Journal of Retailing最新文献

An increasing number of service firms are introducing algorithmic advice to their customers. In this research, we examine the introduction of such tools from a relational perspective and show that the type of relationship a customer has with a service firm moderates his or her response to algorithmic advice. Studies 1 and 2 find that customers in communal relationships are more reluctant to use algorithmic advice instead of human advice than customers in exchange relationships. Study 3 shows that offering customers algorithmic advice may harm communal relationships but not exchange relationships. Building on these findings, Studies 4, 5, and 6 examine how firms can mitigate the potentially negative relational consequences of algorithmic advice. While a fallback option that signals that customers can request additional human advice if needed is effective in preventing relational damages in communal relationships, this same intervention backfires in exchange relationships. These findings have important implications by showing that managers need to consider the relational consequences of introducing algorithmic advice to existing customers.

Frontline employees (FLEs) play a critical role in shaping customer experiences and purchase intentions in retail settings. Yet not all FLEs display the same work behaviors or motivational tendencies. Adopting person-environment fit theory, this research investigates whether multiple work climates can coexist within a workplace to support FLEs with different work behaviors. Using multisource data from 285 FLEs and 31 supervisors in the retail banking sector, this study examines whether a quality-focused climate and an initiative-focused climate positively influence FLE service performance via different FLE behaviors. It also examines the moderating effect of FLE self-regulatory focus on the relationship between work climate and FLE behaviors. The results demonstrate that when FLEs are willing to innovate and take risks, a work climate that supports initiative-taking will encourage them to go beyond prescribed job roles to satisfy customer needs. In contrast, when FLEs seek to minimize or avoid risks, a work climate that reinforces rule adherence will support them in using standardized procedures to satisfy customer needs. Managers should not assume that one climate fits all or that one climate is better than the other as this study shows that a quality-focused and an initiative-focused climate can operate in tandem to enhance FLE service performance.

This study investigates the relative profitability of online recommendations (sequential or simultaneous) of durable goods used by various firms, such as Walmart and Amazon. To achieve this, we develop a utility model (specified in terms of product attributes) that captures the complementarity between the recommended products. To recover customers’ utility for simultaneous or sequential purchases of durable goods, we conduct incentive-aligned conjoint experiments in which participants select a combination of fully or partially complementary products. The results reveal that the product attribute associations are more noticeable for fully complementary product categories. In addition, customers tend to balance comparable attributes when buying durable goods sequentially over time, while they reinforce comparable attributes when buying simultaneously. The profit analysis based on the estimates shows that the recommendations for simultaneous purchases can yield higher profits for fully complementary product categories than for sequential recommendation purchases. However, the recommendations for sequential purchases generate higher earnings for partially complementary product categories than for simultaneous recommendation purchases. A simulation study reveals that the profits differ considerably by combinations of product attributes because customers evaluate complementarity among attributes differently between the two recommendations.

Despite the potential health- and sustainability-related benefits of insect-based food products, many consumers do not perceive them as an alternative to conventional foods. This research provides a systematic approach to explain consumer reactions to insect-based food products conducting a series of multi-method studies involving implicit, self-reported, and actual behavioral responses to real insect-based food products (provided by a partner company). The authors investigate how product type (i.e., whether the insect-based food is utilitarian or hedonic in nature) and packaging characteristics (i.e., whether the image of a real or stylized insect is present on the front packaging or not) interact with consumer-related characteristics (i.e., health consciousness and food neophobia) to affect feelings of disgust, which in turn influence willingness to try insect-based food products. A distinctive feature of this research is that a partner company used the findings to change its marketing tactics and observed an improvement in its market performance. Our research has clear implications for marketing managers trying to overcome consumer resistance to eating insect-based foods, as well as retail managers considering marketing such food products.

Online retailers frequently solicit reviews from customers who have recently purchased their products or services. This research examines how consumers react to conditional requests—wherein a retailer explicitly asks them to consider their experience but to only leave a review if this experience was favorable—versus more neutral unconditional requests. The provision of conditional requests is widespread, presumably because retailers believe that such requests will yield more positive reviews. Irrespective of whether these potential benefits materialize, the present research demonstrates that the consequences of conditional requests on customer loyalty (i.e., retailer engagement and repeat purchase behavior) are uniformly negative and surprisingly expansive. Six experiments with over 3,000 participants reveal that customers who receive conditional (vs. unconditional) requests are subsequently less loyal to the retailer, whom they perceive as manipulative and untrustworthy. This research also shows that easily implementable message modifications can attenuate (although not necessarily eliminate) the adverse effects of conditional requests on customer loyalty. Substantively, this work highlights how the messaging used in a review request affects customers’ inferences as well as their later judgments and behaviors. Managerially, the findings should exhort online retailers to exercise caution before sending conditional review requests given the risk of reputational harm.

The market for secondhand items – goods previously owned by others- is rapidly growing. Disordered environments, characterized by disorganized or messy product displays, are frequently found in secondhand stores. How does disorder affect consumer perceptions of secondhand retailers as well as the merchandise for sale? A set of four studies finds disorder (vs. order) in the secondhand retail environment has opposing effects – enhancing consumers’ perceptions of finding hidden treasure but also heightening risk perceptions. However, the positive effects of disorder from increased hidden treasure perceptions do not overcome the negative effects from risk. For secondhand retailers who may face barriers to tidying up, what can be done to alter these inferences? We test and show that secondhand retailers can reduce risk and/or boost hidden treasure perceptions by a) offering a return policy or b) by signaling seller inventory knowledge.

Retail malls thrive not only on foot traffic they attract but also on buyers spending at multiple retailers in the mall. While the importance of shopping momentum, i.e., buyers continuing to shop, is known, few studies have examined how mobile promotions can incentivize buyers to sustain their shopping momentum in a mall. This study examines how a mall operator targets buyers in its loyalty program with a real-time message (RTM) to encourage them to sustain their shopping momentum and spend more at the next retailer. We use a quasi-experimental design and show that the RTM has a stronger effect on heavy than light buyers. Specifically, moderate and heavy buyers are more likely to respond favorably to RTMs by sustaining shopping momentum and increasing spending at the next retailer. In contrast, the RTM has no effect on shopping momentum of light buyers, and if they continue to shop, they lower their subsequent spending. The study has important implications for retailers using mobile applications to target buyers with relevant real-time promotions to achieve desired outcomes.