Guest editorial
Article Type: Guest editorial From: Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Volume 28, Issue 1
During the early 1980s, several fellows of the Academy of Marketing Science discussed the development of retailing as a new focus in the “Special Conference Series” of the Academy. The proposal was well received by the officers of the Academy and an invitation was extended to the American Collegiate Retailing Association to join in the effort to establish a program of triennial conferences.
This special issue of Marketing Intelligence & Planning presents the top six papers from the 2009 Ninth Triennial AMS/ACRA Retailing Conference entitled “Retailing 2009: strategic challenges and opportunities in uncertain times.” This conference was held in New Orleans from September 30 to October 3, 2009 and attracted participants from throughout the USA, as well as from Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, and Scotland. In total, 71 papers were presented at this conference.
Each conference track chairperson was asked to recommend one to three papers in his/her track for inclusion in a special issue of this journal. In our role as Guest Editors, we reviewed each of these recommendations and selected six papers for inclusion in this special issue. Authors of these articles have agreed to make recommendations provided by the guest editors as part of the acceptance process for Marketing Intelligence & Planning.
The first paper titled “Multiple-channel and cross-channel shopping behavior: role of consumer shopping orientations,” authored by Patrali Chatterjee (Montclair State University) examines the impact of channel integration on consumer cross-channel shopping behavior and shopping outcomes. Two options for retailers using multiple channels are to operate these channels as independent entities or to integrate these channels by enabling ordering online and product pick up in a store, for example. This study examines the impact of consumer shopping orientations on comparison-shopping and the likelihood of cross-channel usage. It also studies the impact of retailer's multiple independent or cross-channel strategy on purchase outcomes, such as,retailer satisfaction, unplanned purchasing, intent to return or abandon purchases and share of category purchases.
The second paper, “Managing the attractiveness of evolved and created retail agglomerations formats” is authored by Christoph Teller and Jonathan Elms (both of the Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling). Retail agglomerations are made up of clusters of stores within a clearly defined geographic area. Some agglomerations are created (like shopping centers), while others are “evolved: such as central business districts.”This paper discusses the attributes of retail agglomerations (accessibility;parking; tenant mix; product range, merchandise value, and sales personnel;atmosphere; and orientation; and infrastructural facilities and their influence on the evaluated agglomeration attractiveness from the consumer's point of view. The findings of this paper are based on a total of 1,008 surveys in town centers, strip centers, and mall locations. The authors found that the retail tenant mix and the product range affecting the tenant mix were the most important elements in affecting attractiveness in all three location types.
The third paper, “The influence of consumer traits and demographics on intention to use retail self-service checkouts” by Hyun-Joo Lee (Oklahoma State University), Hyeon Jeong Cho (University of North Carolina), Wenwen Xu(Oklahoma State University), and Ann Fairhurst (University of Tennessee)explores the relationships among demographic factors (gender, age, education,and income), consumer traits (technology anxiety, need for interaction, and technology innovativeness), and intention to use retail self-checkouts. This study found that demographic factors only indirectly influence intention to use retail self-service kiosks through consumer traits. The study, for example,found that women have higher levels of technology-related anxiety, while men are more innovative towards technology. These differences can be used to explain consumer usage of retail self-checkouts. Younger customers who tend to be more technologically innovative are also more likely to use self-checkouts than older customers who are often less technologically innovative.
The next paper, “A decision tree approach to modeling the private label apparel consumer” co-authored by Professors Marguerite Moore (North Carolina State University) and Jason M. Carpenter (University of South Carolina,Columbia) investigates demographics and shopping behaviors of actual private label purchasers (n=1,289) in five market-leading retail chains(Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl's, J.C. Penney, and Macy's). An additional decision tree examined the degree of cross-shopping among these retailers. The study found that private label purchasers are more different than similar in terms of demographics and behaviors based on the selected retail format (with the exception of Wal-Mart, Kohl's, and J.C. Penney formats that share the same competitive space) modeling. The authors conclude that the high levels of cross shopping among these retailers can be attributed to each of these retailers being positioned as high value/low price.
The final two papers study shopping behavior in rural markets. The first of these papers, “Factors contributing to rural consumers' inshopping behavior: effects of institutional environment and social capital” by Jiyoung Kim (University of North Texas) and Leslie Stoel (The Ohio State University) examined how shopping behavior of rural consumers is affected by perceptions of local retailers' social norm-based activities and task-oriented actions as well as social capital within the community. For the data analysis, 524 surveys were used; structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. The study's findings showed significant relationships between institutional action and legitimacy, legitimacy and support, and value and support. The moderating effect of social capital on the relationship between institutional action and legitimacy, legitimacy and support, and value and support were also found to be significant.
Small, independently-owned retailers are examined in the final paper, “Beliefs of small, independently owned rural retailers about internet use: a typology,”by Leslie Stoel, SoWon Jeong and Stan Ernst (all of The Ohio State University). This paper categorizes small rural retailers according to their beliefs about use of the internet for their business and examine whether or not attitudes,perceptions of success and performance, and behavioral intentions differ across the groups studied. The results of the study suggest that small retailers are not using the internet to sustainable advantage. A typology of retailers, based on their beliefs about the internet is developed (based on usefulness, business growth, compliance, ease of use, e-commerce optimism, and control of time). This typology classification was linked to retailer attitudes and behavioral intentions.
We would like to thank the reviewers that suggested these papers for inclusion in this special issue of Marketing Intelligence & Planning.
Barry Berman, Chuck McMellon, Michael Pearson, Donna SmithGuest Editors
