PosterPDF Available

THE SALESPERSON-CONSUMER INTERACTIONS: A STUDY IN THE SURFWEAR RETAIL

Authors:
Katherine Braun Galvao Bueno Sresnewsky at School of Higher Education in Advertising and Marketing
Katherine Braun Galvao Bueno Sresnewsky
Andres Rodriguez Veloso at University of São Paulo
Andres Rodriguez Veloso
Download file PDF
Read file
Download citation

Abstract

Technological advances allow new points of contact, where the salesperson-consumer interaction can be in the digital, physical environment, or both. Guo and Main (2017) suggest that sellers should adjust their approach based on consumer characteristics such as mood and buying motivation, thus creating a better perception of the service and further memorable experiences (Bustamante & Rubio, 2017). Given the complexity of the effects of the human variable in the retail environment (Turley & Milliman, 2000) which presents itself as a rich empirical context for behavioral investigations (Penz & Hogg, 2011), the research is oriented by the following question: how do the interactions occur between salesperson and consumers in the surfwear retail?.
Content uploaded by Katherine Braun Galvao Bueno Sresnewsky
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Katherine Braun Galvao Bueno Sresnewsky on May 25, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Measuring customer experience in physical retail environments
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2017
  • J SERV MANAGE
Purpose In a world where customer empowerment is continuously increasing and changing the service landscape, retailers must provide memorable shopping experiences to retain and attract new customers. When customers decide to go shopping in physical stores, they expect to enjoy their visit, experiencing cognitive, affective, social, and physical responses evoked by in-store stimuli. The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate a scale to measure in-store customer experience (ISCX). Design/methodology/approach This study’s theoretical review of customer experience (CX) demonstrates that a formative model provides the best structure for measuring the construct ISCX. Furthermore, the study follows the guidelines for rigorous construction of a formative scale, which include three main stages: generation of items, scale purification, and assessment of scale validity and reliability. Findings The results provide evidence that a formative third-order scale with a reflective second-order dimension (social experience) and three reflective first-order dimensions (cognitive, affective, and physical experience) has satisfactory psychometric properties. The findings also provide useful information on the effect of the ISCX scale on key performance variables such as satisfaction and loyalty to the store. Originality/value The ISCX scale proposed constitutes a useful multi-concept diagnostic tool for use by retailers to create fully experiential shopping environments with differential value for the customer. By providing a complete, robust, precise measure of CX in a retail environment, the scale gives researchers a structured way to examine the causes and consequences of CX in retail.
View
An Examination of Social Influence on Shopper Behavior Using Video Tracking Data
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2014
  • J MARKETING
This research investigates how the social elements of a retail store visit affect shoppers' product interaction and purchase likelihood. The research uses a bivariate model of the shopping process, implemented in a hierarchical Bayes framework, which models the customer and contextual factors driving product touch and purchase simultaneously. A unique video tracking database captures each shopper's path and activities during the store visit. The findings reveal that interactive social influences (e.g., salesperson contact, shopper conversations) tend to slow the shopper down, encourage a longer store visit, and increase product interaction and purchase. When shoppers are part of a larger group, they are influenced more by discussions with companions and less by third parties. Stores with customers present encourage product interaction up to a point, beyond which the density of shoppers interferes with the shopping process. The effects of social influence vary by the salesperson's demographic similarity to the shopper and the type of product category being shopped. Several behavioral cues signal when shoppers are in a potentially high need state and may be good sales prospects.
View
The effectiveness of matching sales influence tactics to consumers’ avoidance versus approach shopping motivations
Article
  • Aug 2017
  • EUR J MARKETING
Purpose Adaptive selling can help build positive relationships between salespeople and consumers. The literature shows that consumers respond positively to salespeople under approach but not avoidance motivations. This paper aims to demonstrate a circumstance under which consumers with avoidance motivations can also respond positively, something not previously shown in the literature. Design/methodology/approach This research paper uses three experimental between-subject designs to test hypotheses. Findings The current research identifies appropriate sales influence tactics (e.g. a customer-autonomy-oriented or a loss-avoidance-oriented influence tactic) where consumers with avoidance motivations can also respond to sales agents positively by the evidence of higher purchase intentions. In addition, this research shows that consumers with approach motivations may not always respond positively to salespeople. Further, goal facilitation appraisals of the salespeople serve as a mechanism between consumers’ shopping motivations and their behavioral responses (e.g. purchase intentions). Originality/value First, while the previous literature demonstrates that approach motivations generally lead to more positive effects (Elliot and Trash, 2002), this research indicates that avoidance motivations can also have positive effects, which is a finding that has not been demonstrated in the literature thus far. Second, this research identifies goal facilitation appraisals as one underlying process that explains the interactive effect between matching influence tactics and consumers’ approach/avoidance motivations when shopping. Third, the authors integrate regulatory focus theory by using gain- or loss-avoidance-oriented sales influence tactics to match approach and avoidance motivations.
View
Buyers’ Perceptions of Salesperson Tactical Approaches
Article
  • Sep 2013
At the strategic level, the role of the industrial salesperson has been described as managing a portfolio of different buyer– seller relationships. This study identifies specific sales tactics (i.e., customer-focused, competitor-focused, or productfocused) that support the development of these strategic relationships. Data gathered from a national sample of industrial buyers was used to examine the differential effects of three sets of selling techniques. These differences tend to be contingent on the buyers’ position within that firm. When a buyer occupies a higher level of authority within his or her firm, customer-focused approaches tend to garner higher responsiveness ratings.
View
The impact of flattery: The role of negative remarks
Article
  • Jan 2013
  • J Retailing Consum Serv
This study extends our understanding of flattery and consumers’ use of persuasion knowledge in the retail context by addressing the role that negative evaluations from a salesperson play on consumer's perceptions of store agent trustworthiness. Across two experiments, our findings show that a negative salesperson remark along with a positive remark reduces the client's use of persuasion knowledge therefore enhancing the client's perception of the salesclerk's trustworthiness. Additionally, we found a boundary condition of this effect: the price of the target product. Finally, perceptions of salesperson trustworthiness mediated the effect of the remarks on behavioral intentions.
View
Trust during retail encounters: A touchy proposition
Article
  • Sep 2013
  • J RETAILING
Adopting an interpersonal communication perspective, this study examines the propositions that a salesperson's touch increases trust, which increases product evaluations and purchase intention. These relationships are evaluated in a contact and non-contact culture, with need for touch (NFT) examined as an additional moderator. An exploratory series of in-depth interviews provides an initial understanding of these relationships, followed by a 2 (touch/no touch condition) × 2 (consumers in France/Germany) experiment with wine serving as the example category. The findings indicate that touch does not uniformly instill trust in customers. Instead a salesperson's touch relates to greater trust only when consumers have an inherent NFT or when they are from a culture where personal touching behavior is less prevalent. Trust, in turn, relates positively to evaluations of product attractiveness, quality, and to purchase intention.
View
The Service Models of Frontline Employees
Article
  • Jul 2010
  • J MARKETING
Service literature has implicitly assumed that frontline employees (FLEs) share a common understanding of the term "customer service." Perhaps because of this assumption, differences in FLE attitudes, behaviors, and performance have been ascribed to organizational characteristics, social environment, job characteristics, or personality. This article shows that FLEs' interpretations of customer service also matter. Using qualitative and quantitative data, this study finds that three distinct interpretations of customer service, or service models, exist among retail FLEs: (1) the act of giving customers what they ask for, efficiently and courteously; (2) a means to accomplishing immediate objectives, such as sales quotas; and (3) the formation of mutually beneficial relationships with customers through problem solving. Service models are related to FLEs' customer orientation, competence, surface and deep acting, and interpersonal values. The findings indicate that differences in FLEs' attitudes, behaviors, and performance can arise from their keeping of different service models; illuminate individual-level beliefs underlying service typologies, such as goods- and service-dominant logic; and suggest that FLE recruitment and training should take service models into account.
View
Consumer Contamination: How Consumers React to Products Touched by Others
Article
  • Apr 2006
  • J MARKETING
Although consumers like to touch products while shopping, the authors propose a theory of consumer contamination, positing that consumers evaluate products previously touched by other shoppers less favorably. The authors test the theory by manipulating cues that increase the salience that consumer contact has occurred. Furthermore, the authors investigate the role of disgust as the underlying mechanism of the theory.
View
Atmospheric Effects on Shopping Behavior
Article
  • Aug 2000
  • J BUS RES
This review focuses on the research conducted over the years on the effects of facility-based environmental cues, or “atmospherics”, on buyer behavior. We review the pertinent literature by constructing a comprehensive table of the empirical studies in this area that focuses on the various findings associated with these investigations. This summary table indicates that atmospheric variables influence a wide variety of consumer evaluations and behaviors. In addition to discussing the findings and contributions of this literature stream, the article concludes by identifying gaps in the literature and suggesting potential future topics for atmospheric related research.
View
View