Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 201 / This dissertation examined the role of brands in consumer decision making in online environments versus offline environments. The effects of the information type and quality available in a given purchase environment influences consumer choice. The premise on which this study was based is the accessibility-diagnociticity model which states that the weight given to any piece of information which would be used for consumer decision making depends on the accessibility of that piece of information, the accessibility of alternative inputs and diagnositicity or perceived relevance of the inputs (Feldman & Lynch 1988). Information available to consumers plays a significant role in their decision making and there has been limited studies investigating this in the online versus offline shopping environments. The challenge of online shopping for some product categories is that there is limited capacity to provide touch, smell and taste information. The dissertation reports three experiments which were conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants were randomly assigned to different shopping environments with varying levels of information. The findings extend the theory of the diagnosticity of information (Alba, Hutchinson, & Lynch, 1991; Feldman & Lynch 1988; Herr, Karde, & Kim, 1991; Lynch, Marmorstein & Weigold, 1988; Lynch 2006) indicating that, when consumers observe that they do not have enough information to make a purchase decision, they do not make a decision unless the brand is familiar. vii The findings from the research offer fresh insights that familiar brands have greater advantage in online shopping than unfamiliar brands, particularly for experiential products. The results suggest that in purchase situations where there is limited sensory information, consumers rely on brand familiarity to make decisions or they do not make a decision if the brands are unfamiliar. The results of the dissertation showed that when there is limited information in consumer decision making processes, consumers use their knowledge about brands to make or not make a decision. The results contradict the long tail theory (Anderson, 2006) which proposes that the businesses would make more profits from niche offerings of unfamiliar brands. The results of the study were not conclusive on the effects of shopping environments on price sensitivity for familiar and unfamiliar brands. The results suggested the predicted pattern, though the interaction was not statistically significant and there is need for future research on online price elasticity. Future research should also explore the effects of these new sources of information like blogs, consumer and expert reviews, Facebook, etc. on consumer decision making in the offline and online environments

This study investigated college student's image of apparel retail stores associated with shopping environment, price, and fashion innovativeness and their self-perception of appearance and fashion innovativeness. These served as the dependent and independent variables, respectively. University of North Texas students residing in on-campus housing completed a self-administered questionnaire measuring each variable. Repeated measure ANOVAs determined differences in self-perceptions and store images across four stores varied by fashion (innovative/mass) and price (high/low). Results indicated that perceptions for shopping environment, price, and fashion innovativeness differed by store. Students' appearance and fashion innovativeness had no significant effect on their perceptions of apparel retail store image. Students perceive stores differently based on shopping environment, price, and fashion innovativeness.

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The objectives of this dissertation are to: 1) identify the aspects of shopping environments that are important to people; and 2) identify strategies to maintain the cultural relevance and viability of traditional marketplaces in the new global economy. This dissertation uses a Content Identifying Methodology (CIM) to determine preferences of general Thai shoppers for different shopping environments in Bangkok, Thailand. The procedures include preference rating, scene description, and respondents' background surveys. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, content analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), canonical correlation analysis, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). In addition, interviews with designers and developers of shopping environments are used to establish implications for future development, design, and renovation of shopping environments. Three major factors, environmental, shopping, and background, were found to influence preferences for shopping environments. The environmental factors include the perceived environmental types; spacious and well-organized spatial configurations; physical content, such as fresh products, vegetation, and sitting areas; and environmental conditions, such as maintenance level, crowdedness, and cool temperatures. Shopping factors include recreational and value shopping. Respondent's background factors include shopping behaviors and socio-economic backgrounds, such as age and household economic status. Shoppers prefer certain shopping environments based on their shopping purpose: recreational versus value shopping. Recreational shopping appeals to young, single, and big group shoppers at modern malls, which provide the most opportunities for exploring, recreating, and socializing. Value shopping appeals to older, married, and large family shoppers at traditional markets that offer the high quality fresh products at low price. The dissertation's findings are consistent with previous studies and support theoretical explanations in the environmental perception and assessment field. Coherence, complexity, legibility, and mystery, and the concept of affordance influence preference; and are useful in making recommendations. The results indicate that, by identifying the preferences and perceptions of Thai shoppers, it is possible to preserve important aspects of the traditional Thai marketplace. This is achieved by incorporating aspects of traditional Thai markets into new shopping environments; and enhancing existing traditional markets to give them broader appeal and make them more viable in today's economy. / Ph. D.