Editorial

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management

ISSN: 0959-0552

Article publication date: 23 March 2012

309

Citation

Towers, P.N. (2012), "Editorial", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 40 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrdm.2012.08940daa.001

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 40, Issue 4

This edition has an interesting variety of contributions with submissions investigating factors that have an impact on trust, examines the impact of visual and olfactory sensory cues on consumer touch behavior, identifies underlying personal values that determine the mall shopping behavior of Chinese consumers and aims to analyse past and current sustainability considerations and developments in scientific research and practice with a focus on the role of retailers in supply chains.

The first contribution by Rampl, Eberhardt, Schütte and Kenning aims to determine which factors have an impact on trust in a specific retailer, whether trust in turn affects outcomes relevant for food-retailer success, and whether specific additional variables might affect the relationships previously described. The paper aims to identify relevant drivers and outcomes of consumer trust in food retailing which should help to provide a conceptual framework for practical trust management. The paper uses empirical data to establish original indications regarding: whether consumer trust in a food retailer is a relevant indicator for variables that are central to long-term company success, such as loyalty; and which variables, accounting for possible moderators, should be addressed to increase trust in a specific food retailer. Based on an established model of trust in organizations, we developed a questionnaire to test drivers (ability, benevolence, integrity), outcomes (risk taking, loyalty) of specific trust in food retailers, as well as moderators (propensity to trust, perceived risk). The study results support the hypothesized model showing that specific trust in a food retailer strongly predicts risk taking and in turn loyalty. The food retailer’s ability and integrity were identified as relevant to specific trust, while the consumer’s propensity to trust was shown to moderate the relationship between benevolence and specific trust. The results further indicate that the perceived risk affects the relationship between specific trust and risk taking.

The second paper by Hultén presents a review of theoretically relevant work from retailing and consumer psychology, and an original study examining the impact of visual and olfactory sensory cues on consumer touch behavior. The study was a field experiment in the glass department of the Swedish retailer IKEA. The design was quasi-experimental with a convenience sample of shoppers assigned to a control group (n=451) and an experimental group (n=435). The study finds significant differences between shoppers’ touching behavior in a manipulated point-of-purchase compared to a conventional one. The findings show that visual and olfactory sensory cues have a positive impact on shoppers’ touching behavior, purchase intentions and total sale. They demonstrate that sensory cues exert a positive impact on consumers’ desire to touch. Sensory cues frame consumers’ affective responses and decision making through involving the sense of touch. The findings provide guidelines for managers of retail and service outlets, concerning the benefits of sensory cues in enhancing shoppers’ touching behavior at point-of-purchase.

The third paper by Cai and Shannon identifies underlying personal values that determine the mall shopping behavior of Chinese consumers and proposes shopping intention as an additional mediator that enhances the value-behavior link. A self-administered web-based survey with convenience sampling was used to collect the data. Chinese mall shoppers’ behaviors were explained by value orientations, which were both similar and different from their counterparts in the West. While Western mall shoppers are more likely to be directed by social affiliation and self-actualizing values in previous studies, Chinese mall shoppers are more likely to be influenced by self-transcendence and self-enhancement (similar to self-actualizing) values in the present study. Additionally, shopping intention was found to improve the predictive power of consumers’ attitude toward mall attributes in terms of shopping frequency and money spent in the mall. The results of this study are especially beneficial for mall developers and retailers for crafting effective positioning strategies and guiding their communication strategies in the China market. The proposed model helps researchers better understand the value-behavior relationship in a more comprehensive framework.

The final contribution by Wiese, Kellner, Lietke, Toporowski and Zielke aims to analyse past and current sustainability considerations and developments in scientific research and practice with a focus on the role of retailers in supply chains. A summative content analysis is used to identify major research areas and industrial branches in the sustainability literature relevant to retail supply chains, and sustainability considerations in retail practice. Sustainability-related issues have been discussed for many years and the term sustainability has received increased attention in research since the mid-1990s. In retail research, there seems to be a time lag of more than ten years in using the term sustainability compared to other fields in research and industry. However, some of these other research fields and industries have an impact on retail supply chains. At the same time, it seems that sustainability has received more attention in retail management practice compared to research applications. Future retail research should try to integrate the findings from related research areas and industry sectors, and emerging issues in practice magazines. The paper considers the specific role of retailers in supply chains through a broad analysis of sustainability considerations in different research areas and industries relevant to retail supply chains.

Professor Neil Towers

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