Retail restructuring and consumer choice 1:long term local changes in consumer behaviour : Portsmouth 1980-2002

Over the last two decades fundamental changes have taken place in the global supply and local structure of provision of British food retailing. Consumer lifestyles have also changed markedly. Despite some important studies of local interactions between new retail developments and consumers, we argue in this paper that there is a critical need to gauge the cumulative effects of these changes on consumer behaviour over longer periods. In this, the first of two papers, we present the main findings of a study of the effects of long-term retail change on consumers at the local level. We provide in this paper an overview of the changing geography of retail provision and patterns of consumption at the local level. We contextualise the Portsmouth study area as a locality that typifies national changes in retail provision and consumer lifestyles; outline the main findings of two large-scale surveys of food shopping behaviour carried out in 1980 and 2002; and reveal the impacts of retail restructuring on consumer behaviour. We focus in particular on choice between stores at the local level and end by problematising our understanding of how consumers experience choice, emphasising the need for qualitative research. This issue is then dealt with in our complementary second paper, which explores choice within stores and how this relates to the broader spatial context.

The influence of social e-atmospherics in practice:a website content analysis perspectives from Turkey as an illustration of emerging market and France as a mature market

E-atmospherics have been often analyzed in terms of functional features, leaving its characteristics' link to social capital co-creation as a fertile research area. Prior research have demonstrated the capacity of e-atmospherics' at modifying shopping habits towards deeper engagement. Little is known on how processes and cues emerging from the social aspects of lifestyle influence purchasing behavior. The anatomy of social dimension and ICT is the focus of this research, where attention is devoted to unpack the meanings and type of online mundane social capital creation. Taking a cross-product/services approach to better investigate social construction impact, our approach also involves both an emerging and a mature market where exploratory content analysis of landing page are done on Turkish and French web sites, respectively. We contend that by comprehending social capital, daily micro practices, habits and routine, a better and deeper understanding on e-atmospherics incumbent and potential effects on its multi-national e-customer will be acquired.

The impact of brand owner on consumers' brand perceptions : a development of Heider's Balance Theory

Studies have shown that the brand “owner” is very influential in positioning the brand and when the brand “owner” ceases his or her active role the brand will be perceived differently by the consumers. Balance Theory (HBT), a cognitive psychological theory, studies the triadic relationships between two persons and an entity and predicts that when a person’s original perception of the relationship is disturbed, the person restructures to a new balanced perception. Consequently, this research was undertaken to: conceptualize the brand owner’s impact on consumer’s brand perception; test the applicability of both the static and dynamic predictions of the Heider’s Balance Theory in brand owner-consumer-brand relation (OCB); construct and test a model of brand owner-consumer-brand relation; and examine if personality has an influence on OCB. A discovery-oriented approach was taken to understand the selected market segment, the ready-to-wear and diffusion lines of international designer labels. Chinese Brand Personality Scale, fashion proneness and hedonic and utilitarian shopping scales were developed, and validated. 51 customers were surveyed. Both traditional and extended methods used in the Balance Theory were employed in this study. Responses to liked brand have been used to test and develop the model, while those for disliked brand were used for test and confirmation. A “what if’ experimental approach was employed to test the applicability of dynamic HBT theory in OCB Model. The hypothesized OCB Model has been tested and validated. Consumers have been found to have separate views on the brand and the brand owner; and their responses to contrasting ethical and non-ethical news of the brand owner are different. Personality has been found to have an influence and two personality adapted models have been tested and validated. The actual results go beyond the prediction of the Balance Theory. Dominant triple positive balance mode, dominant negative balance mode, and mode of extreme antipathy have been found. It has been found that not all balanced modes are good for the brand. Contrary to Heider’s findings, simply liking may not necessarily lead to unit relation in the OCB Model.

An investigation of the retail marketing mix and its effectiveness in small shops

The recent history of small shop and independent retailing has been one of decline. The most desirable form of assistance is the provision of information which will increase the efficiency model of marketing mix effeciveness which may be applied in small scale retailing. A further aim is to enhance theoretical development in the marketing field. Recent changes in retailing have affected location, product range, pricing and promotion practices. Although a large number of variables representing aspects of the marketing mix may be identified, it is not possible, on the basis of currently available information, to quantify or rank them according to their effect on sales performance. In designing a suitable study a major issue is that of access to a suitable representative sample of small retailers. The publish nature of the retail activities involved facilitates the use of a novel observation approach to data collection. A cross-sectional survey research design was used focussing on a clustered random sample of greengrocers and gent's fashion outfitters in the West Midlands. Linear multiple regression was the main analytical technique. Powerful regression models were evolved for both types of retailing. For greengrocers the major influences on trade are pedestrian traffic and shelf display space. For gent's outfitters they are centrality-to-other shopping, advertising and shelf display space. The models may be utilised by retailers to determine the relative strength of marketing mix variables. The level of precision is not sufficient to permit cost benefit analysis. Comparison of the findings for the two distinct kinds of business studied suggests an overall model of marketing mix effectiveness might be based on frequency of purchase, homogeneity of the shopping environment, elasticity of demand and bulk characteristics of the good sold by a shop.

Challenging market conventions:supermarket diversification and consumer resistance in children's apparel purchases

Purpose – In the UK, while fashion apparel purchasing is available to the majority of consumers, the main supermarkets seem – rather against the odds and market conventions – to have created a new, socially-acceptable and legitimate, apparel market offer for young children. This study aims to explore parental purchasing decisions on apparel for young children (below ten years old) focusing on supermarket diversification into apparel and consumer resistance against other traditional brands. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection adopted a qualitative research mode: using semi-structured interviews in two locations (Cornwall Please correct and check againand Glasgow), each with a Tesco and ASDA located outside towns. A total of 59 parents participated in the study. Interviews took place in the stores, with parents seen buying children fashion apparel. Findings – The findings suggest that decisions are based not only on functionality (e.g. convenience, value for money, refund policy), but also on intuitive factors (e.g. style, image, quality) as well as broader processes of consumption from parental boundary setting (e.g. curbing premature adultness). Positive consumer resistance is leading to a re-drawing of the cultural boundaries of fashion. In some cases, concerns are expressed regarding items that seem too adult-like or otherwise not as children's apparel should be. Practical implications – The paper highlights the increasing importance of browsing as a modern choice practice (e.g. planned impulse buying, sanctuary of social activity). Particular attention is given to explaining why consumers positively resist buying from traditional label providers and voluntarily choose supermarket clothing ranges without any concerns over their children wearing such garments. Originality/value – The paper shows that supermarket shopping for children's apparel is now firmly part of UK consumption habits and choice. The findings provide theoretical insights into the significance of challenging market conventions, parental cultural boundary setting and positive resistance behaviour.

E-satisfaction:a re-examination

E-satisfaction as a construct has gained increasing importance in the marketing literature in recent times. The examination of consumer satisfaction in an online context follows the growing consensus that in Internet retailing, as in traditional retailing, consumer satisfaction is not only a critical performance outcome, but also a primary predictor of customer loyalty and thus, the Internet retailer's endurance and success. The current study replicates the initial examination of e-satisfaction within the U.S. by [Szymanski, David M., & Richard T. Hise (2000). E-satisfaction: An initial examination. Journal of Retailing, 76(3), 309–322] among a sample of online consumers drawn from Germany. The replication was extended to two contexts—consumer satisfaction with Internet retail shopping and consumer satisfaction with Internet financial services sites. The results yield rich insights into the validity of extending the measurement and predictors of e-satisfaction to a trans-national context.

Les motivations pour le magasinage:démêler les impacts des motivations individuelles et des motivations liées au contexte

La définition des motivations du consommateur est souvent ambigüe. Elles sont parfois considérées comme des caractéristiques permanentes de l’individu influençant son comportement général (traits motivationnels) et elles sont parfois définies comme des variables contextuelles expliquant pourquoi un individu agit d’une certaine façon dans un contexte donné (états motivationnels). Notre objectif est de clarifier ces deux concepts et d’étudier leur impact respectif sur le comportement du consommateur. En appliquant notre étude aux motivations pour le shopping, nous démontrons l’existence d’une forte interaction entre ces deux types de motivations.

Drawing association rules between purchases and in-store behavior:an extension of the market basket analysis

Shopping behavior is often exclusively studied through consumer purchases, since they are an easily measurable ouput. Still, the observation of in-store physical behavior (paths, moves and actions) is crucial, as is the quantification of its impact on purchases. Using an innovative PDA tool to precisely record and time stamp consumer’s moves and gestures, we extend the classical Market Basket Analysis (MBA) by integrating this new kind of information. We draw associations not only from purchases but also from in-store consumer moves and actions. We compare results of our new method with classical MBA results and show a significant improvement.

Drawing association rules between purchases and in-store behaviour:an extension of the market basket analysis

Shopping behavior is often exclusively studied through consumer purchases, since they are an easily measurable ouput. Still, the observation of in-store physical behavior (path, moves and actions) is crucial, as is the quantification of its impact on purchases. Using an innovative PDA tool to precisely record and time stamp consumers' moves and actions, we extend the classical Market Basket Analysis (MBA) by integrating this new information: associations between product categories are measured not only from purchases but also from consumer physical behavior. We compare results of our new method with classical MBA results and show a significant improvement.

Does online information drive offline revenues? Only for specific products and consumer segments!

While many offline retailers have developed informational websites that offer information on products and prices, the key question for such informational websites is whether they can increase revenues via web-to-store shopping. The current paper draws on the information search literature to specify and test hypotheses regarding the offline revenue impact of adding an informational website. Explicitly considering marketing efforts, a latent class model distinguishes consumer segments with different short-term revenue effects, while a Vector Autoregressive model on these segments reveals different long-term marketing response. We find that the offline revenue impact of the informational website critically depends on the product category and customer segment. The lower online search costs are especially beneficial for sensory products and for customers distant from the store. Moreover, offline revenues increase most for customers with high web visit frequency. We find that customers in some segments buy more and more expensive products, suggesting that online search and offline purchases are complements. In contrast, customers in a particular segment reduce their shopping trips, suggesting their online activities partially substitute for experiential shopping in the physical store. Hence, offline retailers should use specific online activities to target specific product categories and customer segments.

The impact of the introduction and use of an informational website on offline customer buying behavior

Do customers increase or decrease their spending in response to the introduction of an informational website? To answer this question, this study considers the effects of the introduction and use of an informational website by a large national retailer on offline customer buying behavior. More specifically, we study a website's effects on the number of shopping trips and the amount spent per category per shopping trip. The model is calibrated through the estimation of a Poisson model (shopping trips) and a type-II tobit model (the amount spent per category per shopping trip), with effect parameters that vary across customers. For the focal retailer, an informational website creates more bad than good news; most website visitors engage in fewer shopping trips and spend less in all product categories. The authors also compare the characteristics of shoppers who exhibit negative website effects with those few shoppers who show positive effects and thus derive key implications for research and practice.

Does competitive entry structurally change key marketing metrics?

To what extent does competitive entry create a structural change in key marketing metrics? New players may just be a temporal nuisance to incumbents, but could also fundamentally change the latter's performance evolution, or induce them to permanently alter their spending levels and/or pricing decisions. Similarly, the addition of a new marketing channel could permanently shift shopping preferences, or could just create a short-lived migration from existing channels. The steady-state impact of a given entry or channel addition on various marketing metrics is intrinsically an empirical issue for which we need an appropriate testing procedure. In this study, we introduce a testing sequence that allows for the endogenous determination of potential change (break) locations, thereby accounting for lead and/or lagged effects of the introduction of interest. By not restricting the number of potential breaks to one (as is commonly done in the marketing literature), we quantify the impact of the new entrant(s) while controlling for other events that may have taken place in the market. We illustrate the methodology in the context of the Dutch television advertising market, which was characterized by the entry of several late movers. We find that the steady-state growth of private incumbents' revenues was slowed by the quasi-simultaneous entry of three new players. Contrary to industry observers' expectations, such a slowdown was not experienced in the related markets of print and radio advertising.

A simulation of an ERP implementation with informal processes

This paper presents a discrete event simulation study to examine tenancy service performance in a shopping centre. The study aims to provide an understanding of how informal management mechanisms could enhance existing ERP systems. The research shows the potential benefits of combining the traditional strengths of ERP in providing better performance in terms of efficiency with the ability to react with flexibility to customer's requests. © 2012 SIMULATION COUNCILS, INC.

An investigation into the adoption of electronic commerce among Saudi Arabian SMEs

Despite the proliferation of e-commerce adoption by SMEs and the world-wide growth of e-commerce, in general there is a paucity of empirical studies that examine the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs in the Middle East. In this paper, the authors provide insights into the salient e-commerce adoption issues by focusing on Saudi Arabian SMEs. This research was designed using a qualitative approach through in-depth case studies selected from firms in Saudi Arabia. The findings contribute toward a better conceptual and practical understanding of the main factors driving SMEs to adopt e-commerce. The authors find that the level of e-commerce implementation has yet to mature and customer readiness for Internet shopping must improve before e-commerce reaches the levels of maturity seen in other regions of the world. This study highlights directions for future inquiry and implications for information and technology managers and policymakers in developing Arab nations.

Singapore's online retail deviants:analyzing the rise of blogshops' power

Geography, retailing, and power are institutionally bound up together. Within these, the authors situate their research in Clegg's work on power. Online shopping offers a growing challenge to the apparent hegemony of traditional physical retail stores' format. While novel e-formats appear regularly, blogshops in Singapore are enjoying astonishing success that has taken the large retailers by surprise. Even though there are well-developed theoretical frameworks for understanding the role of institutional entrepreneurs and other major stakeholders in bringing about change and innovation, much less attention has been paid to the role of unorganized, nonstrategic actors-such as blogshops-in catalyzing retail change. The authors explore how blogshops are perceived by consumers and how they challenge the power of other shopping formats. They use Principal Components Analysis to analyze results from a survey of 349 blogshops users. While the results show that blogshops stay true to traditional online shopping attributes, deviations occur on the concept of value. Furthermore, consumer power is counter intuitively found to be strongly present in the areas related to cultural ties, excitement, and search for individualist novelty (as opposed to mass-production), thereby encouraging researchers to think critically about emerging power behavior in media practices.