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The purpose of this paper is to understand loyalty in the multichannel retail context. The paper analyses the interplay between offline and online loyalty and the direct and indirect effects on loyalty of brand trust and brand attachment, in a cross-cultural study.

Online survey answered by 761 multichannel apparel shoppers in two countries (UK and Spain). Structural equation model multigroup analysis is performed to test the hypothesized relations and the role of culture as a moderating variable.

Online loyalty is largely driven by offline loyalty, which is also positively affected by brand trust and brand attachment. These relationships hold across the two different cultures.

The findings confirm the validity of applying the theory of cognitive dissonance to explain multichannel shopping behaviours. The authors did not find culture that affects the relationships in the model; however, the validity of these findings should be tested considering other cultural variables different from nationality.

Multichannel retailers should focus on building trust and attachment towards the brand if they want to get online and offline loyalty. The efforts to build stronger bonds between the customer and the retail brand translate into higher loyalty, particularly towards the offline channels.

This paper extends the literature on the interactions between online and offline behaviour by focussing on the power of the brand to build strong customer bonds. The model considers the role of brand attachment together with brand trust in offline and online loyalty simultaneously.

The expanded use of mobile devices for shopping has made mobile showrooming a frequent practice among omnichannel shoppers. This paper aims to shed light on the role of mobile dependency and uncertainty reduction strategies together with the motivation of getting the best value for money in showrooming behaviours and user-generated content (UGC) creation.

Data were collected by means of a questionnaire answered by 659 shoppers in two product categories: clothing and consumer electronics. The research model was tested through partial least squares.

The results suggest that mobile showrooming attitude is positively affected by mobile dependency, value consciousness and need for touch, and negatively by perceived risk of mobile shopping. The results also reveal how UGC is created by showroomers and suggest this behaviour is linked to mobile dependency in the clothing category.

All the individuals in the sample had some experience in showrooming, which could affect the results regarding showrooming attitude and intentions. Future research should consider the role of experience and also validate the results across a larger number of product categories.

Mobile showrooming is a challenge for multichannel retailers. This paper reveals certain ways in which multichannel retailers could deal with showroomers as potential customers.

This study is the first to analyse the role of mobile dependency in showrooming and the chain of effects towards mobile showrooming attitude, behaviour and UGC creation in two different product categories.

One key issue to be addressed in multichannel retailing strategies has to do with ensuring the consistency of the retailer offerings between the brick-and-mortar and the online stores to offer their customers a seamless experience. This study assesses whether perceived congruence may be relevant to identify segments of heterogeneous based on their online loyalty levels as well as other constructs and variables related to the customer relationship with the retailer for two different product categories.

From the responses of apparel and electronics multichannel shoppers to an online survey, a CHAID algorithm was performed to identify the most relevant congruence attribute(s) perceived by customers for predicting their loyalty levels toward the online store.

The results have allowed the identification of five segments of online shoppers, both for apparel and for electronics retailing, so that customers showing the highest scores in all congruence attributes also showed a higher loyalty toward the online store.

This study presents a first insight into the link between perceived congruence and online loyalty in retailing using a CHAID segmentation-based approach by differentiating various dimensions of perceived congruence for two product categories.

The results obtained allow for inferring a series of strategies and actions that retailers can adopt for improving perceived congruence between physical and online stores along with a series of dimensions, and ultimately, increase online loyalty.

As the interest of the literature on perceived congruence between offline and online stores is relatively recent, this exploratory research contributes to shedding light on the implications of specific congruence dimensions between the offline and the online store in terms of consumer online loyalty in all multicategory setting.

The need for retailers to internationalize is a growing reality in developed markets. Research examining problems in this process argues that the barriers to internationalization should be studied based on the situation in each country, and that public organizations which implement policies to support internationalization do not always adapt to company needs. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the limited existing research on the subject of Spanish retail internationalization, analysing the problems faced by SMEs and the role of public support organizations in helping them.

By means of in-depth interviews with experts, the authors first, analysed the barriers faced by Spanish retailers in their internationalization processes, and found a predominance of endogenous as opposed to exogenous barriers. Second, the authors studied the appropriateness of support policies for retail needs and identified a significant mismatch.

Results show that the current international economic climate and restricted access to financing, combined with the small size of retailers, their lack of experience in internationalization processes, and the potential that still remains in the local market, are an inducement not to venture into other markets. Additionally, there is a lack of awareness on the part of public organizations about the reality and needs of the retail sector. In addition, the study of retail internationalization as a discipline seems to be in constant flux.

It would be pertinent to consider the findings in the light of a number of limitations of the study. The sample did not consist of retailers but its representatives. The reliance upon a single nation sample could also be viewed as a limitation.

The authors provide Spanish retailers with ideas about the problems they are facing which they will find useful as a starting point for strategic thinking about their internationalization prospects.

As for Spanish promotion organizations, they should consider the results of this research and further study the needs of retailers in their internationalization processes while also identifying which companies have the greatest potential for operating in foreign markets.

It is the first time a research for Spain is conducted that highlights the needs of developing a plan to support the internationalization of the retail sector and provide specific lines of action.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the impact of perceived information and communication technology (ICT) on creation of brand equity within service firms, more specifically upscale hotels. The relationships between ICT and three brand equity dimensions, i.e. brand image, perceived quality, and brand loyalty are examined.

The empirical research was conducted in 20 upscale hotels in Rome-Italy, collecting data from 335 guests.

Advanced ICT directly influences perceived quality and image, while the impact of ICT on loyalty is mediated by perceived quality. Additionally, positive and significant relationships are found between the three brand equity dimensions.

The lack of significance of ICT impact on loyalty needs further attention. Future studies could center on this specific relationship, examining whether hotel companies that implement technology efficiently are able to deal with loyalty.

Managers are encouraged to invest in advanced technologies as their adoption and subsequent perception among guests can shape brand image and perceived service quality, thus influencing brand equity from the consumer perspective.

The contributions of this paper are fourfold. First, the ICT and customer-based brand equity concepts are studied together in the hotel context. Second, the inter-relationship among the three brand equity dimensions is analyzed. Third, the model is tested from the guest perceptive, as customers themselves can provide the most valuable inputs for business strategies. Finally, the work contributes to the service field by providing an empirical evidence on the potential and impact of advanced technology.

The purpose of this paper is to incorporate explicitly consumer heterogeneity into market response models estimated with store‐level scanner‐data.

Latent structures in market response to a product category using aggregated scanner data registered by a supermarket are identified. Specifically, latent consumer segments with diverse preferences towards brands and different responses to marketing stimuli from data consisting of daily marketing actions (i.e. price, promotions, advertising, etc.) and sales of competing brands are identified.

The existence of different latent segments with diverse preferences and response patterns to marketing stimuli were detected. More specifically, the fit of the statistical analysis for the different model possibilities made it possible to identify four market segments. It was also found that the intrinsic brand attractiveness as a measure of consumer brand preference is different between segments. Finally, the price sensitivity is also different between segments.

The time cost necessary to obtain the parameter estimates is too high, which is usual in the models estimated with iterative EM algorithms.

This work deepens one's knowledge of the identification and selection of latent market structures, specifically latent segments with different purchase patterns and behaviours. The possibility of developing the analysis with aggregated data at the store level increases the potential utility for academics and marketing managers.

Although most applications use weekly data, this proposal models daily fluctuations in sales – as a result, making it possible to obtain consumer segments based on daily changes.

This paper aims to focus on measuring and assessing the sales impact of temporary retail price discounts on all brands within a product subcategory as well as across other subcategories that differ slightly on composition and taste.

To test these effects, the study uses a regression approach to analyse data of several fast moving consumer good subcategories obtained from a Spanish supermarket.

The results confirm that temporary retail price reductions increase brand sales of the promoted brands, especially at weekends. Some brands gained sales at the expense of sales of substitute items within the same subcategory and also from sales of competing items in other subcategories.

The results of the current research suggest the presence of brand substitution effects within the analysed subcategories. In particular, while asymmetrical cross‐price effects are detected in only two subcategories, neighbourhood cross‐price effects have been evidenced in most subcategories. When considering the general product categories, certain substitution effects have been also evidenced: neighbourhood cross‐price effects are detected in most subcategories whilst asymmetrical cross‐price effects are not evidenced.

Retailers can learn from the experiences of a cross‐subcategory competition in order to determine which prices and discounts should set at the variety level. Though grocery retailers implement several decisions at the category level, brand level or even brand size level, it is valuable to learn from the experiences of a cross‐subcategory competition in order to determine whether or not it is interesting to set prices at the variety level.

The contribution in this paper consists not only of the measurement and assessment of the sales impact of temporary retail price discounts on all brands within a product subcategory as well as across other subcategories that differ slightly on composition and taste, but also of the application with data from the Spanish market.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework, based on empirical research, to explain the strategic processes of post-entry development in international retailing through consideration of the dynamic capabilities attributable to retailers.

Case study approach of five international retail firms using secondary data and primary data gathered through interviews with firms ' executives and financial analysts.

The research findings, in the light of the existing literature, suggest a framework that makes a distinction between first level or generic dynamic capabilities relevant to the internationalization process and second level or specific dynamic capabilities that are linked to particular strategies used by individual retail firms as they internationalize.

Research in international retailing has focused on empirical studies despite calls for a more conceptual approach. This paper responds to this call by applying the dynamic capabilities approach to the post-entry international activity of apparel retailers.

The current work reviews all retailing articles published in four prominent retailing journals – Journal of Retailing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, and International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research – in the 2009-2015 period, picking up where Runyan and Hyun (2009) left off. The purpose of this paper is to identify leading authors and institutions in retailing research based on overall impact.

Content analysis/literature review/descriptive research.

In total, 1,392 articles were published during this time period, and through a procedure of weights and adjustments for author count, journal impact, journal quality, and journal publishing opportunity, the findings reveal that research collaboration is highly prevalent, as evidenced by the high number of multi-authored papers and cross-university/international partnerships. Additionally, some authors and institutions remain influential, while others have emerged as highly influential in the last seven years. This shows the dynamic nature of the field and the need to remain active in quality publishing.

Scholars must understand that several factors influence impact judgments, which cannot be assessed using raw counts alone. Journal quality, impact, and publishing opportunity as well as author counts are important elements to consider.

These reviews are vital to the field in that they provide status updates on scholarship, so these reviews should be done periodically. Additionally, the findings in this paper provide a more holistic understanding of research impact and permit better assessment for scholars and administrators.