Evaluating the effects of retail store attributes on consumer complaint and switching behaviors

Abstract

Purpose- This study extends the current researches on retail behavior of consumers by indicating the importance of negative behavioral patterns and the need for strong attributes to avoid undesirable outcomes. The study aims to explore the effects of store attributes as pricing/promotion, atmosphere, personnel, location and ethical problems on consumer complaint behavior and store switching behavior. Survey is conducted to consumers having been visited at and purchased from their current retail stores. Methodology- The sample consists of 384 customers. The data was collected by face-to-face survey method. Multiple regression analysis was used to test some hypotheses of the research and to compare consumer complaint and switching behavior in the context of consumer’s perception on retail store attributes. Findings- The results of the study reveal that pricing/promotion, atmosphere and personnel have significant effects on both complaint and switching behaviors. Pricing and promotion are found to have the strongest effect on consumer complaint behavior, whereas pricing/promotion and ethical problems have strong effects on store switching behavior. Besides, complaint behavior has also significant effect on store switching behavior. Conclusion- This study contributes to the literature on consumer behavior by comparing consumers’ negative behavioral patterns in terms of different retail store attributes. Besides, its theoretical contributions, this study also contribute retailers to present effective strategies for store attributes. Thus, the current study is expected to offer retailers for appropriate strategies on store attributes. So that, negative behavioral patterns can be avoided. Keywords: Retail store, retail store attributes, consumer complaint behavior, store switching behavior, multiple regression analysis JEL Codes: M31, L11, L81