Store Brand as a Customer Experience Touchpoint and Its Contribution to Store Loyalty

Store Brands (SBs) have been growing internationally over the last decades, spurring many managerial and academic studies.The present work aims to take a fresh perspective on SB by highlighting its role as a retail touchpoint within a Customer Experience (CE) framework. This study examines SB as a touchpoint together with many other retail/store touchpoints that consumers interact with during their CE journeys. By means of a survey on more than 2000 consumers we identify the relative role of SB within the CE journey in terms of reach, and its contribution to store loyalty when all other CE touchpoints are considered. First, we show that SB is a touchpoint that can reach a high share of retail customers and we highlight its overlap with other touchpoints. Second, considering that touchpoint "positivity" is defined as the customer's affective response to the encounter with a touchpoint, the study estimates the relative contribution of SB positivity to store loyalty. SB positivity is found to be an important predictor of store loyalty. Results carry several implications for academics and practitioners

Thoracic ultrasound demonstrates variable location of the intercostal artery

Background: Ultrasound (US) guidance is advocated to reduce complications from thoracocentesis or intercostal catheter (ICC) insertion. Although imaging of the intercostal artery (ICA) with Doppler US has been reported, current thoracic guidelines do not advocate this, and bleeding from a lacerated ICA continues to be a rare but serious complication of thoracocentesis or ICC insertion. Objectives: It was the aim of this study to describe a method to visualise the ICA at routine US-guided thoracocentesis and map its course across the posterior chest wall. Method: The ICA was imaged in 22 patients undergoing US-guided thoracocentesis, at 4 positions across the back to the axilla. Its location, relative to the overlying rib, was calculated as the fraction of the intercostal space (ICS) below the inferior border of that rib. Results: An ICA was identified in 74 of 88 positions examined. The ICA migrated from a central 'vulnerable' location within the ICS near the spine (0.28, range 0.21-0.38; p < 0.001) towards the overlying rib (0.08, range 0.05-0.11; p < 0.001) in the axilla. Conclusions: The ICA can be visualised with US and is more exposed centrally within the ICS in more posterior positions; however, there is a marked variation between individuals, such that the ICA may lie exposed in the ICS even as far lateral as the axilla. Future studies need to identify which patients are at risk for a 'low-lying' ICA to further define the role of US imaging of the ICA during thoracocentesis or ICC insertion. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base