This research aims to realize the relationship between store image and consumer purchasing behavior of coffee chain store in Kaohsiung city. In order to paint a vivid picture of consumer behavior in Kaohsiung coffee chain store, this research tries to analyze the importance of store image and customer¡¦s satisfaction. The research is only conducted in Kaohsiung area and the range includes some specific coffee chain systems that open above 5 stores in Kaohsiung. In this case, the research is focus on three coffee chain stores ¡GSTARBUCKS, DOUTOR and BRUNCH . A total number of 315 effective questionnaires are collected until the end of April in 2003 . In this research, some attributes of store image are grouped into six dimensions. They are products, services, atmosphere, convenience, advertising¡Aand promotion and solid equipment .The six-dimensional research structure contains 26 attributes which are measured by Likert Scale to understand the importance of store image ,customer¡¦s satisfaction and total store image . The following are the results of this research ¡Gone result shows the level of significance with regard to the differences between importance of store image and customer¡¦s satisfaction. This reveals that customers dissatisfy with some attributes when they patronize coffee chain stores. The whole store image has positive correlation and level of significance with consumption, frequency of purchase and Re-patronage but doesn¡¦t show the level of significance with staying time. The result shows significantly different with total store image and consumer¡¦s satisfaction but doesn¡¦t show significantly different with the importance of store image in different coffee chain stores. The research also reveals significantly the difference among consumption, re-patronage and companies yet the difference with frequency of purchase and staying time in different coffee chain stores. The last but not the least, in different coffee chain stores, the research has the education difference but not the difference with gender , marriage, age, occupation and income .

Recently, the new type department stores are increasing rapidly. The competition among department stores is getting intensified. In early days, department stores usually competed with others by giving customers some discount or sending them gifts. However, the result of price war is that businesses are hard to raise their profits. This study analyzes consumer behavior by investigating the relation between store image and customer value, researching the correlation between customer value and price sensitivity and understanding the interference effects of demographics and lift style to test whether department stores can boost customer value by improving the store image and then decrease price sensitivity. This study adopts structural questionnaire to survey, Pearson Correlation Analysis and Canonical Correlation Analysis to analyze the relation between store image and customer value and research the correlation between customer value and price sensitivity, and Multiple Regression to investigate the mediating effects of customer value. Besides, in order to analyze the interference effects of demographics and lift style, this study chooses the Multivariate Analysis of Variance as testing tools to test these two variables. To understand what is the most important way for improving store image which can raise more customer values and what customer value was rose can boost more price tolerance, this study chooses the same sample, the same demographics or the same life style, to rebuild regression formulas, and identify the influence by observing the forecast variables and their coefficients. This study finds that if we choose different samples, including different ages, educational levels and lift styles, to build regression formula, the forecast variables and their coefficients would change. That is to say, if we want to increase price tolerance by raising customer value, we have to adopt different ways to different groups. In the same way, if businesses would like to raise costumer value by improving store images, they have to adopt different ways to different groups. If businesses adopt right way, they can let customer feel having more customer values so that customers can endure higher price and then reach the goal decreasing price sensitivity.

When a service that is used to bring convenience to people is not known by the public, its function can not be seen. Likewise, if a well-established integrated entry website of the government is not popularized, its efficiency will be limited. My E-government¡X The E-government Entry Point of Taiwan (http://www.gov.tw) was founded on March 20, 2003. And a research that studies the access people find and enter the website and its use frequency says, in recent stage the entry website of the government is not popularized enough and needs improving. Therefore, this research is going to discuss, in the concept of promotion tools in Marketing, how different promoting tools would affect the public¡¦s attitude toward the store image of The E-government Entry Point of Taiwan. Moreover, will their attitude and store image influence their intention use this website? These are the points going to discuss in this research. This research adopts the experimental method, setting up an experimental website. After the testees enter this experimental website, they would watch the promotion tool of My E-government and fill out questionnaires in order to understand their attitudes, store images and wills to use the website which are formed after watching the promotion tool of My E-government. The source of those samples is through convenience sampling. And there are totally 132 valid samples in this experiment. This research finds first the public hold a positive attitude toward promotion tools. Second, the store images of My E-government in the public¡¦s minds are as following: the content of the promotion tool is reliable and conveys a lot of information. When they see the promotion tool, it does cause their attention. Also, the service My E-government¡X The E-government Entry Point of Taiwan supplies is very diverse and helps the public a lot. However, the celebrity of this website is improvable. Third, different promotion tools would affect neither the public¡¦s attitude toward the store image of My E-government nor their intention use . In addition, the attitude and the intention use , the store image and the intention use are highly related, which shows that when the attitude people hold toward the promotion tool or the store image people hold toward My E-government¡X The E-government Entry Point of Taiwan gets better, people¡¦s will to use it would be higher.

Den svenska dagligvaruhandelns utveckling går mot fler etablerade stormarknader i utkanten av städer. Följderna blir att mindre butiker på landsbygden konkurreras ut och att kunder väljer handelsområden framför butiker i stadskärnor. Kundlojaliteten beräknas minska, när dagens kunder väljer att handla på ett flertal butiker istället för en specifik. Den omstrukturering som sker på marknaden problematiserar hur företag genom differentiering och marknadsföring bygger långsiktiga kundrelationer. Ett företags varumärke syftar till att skapa konkurrenskraft och differentieringsmöjligheter, därmed fanns ett intresse att inrikta studien mot butiksimage och kundlojalitet till en specifik butik. Med ovanstående resonemang som grund avser studien undersöka vilka butiksattribut som påverkar kunders lojalitet till en specifik butik inom den svenska dagligvaruhandeln. Undersökningen omfattar tre specifika Coop Forum butiker i Region Nord, i Umeå, Örnsköldsvik och Östersund. Då undersökningen syftar till att jämföra om valda butiker skiljer sig med avseende om påverkande butiksattribut och kundlojalitet. Tidigare forskning har identifierat ett samband mellan image, kundnöjdhet och lojalitet, dock är relationen mellan butiksimage, kundnöjdhet och lojalitet inom stormarknadsmiljöer ännu outforskad. Mer forskning krävs även angående varumärkets betydelse inom dagligvaruhandeln. Studiens byggstenar är definierade enligt butiksattribut, butiksimage, butikskundnöjdhet och butikslojalitet och ett eventuellt samband undersöks mellan dessa begrepp. Studiens praktiska syfte är att ge konkreta rekommendationer till Coop Nord angående vilka butiksattribut som är de bidragande till kunders lojalitet, för att vägleda Coop Nord i arbetet kring att skapa en starkare lojalitet hos dess befintliga kunder utifrån ett marknadsföringsperspektiv. För att besvara studiens forskningsfråga och syften har vi genomfört en enkätundersökning på vardera av de för studien utvalda Coop Forum butikerna. Den empiriska studien utfördes på Coops befintliga kunder, då vi ansåg att respondenterna krävde en förkunskap om butiken för att kunna yttra sig i frågor angående butikslojalitet. Vi delade ut 100 enkäter per butik, totalt 300 enkäter och erhöll 287 fullständiga svar. Resultatet från enkätfrågorna har sedan analyserats mot tidigare forskningsresultat, främst genom rangordning av olika alternativ inom ramen för studiens byggstenar. Vår studie visar att de påverkande butiksattributen för kunders val att handla kontinuerligt på Coop Forum differentierar mellan de tre för studien utvalda butikerna. I Umeå och Östersund var tillgänglighet det främst påverkande butiksattributet, medan medlemsförmåner var de främst påverkande för respondenterna i Örnsköldsvik. Coop Forums butik i Örnsköldsvik hade högst butiksimage och butikskundnöjdhet, medan butiken i Umeå hade högst kundlojalitet. Vår studie indikerar ett samband mellan butiksimage, butikskundnöjdhet och butikslojalitet vid en av de tre för studien utvalda Coop Forum butikerna.

This study is based on the Zeithaml¡¦s Means-End model. Moreover, this study examines how the on-line travel store image affects the perceived value of consumer. It adopts to evaluate the effect of perceived value by different store image dimensions, such as the store factors, the service, the design of websites, the merchandise, the promotion, the satisfaction after sale. The finding of the research is as followed. 1. The variables of age and income of demographic statistics can cause the difference of perceived value. 2. Different usage habits cause the difference of perceived value. 3. The attributes of store factors and merchandise of the on-line travel store image affect significantly to the perceived quality. 4. The attributes of the merchandise and the satisfaction after sale of the on-line travel store image has a negative affection on the perceived risk. 5. The perceived quality has a negative affection on the perceived risk. 6. The perceived quality has a positive affection on the perceived value; on the contrary, the perceived risk has a negative affection on perceived value.

Effect of the On-line Personal Services on Store Image and Purchase Intention in Electronic Stores

South African clothing retailers are currently struggling to obtain and retain market share as a result of the challenging economic climate, new international market entrants and changes in consumer behaviour (MarketLine, 2018). In particular, consumer behaviour relating to men’s clothing is changing and for the first time in decades, menswear is dominating the South African clothing retail industry (MarketLine, 2018; Hastreiter & Marchetti, 2016). A lucrative market segment is the Millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2000 (Cham, Ng, Lim & Cheng, 2018; Cho, 2017). Consequently, knowledge on the clothing consumer behaviour of specifically Millennial men is crucial and the topic is still under explored, resulting in a research gap, which inspired this study. The store image perceived by the consumer has a direct influence on store choice and is important for retailer success. Since personal values ultimately drive consumer decision-making, an understanding of the personal values that motivate store choice may assist clothing retailers with their positioning (store image) to obtain customer loyalty and a sustainable competitive advantage. Gutman (1982) means-end chain (MEC) theory explains that consumers make choices based on the product/store attributes that they perceive as ultimately assisting them in reaching the desirable end-state (personal value). An MEC is a hierarchical structure that consists of three main interconnected levels, namely, attributes (means), consequences and personal values (ends), which are organised according to the level of abstraction. This study applied the MEC as a theoretical framework for exploring and understanding the role of Millennial men’s personal values in their perception of store image and their store choice. Laddering is a probing technique that is used specifically in MEC studies to uncover underlying motivations for behaviour. This technique can be used in qualitative studies (where it is referred to as soft laddering) and also in quantitative studies (where it is referred to as hard laddering). This exploratory mixed-method study started with an initial qualitative phase and the findings were subsequently used to develop the measuring instrument for the second quantitative phase. The second quantitative phase specifically used the Association Pattern Technique (APT), a hard laddering technique developed by Ter Hofstede, Audenaert, Steenkamp and Wedel (1998). Using a series of matrices, the APT reveals how consumers link desirable attributes, sought-after consequences and personal values. Using non-probability sampling methods (i.e. convenience-, snowball and quota sampling), 25 participants were recruited in the first phase and 408 workable questionnaires were obtained during the second phase. The personal in-depth interviews conducted during phase 1 used soft laddering and elicited the attributes and consequences that are pivotal in clothing store choice. Together with these attributes and consequences, the ten basic personal values of Schwartz (1992) and colleagues (2001; 2014) were used to develop the matrices for the measuring instrument used in phase 2. During this phase, data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that was completed online. The findings of this study indicate that hedonism ultimately motivates store image and store choice. Although the personal values of “self-direction”, “achievement” and “power” were also indicated as motivational drivers within different demographic subsets and different types of clothing retailers, “hedonism” unequivocally was found to be the most relevant personal value. It is therefore hedonism that influences Millennial men’s clothing store image and store choice. From this study it is recommended that clothing retailers in South Africa, targeting the Millennial male, pay specific attention to hedonism in terms of the design and implementation of their marketing strategies to give credit to consumers’ need to associate with a store image that projects a pleasurable experience. Clothing retailers that can successfully position themselves accordingly, will most likely be favoured. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Consumer Science / PhD / Unrestricted

The global fashion retail industry has been characterised by fierce competition for numerous years. Boutiques face increasing pressure to distinctly differentiate themselves from competing retail stores offering fashion merchandise, since customers are becoming ever more demanding as fashion evolves and new trends reach South African retail stores. Accordingly, marketers have to ensure customer satisfaction, build store loyalty, and stimulate repurchase intentions in the fashion retail industry in order to survive and prosper. For marketers to attract and retain customers, they have to adjust their marketing strategies and utilise various elements in the marketing mix to compete for customers’ attention, satisfy their retail experience needs, and encourage them to return. Shopping for clothes forms a significant part of many South African females’ lifestyles. Customers to whom fashion is important, have specific needs and wants and desire specific retail experiences. These customers are also becoming increasingly more sophisticated and individualistic, and therefore turn to small, speciality retailers such as boutiques, which they believe can accommodate them by providing unique and tailored retail experiences. Essentially, these customers do not merely purchase the retailer’s merchandise; they want to experience the store atmosphere the retailer offers. Therefore, it is important for boutiques to be aware of their store atmosphere which can offer customers a satisfying, consistent and sound retail experience. Customers who positively experience a retailer’s store atmosphere may feel more satisfied with the boutique, and may return to the retail store in the hope of receiving a similar retail experience. Once the customer returns to the same retail store, the possibility arises that the customer may become store loyal. As soon as the customer keeps on returning to the same retail store, the probability of repurchase intentions becomes real. That said, store atmosphere is considered to be a significant marketing tool, given that it provides boutiques with the power to manipulate a customer’s retail experience which could ultimately influence, customer satisfaction, store loyalty and repurchase intention. The primary objective of this research study is to investigate store atmosphere as a second-order construct model comprised from four sub-dimensions (factors) namely the retail store exterior, interior, layout and design and point-of-purchase and décoration in order to determine the interrelationships between these sub-dimensions (factors), customer satisfaction, store loyalty and repurchase intention in the fashion retail industry. In order to address this, a descriptive research design was followed and self-administered questionnaires were fielded amongst females, 18 years and older with an average monthly household net income of more than R14 000 (medium-to-high household income) who have bought items most recently from boutiques in Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp during the past six months. Judgemental, convenience and quota sampling methods were used to select the sampling units and sampling elements. A total of 361 questionnaires were ultimately analysed. With respect to the empirical results of this research study, respondents agreed the most that the exterior location of the boutique is convenient, the entrance to the boutique is inviting, the interior of the boutique is clean and that the temperature in the boutique is comfortable. Regarding the layout and design of the boutique, respondents agreed the most that the checkout and service points in the boutique are well placed and that all the spaces in the boutique are creatively utilised, as well as that the furnishings in the boutique are attractive. Finally, regarding the point-of-purchase and décoration of the boutique, respondents agreed the most that the pricing of the merchandise in the boutique is clearly visible and that the merchandise is well displayed. All the measurement scales measuring the sub-dimensions (factors) and constructs of this research study exhibit internal consistency reliability as well as content, construct and criterion validity. The standardised model results indicate that all statements included in the measurement model exhibit significant factor loadings above the recommended cut-off point, exhibiting a large effect in all instances, leading to the retention of all statements for further statistical analysis. With respect to the assessment of the structural model, the fit indices indicate an acceptable model fit. Based on the empirical results obtained from this research study, it became clear that store atmosphere has a large direct influence on customer satisfaction and store loyalty, albeit with no direct influence on repurchase intention. Both mediation relationships realised a medium indirect effect between store atmosphere and repurchase intention with customer satisfaction and store loyalty as mediators. The recommendations of this research study mainly focus on strategies to improve the store atmosphere of boutiques, since it positively influences customer satisfaction and store loyalty directly and repurchase intention indirectly. Limitations the researcher encountered were mainly related to budget and time constraints. Recommendations for future research include extending this research study to other Provinces of South Africa in order to determine the status quo in these Provinces and to determine whether statistical significant differences exist between respondents based upon demographic and geographic differences with respect to the constructs of this research study. / MCom (Marketing Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The global fashion retail industry has been characterised by fierce competition for numerous years. Boutiques face increasing pressure to distinctly differentiate themselves from competing retail stores offering fashion merchandise, since customers are becoming ever more demanding as fashion evolves and new trends reach South African retail stores. Accordingly, marketers have to ensure customer satisfaction, build store loyalty, and stimulate repurchase intentions in the fashion retail industry in order to survive and prosper. For marketers to attract and retain customers, they have to adjust their marketing strategies and utilise various elements in the marketing mix to compete for customers’ attention, satisfy their retail experience needs, and encourage them to return. Shopping for clothes forms a significant part of many South African females’ lifestyles. Customers to whom fashion is important, have specific needs and wants and desire specific retail experiences. These customers are also becoming increasingly more sophisticated and individualistic, and therefore turn to small, speciality retailers such as boutiques, which they believe can accommodate them by providing unique and tailored retail experiences. Essentially, these customers do not merely purchase the retailer’s merchandise; they want to experience the store atmosphere the retailer offers. Therefore, it is important for boutiques to be aware of their store atmosphere which can offer customers a satisfying, consistent and sound retail experience. Customers who positively experience a retailer’s store atmosphere may feel more satisfied with the boutique, and may return to the retail store in the hope of receiving a similar retail experience. Once the customer returns to the same retail store, the possibility arises that the customer may become store loyal. As soon as the customer keeps on returning to the same retail store, the probability of repurchase intentions becomes real. That said, store atmosphere is considered to be a significant marketing tool, given that it provides boutiques with the power to manipulate a customer’s retail experience which could ultimately influence, customer satisfaction, store loyalty and repurchase intention. The primary objective of this research study is to investigate store atmosphere as a second-order construct model comprised from four sub-dimensions (factors) namely the retail store exterior, interior, layout and design and point-of-purchase and décoration in order to determine the interrelationships between these sub-dimensions (factors), customer satisfaction, store loyalty and repurchase intention in the fashion retail industry. In order to address this, a descriptive research design was followed and self-administered questionnaires were fielded amongst females, 18 years and older with an average monthly household net income of more than R14 000 (medium-to-high household income) who have bought items most recently from boutiques in Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp during the past six months. Judgemental, convenience and quota sampling methods were used to select the sampling units and sampling elements. A total of 361 questionnaires were ultimately analysed. With respect to the empirical results of this research study, respondents agreed the most that the exterior location of the boutique is convenient, the entrance to the boutique is inviting, the interior of the boutique is clean and that the temperature in the boutique is comfortable. Regarding the layout and design of the boutique, respondents agreed the most that the checkout and service points in the boutique are well placed and that all the spaces in the boutique are creatively utilised, as well as that the furnishings in the boutique are attractive. Finally, regarding the point-of-purchase and décoration of the boutique, respondents agreed the most that the pricing of the merchandise in the boutique is clearly visible and that the merchandise is well displayed. All the measurement scales measuring the sub-dimensions (factors) and constructs of this research study exhibit internal consistency reliability as well as content, construct and criterion validity. The standardised model results indicate that all statements included in the measurement model exhibit significant factor loadings above the recommended cut-off point, exhibiting a large effect in all instances, leading to the retention of all statements for further statistical analysis. With respect to the assessment of the structural model, the fit indices indicate an acceptable model fit. Based on the empirical results obtained from this research study, it became clear that store atmosphere has a large direct influence on customer satisfaction and store loyalty, albeit with no direct influence on repurchase intention. Both mediation relationships realised a medium indirect effect between store atmosphere and repurchase intention with customer satisfaction and store loyalty as mediators. The recommendations of this research study mainly focus on strategies to improve the store atmosphere of boutiques, since it positively influences customer satisfaction and store loyalty directly and repurchase intention indirectly. Limitations the researcher encountered were mainly related to budget and time constraints. Recommendations for future research include extending this research study to other Provinces of South Africa in order to determine the status quo in these Provinces and to determine whether statistical significant differences exist between respondents based upon demographic and geographic differences with respect to the constructs of this research study. / MCom (Marketing Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In recent years, it is more and more popular to find Private Barnd in Convenience Stores, Hyper Markets, Super Markets and Boutique Stores. Private brand is the naturally outcome of chained retailers with bigger economic scale. It can bring more profits, and at the same time, it can raise the bargaining power of retailers to against the national brands. And most important of all, private barnd would create differentiated competitive adventage for reatilers. Therefore, it is very necessary for reatilers to understand consumers¡¦ attitudes and purchasing intentions for private brand products. Most of the researches in the past were focused on external characteristics, such as demograpghical variables but ingored consumers¡¦ psychological characteristics which usually dominate consumers¡¦ attitudes. And most of the researches were implemented based on Hyper or Super Market channels. This research wants to know how consumers feel about private barnd products in chained convenience stores, what kind of persons like or dislike private brands. Consumers¡¦ characteristics include psychological characteristics, demographical variables and store image. The research uses questionnaire method in front of convenience stores, and the main purpose of this questionnaire is to analyze the relationship between demographical variables, psychological variables, promotion intentions, store image, private brand attitudes, and private brands¡¦ purchasing intentions. The main research findings are listed as following: 1.When consumers¡¦ value consciousness is higher, their attitude for private brand would also be better. 2.Consumers who have more interests in promotion would have better attitude toward private label, especially the consumers who prefer price discount, their acceptance for private brands will be higher than those who prefer non-price promotion ( ex. Giftaway). 3.Consumers who have better store image will have better attitude toward private barnds accordingly. 4.Consumers¡¦ age has significant differences on the attitude of private brands. To sum it up, when consumers are elder, then they will have worse attitude toward private brands. 5.There are high consistence between attitude and purchasing intention.