National Retail Chain Research Articles

Does customer sex influence the relationship between perceived quality and share of wallet?

This study examines the within and between sex differences on the relative importances of merchandise quality and interaction quality as drivers of behavioral loyalty (share of wallet). A sample of customers of a national retail chain serves as the study setting. The results indicate that for female customers, interaction quality and merchandise quality have equally strong total influence on share of wallet. For male customers, the total effect of merchandise quality on share of wallet is significantly stronger than the total effect of interaction quality. Across sex comparisons reveal that the total effect of interaction quality on share of wallet is stronger for female customers. However, merchandise quality exerts a stronger total influence on share of wallet for male customers. Implications of the results are discussed and avenues for future research are offered.

Social capital, customer service orientation and creativity in retail stores

This paper argues that the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital within retail stores provide an insight into the antecedents of customer service orientation and store creativity. These three dimensions enhance a customer service orientation as a result of increased knowledge sharing, creation of information channels, and the facilitation of cooperative behavior. Secondly, because these factors foster the process of resource exchange and combination, they are also associated with an increased level of store creativity. Indeed, for a high level of creativity to take place at the store level, knowledge has to be shared and combined in an effective manner. Our proposed model is tested on a sample of 112 stores within a large national retail chain. We find partial support for our hypothesized model.

Coping With Customer Complaints

This article investigates the relationship between customer complaints and service personnel commitment to customer service. Positive and negative affectivity are considered as potential moderators of this relationship. Using data obtained from a survey of 432 retail service personnel in a national retail chain with 124 stores, the authors find that customer complaints are significantly and negatively associated with service personnel commitment to customer service. Higher levels of service employee positive affectivity significantly reduced this negative relationship. Contrary to expectations, high levels of negative affectivity also reduced the negative relationship between complaints and commitment to customer service. Potential explanations for these findings are provided, and implications for managers and future research are considered.

Market-driven production lot-size and scheduling with finite capacity for a deteriorating item

In this paper, we propose a mathematics-based decision model that solves optimally the production lot-size and scheduling problem taking into account the dynamic aspect of customer demand and marketing planning, the deteriorating property of a production item, and the restriction of finite capacity in a firm. The potential applications of the model can be used as an add-on optimiser, which integrates and coordinates distinct functions within a firm, e.g. marketing and production planning, with the objective of maximising the total profit over a finite planning horizon. To ascertain the properties and behaviour of the proposed model and solution procedure, a case study for sliced raw fish at a local supermarket of a large national retail chain is carried out.

Variability in the Physical and Chemical Properties of Retail Potting Media

Popular press articles report that consumers often experience inconsistent results with retail potting media; however, few reports in the popular or scientific literature have quantified the variability in media properties. The purpose of this study was to assess the variability in physical and chemical properties among different brands of retail potting media and within certain brands. Twenty-four different packages of branded media, and multiple packages of five brands, were acquired from nine regional and national retail chain stores located in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. Samples were analyzed for five physical and nine chemical properties. The coefficients of variation (cvs) among brands for initial gravimetric water content, bulk density, porosity, water retention, and air space were 85%, 74%, 21%, 59%, and 44%, respectively. The cvs among brands for saturated media (SM) pH, SM extract electrical conductivity (EC), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), and C:N ratio were 18%, 81%, 132%, 153%, 96%, 78%, 71%, 36%, 45%, and 49%, respectively. Only one of the 24 brands met all published standards for chemical properties of premium media. Thirteen of the brands did not meet standards for NO3-N; 12 did not meet standards for pH; and six did not meet standards for EC. There was more variation in physical and chemical properties among brands than within a brand of media. Label information describing media composition was not consistent with certain physical and chemical properties. No recommendations can be made which would allow consumers to select media that meets published standards. These results indicate better awareness of and/or adherence to standards is needed by the retail media industry to improve product quality and consistency.

Creating safer workplaces: assessing the determinants and role of safety climate

Problem: Although there has been considerable interest in safety climate, relatively little attention has been given to the factors that determine safety climate or to testing the hypothesized mediating role of safety climate with respect to safety-related outcomes. Method: Questionnaire responses were obtained from 2,208 employees of a large national retail chain in 21 different locations. Results: After controlling for demographic variables, three factors: environmental conditions, safety-related policies and programs, and general organizational climate, accounted for 55% of the variance in perceived safety climate. Interestingly, organizational climate made a significant contribution to safety climate, even after controlling for the other more safety-relevant variables. Partial correlations showed that safety policies and programs had the largest observed correlation with safety climate, followed by two of the dimensions of organizational climate (communication and organizational support). Using Baron and Kenny's (J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51 (1986) 1173) procedures, the principal effects of the various work situation factors on perceived safety at work were found to be direct rather than mediated by safety climate. Safety climate influenced perceived safety at work, but its role as a mediator was limited. Impact on industry: These results are discussed in terms of other recent findings on safety climate and the growing interest in understanding management and organizational factors in the context of workplace safety.

Gender‐based approach to the understanding of leadership roles among retail managers

AbstractUsing survey data (n = 205) obtained from retail managers and executives of national retail chain store companies, we sought to identify the effect of gender on leadership roles in conjunction with personal values, job characteristics, and other personal values. Quinn's theoretical model of competing leadership roles (1984, 1988) was used as a conceptual framework. Results indicated that the members of the female group perceived themselves to display a higher level of mentor and broker roles than did the members of the male group. Further analysis indicated that certain personal values such as social affiliation and growth and development predicted the mentor and broker roles, respectively, without diminishing the effect of gender. Finally, perceived job characteristics (that is, feedback) also predicted the broker role. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Leadership style profiles of retail managers: personal, organizational and managerial characteristics

Using survey data (n = 205) obtained from retail managers and executives of national retail chain store companies, we identified three leadership styles that were based on Quinn’s theoretical model of competing leadership roles. Three leadership clusters, labeled loner/internal‐focused, team builder/goal‐oriented, and conceptual producer/external‐focused, were identified through the use of a clustering technique. These three clusters were then compared on the basis of personal, organizational and managerial characteristics, using multivariate and univariate analyses of variance. The findings indicate that leadership styles are influenced by various factors such as personal values, job characteristics, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, career progression, and personal demographic characteristics. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

A Hierarchical Model of Values, Leadership, Job Satisfaction and Commitment

Using a structural equation modeling technique, we empirically tested a hypothetical hierarchical model where personal values leadership styles job satisfaction organizational commitment. Survey data (N = 205) were collected from retail managers of national retail chain store companies. Our exploratory study found that personal values influenced retail managers' leadership styles, which in turn influenced their intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Job satisfaction ultimately influenced organizational commitment. Theoretical and managerial implications for human resources management are discussed.

Background music pleasure and store evaluation: intensity effects and psychological mechanisms

A field study was conducted to test, in a natural setting, the effects of background music of different pleasure intensity (low and high) on store evaluation and to explore the underlying psychological mechanisms. One hundred ten shoppers (85 females and 25 males) in a mall outlet of a national retail chain reported store evaluation, attitude towards the servicescape and the sales personnel, and background music pleasure. Structural analyses (EQS) revealed that pleasure intensity influenced store evaluation but not by direct transfer of affect. Instead, results were indicative of a powerful mediating effect of the attitude towards the servicescape and the sales personnel. It was found that the attitude towards the servicescape, influenced by pleasure intensity, in turn, affected store evaluation both directly and indirectly via its positive effect on attitude towards the sales personnel and a strengthening of the relationship between attitude towards the sales personnel and store evaluation. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.

From the Feds: Research, programs, and products

From the Feds: Research, programs, and products

A survey of dye batch variation

A survey of dye batch variation in samples of mass produced textile fibres was carried out on material from textile manufacturers, socks from a national retail chain, and samples from 100 police uniforms obtained from the Tayside Police Force. Using TLC analysis, variation was found in the dye composition of each of the sources of material. Where the dye intensity and fibre diameter were optimal, this variation was detectable in single fibres of 3-4mm length.

Scheduling professionals in the retail pharmacy chain

To control operating costs, a zero-one integer programming model is developed to assist pharmacy staff scheduling decisions. Variable scheduling needs are met by the assignment of relief (mobile) pharmacists to help or temporarily replace full-time pharmacists. Assignments of relief pharmacists over a two-week planning horizon are determined with consideration given to variations in wage rates and travel costs together with the underlying corporate, contractual and operating constraints. The developed model has been applied with considerable success using data collected from a business district in the US located in northern Louisiana related to a national retail chain pharmacy. Forecasting the number of chain retail outlets in the near future has been also performed and the results obtained argue in favor of adopting the model by the entire chain.

ONE‐STOP FINANCIAL SHOPPING — IN SEARCH OF CONSUMER MARKETS

One‐stop financial shopping at major retailers has so far proved to be less of a boon than was expected. Early consumer studies point to problems with consumer acceptance, customer satisfaction, market segments, and marketing programs. There is no denying the existence of tantalizing opportunities, but most providers have failed to capitalize on these possibilities. The authors suggest that such firms adopt a different approach. The best approach for surmounting these problems and capitalizing on the existing opportunities is (1) proper market segmentation, (2) target marketing, and (3) well‐suited marketing strategies. Nontraditional providers should stop trying to be all things to all customers; they should be more selective and precise in their offerings. More specifically, findings indicate: 1. Consumers who feel comfortable shopping one‐stop financial services do so conditionally. The major retailers' lack of expertise in financial services and the questionable ability of personnel are primary areas of concern. 2. The relatively small segment of consumers who feel comfortable shopping for financial services offered by retailers prefer the convenience of the one‐stop service. Also these consumers accept favorably the national retail chains because of their established reputations. 3. Retailers offering financial services have had problems in identifying target markets and developing satisfied and repeat customers. Nevertheless, opportunities do exist if cross‐selling of present offerings to selected markets can be further cultivated.

The Physical Fabric of Town Centres: The Agents of Change

The changing interrelationships between the firms initiating, preparing, and implementing changes to the commercial cores of two British towns-the county town of Northampton and the suburban town of Watford--are examined for the period since the First World War. Evidence is revealed of the tendency for architects to be based in the same towns as initiators of plans, and for consultants, builders and civil engineering contractors, and specialized contractors to be more closely related in their locations to these two agents of change than to one another. Consultants tend to have locations in south-east England, builders and civil engineering contractors are generally located in the vicinity of their building activities, and specialized contractors are the least inter-connected with other types of firms and the most widely dispersed geographically. The influx of outside firms has been much less restricted to London-based concerns in central Northampton than it has in central Watford. Despite the fact that the main phase of investment by the national retail and service chains was earlier in Northampton, the decline of local firms there was delayed relative to Watford. Such characteristics afford a partial picture of the relationships underlying the physical changes in the townscape.