Influence of Shopping Goal Fulfillment Behaviors of Companions on Consumers’ Affective and Behavioral Responses

Abstract

This study applies the retail environment model to a shopping with a companion(s) context by considering how much a companion(s) engages in a shopping process to fulfill utilitarian, hedonic, and social shopping goals and examines the influence of retail atmospherics and companions on consumers’ emotions and behavioral responses. This study reconfirms the findings of previous retail environment studies and purchase-pal studies in that consumers experience pleasant feelings and enjoy a shopping process when they are surrounded by attractive retail atmospherics and companions actively share purchase-related information and help them to acquire products. However, unlike previous retail studies, neither retail atmospherics nor purchase-related behaviors (utilitarian shopping goal fulfillment behaviors of companions) directly influence consumer’s re-patronage intention. Both hedonic and social shopping goal fulfillment behaviors of companions directly affect shopping pleasure and re-patronage intention.