Editorial

Citation

Fernie, J. (2009), "Editorial", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 37 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrdm.2009.08937faa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 37, Issue 6

This issue has papers on retail store loyalty, brands and luxury stores. Our first paper is by Ugur Yavas and Emin Babakus from the USA who research measures of loyalty in relation to specific store choice attributes – price, quality and environment. Using two customer segments of a national automotive parts and accessories retailer, they mailed over 90,000 of the retailer’s customers, receiving over 17,000 replies. The results suggest that quality (merchandise) is an important predicator of loyalty but is reinforced mainly by the quality of interaction with sales personnel which has important implications for the company in terms of recruitment, motivation and retention of employees.

The next paper, by Maria-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina, Irene Gil-Saura and Gloria Berenguer-Contri from Valencia in Spain, discusses the different relational benefits perceived by customers in addition to the benefits obtained by the organisation in terms of loyalty. Stores were selected from major Spanish databases and the consumer survey was undertaken at the exit of stores. Results show that purchase risk reduction and confidence are the most influencing on customer loyalty thereby recommending that retailers should offer better guarantees for products and improve communication to enhance image and trust with the consumer.

Our third paper is by Archana Kumar, Young-Kyung Kim and Lou Pelton . It aims to determine the factors which influence Indian consumers’ purchase intentions towards a local Indian brand compared with a US imported brand. After discussing the growing penetration of US retail companies in India from a survey of 405 college students, they show that Indian consumers’ self concept, need for uniqueness, clothing interest and emotional values are antecedents of purchase intentions. There is a positive relationship between self concept and clothing interest and between a need for uniqueness and clothing intent suggesting that Indian consumers use clothing as a means to express their individuality.

Our final paper is from Bruno Godey, Joëlle Lagier and Daniele Pederzoli from Rouen in France. They draw upon a growing literature on luxury brands to develop a measurement scale of aesthetic styles from the object d’art sector to luxury goods. From a convenience sample, they produced a three factor structure to determine a consumer’s judgement of luxury goods stores.

John Fernie