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This study aims to identify the irritating aspects in the mall environment that impact shoppers with disability and explore the opportunities to design inclusive mall environments.

A mixed-methods design was used in which data collected using a survey (n = 1,434 shoppers with and without disability) were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) and repeated-measures two-way ANOVA. In addition, qualitative data were obtained from critical incident technique (CIT) stories (n = 521) from shoppers with and without disability.

Mall environmental irritants evoke feelings of irritation that mediate the impacts of “inconvenient ambient conditions,” “the annoying socialscape” and “overwhelming design and atmospherics” on decreased mall-visit frequency. Compared with shoppers without disability, shoppers with disability suffer more from these irritating aspects of the mall environment, as evidenced by significantly greater high-activation unpleasant emotions. The “poor access and accessibility” category of irritants mainly affects the mall experiences of shoppers with disability.

Based on the findings, this study offers spatial-, temporal-, social-, material- and virtual-oriented recommendations for the design of inclusive retail spaces. The authors suggest that people with disability have a unique “lived experience” perspective on retail environments and that solutions should be co-created based on ongoing consultations with shoppers and employees with disability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study offers the first systematic, comprehensive comparison of the impact of environmental irritants on shoppers with and without disability and extends the literature on irritating aspects of retail environments from individual stores to malls.

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.

This study uses a scoping review approach that includes 478 retail brand articles. Subsequently, a thematic analysis method is applied.

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.

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.

The main aim of this study is to examine the effect of virtual store atmospheric factors on impulsive purchasing in the metaverse context.

Grounded in purposive sampling, 451 individuals with previous metaverse experience were recruited to accomplish the objectives of this research. Next, to identify both linear and nonlinear relationships, the data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) approaches.

The findings underscore the significance of the virtual store environment and online trust in shaping impulsive buying behaviors within the metaverse retailing setting. Theoretically, this study elucidates the impact of virtual store atmosphere and trust on impulsive buying within a metaverse retail setting.

From the findings of the study, because of the importance of virtual shop content, practitioners must address its role in impulse purchases via affective online trust. The study’s findings are likely to help retailers strategize and improve their virtual store presentations in the metaverse.

The discovery adds to the understanding of consumer behavior in the metaverse by probing the roles of virtual store atmosphere, online trust and impulsive buying.

This study delves into the complex realm of consumer behavior by exploring the impact of distinct shopping motives, encompassing status, value and gratification, on store satisfaction within the domain of organic food retail. Moreover, it seeks to decipher the influence of perceptual disparities between male and female patrons on the intricate nexus between shopping experience and consumer loyalty within organic food stores.

A comprehensive dataset comprising responses from 400 participants was gathered and subjected to confirmatory analysis and structural equation modeling. These analytical tools were employed to dissect the data, validate the underlying research framework and unveil critical insights.

The empirical analysis, facilitated by structural equation modeling, substantiates that organic food stores prioritize the organic attribute, primarily centered on healthiness, often to the detriment of broader conceptual and social aspects. This validates the interplay between shopping experience dimensions, customer contentment, loyalty and the intent to revisit. Gender, as a moderator, exerts a discernible influence on these relationships, highlighting distinct shopping behaviors among male and female consumers when gauging the influence of shopping experience dimensions within organic food retail establishments.

The implications of this research resonate deeply within the organic food retail landscape. The insights garnered provide valuable guidance to organic food retailers aiming to enhance their store ambiance and allure, thereby fostering sustained customer satisfaction. This, in turn, augments the propensity for customer loyalty and repeat patronage, a particularly pressing concern in today's fiercely competitive retail milieu. Furthermore, the study carries significant ramifications for organic food producers and governmental entities, outlining a framework for augmenting the value proposition of organic foods in alignment with customer experiential paradigms.

In a milieu characterized by the emergence of novel product categories and industry entrants, the study fills a critical void by investigating customer satisfaction within the broader retail food sector, with specific focus on organic food stores. Moreover, the research embarks on a pioneering exploration of the prospective trajectory of organic food stores in the Indian context, employing a marketing lens and grounded in the theory of needs satisfaction.

An omni-channel is a retailing strategy that the behavior of companies adopts many retail channel types to combine and integrate cross-channel sales to meet the comprehensive needs of customers in shopping, entertainment and social networking both online and offline. This leads to several research questions of retailing omni-channel in this study. First, do channel brand trust (CBT) and store image (SI) affect re-patronage intentions through customer satisfaction (CS)? Second, regarding online rating (OR) and online involvement (OI), will CS be determined by consumer perception as well as the relevance of those attributes to the customer's re-patronage intentions? Third, do OR and OI have a role in exploring the moderating effect in the research model? Fourth, if there are positive effects from this relationship, it can generate a positive power return online. In addition, online-to-offline moves on a path for case firm omni-channel with customers' OR and OI with a reciprocal positive influence.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between CBT, SI, CS and re-patronize intention in an omni-channel. By using structural equation models (SEMs), this study aims to investigate offline-to-online and online-to-offline re-patronizing in the Taiwan Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) omni-channel (N = 1,642). Two moderated mediation models are investigated in this study.

This study first found that CBT and CS use SI to influence re-patronize intention in the omni-channel. SI plays a mediating role in this process; OR and OI influence the relationships of CBT, CS and re-patronize intention with two moderating roles.

This study first found that there is a reciprocal way with two paths in an omni-channel, starting with offline-to-online, in terms of confirming the relationship of CBT, CS and re-patronize intention in an omni-channel. There are positive effects from this relationship, and it can generate a positive power return online. In addition, we found that online-to-offline moves on a path that has a stronger influence of re-patronize intention for omni-channel with customers' OR and OI.

This research paper explores customer experience (CX) among low-literate customers in organized retail environments. It integrates theories from customer literacy, CX and patronage literature to understand CX comprehensively.

The study gathered data from 470 respondents using mall intercept and snowball sampling. Data analysis employed partial least squares (PLS) modeling.

The results indicate that all the dimensions do not have the same effect on CX. Answering calls for future research, the results establish CX's nomological validity by showing its positive influence on retail reputation, retail quality and satisfaction. However, it does not directly affect patronage but has an indirect influence through retail quality and satisfaction. Also, the authors conclude that retail quality and satisfaction are consequences of CX and not previously conceptualized proxies for it.

Conducting primary research with low-literate customers (LLCs) has its own set of limitations that give rise to further research directions. While acknowledging limitations, the study suggests avenues for future research by surveying LLCs with an objective questionnaire, contributing to limited empirical research in this segment.

The findings highlight the multidimensional nature of CX. In summary, this research paper provides insights into CX dimensions and outcomes for LLCs in organized retail. It contributes to marketing literature, assisting retailers in improving CX and driving patronage across customer segments.

The paper contributes to marketing literature by studying LLCs, testing a comprehensive CX model, confirming antecedents in retail patronage and exploring reciprocal relationships in retailing.

The case is written based on publicly available data from primary sources such as the company’s annual reports, company website and the company’s presentations, as well as from secondary sources comprising newspaper articles, research papers, research magazines, magazine articles, industry reports, research reports, etc. as indicated in the references. The company’s financials and peer data are sourced from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database.

The case examines the financial position of Macy’s, Inc., America’s largest and one of the oldest premier departmental stores, with a consolidated annual turnover of US$18,097m in the fiscal year 2020/2021 (FY, 2021). Over the previous few years, the company had been struggling with decreasing market share and profitability mainly due to increasing competition from online retailers and deep discounters, which was affecting the company’s share price. With the appointment of a new chief executive officer (CEO) in fiscal year (FY) 2017, Macy’s, Inc. undertook several changes to revive its financial health and improve its market share. However, it still registered heavy losses of US$3,944m in the FY 2020/2021, the company’s first time in the past decade. With many retailers filing for bankruptcy, was there more that Macy’s could do to improve the company’s position and regain lost investor confidence? Will its entry into emerging markets play a crucial role in its turnaround?

The case can be used in undergraduate and postgraduate courses such as accounting for managers, financial statement analysis, management accounting, introduction to accounting and advanced financial statement analysis. The case can also be effectively used to understand the primary fundamental analysis of the company that involves understanding the company’s positioning and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. The case would also help business management and entrepreneurship students to get a preliminary idea about the change management process. Finally, the case can be used to familiarize students with using Microsoft Excel to build financial analysis worksheets.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Retailers have recently leveraged store-loyal customers’ store attachment to maintain customer relationships and motivate patronage intentions. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has driven customer migration from offline to mobile channels. Mobile retail applications (APPs) have been used by numerous retailers to reach their customers. Nonetheless, it has yet to be determined (1) whether store attachment can facilitate (or impede) the adoption of mobile retail APPs and (2) whether store-loyal customers will continue visiting offline stores in the post-pandemic era. To address these questions, we propose a theoretical account using integrated theories on trust transfer and store attachment.

We conducted multi-stage, longitudinal field surveys in two cities of mainland China: Beijing and Guangzhou. From two rounds of data collection, 237 and 103 responses were obtained in March 2022. Hypotheses were tested by partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM).

Results showed that customer trust in an offline retailer can be transferred to the retailer’s mobile APP at the pre-adoption stage, facilitating APP adoption. Notably, store-loyal customers who exhibited a strong attachment to the physical store of a retailer were more inclined to transfer their trust to the mobile APP of the retailer. This occurrence leads to an increased adoption rate, enhanced post-adoption satisfaction and increased inclination to continue (rather than discontinue) usage.

This study is the first to investigate the changes in store-loyal customers' shopping behaviour in the mobile retail era and in the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Our findings elucidate the role of physical store attachment in the trust-transfer mechanism. Furthermore, store attachment may not prevent customers’ channel migration behaviour. Retailers may have to re-consider how to manage channel cannibalisation issues in the post-pandemic recovery.

Mianzi can powerfully influence tourists’ behavior. Compared with product brands, destination brands are more multidimensional, consisting of intangible and tangible elements. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the relationships among the Chinese culture-related variable mianzi, destination product quality, destination service quality, destination brand value, destination brand resonance, destination brand self-congruity and destination overall brand equity.

A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2021, yielding 475 valid responses from tourists who had traveled to Hainan, China. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results showed that mianzi plays a significant role in shopping destination brand equity, and the mianzi effect shapes tourists’ positive perceptions of destination product and service quality. Meanwhile, destination product quality and service quality enhance shopping destinations’ overall brand equity through destination brand value, brand resonance and brand self-congruity.

This study, focusing on shopping destinations, presents a novel view of brand equity. The research also uncovers influencing factors (e.g. product quality and service quality) that further enrich the destination brand equity model. Finally, findings offer valuable insights for academic research and the practical development of shopping destinations.

面子能有力地影响游客的行为。与产品品牌相比, 目的地品牌更加多维, 由无形要素和有形要素构成。因此, 本文旨在探讨与中国文化相关的变量面子、目的地产品质量、目的地服务质量、目的地品牌价值、目的地品牌共鸣、目的地品牌自我一致和目的地整体品牌资产之间的关系。

2021年对去过中国海南旅游的游客进行问卷调查, 最终获取了 475 份有效问卷。

果表明, 结果表明面子在购物目的地品牌资产中发挥着重要作用, 面子效应塑造了游客对目的地产品和服务质量的积极认知。同时, 目的地产品质量和服务质量通过目的地品牌价值、品牌共鸣和品牌自我一致提升了购物目的地的整体品牌资产。

本研究以购物目的地为重点, 提出了一种新颖的品牌资产观点。研究还发现了一些影响因素（如产品质量和服务质量）, 进一步丰富了目的地品牌资产模型。最后, 研究结果为学术研究和购物目的地的实际发展提供了宝贵的见解。

Mianzi puede influir poderosamente en el comportamiento de los turistas. En comparación con las marcas de producto, las marcas de destino son más multidimensionales y constan de elementos intangibles y tangibles. Por lo tanto, este artículo pretende explorar las relaciones entre la variable mianzi relacionada con la cultura china, la calidad del producto del destino, la calidad del servicio del destino, el valor de la marca del destino, la resonancia de la marca del destino, la autocongruencia de la marca del destino y el valor general de la marca del destino.

En 2021 se llevó a cabo una encuesta por cuestionario, que arrojó 475 respuestas válidas de turistas que habían viajado a Hainan, China. Los datos se analizaron mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales.

Los resultados mostraron que el mianzi desempeña un papel significativo en el valor de marca de los destinos de compras, y que el efecto mianzi determina las percepciones positivas de los turistas sobre la calidad de los productos y servicios del destino. Por su parte, la calidad de los productos y servicios del destino mejora el valor de marca global de los destinos de compras a través del valor de marca del destino, la resonancia de la marca y la autocongruencia de la marca.

Este estudio, centrado en los destinos de compras, presenta una visión novedosa del valor de marca. La investigación también descubre factores influyentes (por ejemplo, la calidad del producto y la calidad del servicio) que enriquecen aún más el modelo de valor de marca del destino. Por último, los resultados ofrecen valiosas perspectivas para la investigación académica y el desarrollo práctico de los destinos de compras.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of physical environment design (PED) and its antecedents on consumers’ emotional well-being (EWB). Drawing on place identity and emotional theories, the study aims to provide a new perspective to retail store experiences.

A survey of 800 respondents was conducted in London, out of which 764 responses were constructively used. The data was collected from international retail outlets, and structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.

The empirical results show that PED has a positive effect on consumers’ EWB. Among the antecedents, visual identity does not have any significant effect on PED and EWB. In contrast, communication had a significant effect on PED but did not have any effect on EWB, and further, cultural heritage had a positive effect on both PED and EWB. Further, moderator analysis identifies the boundary conditions under which specific theories hold.

The value of this paper lies in its potential to be used for creating the perfect design planning in retail stores. Significant implications for managers and researchers are highlighted.

This paper presents an innovative approach to develop the principles of retail store’s PED to support the EWB of consumers.