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The purpose of this paper is to explore and typify the characteristics and diverse features of urban speciality stores selling rural provenance food, taking the case of three cities in Portugal.

The study was based on hierarchical cluster analysis, performed upon data collected from a survey to 113 shops, located in Aveiro (n = 15), Lisbon (n = 56) and Porto (n = 42).

The study identified three clusters of shops according to the type of rural provenance products sold, services provided and clientele characteristics: the wine focused, the rural provenance focused and the generalist. The study confirms that in Portugal, small food retail outlets, with different rural provenance patterns and degrees of specialization have considerably grown in large cities over the last decade.

The study contributes to typifying urban speciality food stores selling rural provenance products and to addressing critical research gaps on this topic. The study highlights the dynamism of small food retail outlets and their significance, mediating and responding to changing patterns of food consumption in urban spaces.

This study contributes to a better understanding and characterization of food speciality shops in urban settings and their links with rural territories of provenance, an under-researched topic on the food retail literature.

After slumping sales in the 1950s, the brewing industry experienced three great decades. The recovery happened because the new generation of brewers, distributors and retailers woke up to the challenge of the time. During the 1990s and into the millennium it is yet again time to face new challenges in the industry. Although innovation in products is vital, a second area where brewers need to show innovation and take action is in customer service, and the development of training for the salesforce. Looks at motivational themes and evaluates research that help mould proposed training programmes.

The purpose of the research was to extend on previous research by studying latent consumers’ attitude to farmers’ markets. Findings will be used to improve the marketing and publicity of farmers’ markets in order to attract other consumers groups. The people surveyed were not always aware of the term farmers’ market. Some think it is a place where farmers go to buy what they need. Around 94 per cent of people who have already been to a farmers’ market will return because they enjoy the food which is fresh, different, local, etc. and to support farmers. Latent consumers think that farmers’ markets sell fresh, quality, locally produced, tastier, healthier and seasonal food. However they do not expect the food to be cheaper. The most important criteria are quality, freshness and the fact that food is produced locally. Latent consumers would enjoy supporting local producers, information about the products and how to prepare them.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors affecting store image and customers’ choice of hypermarkets in Oman and compares two big hypermarkets in Sohar– the prominent industrial city of Oman.

A detailed review of literature was conducted initially to identify the attributes affecting store image and choice of hypermarkets in Oman and a questionnaire was developed later using the key attributes, vetted by a panel of professionals and consumers. Data were collected using convenience sampling from the targeted customers with due care to reduce possible biases. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), using SPSS, was then performed to arrive at the key factors affecting store image and choice of hypermarkets in Oman. Two most popular and leading hypermarkets of Sohar – Lulu and Al Safeer were selected to study consumers’ preferences for store choice and comparisons. The Mann-Whitney U-test in association with the Wilcoxon W-test was applied, using Minitab, for further comparison of the two hypermarkets.

Retailing industry in Oman is changing. The focus of consumers is shifting from traditional markets to modern retail formats. The presence of hypermarkets has attracted customers away from traditional souqs. Customers are attracted to hypermarkets for various reasons, including the local and socio-cultural ones. The factor analysis produced four components, namely, “purchase experience”, “visit experience”, “augmented experience”, and “repeat-purchase experience” affecting customers’ choice of hypermarkets and store image in Oman. A comparative analysis of two leading hypermarkets revealed that Lulu hypermarket acquired, overall, a better store image over Al Safeer on all the components. Purchase experience and visit experience, in Omani hypermarkets, were forerunners in satisfying customers than the augmented and repeat-purchase experience.

The study contributes to the narrow base of extant literature on consumer preferences of hypermarkets and their choice of related retail formats in the Islamic world. Although the use of EFA has been quite informative in revealing the findings, the limitation mainly arises due to the lack of confirmatory techniques, which were not intended at this stage of research. Whist the study opens room for researchers to contribute further in this regard, it brings forth certain implications for the managers, academics, and professionals working in the retail sector.

Analysis and discussions reveal that hypermarkets, particularly in Oman, need to take into account the factors, as identified in this study, and the differences in context of local conditions and religion. The study emphasizes that managers of retail formats in Oman need to give due importance to consumer experience to secure better store image and consumer patronage.

The study makes a pioneering attempt to analyse consumer preferences for retail stores, especially hypermarkets in Oman. It recognizes that the consumer expectations and business requirements of Oman, in particular, or Gulf countries in general are somehow different than the rest of the world. A heed to the identified factors and underlying variables would help the retail sector in serving consumers better as well as in increasing the store image and consumer patronage.

The purpose of this paper is to consider a new application of stochastic frontier analysis, in which the method is applied to demand data for a food product category, in an attempt to benchmark category consumption and segment food consumers.

In a unified, two‐stage approach, a stochastic frontier model is first estimated and subsequently deviations from the demand frontier are regressed on customer characteristics. The method is illustrated in scanner panel data.

A frontier demand function estimated in scanner data of a frequently‐bought food category has significant and consistent parameters. Specific descriptor variables can explain excessive category demand and profile customers with considerable sales potential.

More work is needed to generalise the usefulness of the proposed model in different food categories. Future research may employ alternative functional specifications and explanatory variables.

The empirical identification of salient characteristics improves consumer understanding and can assist in the design of data‐driven marketing action. Applied researchers can use marketing and demographic variables that are found in standard consumer panels to estimate frontier models.

The paper introduces stochastic frontier analysis as a means to determine consumer differences in food demand. This is an important area for retailers, producers and researchers.

Marketing thought originating from the era of the barter system, gradually evolved into production and sales orientations, with greater emphasis on the process, quality, and selling of products. Thereafter, customer satisfaction as an essential component of the strategic decision process occupies a significant position among various marketing activities. This paper aims to address the inadequate research inputs on determining the time‐specific evolutionary relevance of marketing thought divulging into the essential components of each marketing concept, especially those with customer satisfaction as a dimension in the measurement construct.

A detailed, conceptually integrated analysis of various marketing philosophies is offered to facilitate business executives in examining the philosophy followed by their companies and how to move vertically in pursuance of improved business performance.

In comparison to the Indian market, which is fast becoming an attraction for the developed nations as an investment hub, it is the observed and experienced that public sector corporations are still at the production orientation stage, whereas private companies are predominantly using the sales‐oriented approach. The present status of customer orientation, market orientation and relationship marketing culture in India, is quite distinct from the status in the West as indicated by literature published in the developed countries. Banking, insurance, tourism, and hospitals still need to ensure minimum customer‐oriented services, which are not performed impressively in India.

Being a conceptual and country specific paper, the paper lacks wider generalization of its findings. Moreover, at many instances personal judgment of the authors might have resulted into biased interpretation.

Indian companies, with a few exceptions, lack an adequate orientation to pursue continuous market research in order to sense new developments, which are taking place due to the implementation of advanced information technology leading to greater exposure to customers. It can, thus, be synthesized that with respect to marketing practices in Indian settings, the existing large gap between the theory and implementation is drawing much attention from those concerned with the socio‐economic consequences associated with future business goals.

This paper can help managers in evaluating their business orientation level, but how to improve it further or update them as per ongoing changes in marketing thought and practice, has to be investigated and examined on continuous basis. Hence, empirical testing and validation of the constructs originating from the study have to be pursued, so as to analyze both the nature and the extent of the business orientation of a particular firm.

The aim of this study is to determine whether customer satisfaction, trust and commitment as relationship quality factors can be valuable to a luxury motor vehicle dealership in generating favourable behavioural intentions concerning post-purchase service and repair offerings.

A descriptive research design was followed, and self-administered questionnaires were fielded among customers of the luxury motor vehicle dealership. A total of 301 questionnaires were returned and the interrelationships between the constructs were examined using structural equation modelling.

It was discovered that customers who trust the dealership may be more committed, and commitment may strengthen the relationship between customer satisfaction and a favourable behavioural intention towards the dealership.

The findings of the study add to the developing body of empirical literature on relationship quality and behavioural intention.

The study indicates how relationship quality factors can influence behavioural intentions of customers, assist in building long-term relationships with customers and retain current customers where post-purchase service and repairs of luxury goods are concerned.

The study provides an emerging market perspective of the interrelationships between relationship quality factors affecting behavioural intention regarding service and repairs of luxury goods.

Why are some libraries more market‐oriented than others? This paper seeks to answer this question by examining the pertinent issues underlying the marketing culture of Finnish research libraries and the library management's awareness of modern marketing theories and practices.

An integrated methodological approach of qualitative as well as quantitative methods was used to gain knowledge on the pertinent issues lying behind the marketing culture of research libraries. The directors and consumers of 33 academic and special libraries participated as respondents in the study.

Three kinds of marketing cultures were found: the strong (the high flyers); the medium (the brisk runners); and the weak (the slow walkers). These marketing cultures are explained by analyzing the libraries' marketing attitudes, knowledge, and behavior permeating their organizations.

The study shows the extent to which marketing attitudes, behavior, and knowledge are related. Moreover, the results indicate serious implications, not only in the Finnish context, but also for libraries in other cultural contexts as well.

The practical implication for libraries is that it pays to be market‐oriented, the ultimate result being higher customer satisfaction.

The contribution of the paper lies in the framework showing linkages between the critical components of the marketing culture of a library: antecedents, market orientation, facilitators and consequences.

In Spain, food distribution has been revolutionised over the past 15 years. Traditional food stores are in the process of slowly disappearing, while hypermarkets and supermarkets are increasing their presence, and more importantly, their market share. To understand better the causes behind this revolution, examines the existent literature on distribution trends, generally, in Spain. The Spanish distribution industry is marked by governmental deintermediation, consumers’ orientation toward value and competitors’ quest for efficiency through centralisation, as well as the development of new services and micro marketing actions, with the objective of increasing customer loyalty. Focuses on Spanish food product distribution, marked by the progressive drop in the number of traditional stores, the appearance of discounters specialising in the sale of own‐brands and having aggressive prices, the notable growth of hypermarkets because of their diversified offering and near‐cost prices, and the success of supermarkets, rooted in their ability to open multiple points of sale, positioning themselves between hypermarkets and discounters.