Journal of Business and Retail Management Research

This study investigated attributes used by consumers of fashion items by consumers in the United States and Austria. Based on a review of previous research on fashion adoption and cross-cultural studies of fashion behavior, research questions were posed. Fashion leadership and innovativeness in cross-cultural situations has not been well understood. This study examines the differences that may exist and therefore offers implications for market segmentation, promotion, and retail strategy. A questionnaire was constructed, tested, and administered to subjects at two academic institutions, one in the U.S. and one in Austria. Results indicate that U.S. and Austrian consumers use different sets of attributes in their purchase decisions. This research used subjects from academic institutions in two nations. Caution must be used in generalizing results. Future research should extend to subjects in other national markets. Goldsmith’s and Hofacker’s Domain Specific Innovativeness Scale has not been validated to effectively define fashion leaders and fashion followers in all nations. The identity and use of attributes by consumers in any decision is dynamic and may not adequately represent the attributes used by consumers at the time of the study.

The concept of consumer ethnocentrism can improve the understanding of how consumers evaluate domestic and foreign products. Consumer ethnocentrism can be considered as a global trend; however, there are differences in ethnocentric tendencies expressed by consumers from different countries. Yet, little is known about consumers from developing countries. The present study has the purpose of exploring ethnocentrism amongst consumers in Jordan. Moreover, it investigates what leads Jordanians to consumer ethnocentrism through examining the influence of demographic and socio-psychological variables on consumer ethnocentrism. Results based on an analysis of data relating to 272 responses indicate that Jordanians show high ethnocentric tendencies towards their domestic products. However, the empirical results in this study confirm that consumer ethnocentrism can be found in developing countries where foreign products are likely to be preferred over local products. Overall, Jordanian consumers demonstrated a unique case of how socio- psychological and demographic variables influence consumer ethnocentrism. The impact of socio- psychological and demographic variables on consumer ethnocentrism may be country or culture specific. However, consumer ethnocentrism for Jordanians appears to be fuelled by conservatism. Age, regional location and gender have positive significant influences on consumer ethnocentrism. Alternatively, world-mindedness and educational level have negative significa

The retail sector in India is highly fragmented and organized retail is at a very nascent stage. As India is entering the global playground of retailing, it is facing critical problems of acquiring and retaining workforce. The industry is facing a severe shortage of talented professionals. With the advantages like penetration in rural India, retail sector provides the largest number of employment opportunities to the Indian youth. However, faced with high levels of stress and lack of proper career plan, many young professionals are leaving the industry. This study is done based on the model developed by Firth et al. which helps us to find the reasons that account for employee turnover. Multiple regression analysis has shown organizational stressors, job stress and commitment to have a stronger impact than job satisfaction towards intentions to quit. As retail industry continues to grow, employee retention is likely to remain a big challenge.

The rural population of India is about 70.2% of the total population. Close to 137,747,384 households reside in more than 0.6 million villages in India. In the last decade spending power of this rural population has been increasing and its attitude and lifestyle have undergone significant alterations. As a result of these transformations, the retail habits and store patronage behavior of the population is also changing. Although retailing in India has traditionally been an unorganized sector, especially in rural markets, that is changing as well. This study focuses on existing retail formats in rural markets in India. The study has two goals: to develop a classification system for these retail formats and then to examine the preferences of segments within the current rural Indian population for the different types of retail formats. Specifically, the following research questions are addressed: What are the categories of retail stores available in rural markets? Are there descriptors that identify segments which vary in preference across the retail store categories identified? The study helps understanding of the different types of formats existing in the rural markets and the characteristics of segments who patronize the various formats, which can ultimately be helpful to classify the retail stores into different categories for the purpose of systematic study and analysis in the future. This will be extremely helpful to the industry looking at the fast changing pre

In today’s retail environment, consumer products are increasingly competing for customer’s attention. Research has shown that 60-80% of purchasing decisions are influenced in-store. Thus, packaging that stands out from competitors gains a competitive advantage. This study investigates the use of eye-tracking as a method to evaluate and design packaging with better Point-of-Purchase qualities. An eye-tracking laboratory was used and shoppers were recruited for three rounds of experiments. In total, 128 participants were recruited in order to assess the potential of eye-tracking. Results show that, when taking some methodological constraints into account, eye-tracking complements traditional methodologies with further insights when investigating the Point-of-Purchase qualities of packaging.

Purpose: Ephemeral positive emotions like fun, excitement and pleasure have been associated with the phenomenon of impulse buying in previous studies. However, most of the studies in the past have looked at emotions which are momentary or short lived. This study extends the literature further by establishing a link between a more enduring positive emotion called ‘happiness’ and impulse buying. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: In the endeavour to understand various facets of ‘happiness’ in shopping and impulse buying, a qualitative study was undertaken. These findings were used to develop scales pertaining to the constructs. A grounded theory approach was used to develop hypothesis from in-depth interviews. The hypothesis was tested by collection and analysis of survey data. Findings: Results support the hypothesis and indicate that happiness and impulse buying are positively and significantly related. Regression analysis further established causal relationship between ‘happiness’ and impulse buying. Originality/ Value: This study makes a two-fold contribution to literature as well as practice through creating and validating instrument for measuring ‘shopping happiness’, and by establishing a causal relationship between happiness and impulse buying. This validation of ‘happiness’ as an internal motivator to impulse buying has several important implications for retail outlets and have been discussed at the end of this paper.

Store atmospherics is becoming an important determinant of differentiating products and services across the globe. A number of papers have researched about store atmospherics and their impact on customer / shopper behavior. We observed that studies incorporating these facets were missing out in the Indian context. In order to analyze the impact of in-store music on shopper behavior in a retail setting, a simulated retail outlet was created. For sake of simplicity the merchandise was restricted to chocolates, toiletries and stationery items. Using two samples – one exposed to music (experimental sample) and second not exposed to music (controlled sample) the study tried to assess differences in shopper behavior in terms of the time spent in the store, the type of merchandise selected and value of merchandise purchased. If there was an impact, to what extent did the genre of music play a role in influencing customer behavior? Did music create the desired Affect in terms of creating a sense of pleasure and arousal? Results of the study indicate and strengthen existing beliefs about the importance of music on shopper behavior. While Western pop music influenced the time spent in the store, Indipop had a higher influence on the amount of money spent on merchandise. Indian classical music created a higher pleasure score whereas Western Instrumental created a higher arousal score. It is suggested that such studies can be carried out in varied service formats and in actual se

In this article a statistical approach is used to measure the relative importance of consumer motives of buying RTE foods. All items scored between one and five can be computed by averaging (un-weighted) item ratings per scale. Mean ratings of each motivation provides a clear picture that some determinants are rated highly by respondents, while others low. For consumers taste is the primary motivation to buy RTE foods. Though the first priority is sensory appeal, convenience has been given relatively more importance. Also, consumers are ready to spend more if the food is available at a convenient place and if it tastes, smells and tastes good. From the study it was found that the motives of purchasing RTE foods are sensory appeal, convenience, mood and price. Apart from this brand also plays a significant role in determining consumer behavior, the more the visibility of the brand more is the buying tendency for that particular brand.

Retailing is the largest private industry in India and second largest employer after agriculture. Retailers not only provide consumers with a wide variety of products, but also a wide range of complementary services, which can lead to more informed choice and greater convenience in shopping. In this study an attempt has been made to take a close look at the shopping behavior of consumers to determine what makes shoppers choose one place over another and how retail managers can drive traffic to their stores. In order to improve store performance, retailers must begin to think like shoppers.

Post Apartheid, the South African supermarket industry has rapidly increased in size and stature, and currently resembles a first world retail sector in an emerging market. However, customer satisfaction doesn't appear to feature highly on the retailers' list of priorities. It would seem that investment in growth has superseded investment in fostering customer goodwill. To this end, research is required into which aspects of service delivery pay dividends and the impact of demographics on the perceived relative importance of such factors. The research considers urban dwellers in the middle to upper market segments who shop at one of the major supermarket chains. A conceptual overview was gained through scrutiny of service quality literature and the empirical analysis conducted by means of a customer survey wherein descriptive statistics, ANOVA analysis and Tukey’s post hoc tests were used to analyse the data. According to respondents, the three most important service quality items were cleanliness, displaying visible prices and a helpful staff. The main reason for supermarket choice was a convenient location with the vast majority of customers citing location as the reason they shop at their particular supermarket. This was followed by convenient operation hours and a wide merchandise variety. Females, older individuals and higher LSM consumers were found to be more discerning shoppers.

The share of organised retail is total retail market in India is growing. Many domestic and global players have already entered in this sector. Due to intense competition in this field, it is important to focus on retaining existing consumers. Working out strategies in this direction requires a thorough understanding of the preferences of the consumers on the attributes that are considered of much significance. The present paper attempts to analyze the consumer preferences of the specific attributes of retail stores in the 5 selected cities of Punjab. Factor analysis has been used in identifying the main factors. The factors identified includes availability & variety, ambience, service, price, advertisement, prestige, and quality

The retail sector in India is witnessing rejuvenation as traditional markets make way for new formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets, specialty stores, shopping centers, multi-storied malls and the huge complexes that offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. To create customer traffic and to increase the sales, retailers are using various Merchandising techniques. Retail merchandising instantly motivates a consumer to buy a product and act as a silent salesman. The biggest challenge for organised retailing is to create an environment that pulls in people and makes them to spend more time on shopping. This paper focuses on various merchandising strategies used in modern retail formats in India.