DO CONSUMERS PUNISH RETAILERS WITH POOR WORKING CONDITIONS DURING COVID-19 CRISIS? AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF Q-COMMERCE GROCERY RETAILERS

Abstract

Purpose- The pandemic resulted in an unexpected volume of customer demand for quick delivery of grocery products. This, in turn, caused a terrific increase in the burden of delivery employees working for quick commerce (q-commerce) retailers. There was much news about working conditions of couriers during the pandemic. In this study, under the theoretical guidelines of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model (SOR), the author aims to investigate how information regarding working conditions (stimuli) affect evaluation of brand reputation (organism) and retail patronage intention (response). The framework of the study is limited to q-commerce grocery retailers because of their significant growth potential. Methodology- A within-subjects experimental design was implemented to collect data. The author developed two scenarios based on true events. In the scenarios, two hypothetical q-commerce retailers were narrated to manipulate good and poor working conditions of delivery employees. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to test the mean differences of brand reputation and retail patronage intention. Additionally, two separate studies were conducted to test what if a q-commerce grocery retailer with good working conditions also set higher prices. Findings- The findings show that the brand reputation of q-commerce grocery retailers with good working conditions is higher. Similarly, customers show higher retail patronage intention for q-commerce grocery retailers with good working conditions. The results are valid even if the prices of q-commerce grocery retailers with good working conditions are higher. Conclusion- The current article is one of the first empirical studies on q-commerce retailers. The study also contributes by providing new insights about consumer reactions to poor working conditions of retailers under extraordinary circumstances from which they also suffer. Poor working conditions cause to lose customers besides the ethical considerations, but retention of customers is a must for the survival of infant q-commerce retailers.

Keywords

• Q-commerce
• working conditions
• COVID-19
• brand reputation
• retail patronage intention

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