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1 – 10 of 89Huifeng Bai, Jin Shi, Peng Song, Julie McColl, Christopher Moore and Ian Fillis
This empirical study aims to examine luxury fashion retailers' localised multiple channel distribution strategies in China.
Abstract
Purpose
This empirical study aims to examine luxury fashion retailers' localised multiple channel distribution strategies in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Through case studies of 15 participating retailers, qualitative data were collected from 33 semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Strong impacts of internationalisation strategies, distribution strategies and channel length towards multiple channel retailing are revealed. Multi-channel retailing is widely employed by firms who have entered China and further developed their businesses through local partnerships and adopted a selective distribution strategy via relatively longer channels. Omni-channel retailing is only suitable for the few retailers using an exclusive distribution strategy through direct marketing and wholly owned customer relationship management. As a dynamic transformation from multi- to omni-channel retailing, cross-channel retailing is adopted by those who are withdrawing from local partnerships and shifting to wholly owned expansions and operations in host markets.
Research limitations/implications
The results are potentially challenged by relatively small sample size.
Practical implications
Practitioners are suggested to adapt multiple channel retailing to their international expansion strategies, distribution strategies and channel length in the host markets.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in both multiple channel retailing and international retailing by offering insights into the motives, development patterns and suitability of multiple channel retailing in the international retail marketing context.
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Matilde Milanesi, Andrea Runfola and Simone Guercini
The paper delves into the international expansion of luxury SMEs to investigate their internationalization pathways, namely how the internationalization process unfolds in terms…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper delves into the international expansion of luxury SMEs to investigate their internationalization pathways, namely how the internationalization process unfolds in terms of timing of entry into foreign markets, the geographic scope of operations and the scale. The paper examines also the determinants of the internationalization pathways as a set of factors that contribute to developing an asset of foreignness.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a multiple case study approach and reports findings from four cases of Italian SMEs operating in the luxury fashion industry.
Findings
SMEs’ specific characteristics at the firm and entrepreneurial levels (i.e. craftsmanship, quality, product creativity, entrepreneurial mindset), country of origin attributes (e.g. Italy’s positive image) and the inherently global nature of the luxury industry, can turn foreignness into an asset of foreignness that allows luxury fashion SMEs to pursue internationalization pathways of born globals.
Originality/value
The paper highlights that the global luxury market is not the exclusive domain of MNEs and sheds light on luxury SMEs, overlooked by extant literature. The paper also contributes to understanding early internationalization by highlighting a potential link between internationalization pathways and foreignness and discussed the asset of foreignness by extending it to SMEs.
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Ziyou Jiang and Jewon Lyu
Augmented reality (AR) provides consumers with added value by allowing them to experience products via mobile devices. An increasing number of brands have adopted AR apps, but…
Abstract
Purpose
Augmented reality (AR) provides consumers with added value by allowing them to experience products via mobile devices. An increasing number of brands have adopted AR apps, but little is known about how consumers respond to AR app attributes or what motivates them to use luxury brand AR apps. To fill this gap, this study aims to use the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to examine how AR app attributes (i.e. interactivity and virtuality) and customer-based brand equity (CBBE) (i.e. brand awareness and brand image) of luxury brands affect consumers’ behavioral intention to share about the app and use it for future purchases.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were recruited using a quantitative online survey (n = 214) and asked to use the Gucci mobile AR app before completing the survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. All measures were adapted from existing literature.
Findings
Findings indicate that AR app attributes lead to positive consumer experience, in turn, creating behavioral intention, while CBBE partially leads to positive consumer perceptions. Post hoc analysis confirms that consumers’ perceived values mediate the relationship between AR app attributes and consumers’ attitudes toward a luxury brand AR app.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this study expands the application of the S-O-R model along with brand equity to AR adoption and luxury retail by demonstrating the intricate mechanism of how AR app attributes and CBBE promote consumers’ behavioral intentions toward luxury brand AR apps. Practitioners may create more interactive and immersive virtual product demonstrations and focus on establishing the overall brand image.
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Sameeullah Khan, Asif Iqbal Fazili, Park Thaichon, Sara Quach, Mohd Ashraf Parry and Irfan Bashir
This paper aims to challenge the notion that “having-less” – limiting consumption of scarce resources to a select few – represents a social responsibility route toward guilt…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to challenge the notion that “having-less” – limiting consumption of scarce resources to a select few – represents a social responsibility route toward guilt reduction. It rather argues that “saving-more” – the purposeful pursuit of conscious and collaborative consumption – captures consumers’ true representations of responsible luxury which in turn reduces anticipated guilt.
Design/methodology/approach
Six experiments using different operationalizations of saving-more (vs. having-less) and a mix of fictitious and real luxury brands were conducted on real luxury buyers.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that saving-more (vs. having-less) leads to a stronger purchase intention; an effect explained by a higher responsible luxury perception and lower anticipated guilt associated with saving-more (vs. having-less). Furthermore, the ability of saving-more (vs. having-less) in building responsible luxury perception and reducing anticipated guilt is stronger (vs. weaker) when luxury is distributed based on deservingness (vs. entitlement).
Research limitations/implications
This research proposes a novel distinction between two responsible luxury approaches: promoting limited consumption for business goals, that is, having-less and promoting conscious consumption for societal goals, that is, saving-more.
Practical implications
Brand managers can enhance responsible luxury perception and reduce consumer guilt through corporate communication, product communication and collaborative product accessibility modes. Managers must also convince consumers that their access to luxury is based on real achievements.
Originality/value
This study empirically invalidates the notion that merely invoking scarcity and rarity tactics is an expression of social responsibility. It integrates social responsibility and fairness accounts of guilt into a coherent theory of guilt over luxury consumption.
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Valeria Belvedere, Herbert Kotzab and Elisa Martina Martinelli
This paper aims to explore the conditions in a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) context characterized by new technologies. Innovations enhance disintermediation and pursue…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the conditions in a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) context characterized by new technologies. Innovations enhance disintermediation and pursue sustainability goals that drive customers’ willingness to use eco-friendly delivery options, namely, parcel lockers – in e-commerce and their impacts in terms of communication and transparency along the supply network.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted an extensive survey in Italy and Germany, collecting 1,010 usable responses. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data with the aim of identifying the factors that drive customers’ willingness to use parcel lockers and the effect on customers’ behaviour as determined by the disclosure of information about the environmental performance of different delivery options.
Findings
The results highlight several factors affecting the willingness to use parcel lockers, namely, performance and effort expectancy, social influence, technology anxiety, hedonistic motivation and environmental knowledge. The results also demonstrate that the disclosure of information about the environmental performance of different delivery options influences customers’ behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
This paper faces several limitations, mostly related to the focus on just two countries, the use of cross-sectional data and the survey’s explicit reference to just one type of product. Nevertheless, the findings contribute to the discussion on the relevance of information sharing along the supply chain, providing favourable evidence in this regard. It also improves the stream of research concerning technology adoption in the context of e-commerce, highlighting factors that can lead consumers to use eco-friendly self-service technologies.
Practical implications
The results can support companies in understanding how they can design and manage the last mile of delivery to jointly achieve customer satisfaction, process efficiency and superior environmental performance.
Originality/value
This pioneering contribution studies the adoption of delivery solutions for e-commerce and its implications for the supply network.
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The prospect of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as an apparel-sourcing base for US fashion companies has been a growing heated debate among academia, industry practitioners and…
Abstract
Purpose
The prospect of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as an apparel-sourcing base for US fashion companies has been a growing heated debate among academia, industry practitioners and policymakers. This study aims to evaluate SSA countries’ readiness to serve as an alternative sourcing destination to Asia for US fashion companies, focusing on comparing the similarities and differences of US apparel imports from these two regions at the product level.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was based on a statistical analysis of detailed product features and assortment information of thousands of apparel items at the stock-keeping unit level sold by US retailers between January 2021 and December 2023.
Findings
US fashion companies seemed to leverage SSA countries as suppliers of “niche products,” such as those relatively simple and basic apparel categories containing African cultural elements and targeting the luxury and premium market segment. However, the range of apparel products available for US fashion companies to source from the SSA region remained significantly more limited than those from Asia. Also, US apparel imports from SSA countries were primarily made of cotton and polyester, with less use of other fiber types, including nylon, rayon, viscose, wool and those made from recycled textile materials.
Originality/value
The study’s findings provided fresh insights into why US fashion companies sourced from SSA countries and the specific types of products they were sourcing, going beyond existing studies based on macro trade statistics. The results also deepened the understanding of SSA countries’ competitiveness as an apparel-sourcing destination and their potential to serve as an alternative to sourcing from Asia, particularly from a unique product perspective.
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Jennifer (Yeeun) Huh and Naeun Lauren Kim
Green signaling refers to the notion that environmentally friendly purchases signal consumers' prosociality and willingness to pay more, thus enhancing their social status. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Green signaling refers to the notion that environmentally friendly purchases signal consumers' prosociality and willingness to pay more, thus enhancing their social status. This study investigated the green signaling effect among Gen Z and Millennial consumers on social media by adopting costly signaling theory.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of experimental studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Thus, a 2 (organic vs. nonorganic) × 2 (luxury vs. non-luxury) between-subjects design was used in Study 1 (150 participants) and a 2 (organic vs. nonorganic) × 2 (high vs. low brand authenticity) between-subjects design was employed in Study 2 (148 participants).
Findings
The results of Studies 1 and 2 confirmed the mediating role of perceived status in the relationship between apparel greenness and purchase intention. However, brand label and authenticity did not have a moderating influence. The overall findings confirmed the green signaling effect of organic apparel in the social media marketing context.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature by suggesting a cultural capital perspective for promoting green products among Gen Z and Millennial consumers. It also encourages marketers to implement green messaging on social media, highlighting the amount of resources and efforts invested in sustainable production.
Research limitations/implications
This study adopted existing brands to test the hypotheses, using images of female influencers.
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Rambabu Lavuri and Rajendra Kumar Gopi
This study aims to evaluate the impact of product complexity, product involvement and product diagnosticity on shaping webrooming behavior in emerging fashion retailing, with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the impact of product complexity, product involvement and product diagnosticity on shaping webrooming behavior in emerging fashion retailing, with product knowledge acting as a moderator and information processing, and uncertainty reduction theory contributing as the theoretical foundation.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 371 responses were collected from fashionable consumers who had recently purchased fashion products via a purposive sampling approach, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro.
Findings
The results illustrated that product complexity had a significant impact on product involvement and product diagnosticity, and consumer attitude. Attitude, in turn, had a favorable impact on webrooming behavior. Likewise, product diagnosticity and product involvement had a positive mediating association between product complexity and consumer attitude. Product knowledge significantly moderated the relationship between product complexity, product involvement, and consumer attitude, but it exhibited a negative moderation association between product complexity, product diagnosticity, and attitude.
Originality/value
This study represents a novel research endeavor, shedding light on webrooming from the perspective of product attributes in fashion retailing. It contributes to the growing body of literature on fashion marketing by analyzing the rapidly evolving phenomena of webrooming behavior within the multichannel context of the fashion industry.
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Siqi Wang, Jun-Hwa Cheah, Weng Marc Lim, Satish Kumar, Xin-Jean Lim and Neil Towers
This study aims to embark on a bibliometric journey through the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management (IJR&DM) to delve into its rich repository of applied…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to embark on a bibliometric journey through the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management (IJR&DM) to delve into its rich repository of applied retailing research.
Design/methodology/approach
626 publications in IJR&DM between 2015 and 2023 have been retrieved from Scopus for performance analysis of the journal’s publication (productivity) and citation (impact) trends as well as a science mapping of the journal’s collaborators (contributors) and major themes (contributions).
Findings
The performance analysis highlights the growth in the productivity and impact of IJR&DM alongside its most cited publications, most prolific contributors, most relied-on journals, as well as the authors, institutions, countries, and journals that the journal has impacted the most. The co-authorship analysis reveals the collaboration (i.e., international with a high concentration in Europe and North America along with an emerging presence in Asia) of IJR&DM. Keyword co-occurrence analysis and bibliographic coupling reveal eight themes. Our exploration revealed close interconnections among various domains including retailing and adaptive strategies, channel strategies, customer experience, market innovations, operations management, relationship marketing, shopping motivation, and sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
Although this study delivers a state-of-the-art overview of the retail industry through the scientific contributions from IJR&DM, it remains limited to the insights from a single authoritative source of knowledge on retailing.
Originality/value
No review, to date, has been conducted for IJR&DM. This study provides the inaugural retrospective of the scientific contributions of IJR&DM, outlining publication and citation trends alongside the intellectual structure of its body of knowledge on retailing. Theoretically, this retrospective is pivotal in charting the intellectual growth and thematic nuances inherent in retail research. Practically, this study serves as a guide for practitioners, enabling them to make strategically informed decisions and craft forward-looking strategies in sync with current realities.
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Shaoyuan Chen, Pengji Wang and Jacob Wood
Given that existing retail brand research tends to treat each level of a retail brand as a separate concept, this paper aims to unveil the holistic nature of a multi-level retail…
Abstract
Purpose
Given that existing retail brand research tends to treat each level of a retail brand as a separate concept, this paper aims to unveil the holistic nature of a multi-level retail brand, considering the distinctiveness of each level and the interrelationships between the images of different levels.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a scoping review approach that includes 478 retail brand articles. Subsequently, a thematic analysis method is applied.
Findings
The brand attributes that shape the distinct image of each retail brand level encompass diverse intrinsic and extrinsic attributes. Moreover, the holistic nature of a multi-level retail brand is formed by the interrelationships between the images of different levels, which are reflected in the presence of common extrinsic attributes and their interplay at attribute, benefit and attitude levels.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this review provides conceptual clarity by unveiling the multi-level yet holistic nature of a retail brand, helping researchers refine and extend existing theories in retail branding, while also providing new research opportunities in this field. Practically, the findings could guide retailers in implementing differentiated branding strategies at each level while achieving synergy across all levels.
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