A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF STORE ATMOSPHERE ON STORE AFFECT, CUSTOMER SATIFACTION AND CUSTOMERS’ RECOMMENDATION BEHAVIOR: THE CASE OF CLOTHING INDUSTRY

Year 2019, , 313 - 330, 30.08.2019

Remzi Altunışık , Osman Eminler Ersin Eskiler

https://doi.org/10.22139/jobs.553922

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Economic and social changes in
today's business world have an important role in shaping the retail sector.
Turkey's organized retail market, with a share of about 67 percent in the
retail market, continues its growth in the last 20 years (KPMG, 2018). This
development has lead to increased competition in the retail sector and forced
store managers to adopt strategies that will provide competitive advantage in
the struggle to retain existing customers and/or win new customers.

It is argued that buyer-seller
relations are one of the most important issues in creating competitive
advantage and that customer satisfaction is of vital importance in the
development of buyer-seller relations (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993).
Satisfaction, which is subjective in nature, is defined as an assessment of the
extent to which the retailer's performance meets and/or exceeds customer
expectations (Mittal et al., 1998; Szymanski and Henard (2001). In this study,
in order to determine the real effects of the customer satisfaction resulting
from the experience of the store visits to the consumer behaviors, we have
focused on the recommendation behaviors of customers. With the help of
technological advances, individuals are able to influence not only friends and
family members but also other consumers through ranking stores in online
platforms as an interpersonal source of communication. Murphy et al. (2007)
argue that consumers tend to be influenced by their environments (family,
work/school friendships, etc.) and their attitudes. Muhammad et al. (2014) stated
that positive experiences in the store environment would increase the value of
the offer of goods or services and this could be used as a differentiation
strategy for stores. Emotional reactions (Machleit and Eroğlu, 2000), which are
among the main reasons of consumer behavior, play an active role in the
evaluation of store properties, interaction with salespeople and other
customers and in product evaluation process in a customer's retail environment
(Eroğlu et al., 2005). Kabadayi and Alan (2013) stated that the store
atmosphere had an impact on customer emotions, and that both store atmosphere
and customer feelings had positive effects on various customer reactions such
as satisfaction, repurchase and loyalty. Positive emotional experiences acquired
in the retail environment are expected to contribute to customer satisfaction,
to create a positive attitude towards the store and to develop long-term
buyer-seller relationships.

This study was carried out to
determine the effects of store atmosphere and store affect on customer
satisfaction and customers’ recommendation behavior.

The research was conducted on
consumers inhabiting in Istanbul and Sakarya. The participants selected through
a convenience sampling procedure, which is a non-probability sampling method.
In this study, 480 questionnaires were distributed and 445 questionnaires were
usable for the analysis. Of the participants, 55.7% of them were male and 44.3%
were female. The majority of the participants were between the ages of 21-30
years (61.8%) and 31-40 years (24.7%) and 257 (57.8%) were single. In terms of
education, 49.9% of the participants were university graduates and 40.4% had
income between 1501-3000 TL.

In order to measure the store
atmosphere, we have used 26 statements adapted from Baker et al. (1994),
Machleit et al. (2000), Singh (2006) and Hansen and Deutscher (1978) (store
staff (4 statement), design (8 statement), environment (4 statement) and
product characteristics (5 statement). Also, participants' satisfaction levels
(4 statements) from Betten, (1997) and Bitner and Hubbert, (1994), store affect
(4 statement) from Richins, (1997) and recommendation behavior (4 statements)
from Ismail and Spinelli, (2012) and Gremler and Gwinner (200) were adapted
from relevant literature.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis
(CFA) was performed in AMOS 20.0 package program to analyze the measurement
characteristics of the structures in the study. The index values ​​obtained
from the analysis appear to be within acceptable range: Chi-Square/df = 2.393,
GFI = .876, AGFI = 0.853, CFI = .939, 
TLI = .932, RMSEA = .056.

After evaluating the reliability
and validity tests of the research variables, the proposed research model
(structural) was tested.

The effect of the store
atmosphere on store affect (β = 0.587) and customer satisfaction (β = 0.662)
towards the store is positive and significant and the effect on the
recommendation behavior (β = 0.073) is statistically insignificant. Store
affect was found to be positive and significant on customer satisfaction (β =
0.191) and recommendation behavior (β = 0.602). Finally, the effect of customer
satisfaction on recommendation behavior (β = 0.217) is positive and
significant. In addition, the 34% of the variance of store affect was explained
by the store atmosphere, about 62% of the variance in customer satisfaction was
explained by store atmosphere and store affect, and a 64% of the variance in
the recommendation behavior was explained by store affect, store atmosphere and
customer satisfaction.

Various factors such as the
availability of goods and services (e-commerce) at every moment due to the
technological development has changed the level and sphere of competition in
the retail sector. The message intensity that consumers are exposed to in their
daily lives increases the levels of perceptual selectivity of consumers in
messages directed towards products, and comments on family members,
work/schoolmates, acquaintances and even goods and services through the social
media network can affect consumer behavior more than ever. Therefore, retail
store managers need to strive more to keep their existing customers, to win new
customers and to continue their operations. In addition to traditional
marketing communication efforts, the importance of the recommendations of
existing customers to other consumers is increasing. In the structural model
proposed in the research, it is expected that the shop atmosphere and the
positive feelings that will arise in the shopping environment will increase
customer satisfaction and tendency to recommend.

The findings show that both the
customer satisfaction and the store affect have a positive effect on the
behavior of the customer. For retail stores, the emotions that people feel as a
result of their subjective evaluations, rather than their satisfaction, can
increase their tendency to recommend the store to their surroundings (family,
friends). When the relationships between the variables are examined, it is
determined that the customer satisfaction has a partial mediation effect
between the store affect and the recommendation behavior. In other words,
customer satisfaction strengthens the positive effect of store affect on the
behavior of the shopper.

The results of the research are
equally important for the store managers to take into account the customers'
satisfaction level of the store as well as the store affect. It can motivate
customers to communicate positively to the store and services offered as a
result of keeping unique experiences to customers through different
applications that will enhance the store atmosphere elements and the customer's
emotional set. In addition, the store's customer profile, personalized
services, customer-centric placement and design with additional values ​​can be
offered to customers. This is also important for maintaining lasting
relationships with customers and supporting recurring purchases. As the effect
of the store atmosphere and the store affect is strengthened through customer
satisfaction, it means that the advice of the customer is provided by
satisfaction. Also customer satisfaction arises with the atmosphere of the
store and the emotional feelings towards the customer's store.

As a result, it is possible to
express that the store affect and the store atmosphere is closely intertwined
with the behavior of satisfaction and recommendation, and that customers can
greatly contribute to their post-purchase behavior.

Keywords

Store atmosphere, store affect, consumption feelings, customer satisfaction, recommendation, clothing industry

MAĞAZA ATMOSFERİNİN MAĞAZAYA YÖNELİK DUYGUSAL YAKINLIK, MÜŞTERİ MEMNUNİYETİ VE TAVSİYE ETME DAVRANIŞI ÜZERİNDEKİ ETKİSİNİN İNCELENMESİ: GİYİM SEKTÖRÜ ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

Amaç:
Mağaza atmosferi, tüketim duyguları, memnuniyeti ve satın alma sonrası
eğilimler perakende mağazacılık sektöründeki temel kavramlar arasında yer
almaktadır. Mağaza yöneticileri eşsiz mağaza atmosferi unsurları ve buna bağlı
olarak sadık müşteriler yaratma eğilimindedir. Bu araştırmada, mağaza atmosferi, mağazaya duygusal yakınlık, müşteri
memnuniyeti ve tavsiye etme davranışları arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmak için
nedensel bir model geliştirerek alan yazındaki boşluğu gidermek amaçlanmaktadır.

Yöntem: Veriler anket yöntemi kullanılarak gönüllü
445 mağaza müşterisi tarafından sağlanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde, AMOS 20.0 paket programı kullanılarak
hipotezleri test etmek için yapısal eşitlik modelinden yararlanılmıştır.

Bulgular: Bulgular, mağaza atmosferi ve mağazaya yönelik duygusal yakınlığın müşteri
memnuniyetini önemli derecede etkilediği belirlenmiştir. Mağazaya yönelik
duygusal yakınlığın tavsiye etme davranışı üzerindeki etkisinin müşteri
memnuniyetinin etkisinden görece daha yüksek olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca,
müşteri memnuniyetinin, mağazaya yönelik duygusal yakınlığın tavsiye etme
davranışı üzerindeki etkisini güçlendirdiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Sonuç: Sonuç olarak, mağaza atmosferi ve
mağazaya yönelik duygusal yakınlığın, memnuniyet ve tavsiye etme davranışıyla
ile ilişkili olduğu ve müşterilerin satın alma sonrası davranışlarının
şekillenmesinde önemli ölçüde etkili olabileceği görülmektedir.

Keywords

Mağaza atmosferi, mağazaya yönelik duygusal yakınlık, tüketim duyguları, müşteri memnuniyeti, tavsiye etme, giyim sektörü

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