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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

Charles Dokcen, Vincent Obedgiu and Gideon Nkurunziza

The purpose of the study is to establish the mediating role of Perceived Service Quality on the relationship between Retail Atmospherics and Retail Store Patronage of Supermarkets…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to establish the mediating role of Perceived Service Quality on the relationship between Retail Atmospherics and Retail Store Patronage of Supermarkets in Emerging Economies using empirical evidence from Uganda.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a cross-sectional research design and quantitative approach to understand stand the structured reality of Retail Store Patronage of supermarkets in context of emerging economies. In the context of this study, the data were drawn from Uganda's supermarkets. A sample of 1,504 customers were selected from 136,270 customers. Data was collected from supermarket customers using closed ended questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were derived to describe the behavior of customers and draw conclusions on population using sample statistics. Correlation analysis was used to establish the degree of association between the variables. Hierarchical regression was applied to assess the unique contribution of each variable; control variables-income and age, predictor variables – Retail Atmospherics and Perceived Service Quality on dependent variable – Retail Store Patronage. Mediation was done following the four-step procedures of mediation of Baron and Kenny (1986).

Findings

The results revealed significant positive relationship between Retail Atmospherics, Perceived Service Quality and Retail Store Patronage, confirming the direct hypotheses. Perceived Service Quality partially mediated the relationship between Retail Atmospherics and Retail Store Patronage. The findings depict that Retail Store Patronage is influenced directly by Retail Atmospherics and indirectly through Perceived Service Quality as a mediating variable. However, in situations where the atmospherics is good but perceived service quality is poor, Retail Store Patronage may not be fully realized.

Originality/value

The study provides information that is relevant for filling the practical and theoretical gap in the Retail Store Patronage in Ugandan supermarkets. Previous research studies investigated patronage behavior of shoppers in single retail units yet there is paucity of research on patronage behavior across different retail formats in the world. This study can be generalized and have strategic implications to developing economies that seek to grow and sustain their businesses. It points to the gaps that are normally overlooked and could lead business failure. The focus of most previous studies were on developed economies more especially Europe and America. This study in particular focused on the role of perceived service quality in the relationship between retail atmospherics and customer retail store patronage in emerging economies like Uganda as a testing ground.

Details

Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-7480

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2021

Mohammed Lefrid

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of the dining experience elements at gas stations foodservice outlets: (1) food quality, (2) service quality, (3…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of the dining experience elements at gas stations foodservice outlets: (1) food quality, (2) service quality, (3) convenience and (4) atmospherics on customers' overall satisfaction and behavioral intention. This study also examines the mediating effect of overall satisfaction on dining experience elements and behavioral intention.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies a quantitative approach, using partial least square-structural equation modeling for analysis. Survey data were collected online from 231 participants in the United States.

Findings

Convenience and food quality are strong predictors of gas station food purchasing overall satisfaction and behavioral intention. Meanwhile, service quality and atmospherics were not statistically significant.

Research limitations/implications

This study's survey was conducted online. Participants reflected on their dining experience at gas station dining outlets in the prior week.

Practical implications

This study contributes to the existing foodservice literature by exploring dining at gas stations. It also provides a new insight into the importance of convenience in influencing overall satisfaction and behavior intention in a gas station foodservice setting.

Social implications

This study helps with the understanding of consumer behavior and expectations of a fast-food setting. This study helps with enhancing convenience in order to improve the customers' experience and reduce their daily stress relating to wait time for purchasing fast-food meals.

Originality/value

This is the first study to examine consumer experience at a gas station food service setting.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 123 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2011

Hamida Skandrani, Norchène Ben Dahmane Mouelhi and Faten Malek

This paper aims to better understand the effect of store atmospherics on the employees' cognitive, affective and physiological responses. It tries to build on store atmospherics…

8274

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to better understand the effect of store atmospherics on the employees' cognitive, affective and physiological responses. It tries to build on store atmospherics literature to gain more insights on how these store atmospherics – often handled to produce positive outcomes among consumers – affect employees' attitudinal and behavioural reactions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted an explanatory approach. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 13 employees working in internationally reputed clothing stores. A content analysis was carried out.

Findings

The study reveals that employees could adopt avoidance behaviours because of the environmental factors. Specifically, it suggests that the lack of variation in the musical program, incongruence of music genre – salespersons musical preferences, long exposure to the same rhythms, task complexity, crowding, might affect the employees' attitudinal and behavioural responses. In addition, the relationships between the sales force team are found to influence employees' reactions.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the complexity of the subject matter and the research approach adopted, the study findings may lack generalisability. Further studies are required to test the suggested framework in different service settings.

Practical implications

The study finding stresses the need that in an attempt to produce positive reactions from consumer, clothing stores managers should also devote attention to employees' responses to store atmospherics as they might inhibit the quality of the service delivery process.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils a recognized call to thoroughly understand the impact of store atmospherics on employees' reactions in services marketing. The study enlarges the scope of store atmospherics research in marketing to encompass not only the consumer's reactions but also the employee's ones.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 39 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2015

Annie Chen, Norman Peng and Kuang-peng Hung

This paper aims to examine diners’ luxury restaurant consumption behavior by incorporating diner expectations into a modified Mehrabian–Russell model. Consumers dine at luxury…

6122

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine diners’ luxury restaurant consumption behavior by incorporating diner expectations into a modified Mehrabian–Russell model. Consumers dine at luxury restaurants for reasons beyond fulfilling basic needs. However, little is known about the factors that contribute to diners’ emotions and loyalty toward luxury restaurants.

Design/methodology/approach

To examine the proposed six hypotheses, qualitative and quantitative studies were performed. Following exploratory qualitative research, 310 consumers who dined at Taiwan’s five-star hotel restaurants were recruited for the main study. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that restaurants’ stimuli influence diners’ positive and negative emotions (organisms), which, in turn, affect their loyalty toward luxury restaurants (responses). Furthermore, customers with different levels of expectation react differently to stimuli.

Practical implications

This study offers new empirical support for the proposition that diner expectation plays a role in building customer loyalty and, thereby, shades both theoretical and managerial understanding of the luxury restaurant consumption process.

Originality/value

This study conceptualizes diners’ loyalty toward luxury restaurants (e.g. revisiting and recommending luxury restaurants) by examining the influence of restaurants’ stimuli, diners’ emotions and customers’ expectations toward luxury restaurants. Additionally, this study offers some managerial implications for practitioners.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2015

Norman Peng and Annie Huiling Chen

Consumers dine at luxury restaurants for reasons beyond fulfilling basic needs; however, little is known about the factors that contribute to diners’ loyalty. The purpose of this…

3120

Abstract

Purpose

Consumers dine at luxury restaurants for reasons beyond fulfilling basic needs; however, little is known about the factors that contribute to diners’ loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to examine diners’ luxury restaurant consumption behavior by incorporating product knowledge into a modified Mehrabian-Russell model.

Design/methodology/approach

Following exploratory qualitative research, 238 consumers who have dined at Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred luxury restaurants were recruited for the main study. The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that luxury restaurants’ stimuli (i.e. food quality, service quality, and atmospherics) influence diners’ emotions, which in turn affect their brand loyalty. Furthermore, food quality can directly influence diners’ loyalty toward the restaurant. Third, diners’ product knowledge can moderate the relationships between restaurant stimuli and diners’ emotion.

Research limitations/implications

This study offers new empirical support for the proposition that product knowledge has a role in building brand loyalty and thereby shades both theoretical and managerial understanding of the luxury restaurant consumption process.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to conceptualize diners’ loyalty toward luxury restaurants by examining the influences of restaurants’ stimuli and diners’ knowledge toward luxury restaurants. In addition, this study puts forth some managerial implications for practitioners.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 November 2019

Emrah Ozkul, Hakan Boz, Bilsen Bilgili and Erdogan Koc

This chapter explains the role and potential of colour and lighting as two important elements of the service atmosphere in tourism and hospitality service encounters. The chapter…

Abstract

This chapter explains the role and potential of colour and lighting as two important elements of the service atmosphere in tourism and hospitality service encounters. The chapter first explains the importance of colour and lighting in services from the perspective of customers’ sensory perceptions. Then, the chapter provides examples to demonstrate how psychological/neuro-marketing tools of Eye Tracker and Facial Recognition, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Heart Rate (HR) can be used to understand the role of colour and lighting in customer satisfaction in tourism and hospitality service encounters. Based on this perspective, the study offers recommendations to design service environments in terms of colour and lighting.

Details

Atmospheric Turn in Culture and Tourism: Place, Design and Process Impacts on Customer Behaviour, Marketing and Branding
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-070-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2009

Nicole Bieak Kreidler and Sacha Joseph‐Mathews

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the idea of green atmospherics and propose a conceptual framework for green service environment factors and a typology for green…

4862

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the idea of green atmospherics and propose a conceptual framework for green service environment factors and a typology for green consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper takes the form of a conceptual piece. and offers a new approach to green consumerism. Green atmospherics goes beyond many of the typical factors explored in previous service environment studies. The paper examines how many terms commonplace in the design and architectural literature can be translated into the marketing arena. Factors such as daylighting, recycling, offgassing, insulation, optimal energy performance and design for the environment are discussed.

Findings

The paper proposes that “going green” goes beyond having recyclable or even sustainable products, to an ideology that incorporates improving worker morale and retention, and giving back to the communities they are located in. Additionally, the paper makes a case for classifying green consumers based on a psychographic segmentation approach compared to the more traditional socioeconomic classification.

Originality/value

This paper offers a conceptual framework for assessing green atmospherics within service environments and proposes a green consumer typology that references “stimuli” versus “socio‐demographics” for categorization. A new categorization is proposed and the importance of this topic to consumers, practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 February 2019

Ezgi Erkmen and Murat Hancer

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of other customers in explaining customers’ relation with a brand. A conceptual model, which incorporates other customers along…

5055

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of other customers in explaining customers’ relation with a brand. A conceptual model, which incorporates other customers along with atmospherics, food quality and service quality, is proposed to better understand how customers form their brand preference for fine dining restaurants.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research methodology, using structural equation modeling, was adopted to understand the role of other customers along with other restaurant attributes. Data were collected from the customers of fine dining restaurants resulting in 324 usable surveys.

Findings

The findings supported the sequential link for: restaurant experience attributes – brand relationship and brand preference. While all restaurant attributes except other customers explain the satisfaction of customers, only service quality and other customers played a significant role in forming the brand image in the minds of restaurant guests. Overall, this study acknowledged the importance of both other customers and employees in fine dining restaurants’ branding.

Research limitations/implications

The results suggest that customers in servicescape have a significant role in creating a successful brand image for restaurants. Moreover, service quality is also key to achieve a unique image, thereby suggesting that employees could be a source of differentiation and competitive advantage by managing their brand related behaviors.

Originality/value

This research was one of the first to study the role of other customers in restaurant service experience along with other attributes to assess customers’ brand relation and brand preference for fine dining restaurants.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 February 2020

Vanessa Apaolaza, Patrick Hartmann, Cristobal Fernández-Robin and Diego Yáñez

This paper aims to examine the effects of natural plants on satisfaction and loyalty in the hospitality servicescape and provides a theoretical framework explaining the underlying…

1632

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effects of natural plants on satisfaction and loyalty in the hospitality servicescape and provides a theoretical framework explaining the underlying processes.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental study (plants vs no-plants) was conducted in a restaurant with a sample of 119 individuals. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and bootstrapping moderated mediation analysis (Hayes, 2013).

Findings

The results of the study confirmed significant effects of indoor natural plants on consumers’ satisfaction and loyalty, mediated by the experiential value components of aesthetic value, service excellence and escapism. The absence of an interaction of these influences with consumers’ connectedness to nature indicates that the beneficial effects of indoor plants universally affect all individuals, independent of their personal degree of feeling connected with nature.

Practical implications

Indoor natural plants as ambient elements in restaurants can improve satisfaction and loyalty by enhancing the dimensions of aesthetics and escapism of the service experience, as well as the perception of service quality.

Originality/value

This is the first experimental study analyzing the effects of indoor plants on customer satisfaction and loyalty conducted in a real-life restaurant setting using actual plants. The findings contribute theoretically by providing an integrated conceptual model of the satisfaction and loyalty effects of atmospheric stimuli (i.e. plants) in the hospitality servicescape, which offers a process explanation based on the mediating influence of aesthetic value and the sequential mediations of aesthetic value → service excellence and aesthetic value → escapism.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1992

L.W. Turley and Douglas L. Fugate

Notes how service encounters have tended to be viewed as aninteraction between service providers and service customers. Examinessituations where the main encounter is the…

Abstract

Notes how service encounters have tended to be viewed as an interaction between service providers and service customers. Examines situations where the main encounter is the interaction between the facility and the customer. Considers different perspectives for planning service facilities – operational, locational, atmospheric/image, consumer use, contact personnel. Argues that congruent facilities are those that can succeed in integrating these competing perspectives.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

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