Editorial

Citation

Towers, N. (2011), "Editorial", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 39 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrdm.2011.08939gaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 39, Issue 7

For this edition there is a strong retailing theme that addresses the impact of radio advertisements on urban commuters towards buying behaviour in retail stores, determines the main factors that underlie store attributes and their influence on customer satisfaction, explores the collective consumption rituals associated with one of the largest shopping days in the USA on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and analyses the strategic repositioning of a retail organisation in South Africa.

The first contribution by Rajagopal aims at analyzing the impact of radio advertisements on urban commuters towards buying behaviour in retail stores and attempts to determine the role of radio advertising on dissemination of information on the sales promotions. The impact of radio advertisements on the store choice and buying preferences are analyzed based on empirical investigation. This study is based on the empirical investigation of urban commuters who acquire information on sales promotion by listening radio advertisements during travel time. It reveals that shopping behaviour of urban consumer at retail stores in response to radio advertisements is highly influenced by the physical, cognitive and economic variables. Radio advertisements propagating promotional messages on sales of products have quick response to the supermarkets and department stores. Listeners of radio commercials are attracted towards advertisements, which are more entertaining while disseminating the message. The author suggests that a company should design advertising pathways across channels to help its customers get what they need at each stage of the buying process. In urban habitats, leisure shopping is not as effective as radio advertisements for consumers to know sales promotions across the stores. Thus, radio commercials have significant role in stimulating the buying decisions of urban consumers. Managers of retail stores should develop media content with more entertaining jingles, punch lines and dialogues, meticulously targeting on consumers attention, interest and desire in order to drive their quick response to relevant commercial messages.

The next paper María Pilar Martínez-Ruiz, Ana Isabel Jiménez-Zarco and Robert Cascio aims to establish the main factors that underlie store attributes and to examine which exert the greatest influences on the achievement of a maximum level of customer satisfaction. This study seeks to determine if there are significant differences not only in the factor compositions but also in their influence on customer satisfaction, depending on the country of residence of focal customers. The test of the proposed framework consisted of analyses of two samples of customers that purchased in grocery stores in Spain and the USA. Following a factor analysis of the principal components, a binary logistic regression analysis tested the influence of the identified factors on customer satisfaction. The proposed classification of attributes and factors, according to their importance for customers’ evaluations in different countries, includes three main factors. The first-order factor includes the most valued attributes by all customers, independent of the country of residence. The second-order factors include attributes with lesser importance though still valued by customers; the importance depends on the country of residence. Finally, the third-order factor attributes are valued relatively less.

The third paper by Jane Boyd Thomas and Cara Peters explores the collective consumption rituals associated with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and one of the largest shopping days in the USA. The research design for this study followed the approach of psychological phenomenological interviewing. Over a two year period, the authors, along with trained research assistants, conducted interviews with experienced female Black Friday shoppers. Qualitative data from 38 interviews indicated that Black Friday shopping activities constitute a collective consumption ritual that is practiced and shared by multiple generations of female family members and close friends. Four themes emerged from the data: familial bonding, strategic planning, the great race, and mission accomplished. The themes coalesced around a military metaphor. Findings of this study indicate that Black Friday shoppers plan for the ritual by examining advertisements and strategically mapping out their plans for the day. Opportunities exist for retailers and malls to develop strategies to attract shoppers and encourage them to stay longer at their store. In addition to deep discounts, prizes and other types of promotional items could be used as additional shopping incentives. Recall that the planned route for shopping was often based on which store had the best promotions. Promotional gifts and deep discounts could be offered throughout the day, instead of just during the early hours of operation, to keep Black Friday shoppers in one store for a longer period of time.

The purpose of the final paper by Paul de Bruyn and Paul Freathy details the strategic repositioning of a retail organisation in South Africa. It describes the social and political transformations that have occurred since the ending of the apartheid regime and discusses the implications of these changes for the retail sector. In particular, the emergence of a new middle class has required many organisations to reconfigure their business processes and operations. The paper focuses upon one company to illustrate many of these changes. Many retail organisations initially found it difficult to cope with the needs of non-white customers and were forced to make changes to the way in which they operated their businesses. The case study retailer, whilst initially coping in the post apartheid period, over time lost touch with its customer base. The paper details how the company’s position was re-established following acquisition. This required a holistic approach that sought to engender change throughout the whole of the organisation.

Neil Towers