Andrew G. Parsons

Atmospheric cues and their effect on the hedonic retail experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of atmospherics in the creation of an hedonic retail experience by comparing the perceived differences between a retail environment attempting to provide an hedonic experience and one with a more utilitarian focus.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative methodology was employed, using protocol analysis and in‐depth semi‐structured interviews that were conducted with ten participants.Findings – The paper highlights several atmospheric cues and their influence on the hedonic retail experience. The first category of cues – attractive stimuli – were those cues that attracted attention, exciting the participant and eliciting approach behaviours. The second category – facilitating stimuli – included those cues that were necessary in order to facilitate product engagement.Originality/value – The paper provides a broad categorisation of atmospheric cues, providing factors that shop designers can be aware of when creating a store with the hedonic exper...

The Association Between Daily Weather and Daily Shopping Patterns

Abstract This study examines the relationship between daily weather and daily shopping patterns. The weather construct is operationalised using data from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, whilst the shopping data is a shopper count from a major shopping centre. Results from a multiple regression analysis suggest that the most tangible weather variables (rainfall and temperature) provide cues for shopping decisions. Possible linkages between weather, mood, and behaviour are discussed as an alternative to the physical deterrents / inducements explanation of this association.

Use of scent in a naturally odourless store

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to introduce the concept of associated scents for retail stores that are normally odourless, and provide an understanding of how associated scent can be used by these non‐scented retailers to influence shopper behaviour and the appeal of the store.Design/methodology/approach – The study involves both an experiment and a field study. The experiment is design to see if scents that have been identify as associated with different store types differed in their influence on behaviour and affect from scents that are not associated with the store. The field study involves an actual store where scent is manipulated, with an associated scent during one period, and a non‐associated yet pleasant scent present during another period. Customer perceptions of the store are measured, their purchase behaviour is measured, and actual year‐on‐year weekly sales are compared.Findings – Previous studies have suggested that simply having a pleasant scent present can enhance liking for the st...

Macro‐social marketing and social engineering: a systems approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how macro‐social marketing and social engineering can be integrated and to illustrate their use by governments as part of a positive social engineering intervention with examples from the Canadian anti‐smoking campaign.Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that uses the case of the Canadian anti‐smoking campaign to show that macro‐social marketing, as part of a wider systems approach, is a positive social engineering intervention.Findings – The use of macro‐social marketing by governments is most effective when it is coupled with other interventions such as regulations, legislation, taxation, community mobilization, research, funding and education. When a government takes a systems approach to societal change, such as with the Canadian anti‐smoking campaign, this is positive use of social engineering.Research limitations/implications – The social marketer can understand their role within the system and appreciate that they are potentially p...

Corporate branding, emotional attachment and brand loyalty: the case of luxury fashion branding

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a theoretical framework that captures the impact of corporate branding on customer emotional attachment and brand loyalty in the luxury fashion market.Design/methodology/approach – Cross‐sectional data were collected from 282 customers who purchased luxury brands. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses of the framework developed for the study.Findings – Findings found limited effect of corporate branding on customer emotional attachment and brand loyalty. Among the six corporate branding dimensions examined, only corporate association, functional benefits, and symbolic benefits were found to have a significant impact on emotional attachment. Further, the impact of corporate branding on brand loyalty was only evident through functional benefits and corporate associations.Practical implications – This study offers new empirical support for the proposition that corporate branding efforts have a role, thought limited...

Atmosphere in fashion stores: do you need to change?

Purpose – The aims of this paper are to establish: a typical womens apparel store environment as a realistic base for measuring the effects of changes; effective environmental stimuli levels; and the effect of repeated exposure on affect.Design/methodology/approach – A schema of typical stimuli is developed through literature, observing 212 stores, and surveying 39 womens fashion retail GMs. An experiment (n=489) establishes the set of stimuli and effective levels for creating affect for a womens fashion store. Shoppers (n=62) were repeatedly exposed to combinations of the two sets (industry standard and “ideal”) to examine whether decay in affect occurs, and whether changes can mitigate this.Findings – Interactions between sensory stimuli have a significant effect on fashion shoppers’ affect for a store. Fashion retailers are less differentiated in their use of sensory stimuli than they could be to achieve the responses they expect. Stagnation from repeated exposure can diminish affect for the store w...

A conceptual model of the holistic effects of atmospheric cues in fashion retailing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the holistic atmospheric cues encountered in a retail environment contribute to the creation of a retail experience. The interaction between these cues, and how they impact on the various stages of the retail experience is also explored. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative methodology was employed, using protocol analysis and in-depth semi-structured interviews that were conducted with 18 participants. Data were collected in the context of the women’s fashion sector. Findings – The findings highlight the importance of store owners ensuring atmospheric cues create a store image congruent with their target market’s self-image. A model is also developed which highlights how atmospheric cues are able to affect successive stages of the retail experience. Originality/value – This paper provides a holistic understanding of how retail atmospheric cues are able to influence the overall retail experience; from how a retail store is initially evaluated th...

Country-of-origin and private-label merchandise

Abstract This research examines the impact of country-of-origin (COO) perceptions on store brands and store ownership. Online grocery shoppers were subjected to a series of manipulations involving: (a) product type – national brand or store brand; (b) product source – including local or foreign, and culturally close or culturally distant; and (c) store ownership. We find that store brands benefit from being locally sourced, and benefit further if the store is also locally owned, in terms of risk, quality, and value perceptions. If a brand is to be foreign sourced, it is preferable for it to come from a country recognised as culturally close to the seller country. Being the first study to look at the impact of COO effects on store brands, our paper offers insights about how management should take advantage of local sourcing and ownership, or put in place marketing efforts to counter negative COO effects.

Advertising regulation and market drivers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the regulation of advertising by considering market‐driven firms (those seeking to keep within the boundaries set by social and industry norms) and market drivers (those seeking to stretch boundaries to gain a competitive advantage). Thought is also given to the costs of regulation and tolerance to the social purse, and the benefits gained by compliance and violation.Design/methodology/approach – The authors develop a conceptual argument for boundary stretching where market drivers are present in a marketplace dominated by market‐driven firms. The authors then apply a game theory model to examine the conditions, the firm responses, and Government responses. In doing so the authors investigate incentives for non‐compliant behavior in a self‐regulated market and show that a firm can achieve a market advantage by stretching advertising boundaries.Findings – Results suggest that when government takes a “wait‐and‐see” approach of partial tolerance, then the mar...

Wine recommendations: who do I believe?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify potential recommendation strategies for wine retailers. It aims to investigate the effectiveness of common sources of recommendation in influencing wine purchase decisions for typical customers and consider the value of each recommendation in different store‐contexts.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory survey is conducted, examining the weighting customers give each recommendation source, followed by a laboratory experiment designed to test the influence of recommendation sources in two different store‐contexts – supermarket and specialist wine retailer. Statistical analysis was conducted to determine the most effective sources for each retail context.Findings – Insights from the survey suggest that specialist wine retailer customers value personal staff‐, staff choice‐, and award‐based recommendations, whereas supermarket shoppers value awards and bestseller recommendations. The laboratory experiment highlights the distinction between staff cred...