Arto Lindblom

Cognitive styles of contractually integrated retail entrepreneurs: a survey study

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the cognitive styles of contractually integrated retail entrepreneurs with respect to marketing decision making. The study addresses two research questions: How can the cognitive styles of these retail entrepreneurs be classified? If there are differences in the cognitive styles of retail entrepreneurs, how are these differences reflected in their business performance?Design/methodology/approach – Following a literature review and conceptual analysis, a questionnaire on cognitive styles is developed on the basis of Jungs “typology theory” and the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator. A quantitative internet survey study is then conducted among 226 retailers contracted to the K‐alliance of Finland. The results are then subjected to statistical analysis.Findings – The study reveals that the cognitive style of most of the studied K‐retailers is in accordance with the style of salaried managers, rather than that of “entrepreneurs”. The study also finds no clear relationship be...

Exploring the links between ethical leadership, customer orientation and employee outcomes in the context of retailing

Purpose – In the increasingly competitive retail environment, retailers’ ability to elevate frontline employees’ customer orientation (CO) can make the difference between the success and failure of their stores. However, the question of how to enhance employee CO is a tricky one. It has been stated that employee CO is a stable work value or disposition that is consistent over time, and therefore, difficult to manage. However, one factor that might be an important driver of employee CO is the retailers’ ethical leadership behaviour. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the links between retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of this study, the authors develop five hypotheses about the retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Using structural ...

The role of formal and informal surveillance in creating a safe and entertaining retail environment

Purpose A key question for shopping malls is to create a retail environment that is at the same time safe and entertaining. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into this process by examining how consumers view various formal and informal surveillance practices in the context of shopping malls. The classification of surveillance practices into formal and informal surveillance is based on crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) theory. The paper also studies how consumers can be grouped according to their views on these surveillance practices. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the CPTED theory as a theoretical lens and studies the consumers’ views of formal and informal surveillance using data gathered from a survey of 200 shopping mall visitors. The data are analyzed using principal components analysis and cluster analysis. Findings The results show that customer experience of safe retail environments reflects the distinction between informal and formal surveillance in the CPTED theory. The paper also shows that consumers have several different preferences towards surveillance practices and consumers can be grouped according to their preferences for surveillance methods. Originality/value This paper has provided new insights regarding the use of CPTED theory in research into formal and informal surveillance practices in shopping malls. The findings provide tools that help mall managers focus on the different needs of consumers in their quest to create safe and entertaining retail environment.

Does a retailer’s charisma matter? A study of frontline employee perceptions of charisma in the retail setting

Purpose In today’s retail environment, retailers’ leadership skills can make the difference between the success and failure of their retail stores. Despite the acknowledgment that retailers’ leadership skills and behaviour are important, treatment of the topic within the retail marketing and management literatures is still very limited. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to focus on the relationship between the retailers’ charismatic leadership and frontline employee outcomes. Design/methodology/approach For the purpose of this study, the authors develop hypotheses about the influence of the retailers’ charismatic leadership on frontline employee job satisfaction, self-efficacy, organizational identification and turnover intentions. Using structural equation modelling, hypotheses are tested using a sample of 208 frontline employees from the Finnish retail industry. Findings As a first main contribution, the findings of this study indicate that charismatic leadership has a very strong positive impact on job satisfaction. As a second contribution, this study shows that there is strong positive link between charismatic leadership and the self-efficacy of frontline employees. As a third contribution, this study indicates that charismatic leadership is positively related to organizational identification. And finally, this study indicates that charismatic leadership has a very strong negative impact on employee turnover intentions. Originality/value This study contributes to retail management and services marketing literature by broadening the current understanding of the leadership behaviour of retailers and its effectiveness and demonstrating how frontline employees respond to charismatic leadership in the retail setting.

Applying the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Collaborative Consumption Intentions

In this study we test and validate the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict consumers’ collaborative consumption intentions. In addition, we extend the TPB by studying consumers’ price consciousness as a potential determinant of collaborative consumption intentions. The empirical data is based on the survey study that was conducted in Finland in 2015. Our main findings are as follows: first, our study indicates that consumers’ attitudes toward collaborative consumption are positively related to their intentions to participate in collaborative consumption. Second, our study reveals that subjective norm is positively related to consumers’ collaborative consumption intentions. Our results also demonstrate that if consumers have the abilities to engage in collaborative consumption, it enhances their intention to participate in such behavior. As a final contribution, our study indicates that price consciousness acts as determinant for taking part in collaborative consumption. Overall, our results are consistent with the TPB. Based on our study, it can be argued that TPB is a useful theoretical framework to investigate the motivations among consumers to engage in collaborative consumption.

Investigating the links between market orientation, marketing capabilities and performance in the context of retailing: a structural equation model approach

The present study investigates the links between market orientation (MO), store-level marketing capabilities and performance. In particular, we are interested in to analyse the relationship between MO and store-level marketing capabilities, and the impact of these store-level marketing capabilities on performance. The store-level marketing capabilities studied here are: 1) assortment management capability; 2) customer-service management capability. For the purpose of the study, we develop a conceptual model and related hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) with a sample of 202 small Finnish retail entrepreneurs in the field of specialty goods retailing. Our findings offer the several substantive contributions. As a first contribution, the findings of the present study indicate that the relationship between retailer MO and store-level marketing capabilities is both positive and significant. As a second contribution, the study shows that both assortment management capability and customer-service management capability have a positive impact on customer performance. As a third contribution, the findings of our study indicate that store-level marketing capabilities do not have a direct impact on financial performance.