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This study empirically investigates whether and how boycott attitudes and subjective norms influence the impact of the perceived behavioral control of boycotts on boycott intention.

To test our hypotheses, we perform a hierarchical linear regression analysis using data from Japanese (n = 500) and South Koreans (n = 571).

Boycott attitudes strengthen the positive effect of perceived behavioral control on boycott intentions for Japanese and South Koreans. Contrary to our assumptions, while the direct impact of perceived behavioral control on boycott intention is not significant, there is a negative moderating effect of subjective norms for Japanese consumers.

We argue that when perceived behavioral control is evident in boycotts, consumers listen more to themselves than to others. Our cross-national analysis of actual boycott campaigns is the first study on boycott research to offer implications for the interaction effects among the three key antecedents of psychological motivation factors in the theory of planned behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a model investigating the relationship among inter-departmental communication, buyer innovativeness, and retail competitiveness. The authors also explore whether a retail strategy of supply base diversification for managing suppliers moderates the association between innovativeness and competitiveness.

Hypotheses were tested using a structural equation model and survey data drawn from general merchandise managers of 149 supermarket retailers in Japan.

The results indicate that inter-departmental communication between merchandising and store divisions drives innovativeness among retail buyers and ultimately strengthens firm competitiveness. Moreover, when buyer innovativeness is evident and less actively the retail buyers utilize supply base diversification, the stronger is the retailer’s competitiveness. The study failed to find any direct impact of inter-departmental communication on retail competitiveness.

This study offers managerial insights into the roles that buyer innovativeness, inter-departmental communications, and supply base diversification play in developing effective competitive strategies.

This study makes two key contributions. First, it is novel in using inter-departmental communication to explain the antecedents of buyer innovativeness. Second, drawing on the power-dependence theory, the authors extend the well-established innovativeness-performance linkage by exploring the moderation effect of supply base diversification.

Drawing on the resource-based view, this study aims to investigate the conditions under which small- and medium-sized retailers can improve competitive benefits through the lens of brand equity and strategies for competitive advantage in retail buying groups.

This study collected 241 samples from small- and medium-sized supermarket retailers who joined retail buying groups in Japan.

This study offers two key findings. First, the results indicate that a buying group’s brand equity partially mediates the relationship between member retailers’ strategic integration and their buying group benefits. Second, member retailers with a stronger differentiation orientation strengthen the positive impact of strategic integration on the buying group’s brand equity and buying group benefits. The moderating effects of low-cost orientation were not found to be significant.

To highlight the sustainable growth of small- and medium-sized retailers in retail buying groups, which are often ignored in the extant literature, this study offers practical guidance on the importance of a buying group’s brand equity. In addition, based on the findings, this paper postulates that member retailers pursuing differentiation orientation, rather than low-cost orientation, are more beneficial to retail buying groups in terms of relational outcomes and performance consequences.

By conceptualizing brand equity in retail buying groups, this study suggests a novel approach for retail management that investigates how a buying group’s brand equity is linked to strategic integration, strategies for competitive advantage and buying group benefits from the viewpoint of member retailers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the conditions under which small independent retailers can improve their business performance by adopting a merchandising information orientation and strategically integrating into retailer buying groups.

This study tests hypotheses using a hierarchical multiple regression model and data obtained from 241 supermarket retailers that are existing members of buying groups in Japan.

The results indicate that merchandising information orientation alone may not be a beneficial strategy for small independent retailers to improve their business performance; however, by combining a merchandising information strategy with strong strategic integration with a buying group, optimal benefits can be achieved.

The findings highlight the potential benefits small independent retailers can gain from buying groups when pursuing a merchandising information orientation, which may prompt such retailers to actively integrate the policies and activities of the buying group into their business strategy.

The authors conceptualise retailers’ merchandising information in a model that demonstrates the link between a firm’s information strategy and its performance from the perspective of resource-based theory. Thus, this study advances the knowledge of the strategic behaviours of small independent retailers and provides valuable information for buying groups in the retail sector.

By adopting a cross-country analysis, this study aims to investigate how consumers' perception of book covers affects their online book purchases in terms of feelings of delight and perceived value of the book.

The authors tested the hypotheses using a structural equation model using two countries' datasets obtained from 191 Japanese and 207 French consumers.

The perceived attractiveness of a picture/photo on a book cover can positively influence feelings of delight. Such emotion enhances a book's perceived value, resulting in active online book purchases. Furthermore, when the perceived value of a book is evident, the French are more strongly motivated to purchase books compared to Japanese consumers.

By simultaneously examining emotion and perceived value as an organism, the authors advance the knowledge of the relationship between book covers and online book purchases. In addition, the authors offer evidence that cross-cultural differences (between the French and Japanese) can stimulate different responses to each affective and cognitive internal state, although similar environmental stimuli are provided.

The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model investigating the relationship between conflict with private label (PL) suppliers and retailers’ PL performance. The study also examines differences in the relationship based on two PL types, namely, price-oriented and differentiation-oriented PLs.

Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and data obtained from a survey of general merchandise managers in 190 supermarket chains in Japan.

The results indicate that conflict with PL suppliers can have negative effects on retailers’ PL performance. Moreover, the use of price-oriented PLs leads to higher levels of conflict with PL suppliers than the use of differentiation-oriented PLs.

This study offers managerial insights into the importance of sophisticated conflict management in relation to PL suppliers and the efficacy of premium PLs, which may cost less in terms of conflict management than price-oriented PLs.

Considering the influence of conflict with suppliers on retailers’ PL performance, this study suggests a novel approach to examining conflict between PL suppliers and retailers by classifying PLs into two types, namely, price-oriented and differentiation-oriented PLs.

Drawing on the philosophy of retail service quality, this study aims to empirically investigate how salespeople’s personal interaction affects customers’ positive word-of-mouth (WOM) intention through the lens of affective customer experience and consumers’ cross-cultural attitudes toward domestic or foreign products.

The hypothesis was tested with a two-step structural equation model using survey data obtained from 529 shopping center customers in China.

The positive impact of salespeople’s personal interaction on customers’ positive WOM intention is fully mediated by affective customer experience. In addition, consumer ethnocentrism strengthens the positive impact of salespeople’s personal interaction on affective customer experience, whereas this study fails to find the moderating effect of foreign product affinity.

To increase customers’ positive WOM intention, store managers need to encourage their frontline sales personnel to personally interact with customers to support customers’ problem-solving. Also, frontline salespeople should pay more attention to consumers’ cross-cultural attitudes such as consumer ethnocentrism when interacting with their customers.

By linking affective customer experience and consumers’ cross-cultural attitudes of ethnocentrism and affinity toward domestic or foreign products, this study further extends the knowledge of retail service quality on the relationship between salespeople’s personal interaction and customers’ positive WOM intention.

This paper aims to examine empirically whether and under what organisational design conditions retailers can benefit from private label (PL) merchandising improvement.

The study tests hypotheses using a structural equation model and data obtained from general merchandise managers at 190 supermarket retailers in Japan.

The results reveal that both centralised merchandising authority and store cooperation between merchandising and store divisions motivate PL merchandising improvement, which strengthens PL competitiveness. In addition, outcome-based merchandiser control strengthens the positive relationship between store cooperation and PL merchandising improvement. However, regarding centralised merchandising authority, it is found that outcome-based control had no significant moderating effect.

To generalise the findings, it may be desirable to reflect data from store divisions for at least two constructs of interdepartmental structure and coordination. Also, it will remain a challenge to produce objective financial outcomes, such as sales, profits or market share, of PL merchandise to empirically test PL contributions to a retail store or company.

It is important for retail managers to understand their merchandisers’ efforts and behaviours to continuously improve PL merchandising activities. It is strongly recommended that retail managers continue to find ways to motivate their merchandisers.

Drawing on the philosophy of continuous improvement, this study suggests a novel approach to retail merchandising management that investigates how organisational design can influence better PL merchandising. To highlight the growing role of retail merchandisers, often ignored in the PL literature, this study advances this knowledge about the organisational design–strategic behaviour linkage by empirically testing interactions between different aspects of retail organisation design.

Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to conduct an empirical investigation on whether and how psychological and motivational factors (i.e. attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control) affect actual purchase behavior. It does so through the lens of boycott intention and gender differences in the context of boycott campaigns.

Focusing on the South Korean boycott campaign against Japanese companies, this study employs a structural equation model using survey data from 571 South Korean consumers to test the hypotheses.

While the three psychological and motivational factors inhibit all three dimensions of actual purchase behavior (i.e. purchase frequency, number of items purchased and purchase amount) through increased boycott intention, perceived behavioral control of boycotts directly curb South Korean consumers from purchasing Japanese products. Additionally, the effect of boycott intention on overall actual purchase behavior is stronger for men than for women, suggesting a moderating role of gender.

To mitigate the devastating impact of unexpected consumers' boycott campaigns, this study advises that global brand management and attractive online channels are essential while considering the differential impact of gender.

By conceptualizing three dimensions of actual purchase behavior capturing behavioral changes before and after a boycott, this study highlights the linkages between psychological and motivational factors, intentions and behaviors. Additionally, this study attempts to clarify the previously conflicting evidence on gender's role in boycott campaigns while taking a culture-inclusive psychologies approach to gender.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate retailers’ power-dependence management through the lens of supply chain diversification, and explore how it is linked to their logistic arrangements in managing suppliers and their retail performance.

Hypotheses are tested using a structural equation modelling based on survey data from 186 merchandising division heads at Japanese retail companies.

The results reveal that quick-response inventory replenishment is positively related to retailers’ use of power-dependence management. This management practice leads to enhanced retail competitiveness and, thus, higher sales growth in supply chain relationships.

This study contributes to understanding how retailers’ logistic arrangements work by modelling power relations within supply chains, drawing on power-dependence theory. The authors propose an alternative view of logistics systems to that of the widely adopted transaction cost theory. The authors find that supplier investments in quick-response inventory management may not be a relationship-specific asset.