Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 41, Issue 6
This issue includes submissions that explore the influence of store brand factors of image factors, consumer factors and store brand purchase intention on store brand choice, then the effect of situational factors, related to transactions and waiting, on customers’ cognitive and affective responses to service delivery time, followed by investigating how product knowledge is utilized by specialist independent grocery retailers and finally understanding the contribution of visitor demand to the seasonal sales variations experienced
The first contribution by Diallo, Chandon, Cliquet and Philippe aims to investigate the influence of image factors (store image perceptions and store brand price-image), consumer factors (value consciousness and attitude toward store brands), and store brand purchase intention on store brand choice. The French market has been chosen because of convenience, but also because the retail market is very dynamic and store brands are developing quickly. This research consistently showed that value consciousness, attitude toward store brands, and store brand purchase intention positively influenced store brand choice. More specifically, value consciousness was found to highly influence store brand choice compared to other consumer factors. The paper concludes that store brands seem to be less associated only to price constructs due to their improved perceived quality. Even though price still matters, other factors such as attitude and store image become relevant
The second paper by Demoulin and Djelassi examines the effect of situational factors, related to transactions and waiting, on customers’ cognitive and affective responses to service delivery time, including their service evaluations. A web-based survey included customers of an online credit company is used. The results seem to demonstrate that disconfirmation influences cognitive but not affective responses. Both transaction importance and opportunity waiting cost influence wait acceptability, and transaction importance moderates the relationship between disconfirmation and wait acceptability. Delivery time worry and transaction worry increase negative affective responses; affective and cognitive responses then determine service evaluation. Opportunity waiting costs increase the positive effect of wait acceptability on service evaluation. The derived guidelines suggest how banks can improve service evaluations by modifying consumer time expectations, as well as reducing opportunity waiting cost, delivery time worry, and transaction worry.
The purpose of third paper by McGuinness and Hutchinson is to demonstrate how product knowledge is utilized by Specialist Independent Grocery Retailers(SIGRs) and how it can enhance competitive advantage for these firms. A case study approach with a purposive sampling method was used to gain insight into an unexplored area of study with thirty in-depth interviews over a six-month period. The study found that four main resources created the concept product strategy and ultimately explained the success of SIGRs. These relate to knowledge of how to provide a unique product; knowledge of identifying and sourcing from quality suppliers; knowledge of recipes, preparation and storage methods; and knowledge of how to merchandise products. The paper argues that if these specialist grocery firms can achieve sustained competitive advantage from building and exploiting product knowledge, so too can other independent retailers in the sector.
The final contribution by Newing, Clarke and Clarke aims to understand the contribution of visitor demand to the seasonal sales variations experienced at grocery retailers in Cornwall, South West England. Working collaboratively with a major UK retailer, it provided access to store trading information and customer data from a popular loyalty card scheme. Spatial analysis was used to identify revenue originating from outside the store catchment, and explore the spatial and temporal nature of the visitor demand recorded in-store. The paper demonstrates the significant degree of seasonality experienced around stores in terms of their revenue generated from out-of-catchment visitors, and highlights implications for store location planning. Most notably, visitor expenditure tends to demonstrate far more spatial and temporal clustering than residential demand. We argue that it is essential for retailers to ensure that their location planning makes full use of all available consumer data to understand the local nature of demand, including the impact of visitor expenditure. Customer level loyalty card data are rarely available for academic investigations and the paper provides a unique insight into customer expenditure in tourist locations.
Professor Neil TowersEditor
