India’s Emerging Retail Systems: Coexistence of Tradition and Modernity

India’s retailing sector is expected to remain in a transition spiral for the foreseeable future. Because of India’s unique context—in terms of history, regulation, institutions, demographics, geography, and traditions—available theories of retail evolution have limited applicability to the retail situation in India. Drawing from the literature, as well as from empirical research and practical experiences of over a decade, this article presents a conceptual frame for understanding the retail sector of India and the likely future trajectory of this sector

Impulse buying online: a visual, comparative enquiry into two mediums of grocery retailing

The purpose of our thesis has been to see how impulse buying could manifest itself online by comparing the offline and online mediums through visual enquiry, and build on the already extensive literature on offline impulse buying. The object oriented visual enquiry was used offline and online to observe grocery stores and their current and potential impulse buying stimuli. We gained an initial understanding of the differences between the offline and online mediums according to how they can manifest impulse buying stimuli. We do not believe that the offline impulse buying methods can be directly transferred to an online setting, due to differences in format. However, an online grocery shopping site can emphasize features connected to hedonism, interactivity and personalization to successfully induce impulse buying in the online mediu

The Tradeoff Fallacy - How Marketers Are Misrepresenting American Consumers and Opening Them up to Exploitation

New survey results indicate that marketers are misrepresenting a large majority of Americans by claiming that Americans give out information about themselves as a tradeoff for benefits they receive. To the contrary, the survey reveals most Americans do not believe that ‘data for discounts’ is a square deal. The findings also suggest, in contrast to other academics’ claims, that Americans’ willingness to provide personal information to marketers cannot be explained by the public’s poor knowledge of the ins and outs of digital commerce. In fact, people who know more about ways marketers can use their personal information are more likely rather than less likely to accept discounts in exchange for data when presented with a real-life scenario. Our findings, instead, support a new explanation: a majority of Americans are resigned to giving up their data—and that is why many appear to be engaging in tradeoffs. Resignation occurs when a person believes an undesirable outcome is inevitable and feels powerless to stop it. Rather than feeling able to make choices, Americans believe it is futile to manage what companies can learn about them. Our study reveals that more than half do not want to lose control over their information but also believe this loss of control has already happened. By misrepresenting the American people and championing the tradeoff argument, marketers give policymakers false justifications for allowing the collection and use of all kinds of consumer data often in ways that the public find objectionable. Moreover, the futility we found, combined with a broad public fear about what companies can do with the data, portends serious difficulties not just for individuals but also—over time—for the institution of consumer commerce. &nbsp

Shopping is Work: An Institutional Ethnography of Grocery Shopping

Economic sociologists tend to focus on corporations and production, ignoring female-dominated economic activities such as housework and consumption. Using Institutional Ethnography I explore the work of grocery shopping by interviewing the primary household shopper and then situating her work in the institutional social order. The work of shopping involves many tasks both inside and outside the store, and this work is shaped by discourses that are created and disseminated by various institutional actors, including food marketers and retailers, government agencies, dietitians and nutritionists, mass media, and consumer economists. These discourses, which I identify as the efficiency discourse, the nutrition discourse, and the food industry discourse, increase the demands of the work of shopping and are often in contradiction with one another. This research suggests that a narrow conception of the economic makes significant individual and institutional work invisible and I argue that a gendered revisioning of the economy is necessary

Consumer Segmentation Analysis of Grocery Coupon Users

A.E. Res. 88-1

The thrill of a smart purchase: Does country matter?

This is the accepted version of the following article: Quinones, M, Gómez-Suárez, M, Yagüe, M J(2021), The thrill of a smart purchase: Does country matter?. Int J Consum Stud. 2022; 46: 295–308, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.1267. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Wiley Self-Archiving Policy authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.htmlThe purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship of Schwartz's theory of basic individual values to smart shoppers' predisposition to purchase store brands, considering the mediating role of the smart shopper self-concept and the moderating role of the country of origin. After an initial qualitative analysis, survey data were collected from a sample of 868 shoppers in four western countries (Spain, France, Germany and the United States). Then, a series of statistical estimations was developed through structural equation modelling. The results of these sequential models showed metric equivalence, providing a basis for generating valid comparisons among the four countries. The final findings corroborate the idea that the individual's value structure has a direct and positive effect on the smart shopper self-concept and that this effect in turn influences the shopper's attitude towards store brands. The results also show that although the dimensions of the buyers' value structures are cross-country invariant, the set of values that best define smart shoppers differs significantly by country. Mixed results are found when the relationship between the smart shopper self-concept and the attitude towards store brands is analysed for each individual country. These outcomes offer international retail managers guidance on how to best stimulate smart shoppers' positive responses towards store brands.This research benefited from the Professorship Excellence Program in accordance with the multi-year agreement signed by the Government of Madrid and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-UAM (Line #3

The Impact of Implementin Effective Employee Communication to Manage The Evolving Work Force

This thesis will focus on the study of implementing effective employee communications to manage a diverse work force. Over the years the practice of public relations has struggled to establish a niche for itself by justifying its existence to corporate America, mainly upper management. As an increasing number of chief executive officers recognize the need for effective communications professional communicators are being strategically placed to best serve the organizational objectives. Unfortunately, the area of internal communications is often neglected. Research has attributed the lack of effective, open, two-way communications to the false presumption that employees are loyal 10 their employer by nature. The work force is continually evolving into a diverse group of people different not only by gender but also by race, education and a11itude. The present-day employee is influenced by the world and the technology that is made readily available. But the technology that has made it possible to communicate to thousands of employees instantaneously has also made it more difficult for employers to create personal messages. The only way corporate America can manage the employees of the next century is by creating relationships through personalized information sharing rather than the passe\u27 authoritative style used in the past. The purpose of this study is to research the -possibilities available to internal communicators in terms of identifying techniques they can use to make their communications efforts more effective. Specifically, it is hypothesized that by evaluating existing techniques the communicator can identify areas in need of improvement. Wetterau Incorporated\u27s internal publication, WE Magazine, was evaluated for communication effectiveness. Changes in communication style were made as specified by the research project. The redesign of WE Magazine produced positive reviews from public relations professionals suggesting that implementing effective employee communications can help manage the work force by keeping it informed

New trends in convenience stores

In the last few decades, several innovations appeared that completely transformed the concept of convenience all around the world. In Portugal, a country where convenience stores and gas stations exist side by side, the propagation of electric cars can quickly change what convenience means for the Portuguese customers – it is expected that these places become unnecessary if they do not adapt to new trends. Several questions arise: How can one engage customers that will now spend around 10/15 minutes waiting for their cars to charge? How can these stores become true entertainment centres instead of being just “places to buy gas”? How can managers prevent that these stores become “obsoletes”? And how can new trends (such as hybrid stores, “retailtainment” and interactive screens) impact Portuguese customers and their decision on where to shop? To try and answer even more questions, this project was developed in a joint effort between the author, Marketing Future Cast Lab and Galp. With the main purpose of studying the influence of future trends on Portuguese convenience stores, an extensive literature review and benchmark analysis phase was started. The most relevant trends were then used as a basis to create new concepts and innovative ideas while posterior testing (both quantitative and qualitative) validated/excluded them. By combining the knowledge obtained from the literature review, the feedback from the stakeholders of the project and the insights from the chosen methodologies, it was possible to conclude that there exists a serious possibility of a breakthrough in this sector through a new, perception-changing positioning on what is a convenience store. The focus should be, namely, on New Assortments (e.g. food and vending machines), Store-in-Store concepts (e.g. fresh food stations), Partnerships with recognized brands and investment on Digital/Technology. In the final remarks, managers are advised to acknowledge the vital need of accepting and implementing these trends, never losing focus with the fact that the only constant is change.Nas últimas décadas, surgiram diversas inovações que revolucionaram o conceito de conveniência por todo o mundo. Em Portugal, um país onde lojas de conveniência e postos de abastecimento surgem lado a lado, a disseminação de carros elétricos pode rapidamente alterar o que é a conveniência para os portugueses – é expectável que estes locais se tornem desnecessários caso não se adaptem a novas tendências e formas de consumo. Surgem diversas questões: Como entusiasmar pessoas que passam, agora, 10/15 minutos à espera que o seu carro carregue? Como podem estas lojas tornar-se centros de entretenimento e experiências ao invés de serem apenas locais para a compra de gasolina? Como prevenir que se tornem obsoletas? E como podem novas tendências (tais como lojas híbridas, retailtainment e ecrãs interativos) impactar os consumidores portugueses e as suas decisões de escolha de locais de compra? De forma a responder a estas e mais perguntas, este projeto foi desenvolvido entre o autor, o Marketing Future Cast Lab e a Galp. Com um principal foco no estudo da influência das novas tendências nas lojas de conveniência portuguesas, uma profunda revisão literária e análise de benchmark foi efetuada. As tendências mais relevantes foram, então, utilizadas como base para a criação de conceitos e ideias inovadoras que foram posteriormente testadas (quantitativamente e qualitativamente) e consequentemente validadas ou excluídas. Ao juntar o conhecimento obtido pela revisão literária com o feedback recebido pelos stakeholders do projeto e com os insights gerados pelas metodologias escolhidas, foi possível concluir que existe uma forte possibilidade de alteração do paradigma deste sector através de um reposicionamento assente na mudança da perceção dos clientes acerca do objetivo das lojas de conveniência. O foco deve estar, também, na gestão de sortido (como comida e máquinas de venda automática), no conceito loja dentro de loja (estações de comida), em parcerias com marcas conhecidas e no investimento na vertente digital e tecnológica da marca. Nas conclusões finais, sugere-se à Galp que reconheça a necessidade de aceitar e implementar estas novas tendências, nunca perdendo a noção de que a única constante é a mudança