic and demographic determinants of outshopping behaviour

This article explores determinants of rural to rural outshopping in the Central Western region of NSW, Australia. The results of this study indicate significant psychographic and demographic variables associated with outshoppers to another rural trading area. These outshoppers tend to be more socially active, innovative, have one to two children living at home and are younger than those people who tend to shop in their local trading area.

Regression analysis is used to develop a causal relationship between psychographic variables, demographic variables and outshopping.     

Black middle class township shoppers: a shopper typology

Due to an increase in spending power amongst Black middle class, this growing segment has become a lucrative investment opportunity for many retailers in South Africa and most emerging markets. The purpose of this study is to segment township consumers according to their demographics, life stage, attitudes towards township shopping centres and Living Standards Measure, to understand shopping patterns of township consumers. A survey among Soweto Black middle class township respondents was conducted, and maximum likelihood factor analysis was used to identify attitudes towards township mall factors. The study revealed five factors namely entertainment, convenience, mall essence, staff and mall basics, which were all consistent with previous studies, with the exception of staff and mall basics, which was revealed in this study. A K-means cluster analysis was then used to segment township shoppers according to their attitudes. Four shopper segments were discovered, namely disappointed crusaders, upcoming loyals, social seekers and local loyals, which, despite investigating shopper attitudes in place of shopper behaviour alone, were similar to well-establish shopper typologies. Each segment was profiled according to demographic variables, attitudes as well as shopping patterns. Results, therefore, suggest that retailers and developers need to consider the unique needs and differences among Black middle class consumers when developing retail strategies as they reveal unique characteristics from typical shopper typologies. Given similarities in some emerging countries such as India, the findings of this study could be generalized to other middle class consumers from emerging markets. Similar shopper segments may arise, which may be consistent with previous shopper typology studies and new segments unique to emerging market middle class consumer may be unveiled.     

The relevance of shopper logistics for consumers of store-based retail formats

This paper discusses and empirically evaluates the relevance of shopping-related logistics for consumers of store-based retail formats. Based on a literature review a conceptual model was developed and subsequently tested using a survey of more than six hundred consumers in the grocery retail sector. Respondents were those primarily responsible for grocery shopping in their households located in a highly concentrated European urban retail market. Variance based structural equation modelling reveals that shopper logistics has a major impact on the convenience of store-based shopping and partly influence consumers' perceptions of shopping related costs. Nevertheless, shopper logistics does not affect consumer behaviour in terms of the share of visits of a store. These results are moderated by age, hedonic shopping orientation, shopping frequency, average spending per trip and store format preference. We conclude that shopper logistics is relevant for consumers of grocery stores but its relevance varies between different shopper groups.     

Multichannel shopping: The effect of decision making style on shopper journey configuration and satisfaction

Prior research demonstrates links between the maximizing tendency in decision making and online shopping behaviour, with maximizers spending considerable time on their online shopping yet being somewhat dissatisfied with their shopping decisions. Our research extends prior knowledge to the multichannel shopping context. Multichannel shopper journeys are an important form of shopping, whereby the activities comprising a shopping event occur in more than one channel. Our quantitative study examines relationships between two dimensions of maximizing, maximization as a strategy and maximization as a goal, multichannel shopper journey configuration and subsequent affect. Maximization as a strategy directly and positively relates to the numbers of channel switches and of pauses in a shopper journey and to the use of product and retailer reviews. It is indirectly associated with increased counterfactual thinking and regret, and with decreased satisfaction. Maximization as a goal has no effect on multichannel shopper journey configuration or on affect. Our findings have managerial relevance for multichannel retailers. We demonstrate that product and retailer reviews are of particular importance to those employing maximization as a shopping strategy, as they mitigate against their increased tendency to engage in counterfactual thinking. As counterfactual thinking leads maximizers to increased regret and decreased satisfaction, multichannel retailers can improve shopper satisfaction by actively directing their customers to reviews. Shoppers using maximization as a strategy could be helped to configure their shopper journeys with fewer channel switches and fewer pauses, as these provide maximizers with opportunities to doubt their decisions.     

Psychological associations with shopping: A moderator variable perspective

This article takes a moderator variable perspective on the relationships between two psychological variables: shopper decision-making styles from the consumer behavior literature and the concept of time perceptions as developed in the psychological literature, and shopping behavior, defined as shopping frequency and time spent shopping. Two hypotheses about potential types of moderation are examined to determine if time perceptions moderate relationships between shopper styles and shopping behavior. The finding show that time perceptions operate as a pure moderator for shopping frequency but as a quasimoderator for time spent shopping. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

An exploratory study of motives for Mexican nationals to shop in the US: More than meets the eye

Outshopping within a country's boundaries and international outshopping across national borders has been long researched. Previous studies have mainly focused on immediate (outer) motives as the fundamental reasons for outshopping. Building on this tradition, we categorized immediate motives for outshopping into the following four groups: (1) product quality, (2) service quality, (3) fashion consciousness, and (4) shopping enjoyment. Our results confirmed previous findings that those four motives are positively related to outshopping frequency. A point of departure from previous research, however, is that based on Hofstede's works [1980. Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA; 2001. Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, second ed. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA] we identified four inner motives: (1) desire for showing off power, (2) desire for rule of law, (3) egoism, and (4) masculinity. Through structure modeling technique, these psychological needs that exist at a higher level not only influence the outer motives, but also have a direct impact on outshopping frequency. In other words, cross-border shopping can fulfill shoppers’ obvious secular needs existing at a low level, as well as their psychological needs hidden at a higher level. Although our study examined why Mexican nationals choose to shop in the US, the results are applicable to outshopping in general where shopping environments differ in terms of economic, social, and cultural development in different countries. Managerial and research implications are also discussed.     

Does the locomotion technique matter in an immersive virtual store environment? – Comparing motion-tracked walking and instant teleportation

Immersive virtual reality shopping environments may use a variety of locomotion techniques. Currently the most prominent are instant teleportation and motion-tracked walking. Motion-tracked walking more closely mimics natural shopping behaviour as it allows a shopper to physically walk through the virtual store; however, it requires a larger space and has design and cost implications. Instant teleportation is likely to be cheaper and to enable larger store formats; yet it is unknown whether the choice of instant teleportation results in different in-store behaviour by shoppers. Our research examines whether instant teleportation provides a feasible design alternative to motion-tracked walking by determining whether it does result in altered shopper behaviour. Using a split sample experiment in a purpose-built immersive VR convenience store, we compare shoppers’ emotional states (engagement, excitement and stress, measured through electroencephalography), purchase behaviour metrics, and store coverage (represented by heat maps) between motion-tracked walking and instant teleportation locomotion techniques. Results demonstrate that the absence of physical walking had no impact on emotional states or the investigated shopping outcomes. While instant teleportation led to some skipped shelf sections, there was no impact observed on the number of unplanned purchases. To the extent that the naturalism of immersive VR relies on proprioceptive engagement or embodied cognition, this appears to be adequately supported by upper body movements that do not require physical walking. These findings provide fresh insights for the design of Virtual Reality shopping environments for market research or future online-retailing platforms.     

Validating Bluetooth logging as metric for shopper behaviour studies

The ability to track shoppers as they move through retail environments using signals emitted by their communication devices kindles the interest of practitioners and researchers. This data collection method is cheap and has the ability to supply big data for shopper insights. However, this non-probabilistic sampling method can possibly under- or over-represent certain groups of the shopper population. This study assesses the validity of the data describing the length of shopping trips and representativeness of the sample of shoppers carrying Bluetooth-enabled devices. The authors track unique Bluetooth logs in-store and compare to simultaneously collected data from a manual, systematic sample of 324 shoppers observed and interviewed in the same supermarket. A comparison of the results obtained from the two samples (auto-logging and manual systematic) drawn from the same population indicates automated Bluetooth tracking produces very similar (r=.92, p<.001) trip lengths to that observed manually. Basket size, spend and occupation of Bluetooth trackable shoppers are similar to those with no Bluetooth-enabled devices. These findings present compelling evidence that the Bluetooth auto-logging method holds great potential for retail practice and research. An expected under-representation of the oldest demographic (66 y.o. and over) in the Bluetooth discoverable sample calls for complementary methods of data collection to minimise representation bias in real-time tracking technologies for shopper research. The benefits of using auto-logging data describing shopping trip length for retail practitioners and researchers are discussed.     

Why shopping pals make malls different?

The present study examines the effects of the specific type of ompanion a shopper shops with (i.e., friend versus family member) on the emotional attachment to malls. The study aims to explain this influence through two potential mediators, that is, shopping arousal, and shopping apprehension, the relevance of which has been shown in the extant reviewed psychosocial literature. The emotional attachment of shoppers to their mall depends on whom they are shopping with: shopping with friends affects both shoppers' arousal and apprehension. Only arousal mediates the relationship between shopping pal and mall attachment. Our findings provide new insight on the psychological processes explaining the relation shoppers develop with their shopping environment and give retail managers guidelines for increasing shoppers' attachment to their malls.     

Guest Editorial

Abstract

While some Internet-only retailers survive and prosper, for most, multichannel retailing provides a sustainable and attractive blend of new and existing retail formats. The complementary roles of stores and Internet are frequently noted, yet the renewed significance of catalogues is often ignored. This paper is based upon a survey of 2,341 shoppers across three product sectors and three shopping scenarios, identifying their relative utilization of, and attitudes towards, stores, catalogues and the Internet.

Principal component analysis and multi-attribute analysis (MAA) scores summarize attitudes across the three channels, sectors and motivational scenarios. Four major components in channel choice emerge consistently: risk reduction, product value, ease of shopping and experiential. K-Means clustering on preference and behavioural variables identifies the truly multichannel shopper segment. Key characteristics of these shoppers are summarized, demonstrating that the multichannel shopper comprises a large and mainstream segment. Implications are identified for retailers and researchers.     

Re-examining online customer experience to include purchase frequency and perceived risk

This research examines the important emerging area of online customer experience (OCE) using data collected from an online survey of frequent and infrequent online shoppers. The study examines a model of antecedents for cognitive and affective experiential states and their influence on outcomes, such as online shopping satisfaction and repurchase intentions. The model also examines the relationships between perceived risk, trust, satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Theoretically, the study provides a broader understanding of OCE, through insights into two shopper segments identified as being important in e-retailing. For managers, the study highlights areas of OCE and their implications for ongoing management of the online channel.     

Understanding the older shopper: A behavioural typology

With regard to the contemporary retail environment, to date, the older shopper has been afforded limited academic attention, which is somewhat surprising given the growth of this population in the UK. Consequently, this study presents an empirically derived typology of older grocery shoppers through the application of salient retail attributes and store image dimensions developed through extensive qualitative research techniques. The findings provide an important contribution towards better understanding differences in shopping behaviour amongst older consumers. The identification of six distinct shopper types, including three new distinct groups, contributes to theory, whilst a number of potential implications for retail managers are explored in light of the findings.     

Mobile Shopper Marketing: Key Issues,Current Insights,and Future Research Avenues

The intersection of mobile marketing and shopper marketing, known as mobile shopper marketing, is a rapidly evolving area. We formally define mobile shopper marketing as the planning and execution of all mobile-based marketing activities that influence a shopper along and beyond the path-to-purchase: from the initial shopping trigger, to the purchase, consumption, repurchase, and recommendation stages. However, not much is known about mobile shopper marketing. We plug this gap by first discussing mobile shopper marketing and its scope in depth and then presenting a process model that connects the mobile shopping journey with four key entities, i.e., shopper, employee, organization, and mobile technology. For each of these themes, we identify the challenges that offer future research opportunities.     

Explaining the impact of consumer religiosity,perceived risk and moral potency on purchase intentions

The role of religion has been overlooked as an antecedent to risk perception, as has moral potency, when purchasing religiously sensitive products. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how perceived risk and moral potency explain the impact of shopper religiosity on purchasing religiously-questionable products from retailers. A conceptual model was tested on a sample of 271 respondents, elucidating the complex relationships between religiosity, social and psychological risk, moral potency and purchase intention. The model offers a strong psychological explanation of how a shopper's religion may increase their perceptions of risk and personal responsibility, confidence and courage, which subsequently impact purchase intentions. Retail managers may choose to implement this model to better predict shopper adoption behaviour of new religiously-questionable products. The model allows for future empirical examinations across multiple shopping contexts and may be employed to estimate levels of demand for new products based on the extent of religiosity, moral potency and risk.     

Outshopping Through the Internet: A Multicountry Investigation

ABSTRACT

From the viewpoint of trade leakage for local retailers, Internet shopping bears a similarity to traditional outshopping, in the tendency to shop outside the consumer's immediate shopping areas. Yet, the relationship between consumer outshopping?related characteristics and preference for Internet shopping has received little, if any, research attention. We investigate this relationship using survey data from consumers in three countries—the United States, India, and Korea. According to the results, consumer in-home shopping proneness and perception of time pressure are positively related to consumer preference for Internet shopping mode. In contrast, consumer support for local shopping and orientation toward time management are negatively related to Internet shopping preference. Other findings and managerial implications are also reported.     

The shopping list in goal-directed shopping: scale development and validation

This paper aims to develop and validate a shopping list scale in a goal-directed shopping context based on three complementary study phases (and literature review): shopper interviews (exploratory stage to identify the items and dimensions), a pilot study with 162 respondents for scale purification, and a refined questionnaire administered to 213 respondents (to establish reliability, convergent, discriminant and nomological validity). An exploratory factor analysis shows that the items load onto four factors: memory aid, money controller, shopping controller, and deviation controller. We performed confirmatory factor analysis to test the model and check for reliability and validity of the anticipated scale. The model fit and reliability levels are acceptable, as are the convergent and discriminant validities of the scale. The scale is a second-order factor, thus satisfying nomological validity. The shopping list scale should be of interest to researchers and retail managers in exploring factors and outcomes of goal-directed shopper behaviour.