While a few researchers have started to chip away at the notion that retail density is always negative, extant studies do not empirically address the question of why some shoppers respond negatively ...to a specific level of density while others respond positively. We examine this issue by drawing upon field theory (Lewin
1939
) to shed light on how shoppers vary in terms of deeper motives (McClelland
1953
) to seek control or intimacy with others in retail mall settings, and whether these motives influence shopping orientations. Shopping orientation is then hypothesized to affect perceptions of crowding, and, in turn, subsequent affective responses to the mall shopping experience. Moreover, we examine whether individual differences (gender and age) can help retailers segment those with different shopping orientations and the motives that influence these orientations. We found that task and social shopping orientations were influenced by deeper motives for control and intimacy. The causal relationships between shopping motive, shopping orientation, and consumers’ affective responses of stress and excitement were also discovered. Finally, we address theoretical and managerial implications of our results.
Traditional practice prominently presents offers (e.g., “50% Off”) followed by a quantity (“When you buy two”), duration (“Today only”), or other conditional restriction as a scarcity appeal to ...increase urgency. Placing a hurdle to clear before purchase eligibility presents the good news of the offer followed by the bad news of the restriction.
We propose and test a sales promotion framework for admission-based experiences showing that leading with the bad news first (the restriction) followed by the good news (the discount) is consistent with consumer news order preferences and changes perceptions of the deal. Our first study confirms consumer preference for bad news before good news in general and ticket offers in particular. The next two studies examine the process by which leading with the bad news (of the restriction first, discount later) increases the salience of the deal (% off). This in turn makes the customer feel in greater control over the offer, thereby making the deal appear to be fairer and more attractive, leading to increased purchase intentions. A fourth study in the field shows presenting the restriction followed by a discount improves click-through and potential revenue compared to presenting the identical offer with the discount preceding the restriction.
We propose that consumers have mental budgets for grocery trips that are typically composed of both an itemized portion and in‐store slack. We conceptualize the itemized portion as the amount that ...the consumer has allocated to spend on items planned to the brand or product level and the in‐store slack as the portion of the mental budget that is not assigned to be spent on any particular product but remains available for in‐store decisions. Using a secondary data set and a field study, we find incidence of in‐store slack. Moreover, we find support for our framework predicting that the relationship between in‐store slack and budget deviation (the amount by which actual spending deviates from the mental trip budget) depends on factors related to desire and willpower.
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to review the contribution of the paper, “The Importance of Servicescapes in Leisure Service Settings” to the discipline and to offer directions for further ...research and developments in the research area.
Design/methodology/approach
Key findings from research streams in sports and entertainment, leisure and hospitality, and services and retail marketing, which emanated from the publication of the paper, are highlighted. Opportunities for future research are discussed.
Findings
The importance of the servicescape in leisure settings has become even greater on a national and global basis as individuals spend more time, money and effort pursuing hedonic consumption in service settings. More research is needed within specific service contexts among and between individuals, groups and cultures to determine the holistic and particular influences of the physical environment on consumer response.
Research limitations/implications
With increased co-production of service experiences, including the integration of technology and mobile/wearable devices, marketers and researchers must better understand the role of the physical surroundings on individual, group and organizational behavior in the evolving servicescape.
Originality/value
The original paper motivated significant, highly cited studies in multiple disciplines integrated and overlapping with services and retail marketing. Taking a historical perspective encourages other researchers to conduct research of personal interest to address theoretical, methodological and practical issues. The retrospective analysis by the authors gives insight into the thought processes associated with understanding key aspects of the servicescape that contribute to the historical development of services marketing and offers food for thought (if not ambience and layout) for future research directions.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to model the consumer journey of admission-based membership services from initial purchase to full-season memberships. Particularly, the study pays attention to ...customer-owned contacts (purchase behavior) and service-owned contacts (salesperson voice- and text-based communications), to examine longitudinal internal data to determine factors which hinder and propel customers toward full memberships.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of big data supplied by a National Hockey League team, the study uses three simultaneous equations in modeling to account for potential endogeneity related to the likelihood that sales and service personnel are more likely to contact frequent customers. The longitudinal data allow us to map the customer journey over the course of multiple years, compared to typical cross-section studies.
Findings
The findings show that as customers increasingly own committed points of contact, they are prepared to move to the next level – but rarely skip major steps in the relationship journey. The quantity, type and timing of customer contacts by the service firm may hinder or propel the customer down the path to purchase full memberships.
Research limitations/implications
The prevalence of big data among service firms should allow researchers to better understand how consumers respond to contact strategies over time, as well as fluctuations in firm performance. The research adds to the customer journey research stream, while meeting the call of researchers to bridge the gap between service marketing research priorities and current practice.
Practical implications
Sales practices and marketing automation tactics may come at the cost of burning leads and alienating future members. Frequent text-based contacts absent voice-based interactions hinder consumer journey and work against relationship building. Service marketers can learn how to better allocate resources, properly manage and motivate contact strategies and target campaigns to send the right message via the right media at the right time.
Originality/value
This is the first study to map customer journey for admission-based, membership services. The longitudinal approach across multiple years provides a deep understanding of how customers take steps toward loyal membership status, while also pinpointing potential drawbacks of current contact strategies.
Service research in the advance selling of experience services is limited in regard to how individual and situational differences influence price information processing. Applying construal-level ...theory in the context of advance selling of tickets for experience services, this research demonstrates that who (near vs. far social distance), when (near vs. far temporal distance), and where (spatial distance) influence price sensitivity and perceived value of the experience service. Study 1 finds that consumers are more price sensitive when they consider the advance purchase of events taking place further in the future, unless they are experienced, as Study 2 finds. Across both studies, buyers perceive greater value when the time and location of the event are psychologically near. Compared to when social distance is near (self-reference), consumers construe other average buyers in the market to be relatively more price sensitive and to perceive relatively higher value for experience services. Since an important factor at work in the minds of buyers is other buyers, the results imply that service providers should frame offers in reference more to others than the self for experiences. The effects of time and distance suggest managers should carefully geo-target offers customized to when and where customers are when buying tickets. As experienced buyers have learned to be price sensitive for tickets, managers should identify these individuals to provide relevant value-added offers.
This study focuses on the accurate identification of corporate sponsors among consumers attending a NASCAR event. The results of this study support prior experimental work (e.g., Johar and Pham ...1999), indicating that consumers are more likely to correctly identify prominent and related sponsors. Importantly, the findings indicate that a reason for such recall is that the best-performing properties attract prominent and related sponsors, and affective intensity (either strong positive or negative feelings) toward a property activates or enhances the cognitive processing by consumers of sponsors of highly competitive properties.
Research on consumer reaction to price has been largely confined to examining consumers’ price information search, evaluation of price alternatives, and individual purchase behaviors without regard ...to situational influences. At the same time, consumption has often been dichotomized in terms of its functional-hedonic nature and has been examined with regard to social influence. Surprisingly, researchers have heretofore not examined the potential effect of the consumption occasion or social context on consumers’ price sensitivity. Further, research examining the effect of household resources on price sensitivity has produced mixed results. We argue that household income effects on price sensitivity are dependent upon the situation. This research addresses two key issues. First, we examine whether individuals are equally price-sensitive when purchasing products for functional (e.g., purchasing frozen vegetables or paper towels) versus hedonic (e.g., purchasing ice cream or cookies) consumption situations and whether social context (i.e., consuming the product alone or with others) influences price sensitivity. Second, we explore the interaction effects of household income and consumption context on price sensitivity. We examine these issues across a series of three studies, finding that consumers’ price sensitivity is in fact attenuated by both hedonic and social consumption situations and that income moderates these effects. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Recent research has suggested that consumers have in-store slack for grocery trips - that is, they leave room in their mental budgets to make unplanned purchases. Drawing on this work, this article ...examines how the impact of promotions depends on whether the shopper still has in-store slack remaining in his or her mental budget. Specifically, the authors evaluate how the effect of promotional savings for both planned and unplanned items on spending varies as a function of whether the item is purchased before or after the shopper's in-store slack is depleted. In addition, they examine how these relationships vary depending on income. To achieve these goals, the authors conducted a field study in which respondents used a handheld scanner to record the order of purchases. The results suggest that savings on planned items lead to stockpiling by higher-income shoppers when the savings occur before the in-store slack has been depleted but lead to increased purchase of unplanned items when they occur after in-store slack is depleted. The results also show that promotions on unplanned grocery items generate incremental spending at the basket level, which increases with income but only when the item is purchased after the in-store slack is exceeded. The authors discuss implications for shopper marketing strategies. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Passion drives sport consumption, but we lack valid relevant measures of passion. The results of two studies provide evidence of a reliable and valid multiple-item passion scale that may be used in ...the study of sportsrelated consumption behavior. In Study 1 a multi-item fan passion scale was compared with established social identification fan classification scales to provide evidence of discriminant and predictive validity. Because the passion scale outperformed other relevant fan classification measures, in Study 2 the fan passion scale was compared with current single-item measurement practices employed by National Football League and Major League Baseball teams, and some academics, to classify fans. Findings confirmed the veracity of the multi-item passion measure over categorical and interval fan avidity measures used by leagues and syndicated research providers. Taken together, the studies validate an accurate measure of fan passion that may be used to segment and predict fan behaviors, including consumption of traditional media (television, radio, news, and the team's website) and consumption of the team's official social media outlets.
