Editorial

Citation

Towers, N. (2013), "Editorial", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 41 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-05-2013-0110

Editorial

Article Type:

Editorial

From:

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 41, Issue 9

This issue has a consumer focus within retail from four distinctly different perspectives. The submissions include an analysis of the influence of three selected physical components of the urban environment, an understanding of social commonalities between employees and their customers, an investigation the cross cultural differences in the impact of online retailer reputation and etail quality on consumers’ emotional and cognitive reactions and finally the effect of consumer perception of shopping pleasure from seven aspects of recreational shopping.

The first contribution by de Nisco and Warnaby analyses the influence of three selected physical components of the urban environment – physical design, space layout and functionality and store external appearance – on consumers’ perception of service quality and behavioral intentions (desire to stay and re-patronage intentions). The proposed framework is based on the atmospherics, servicescape and service quality literatures and is tested with a survey conducted into an inner-city shopping street in Benevento (Italy). Results show that physical space functionality and store appearance provide cues upon which customers base their perception of service quality provided in the shopping street and that service quality inferences, in turn are able to affect desire to stay and re-patronage intentions.

The second paper by Rosenbaum, Massiah and Wozniak illustrates how social commonalities between employees and their customers often result in customers believing that they are entitled to discounts in retail settings. The study employs a survey methodology to reveal the extent to which various social commonalities between customers and service providers encourage customers to believe that they are entitled to financial discounts. The findings show that commonalities, such as social media linkages, shared life experiences, or shared lifestyles, may cause customers to adhere to narcissism – that is, many customers may expect discounts even when they know that employees may jeopardize their jobs by providing them. Customer relationships dramatically change with commonalities. That is, customers believe that social relationships propel them to “best customer status” and, as such, that they are entitled to discounts. Customers who become increasingly connected with employees expect relational benefits that usually require time to develop. Retailers that encourage their employees to develop social media bonds with their customers must realise that customers desire to be financially rewarded for maintaining these linkages.

The purpose of the third contribution by Kim, Yang and Kim is to investigate the cross cultural differences in the impact of online retailer reputation and retail quality on consumers’ emotional and cognitive (i.e. perceived risk) reactions, which lead to purchase intention, based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model. Two cultures, that of the US (characterized by individualism and low uncertainty avoidance) and that of South Korea (characterized by collectivism and high uncertainty avoidance) were chosen for comparison because of their contrasting cultural characteristics. Multiple group analysis in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed in order to compare the results of applying the structural model in two different cultures. The results indicate that while the overall mechanism underlying the decision making process is similar for the two countries, differences are found in the relative importance of the factors determining consumers’ cognitive and emotional reactions as well as their intention to purchase online. The result suggests that retailing strategies may vary in response to cultural differences. In East Asian countries that share Confucian values, targeting consumers’ emotions by means of experiential cues may not yield results as significant as those which may result in the US.

The final contribution by Xu-Priour and Cliquet examines the effect of consumer perception of shopping pleasure from seven aspects of recreational shopping (i.e. social aspects of retail environment, service quality, browsing, bargain hunting, social interaction, enduring involvement and brand experience) on consumer attitude towards stores channels are comparable between France and Chinese cosmetic shoppers. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire of 500 French and 480 Chinese working females were conducted. Both the convergence and habituation theories were applied. Results of the multiple regression analysis suggest that recreational shopping and its relation with consumer attitudes in China tends to be more in line with those in developed countries. Multinational retailers and cosmetics vendors have to recognize these shopping experiences in both retail settings. In particular in the Chinese retail market it is necessary to improve these experiences so as to achieve positive consumer attitude towards retail outlets and finally strike the deal in this numerous market.

Neil Towers