Antecedents to local store loyalty: influence of culture, cosmopolitanism and price

Abstract

Purpose – Cosmopolitanism is on the rise in India and traditionally shoppers have been known to patronize local stores. There is a need therefore to see the effect of cosmopolitanism and culture in context of loyalty towards local stores. Grocery items constitute major portion of purchase from local stores, therefore, pricing was also considered as a variable affecting store loyalty. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used conclusive approach using a structured questionnaire for survey. The sample consisted of 710 respondents. There was almost an equal representation of both genders and also of metropolitan and non-metropolitan consumers. Findings – Culture and price affected local store loyalty directly. Cosmopolitanism was not found to have direct effect on loyalty. Within cultural dimensions, masculinity emerged as the most dominating trait. Minor modifications in cultural scale and major modifications in local store loyalty and cosmopolitanism are also suggested. Research limitations/implications – The study focuses only on three factors: price, culture, and cosmopolitanism. It does not examine influence of variables like personal values, lifestyle, and personality on local store loyalty behaviour. The research did not examine relationship between nature and type of product purchase decisions and its impact on store choice. Practical implications – Local stores need not be unduly worried with the incoming of organized players. The organized players should try to be cheaper and learn some tactics of local stores like customization, etc. There is a case for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. Originality/value – Cosmopolitanism not affecting the local store loyalty directly is the original contribution of the paper. The finding casts doubts on the growth strategy of organized retailers who are opening new stores with the thinking that cosmopolitan consumer will shop from them instead of local retailers.