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There is tremendous growth potential for food and grocery (F&G) retail in an emerging market like India. Bengaluru is the third most populous city of India. With a total consumption expenditure of Rs 2,020 billion and per capita retail expenditure of Rs 67,289 (in 2015), Bengaluru has emerged as a sought-after retail market with many foreign and national brands opening stores here. The purpose of this paper is to use the sign of causality to determine the relationships between store attributes, satisfaction, patronage intention and lifestyles in F&G retailing in Bengaluru.

An experimentation framework using causal design was developed to establish relationships between variables: store attributes, satisfaction, patronage intention and lifestyle. A primary survey was conducted using a structured non-disguised questionnaire involving 346 F&G shoppers from Bengaluru. Hayes regression models were adapted and hypothesized relationships between the variables tested using correlation, multiple regression and Hayes regression/path analysis.

Satisfaction acts as a mediator in the relationship between store attributes and patronage intention. Lifestyle does not act as the moderator in the relationships between store attributes and patronage- intention; and, satisfaction and patronage intention.

In experiments that test for causality a big limitation is lower internal validity in the absence of control mechanisms, unlike laboratory studies. Another limitation is that this study is limited to urban Bengaluru F&G shoppers, variations could occur if the study is extended to include rural shoppers.

With 100 percent foreign direct investment permitted in the F&G category in India, the research outcomes will be useful to all food retailers (prospective and current) interested in this retail market. Moreover, in the existing competitive scenario, understanding of associative influences between store attributes, satisfaction, patronage intention and lifestyle will enable retailers comprehend F&G shoppers retailing behavior. This information can be used for targeted marketing and operational strategies, which will deliver more success in marketing relationship management, building competitive advantage and enhancing marketing efforts profitably.

This paper is a new and original contribution to the existing literature on causal relationships among variables in retail marketing research. It is different from prior studies that analyzed shoppers F&G behavior, in that it extends the understanding of the role of “satisfaction” as a mediator and “lifestyle” not a moderator, when testing the causality of store attributes on patronage intention.

This study examines how various characteristics of the discount retail environment and the overall attitude towards a discount retail store, considered to be an abstract and global image component, influence consumers’ satisfaction and how consumers’ satisfaction, in turn, affects store loyalty. The data, collected from a sample of 517 discount retail customers in Daegu, Korea, indicate that: (1) forming the overall attitude is more closely related to in‐store services: atmosphere, employee service, after sales service and merchandising, (2) store satisfaction is formed through perceived store atmosphere and value, (3) the overall attitude has strong influence on satisfaction and loyalty and its impact is much stronger on loyalty than on satisfaction, (4) store loyalty is directly affected by most significantly location, merchandising and after sale service in order, (5) satisfaction is not related to customers’ committed store revisiting behavior. The applications in management and implications for future research are discussed.

In this article the relationship between store image, store satisfaction and store loyalty is examined. A distinction is made between true store loyalty and spurious store loyalty and manifest and latent satisfaction with the store. We hypothesise that the positive relationship between manifest store satisfaction and store loyalty is stronger than the positive relationship between latent store satisfaction and store loyalty. Furthermore, we hypothesise a direct as well as an indirect effect through satisfaction of store image on store loyalty. Second, the relationship between store image and store loyalty is mediated by store satisfaction. We do not find evidence for a direct effect of store image on store loyalty.

This research seeks to accomplish two objectives: to extend the test of the functional relationship between store image attributes and customer satisfaction in the market environment of Greece; and to investigate the stability of the structural relationships between store image attributes and customer satisfaction across different customer groups.

The literature concerning major store image attributes was systematically reviewed. After assessing the construct validity of the store image attributes based on confirmatory factor analysis, a path model specifying the relationships between store image attributes and customer satisfaction was estimated. A multigroup analysis was conducted to test the invariance of structural paths between store image attributes and customer satisfaction for different customer profiles.

On appraising the store customer's personal variables four specific types of buyers, namely, the Typical, the Unstable, the Social, and the Occasional, were identified. While four of the six considered store attributes appear to be significant determinants of customer satisfaction, when examined for the degree of invariance between the four groups only Pricing and Products‐related attributes were equally significant in all four groups.

The results of the study may vary with national context, size, strategic position of supermarkets, and other customer personal variables (i.e. lifestyle) suggesting future research opportunities.

The results facilitate the comprehension of the role that specific store attributes have on the satisfaction of store visitors with different profiles. In addition, the results expand the retail manager's knowledge on consumer behaviour, with rational motives (product and price‐related).

The results expand one's knowledge on this relationship, propounding interesting empirical evidence of the model invariance among different consumer profiles.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of recovery and strength of recovery on satisfaction and voice behaviors.

Two role‐playing experiments involving product failure followed by recovery at a video store were conducted. Data collected from students were analyzed using t‐tests and ANOVA.

Relationship satisfaction after a strong recovery was higher than it would have been, had the failure not occurred in the first place. In the case of store satisfaction, the original level was restored but not exceeded. Furthermore, customers appear to have an expectation threshold for customer recovery. A recovery effort that fell below this threshold led to sharply lower expectations. On the other hand, a customer recovery far beyond the customers' expectation threshold was no more effective than one that just exceeded it. Product satisfaction was lower regardless of the strength of recovery. Internal voice behaviors were higher following a customer recovery but a stronger recovery did not lead to any more internal voice behaviors than a weak recovery. External voice behaviors were not affected by a customer recovery.

The key to managing complaints in companies is to find just the right amount to spend for recovery. If the recovery is below the customer's expectation threshold, she will be dissatisfied. On the other hand, a recovery much above the customer's expectation threshold will not lead to any greater satisfaction, any more internal voice behaviors, or any fewer external voice behaviors.

The study looks at the influence of recovery on satisfaction with respect to store, relationship, and product. It also looks at the effect of recovery on internal and external voice behaviors.

In social psychology literature, gender is often an important predictor of differential outcomes. However, gender as it influences consumer behavior has not attracted much research interest in a retailing context. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze associations between gender, drivers (antecedents) of store satisfaction and store satisfaction in grocery retailing. It employs various approaches. Thus an additional purpose is to discuss the findings from the various approaches with respect to consumer marketing.

The data source is a survey among customers of a chain‐based Norwegian grocery store. T‐tests, factor analyses and various multiple regression analyses were conducted.

A direct significant effect of gender on store satisfaction was found when controlling for other included antecedents. Gender does not have any moderating effect on the relationships between antecedents and store satisfaction. Females have higher satisfaction levels than males, but the satisfaction drivers are gender independent.

This research has been applied to a specific grocery store belonging to a specific chain of retailing grocery stores.

Findings that could be perceived as mixed, confusing and difficult to handle in decision making are discussed and clarified, which should provide consumer marketers insights into resource allocation with respect to the “satisfaction‐profit chain.”

Gender has only a direct effect on store satisfaction. Stable gender‐independent drivers of store satisfaction were identified. These insights can contribute to consumer marketing activities that favorably influence shoppers' attitudes, thus resulting in sustained revenues and profitability in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to build and test a model of the impact of a store brand name on perceptions of service quality and on customer satisfaction, the latter being the driver of perceived quality or at least a key determinant. It also aims to examine the role of all three variables in the generation of customer loyalty to a store brand.

Data collected by questionnaire from 490 customers of three furniture stores in one city in Turkey were analysed by structural equation modelling, to test and measure the interrelationships in the specified model.

Results suggest that both perceived service quality and customer satisfaction are influenced by a store's brand name, that the former is influenced by the latter, and that a positive perception of service quality (but not the level of customer satisfaction) contributes to the development of store loyalty.

Because the model was tested on customers of three stores in one city in one country, and the mediating influence of price was not investigated, the findings can be generalised only with due caution. Further studies could focus on individual causal relationships within the model, build in price as a variable, collect data more widely, stratify the sample, compare different types of store, and extend the investigation into other areas of retailing and services in general.

The store brand name has a direct, positive relationship with perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. Retailers with a strong and well maintained branding strategy should therefore gain considerable competitive advantage, provided marketing tactics and communications reinforce brand values rather than diluting or contradicting them, over time.

Successful store‐name branding is very likely to provoke competitive responses. Retail marketing strategists therefore need a means to the end of understanding the consumption behaviour of target customers, especially in economies and societies broadly comparable to Turkey's.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of culture in terms of individualism and collectivism (I-C), store image and customer satisfaction, on purchase intention at supermarkets.

In order to carry out the descriptive and quantitative research, the authors applied 443 questionnaires to consumers in two Brazilian supermarket chains. The authors used structured equation modeling for data analysis.

Customers’ satisfaction and the evaluation of store image positively affect purchase intention; however, I-C did not show any effect. The cultural dimension slightly influenced the assessment of store image by only 2 percent. Store image positively affects consumer satisfaction.

This study used convenience sampling and omission of vertical and horizontal variations of I-C in data analyses. The authors suggested the use of probabilistic sampling and the inclusion of vertical and horizontal variations of I-C. The relationships investigated herein can still be analyzed in other contexts.

In order to increase satisfaction and purchase intention, it is necessary to prioritize aspects related to layout, service and products’ variety and quality. Still, managers should not worry about I-C, since it does not affect purchase intention.

The authors observed the relevance of the study after carrying out a literature review on the subject. There is a lack of studies that investigate the relationship between I-C, evaluation of store image, consumer satisfaction and purchase intention, either together or in the context of supermarkets.

This study aims to investigate how the influences of store loyalty programs on store loyalty and store relations can be mediated by the store satisfaction-love framework.

The survey data were collected from selected retail stores using stratified random sampling. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that the impacts of store loyalty programs on store loyalty and store relations are mediated both by store love and store satisfaction.

This study’s findings help practitioners by empirically demonstrating that the combined cognitive satisfaction of consumers with store loyalty programs and affective store love mediate the influences of loyalty programs on consumer loyalty toward the store and on the consumer–store relation. Therefore, cognitive satisfaction with loyalty programs alone cannot create strong loyalty and a customer relationship. Cognitive satisfaction with various loyalty programs must be converted into affective store love for the mediation to be significant and effective.

This research adds value to the domain of store loyalty research by empirically establishing the mediating role played by the cognitive satisfaction-affective love framework in shaping the influences of loyalty programs designed by store management on the final store loyalty and customer–store relationship.

Despite the importance of innovation in business performance, investigation into innovation in services is scanty and lacking consensus. In retailing, it is a topic that has been awakening considerable academic and business interest in recent years. In this study context, this work aims to analyse innovation in retail experiences from two aspects – marketing innovation and technological innovation – to understand the role it exercises in satisfaction and subsequent recommendation.

The authors’ objective is to investigate the direct and indirect influence of marketing and technological innovation on satisfaction and word-of-mouth (WOM) through three core constructs: store image, consumer value and store brand equity. SEM methodology is applied on a sample of 820 retail customers of grocery, clothing, furniture an electronics store.

The results show that technological innovation is more important than marketing innovation in shaping image, value and satisfaction. At the same time, store image is the variable that most influences customer satisfaction and that satisfaction is a very significant antecedent of WOM behaviour. Practical implications for retail managers and further research are presented.

The main value of this work has been to go deeper into the study of retail innovation, both in marketing and technologies, and its direct and indirect effects on satisfaction and subsequent recommendation through store image, consumer value and store brand equity. It is a new line of study, which is still fragmented and with little empirical evidence.