Attractive and facilitating store atmospheric stimuli: Validating the scales

Abstract

Purpose

The majority of past studies on the physical store environment have focused on the impacts of distinct store environmental cues like music, crowding and décor on consumers' responses. However, recent research posits that consumer is more likely to experience several cues in a combination, rather than in isolation, i.e. different categories of store environmental cues are likely to impact consumer psychology holistically. Hence, our study aims to identify the relevant factors of store atmospheric cues impacting consumer's attitude in physical retail store context and validate scales to measure such factors.

Design/methodology/approach

This research develops and validates psychometrically reliable scales to measure two broad store stimuli factors namely: attractive and facilitating store stimuli, following the scale development method suggested by Churchill (1979).

Findings

The study shows that attractive store stimuli predict affective and sensory store brand experiences. The facilitating store stimuli moderate the effects of attractive store stimuli on affective and sensory store brand experiences. Affective and sensory store brand experiences predict store satisfaction.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the existing body of store ambience research by empirically understanding the psychological mechanism through which customers perceive different store cues holistically leading to the elicitation of store satisfaction.

Citation

Bhatt, G., Sarkar, A. and Sarkar, J.G. (2020), "Attractive and facilitating store atmospheric stimuli: Validating the scales", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 363-379. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-07-2018-0142