Joachim Zentes

Brand personality of retailers – an analysis of its applicability and its effect on store loyalty

In recent years, marketing research has paid considerable attention to the symbolic meaning consumers attribute to brands. One important symbolic brand association is brand personality. While the brand personality scale that Aaker has proposed in her well-known article has been applied to different products and product groups in different countries, an application to retailing is rare. Based on the data of an empirical study in Germany (n = 1337), we demonstrate that the scale is applicable for retail brands in Germany, that it serves well to clearly differentiate between retailers and that the dimensions of the brand personality directly influence the store loyalty of consumers.

Strategic Retail Management

This chapter explains the tasks of retailers within the distribution channel and recent trends surrounding these functions. This serves to demonstrate the complexity of retailers’ activities and explain their general role as intermediaries between suppliers and final customers.

Internationalisation of Retail Firms: State of the Art after 20 Years of Research

Prof. Dr. Prof. h.c. Bernhard Swoboda is Professor of Marketing and Retailing at Trier University, Universitaetsring 15, 54286 Trier, Germany, Phone: +49 (0) 651 201–3050, Fax: +49 (0)651 201–4165, EMail: b.swoboda@uni-trier.de. Prof. Dr. Joachim Zentes is Professor and Director of the Institute for Commerce and International Marketing at Saarland University, Campus Building A5.4, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany, Phone: +49 (0)681 302–4475, Fax: +49 (0)681 302–4532, E-Mail: j.zentes@mx.uni-saarland.de. Dipl.-Kfm. Stefan Elsner is Ph.D. Student of Marketing and Retailing at Trier University, Universitaetsring 15, 54286 Trier, Germany, Phone: +49 (0)651 201–2630, Fax: +49 (0)651 201–4165, E-Mail: s.elsner@uni-trier.de. Internationalisation of Retail Firms: State of the Art after 20 Years of Research

Allied groups on the road to complex networks

Abstract This paper analyses aspects of the changing structures of a co-operative organisational form referred to here as allied groups. This term describes informal coalitions of predominantly independent, small and medium-sized retail companies – a category that is an extremely important part of the retail sector in Central Europe. Whereas in the past the contents of these alliances were restricted to joint buying activities (consolidation of purchase volumes), competition is meanwhile forcing allied groups to undergo a strategic reorientation. One of the most significant motors behind this trend is modern information technology, notably in the form of electronic commerce, which will lead to a realignment of allied groups within the framework of globally operating networks. The various stages of this evolution are explained in this paper.

Supply chain transparency as a key prerequisite for sustainable agri-food supply chain management

This paper discusses the antecedences and consequences of supply chain transparency (SCT) in sustainable agrarian supply chain management using partial least squares regression in an empirical sample with 131 supply chains with lead firms in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). We investigated the effect of such structural antecedences as disintermediation, as well as the effect of governance tools similar to intensive communication, the integration of third parties in supply chain governance or the use of formal specifications on SCT. We found that all these antecedences are helpful in increasing SCT, while low developed countries of origin significantly reduced SCT. Then, the effects of SCT on the four main performance dimensions in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), i.e. social, ecological, and operational performance and long-term relationship success, were verified. Higher SCT improves all four dimensions significantly, while the effect on operational performance is lowest. Supply chain transparency turns out to be a prerequisite or a basic indicator of good management in SSCM in agri-food supply chains.

Perspektiven der Führung kooperativer Systeme

Kooperative Systeme erfahren sowohl in der betriebswirtschaftlichen Praxis als auch in der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Forschung eine seit Jahren permanent steigende Bedeutung.

Retailer Corporate Social Responsibility Is Relevant to Consumer Behavior

With regard to the topicality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in retail practice, only a few studies have comprehensively analyzed the role of CSR in retail. Due to the specific role of a retailer as a gatekeeper between the producer and the consumer in the supply chain, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of consumer perceptions of CSR activities is of great relevance. Therefore, this study contributes information regarding the impact of CSR activities on retailer performance. Using a comprehensive conceptualization of CSR, the results of our customer survey (N = 3,313) suggest that CSR has positive implications as driver of customer loyalty and favorable consumer purchasing behavior. The authors demonstrate the CSR dimensions that are most important for retailers to influence positively consumer purchasing behavior. This study highlights the significance of the credibility of retailer CSR activities and show that consumers’ CSR orientation impacts the relationship between retailer CSR activities and consumer behavior.

Multifaceted determinants of online non-prescription drug information seeking and the impact on consumers’ use of purchase channels

The growing importance of the Internet as an information and purchasing channel is drawing widespread attention from marketing decision makers. Nevertheless, the relevance of the Internet to the so-called self-medication market in Germany has been paid barely enough attention. Our study aims to contribute insights concerning the penetration of the Internet in this market, as well as to give an overview of the critical determinants of Internet use for non-prescription drug information seeking, such as the accessibility of professional information, trust in health professionals’ opinion and the ability to search online, as well as the perceived usefulness and credibility of online non-prescription drug information. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the preferred use of the Internet as a non-prescription drug information source positively influences the choice of unconventional purchase channels for non-prescription drugs and negatively affects the use of stationary pharmacies.

Markt, Kooperation, Integration: Asymmetrische Entwicklungen in der Gestaltung der Wertschöpfungsprozesse am Beispiel der Konsumgüterindustrie

Betrachtet man wissenschaftliche Beitrage in Fachzeitschriften und Sammelwerken, Lehrbuchern und Monografien sowie insbesondere „praxisorientierte“ Publikationen, durchforstet Programme von Tagungen, Kongressen u. A., so dominierten in den neunziger Jahren auf den ersten Blick Fragen des Outsourcing, d. h. „Buy-Entscheidungen“ bzw. Formen der Externalisierung (Zentes 1995, S. 21 ff., und die dort angegebene Literatur). Die Diskussion um die prozessorientierte Neugestaltung („Reengineering“) der Wertschopfungskette wurde im Wesentlichen beherrscht von der Option der Reduzierung der Wertschopfungstiefe. Beispielhaft wurde meist die Automobilwirtschaft herangezogen. Dort zeigt sich bis heute — und wohl auch weiterhin — eine Tendenz zur abnehmenden Wertschopfungstiefe der Automobilhersteller und — damit einhergehend — eine starkere Einbeziehung der Automobilzulieferer in die Wertschopfungskette, so in Bezug auf Forschung und Entwicklung, Logistik, aber auch Produktion (z. B. Endmontage) (Gottschalk 2001; vgl. auch die Beitrage von Lutz/Wiendahl und Friedli/Schuh in diesem Sammelwerk). Diese Auslagerung war und ist zugleich verbunden mit dem Aufbau netzwerkartiger Beziehungen, bei denen die Automobilhersteller die fokale Rolle einnehmen, d. h. sie steuern den Wertschopfungsverbund.

Dynamik des Handels — Perspektiven und Zukunftsstrategien

Der Handel zeichnet sich durch einen stets fortschreitenden Wandel seiner Erscheinungsformen aus; daher wird oftmals auch von der Dynamik des Handels gesprochen. Mit dieser Dynamik geht zugleich das Phanomen der „Wiederkehr der Handlergesellschaft“ (Tietz 1993c) einher, das im Vorwort dieses Sammelwerkes herausgestellt wurde. Gemeint ist damit, dass der Handel in einer zunehmend dienstleistungsorientierten Wirtschaft zur dominanten Betatigungsform wird