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The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between visual merchandising elements and consumer affective response by focusing on a function‐oriented product – intimate apparel.

In this paper, a different perspective on visual merchandising is offered through the different types of intimate apparel retailers (from fashion‐oriented, mass market‐oriented to fashion forward). This is presented in an interpretive study of Hong Kong Chinese female consumers, between the ages of 25 and 35. A qualitative approach is employed and the grounded theory method is chosen. A total of eight focus group interviews are conducted with 64 subjects.

The findings indicate that participating subjects have two points of view when evaluating visual store displays, which include utilitarian and hedonic aspects. The utilitarian aspect relates to the actual needs of consumers, such as garment deterioration, seasonal changes and occasions. The hedonic aspect finds that the perceived female image governs consumer interpretation and acceptance of visual displays. It also reveals that the need to be feminine sets the guidelines to evaluating visual stimulus in stores. Display elements, such as mannequins, colour, lighting and props that emphasize feelings of feminine sexuality, tend to trigger negative affective responses in consumers which finally affect purchase intentions.

The authors aim to explore consumer affective response on visual stimulus in stores by considering the aesthetic, symbolic and cultural perceptions of a function‐oriented product – intimate apparel. The literature to date tends to focus on the interaction between individual visual merchandising elements (e.g. colour, lighting) with consumers. However, the product nature and its symbolic meaning have not been seriously taken into consideration. Due to the immense market potential in the East, applying western‐developed theories may not be universally appropriate. There may be different results and patterns in consumer behaviour. Thus, this study aims to enrich existing knowledge of atmospheric management by including the interaction of Eastern values and product nature on affective responses.

Short delivery time is a feature that can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions and that retailers compete over fiercely. Accordingly, evaluating the effect of delivery time on demand and identifying marketing-mix variables that alter this relationship may influence retailers’ strategies and impact supply chain (SC) performance. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study was performed in collaboration with the largest furniture retailer in Italy, which provided its sales and inventory data for 19,000 units sold over a six-month period in 32 stores throughout Italy. Data were analysed using logistic regression with fixed effects.

The value of delivery time for consumers, even in an industry generally characterised by long delivery lead times, is surprisingly high. The evidence reveals that when the delivery time changes from two days to seven days, demand is reduced by 37.5 per cent, although variables related to location and the marketing mix moderate this relationship.

Retailers can use the findings presented herein to drive their inventory and facility planning decisions and support investments in SC integration.

Supply chain management (SCM) studies consider the value of delivery time anecdotally and have neglected empirical estimations of the magnitude of the effects of delivery time on consumer demand. Further, SCM studies have not explored the factors moderating this relationship, although intertemporal choice and service management studies have demonstrated the existence of such factors.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how origin information for wine products influences retail sales. The growing variety of products and the generally singular origin of wine products makes this market particularly sensitive to origin information. The origin of wine is often perceived as an indicator of quality and is used as the basis of decision making when purchasing wine products. This study empirically tests a portion of Johansson's framework for the use of origin information through both a market survey and a field experiment to determine the predictive value on market position for a group of wine products from the Texas region. The results of the survey and the field experiment were consistent and found that emphasizing the origin of Texas wine significantly influenced retail sales. These results also indicate that special displays and increased retail shelf space do not always have a positive effect on sales of the displayed products. Therefore, it is important for retail managers to first identify whether the image of the wine's origin is perceived positively or negatively before using origin information in store displays.

The constantly changing prices, promotions, and packaging options have made decision making more complex for consumers of packaged goods. The purpose of this paper is to explore how price and promotions influence consumer propensity to buy a certain package size.

Scanner panel data for shelf-stable salad dressing obtained from Information Resources Inc. were used to compute the proportion of large packages bought, the relative price paid for large packages, propensity to use various types of promotions, and a behavioral covariate for each household. Data of over 5,600 households were analyzed using a multiple regression analysis for hypothesis testing.

The positive nature of relationship between the relative price of large packages and the proportion of large packages bought demonstrates the suboptimal nature of consumer decision making. The inefficiency is partially attributable to the abundance of promotions, to consumers’ lack of price awareness, and to the use of heuristics by consumers. Also, consumers who are prone to use promotions such as displays and temporary price reductions tend to purchase larger packages. They are more likely to buy impulsively and base their decisions on heuristics. In contrast, consumers who are influenced by featured price cuts and who utilize coupons tend to purchase smaller packages.

Data were obtained from grocery stores; only a single product category was studied.

Offer coupons and advertise featured price cuts on small packages to increase the sales of smaller packages. To move large packages successfully, retailers should rely more on in-store displays and temporary price reductions.

The impact of price and promotions on package size propensity has never been investigated. This study is also one of the few that uses a household-level analysis based on observable purchase data for consumer packaged goods.

The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of the retail marketing, merchandising, and logistical practices in the Japanese grocery supermarket sector. Most of the literature in English has focused on the structure of the sector with little detailed research on the Japanese consumer and the corporate response to retail change. This paper highlights the case of Summit Inc., which has established a niche position in the Japanese grocery market through its operational excellence.

The purpose of this study is to investigate Hispanic consumers' use of personal and impersonal information sources and to examine age and gender differences in the use of those information sources.

A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the data. Pillai's trace multivariate analyses of variance were used to examine the main effects of age and gender differences in the use of personal and impersonal information sources.

The degree to which personal information sources were used varied across age groups. When making a purchase decision on clothing items, the respondents' use of their mothers and friends as personal information sources differed significantly across age groups. Males and females varied in their use of their fathers, sisters, and other female family members as personal information sources. The degree to which impersonal information sources were used also varied across age groups. When gathering ideas about what clothing items to purchase, the use of fashion magazines as impersonal information sources differed significantly across age groups. In addition, males and females varied in their use of store displays and television advertisements as impersonal information sources.

The study may provide guidance in developing effective and strategic promotion direction and in selecting proper media advertising in an effort to target Hispanic consumers in the USA. Marketers can use this information to determine advertising media allocation in effectively reaching Hispanic consumers.

Considering the unprecedented growth in the population and the purchasing power of Hispanics, marketers need to analyze Hispanic consumers' use of information sources in their shopping behaviors in order to determine effective marketing and media planning. However, little is known about how Hispanic consumers' use of information influences their shopping behaviors. This study offers insights for apparel retailers in building effective promotional strategies for reaching Hispanic consumers.

This paper aims to investigate whether or not ongoing sales promotion contributed to the declines in “no brand preference” (NBP). Part of an ongoing series investigating the growth of US consumer’s responses of NBP for more than 1,500 frequently purchased consumer product brands. Data were drawn from responses to a very large (1.1 million) online longitudinal consumer questionnaire during 2002-2012.

Additional research, combining this data set with two other major US longitudinal studies, confirmed results. This study focused on determining reasons for NBP increase. Initial data set included use of and influence of 23 in-store promotional tools. These were investigated to determine impact and effect.

Four leading sales promotional tools, based on consumer influence, were coupons, home samples, in-store samples and retail shopper cards. Shopper cards had most influence on purchase of secondary, not primary brands in categories. Shopper cards are a clearly underused promotional tool in building brand preference and sales.

Limited to US consumer products only. No attempt made to connect media advertising and in-store media impact or effect.

Future investigation should focus on other geographies, synergy between media advertising and promotional techniques. Also, the study is all aggregated data; individual brand investigations should be made. Shopper cards appear to be a major opportunity for secondary brands. More focus on cooperative activities between brands and retailers would benefit both.

Paucity of longitudinal customer-view research on shopper cards identifies both manufacturer and retailer opportunities, particularly secondary brands.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the retail marketing strategies of one fashion retailer as they are applied in two national markets, and to identify means by which international retailer success may be assured.

The paper is a qualitative case study.

To be a successful international fashion retailer, the ability to apply and adjust the retail marketing mix elements according to specific target‐market conditions and a wider global strategy is very important.

The paper indicates how an international fashion retailer may manipulate components of its marketing mix to be successful in diverse national markets.

The paper combines international retailing literature with retail marketing concepts to present findings of interest to commercial practitioners and offer opportunities for further research.

The experience of safety as perceived by customers is a central issue in retailing, and its importance has increased because of the pandemic. Substantial literature exists addressing different factors related to safety/security experience in different types of retail channels. However, what is missing is a unified framework to guide safe customer experience initiatives across all channels. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the safety elements in omnichannel retailing as perceived by customers and how these safety elements affect customer experience (CX) judgments and consumer behavior in a post-pandemic context.

A systematic literature review on safety/security studies in a retail context is conducted, followed by a qualitative study driven by a means-end-chain laddering technique collecting data from 62 retail customers in Australia, the USA and UK.

Fourteen distinct safety elements in omnichannel retailing are identified. Four elements are relevant to the CX at the pre-purchase stage of the customer journey: social inclusiveness, role readiness, employment policy and safety policy enforcement. Six elements are relevant to the during-purchase stage: physical safety, personal hygiene, spatial distancing, fraud prevention, security surveillance and safety signal. The remaining four elements are relevant to the post-purchase stage: delivery safety, safety recall, mental health and data usage.

This study presents a new unified framework addressing safety and security in post-pandemic retail service settings. The SafeCX framework offers researchers and managers a holistic understanding of the distinct safety elements that shape customers’ perceptions across each customer journey stage of the retail CX.

The use of various forms of cooperative sales promotions such as intracompany and intercompany multibrand promotions is on the ascendance, particularly among manufacturers and marketers of frequently purchased packaged consumer products. This article provides an overview of various forms of cooperative sales promotions, objectives that firms strive to realize through cooperative sales promotions, and other issues. In addition, from the standpoint of improving marketing productivity, the need for greater focus on the consumer franchise building potential of various sales promotion tools is highlighted.