Research On Effects Of Store Image On Customer Perceived Value And Cross-buying Intention

What kind of value do customers pursue when they are shopping at all? How to provide and transfer the corresponding value to attract customers to buy, and buy more, especially at the same store to buy different products (or brands), which is called cross-buying? This paper tries to do the empirical research on the retail industry to explore the relationship among the store image, customer perceived value and intention of cross-buying and probe the key factors of the store image of which impact on the customer perceived value and willingness to make cross-purchase in order to provide retail enterprises with guidance on setting up customer loyalty by optimizing the store image and upgrading the perceived value.Existing research gaps mainly include four aspects. First, the researches on the impacts of the store image on the consumer behavior mainly focus on the customer flow volume attraction, the willingness of purchase, store selection, customer loyalty and other dimensions of customer loyalty, such as price tolerance, word-of-mouth recommendation, premium purchase and re-purchase intention, however, scholars have not done the further researches on whether store image affect cross-buying. In addition, most scholars tended to carry out research from the store whole, or environmental factors, or some controllable elements, while few analyzed the effects of the different dimensions on consumer behavior. Second, researches are about the role of perceived value. Although the perceived value is considered as important prediction variable of consumer behavior and widely confirmed as the intermediary role, whether the perceived value also plays a intermediary role between consumer behavior and the store image, there is few empirical test conducted. Thirdly, scholars have extensively explored the reasons of cross-purchase, such as service property, conversion costs, the company characteristics, customer characteristics, trust, satisfaction, experience and other variables, but they have not hit the store image. What'more, such studies mainly focused on the banking, the kind of pure service industry, while less concern went to the retail industry. Fourthly, previous literatures about customers' evaluation and attitude toward the store were concentrated in management factors of the shopping mall and neglected the effects of customer's internal motives on their attitudes and behavior, and the studies launched for the retail industry usually were the survey analyses to the single retailing. This paper studies how the store image and its dimensions impact the customer perceived value and willingness of cross-purchase, as well as the perceived value differences of the store image existing in different retail formats and different shopping-oriented customers.Below follows the logics of this research. First of all, Through the review of theoretical researches on the store image, perceived value, cross-buying, retail formats and shopping orientations, gaps in the theory of existing researches were found; then concepts of this study were defined, the research model and assumptions were raised; the initial questionnaire were prepared; the initial changes to the questionnaire were conducted after a small sample survey and the formal questionnaire was worked out. Then empirical data were collected in the field survey by making use of a formal questionnaire; the survey data were organized and analyzed; the relevant assumptions were tested and the research results were further discussed and some marketing suggestions were given to the retail enterprises. Finally limitations of this study and future research directions were pointed out. Research methods included literature review method, interviews, field observation and survey method.This paper included, first, the effects of the store image on the perceived value; second, the effect of the store image on the willingness of cross-buying; thirdly impact of the perceived value on the intention of cross-buying; fourthly, role of the retail formats to the store image and perceived value; fifthly, the regulating role of the shopping orientations to the store image and perceived value.The conclusions of the empirical research included, first, the impact of the store image on perceived value. There was significant significant positive correlation between the store image and perceived value. The store image was positively correlated respectively with the practical value, social value and hedonic value. As for the image dimensions, the merchandise, service, price, convenience, promotion, atmosphere, facilities and reputation had significant positive impact on the perceived value with the largest influence coefficient went to the services, followed by merchandise, reputation, and the atmosphere, price, facilities, promotion and connivance. As far as different perceived values were concerned, goods, services, price, convenience, promotion, atmosphere and reputation had significant positive effects on practical value, but the relationship between the practical value and facilities was not significant; merchandise, services, price and reputation of social values have significant positive effects, but the convenience, promotion, and the atmosphere and facilities, such as the relationship between social values is not significant; goods, services, promotions, atmosphere, facilities and reputation had significant positive impact on the hedonic value, but the price and convenience didn't show significant relationship with hedonic value.Secondly, Store image and willingness of cross-buying was significant positive correlated, that is, the better the store image is, and the stronger the willingness of cross-purchase is. In different dimensions of store image, the merchandise, convenience, reputation was positively correlated with cross-purchase willingness significantly, while the service, price, promotion, atmosphere and facilities didn't show the significant relationship with cross-purchase willingness.Thirdly, between perceived value and intention of cross-buying existes a significant positive relationship? Practical value, social value and hedonic value showed the significant positive relationship with the cross-purchase willingness. The results of the analysis also indicated the intermediary role of the perceived value to the relationship between the store image and customers cross-purchase willingness. Among them, the practical value of merchandise, reputation showed significantly intermediary role to the relation between willingness of cross-purchase, and the practical value played a full intermediary role to the relationship between cross-purchase willingness and reputation.Fourthly, retail format played the regulating role to the relationship between store image and the perceived value. The effect of the store image on the perceived value was showed most obviously to the shopping center, followed by supermarket with the fewest effects on department stores. Retail format showed regulatory effects on the relationship between the dimensions of the image and perceived value. At department stores, the service has the greatest impact on perceived value, followed by the merchandise, atmosphere, reputation and price; at the supermarket, the service weighed largest to perceived value, followed by reputation, merchandise, facilities, atmosphere, promotion and price; at shopping center, the services impacted most on the perceived value, followed by merchandise, price, facilities, reputation and atmosphere. Through the further analysis to the internal structure of perceived value the results showed that, in the overall sample, variables which significantly affected the practical value contained merchandise, service, price, convenience, promotion, and the atmosphere and reputation; which significantly affected the social value contained merchandise, service, price and reputation, which significantly affected the hedonic value contained goods, services, promotion, the atmosphere, facilities and reputation. As far as the retail formats was concerned, in department stores, the factors significantly affecting the practical value of the orderly were service, convenience, facilities, price and promotion, among which facilities had a significant negative effect. The factors significantly impacting social values orderly were service, merchandise and reputation. The factors significantly impacting on the hedonic value were orderly atmosphere, merchandise, facilities, reputation and service. At a supermarket, the factors significantly impacting on practical value orderly were atmosphere, reputation, convenience and promotions. The factors significantly impacting on the social value were service, reputation in turn. The factors significantly impacting hedonic value orderly contained merchandise, facilities, reputation, promotions and the atmosphere. At shopping malls, price, services, connivance and commodities orderly significantly impact on practical value and only services had a significant impact on social value. Facilities, merchandise, reputation, the atmosphere and services significantly impacted on the hedonic value.Fifthly, the shopping-orientation played a regulating role to the relationship between the store image and perceived value. The effect of store image on the perceived value was showed more obviously to non-tasked customers. Shopping orientations played the regulating role to the relationship between store image and social values and relationship between the store image and the hedonic value. Customers with different shopping orientations possessed different perceived value on different dimensions of the store image, but were not showed statistically significant.There were three innovations in this paper. First, the study explored the cross-cultural application of the store image scale of department stores, supermarkets and shopping centers in three retail formats in China, which was a theoretical application innovation. According to the consumer's evaluation and attitude toward the store image, the store image was divided into eight dimensions including merchandise image, services image, price image, facilitate image, promotion image, the atmosphere image, facilities image and reputation image. Second, image-perceived value-intention of cross-buying model were constructed which was the theoretical innovation of this article. Based on the logic of consumers'cognition-from the fragment to the whole, or from wholel to fragment, the store image was divided into eight dimensions and perceived value was divided into three aspects including practical value, social value and hedonic value. Thirdly, retail formats and shopping orientations were introduced as two variables of which the regulatory impact on relationship between the shop image and perceived value were studied, which provided the retail business with better ideas that how to conduct target marketing with the combination of format characteristics and the consumers behavioral characteristics.Combining with research findings, this paper put forward five pieces of advice on marketing for the retailers. The first, a good image of the whole shop should be shaped to build a competitive advantage. The second, the corporation attach importance to creation of multiple values to meet customer's demands of multi-level. The third, the corporation should begin with the store image dimensions combining with format characteristics and find out the different positioning points. The fourth, service management should be strengthened and characteristics of the service system and network should be constructed. The fifth, different optimization strategies of the store image should be designed for different shopping orientation groups.