Evolving perceptions of assortments, image and customer experiences in retail environments

Consumers perceptions of retail stores, the assortment of products and the locations in which they are situated, all influence consumers decisions about where, when and how to shop. In the highly competitive arena of retailing, this knowledge greatly affects retailer performance and marketing strategy. Despite this strategic importance, the literature lacks empirical research into the assortment of categories offered in retail stores and their influence on store image. Moreover, image conceptualisation for different retail contexts is fragmented and the consumer image perceptions of categories are unexplored. Recent attention has shifted to customer experience research, yet this literature refers to the consumers interaction with one retailer, when consumer shopping journeys may include many retail interactions. The research presented in this thesis addresses the above gaps, contributing to theory and knowledge in the area of retail marketing. The thesis comprises eight papers published over a 17-year period. It examines the perceptions and roles of retail assortments; category perceptions and management in retail stores; customer perceptions of image and experiences of town centres. The thesis draws from a range of empirical studies documented within the eight papers. These include: a comparative study of ten major retailers assortment strategies; a survey of 504 consumers perceptions of supermarket assortments; a qualitative study involving six national focus groups of apparel consumers; and a survey of 536 consumers across five regional city centres. The studies are informed by two literature reviews documenting retail assortment research and town centre research. Collectively, the thesis delivers a significant research contribution to knowledge and theory. The first four thesis papers clarify the strategic relationships between retail assortment and image. The following two papers identify new perspectives of image congruence and relationships between category and store image. The final two papers consolidate all previous contexts in a multi-faceted retail image construct, emphasising the previously neglected psychological image elements. Fundamentally, consumers experiences in town centre retail environments contribute to the ongoing process of holistic image creation. The findings demonstrate that as retail environments change, consumers perceptions are also evolving from a functional, static image perspective to a dynamic, experience driven concept. The research commentary concludes by outlining future research agenda

Future developments of the Danish Organic Sector

The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the factors which historically have shaped the evo-lution of the Danish organic food and farm sector, and to determine what its near future could be in terms of new supplier motivations for converting to organic, eventual changes in the farm structure and new modes of organizing the governance structure between farmers and retailers. From a slow introduction during the 1980s the development of the organic farms sector itself takes on speed during the 90’s getting broad societal recognition and political support. However, by the turning point of the millennium organic farming in Denmark had reached maturity and even started to decline in 2004 in terms of number of farms and land converting to organic production. Twenty five years of development seemed to follow the shape of a typical Product Life Cycle, starting with the phase of introduction, then growth, reaching maturity and later decline. To investigate the past and future development of the Danish organic sector the theoretical model of the Product Life Cycle has been applied and combined with Adoption/diffusion theory. Equally the models have been extended using a supply chain approach where the focus of interest has been on bargaining power along the chain. Two organic industries were chosen as case studies using both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. The results on supplier motivations for converting to organic production indicated that the new comers would be both professional and market oriented, and have on average larger farms than the producers who entered previously during the period of market maturity and decline. The supplier profile found was therefore similar to the early majority during the 90’s when the organic market experienced a significant growth. The results on the supplier profiles supports also the findings made on the development on farm structure showing a growing bifurcation and concentration of production. Likewise the analysis made between organic and conventional consumer prices illustrates a clear convergence, which over time will support dynamic professional full time farmers. The results on the modes of governance structure in the two industries showed a development of closer partnership between retailers and suppliers concerning product innovation and sales promo-tion. Especially in the organic pork industry where one slaughter house has monopoly on the pro-duction and controls the entry of new supplies the cooperation between retailer and suppliers are close and with long term contracts. However, in the organic vegetable industry, where competition between packagers and retailers are fierce, the strategies for countervailing bargaining power are more diverse and prices are negotiated on a weekly basis. In the organic vegetable industry the ana-lysis showed that retail bargaining power increased towards the suppliers during 2003 and 2005 us-ing various control mechanisms like slotting fees, period of credit payment as well as marketing fees

Scanner Data in Managerial Decision-Making: A Case Study for Supermarkets.

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Space Applications of Automation, Robotics and Machine Intelligence Systems (ARAMIS), phase 2. Volume 1: Telepresence technology base development

The field of telepresence is defined, and overviews of those capabilities that are now available, and those that will be required to support a NASA telepresence effort are provided. Investigation of NASA's plans and goals with regard to telepresence, extensive literature search for materials relating to relevant technologies, a description of these technologies and their state of the art, and projections for advances in these technologies over the next decade are included. Several space projects are examined in detail to determine what capabilities are required of a telepresence system in order to accomplish various tasks, such as servicing and assembly. The key operational and technological areas are identified, conclusions and recommendations are made for further research, and an example developmental program is presented, leading to an operational telepresence servicer

Understanding the use of Virtual Reality in Marketing: a text mining-based review

The current study intends to highlight the most relevant studies in simulated realities with special attention to VR and marketing, showing how studies have evolved over time and discussing the findings. A text-mining approach using a Bayesian statistical topic model called latent Dirichlet allocation is employed to conduct a comprehensive analysis of 150 articles from 115 journals, all indexed in Web of Science. The findings reveal seven relevant topics, as well as the number of articles published over time, the authors most cited in VR papers and the leading journals in each topic. The article also provides theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for further research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The development of a consumer value proposition for private label brands and its application in a South African context

Private label brands are of strategic importance to retailers worldwide. However, there is a dearth of knowledge, particularly in emerging markets such as South Africa, as to the manner in which consumers cognitively assess these brands. This impacts on the development and marketing strategies adopted by such retailers. At the heart of the issue is a gap in knowledge as to how consumers formulate a value proposition in their minds and the effect of loyalty to existing brands in this respect. This thesis assumes a positivist, hypothetico-deductive approach by attempting to address the question: What are the key drivers of perceived value of private label branded breakfast cereals, taking price, perceived risk and perceived quality into account? Moreover, the study ponders how various attributes of brand image contribute to the perception of such brands and the extent to which loyalty to established national brands inhibits purchasing intent of private label merchandise. A conceptual model, encapsulating the above constructs, was developed to map these influences. The model was then examined using Partial Least Squares linear regression. Preceding the full-scale main study of 482 respondents, a smaller scale pilot study of 152 respondents was implemented to verify the basic theory and methodology. A validation study, thereafter, supplemented the findings by subjecting the quantitative results to a panel of twelve academic and industry experts. This qualitative dimension to the research provided elementary triangulation in order to solidify the results. The outcome reflects that consumers do indeed take cognisance of value through price, risk and quality cues, but that loyalty to national brands has little to no effect on the final component of the psychological process conceptualised. Furthermore, both in- and out-ofstore influences were found to play a significant role in the determination of product quality. The implications suggest that, whilst customers appear mildly satisfied with the private label breakfast cereal under consideration, further improvements across the board are recommended. Inter alia, these include optimising packaging and shelf placement to create a positive impression within the store environment, enhancing the quality of the product content and stimulating trial thereof, providing reassurances to customers through moneyback guarantees, ensuring the price differential is substantial enough to merit brand switching in favour of private labels, and consistently evolving the product suite so as to ensure it stays relevant and enticing to shoppers