Department of Marketing

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Browsing Department of Marketing by Subject "Social psychology"

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    Hailers: retail salespeople near the entrance of the store and shoppers' approach-avoidance reactions
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Musgrove, Carolyn Findley; Franke, George; Reynolds, Kristy E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    This research examines a retail salesperson behavior that has been largely overlooked in the literature: retail salespeople standing and waiting for customers near the entrance of the store in retail centers, such as in traditional shopping malls, as well as a variety of other retail shopping contexts. These salespeople are referred to as "hailers." The small amount of previous work in the area and theory suggest that this practice is a positive influence. However, qualitative interviews and quantitative results suggest the opposite. Many consumers feel uncomfortable with a salesperson near the entrance of a retail store because they think that the hailer is going to use high-pressure sales tactics. The main study, which is grounded in approach-avoidance theory and emotional contagion theory, consists of two experiments that examine the effects of retail salespeople near the entrance of stores, as well as other environmental factors and salesperson characteristics. The first study manipulates store familiarity and retail density in addition to the presence of a retail salesperson. The second study focuses on particular characteristics of a salesperson present near the entrance and manipulates the salesperson's demeanor and their level of activity. Each of the stimuli consists of a photograph and scenario combination. The results of experiment one show that the presence of a hailer has a negative influence on consumers' feelings of pleasure and arousal. Feelings of pleasure (and dominance) have a positive influence on approach attitudes and store patronage intentions, while arousal has an inverted-U shaped relationship with store patronage intentions. The results from experiment two show that when a hailer must be present near the entrance of the retail store, a salesperson's positive demeanor has a positive influence on feelings of pleasure. In turn, pleasure has a positive relationship with approach attitudes and store patronage intentions. An unexpected interaction between salesperson demeanor and level of activity has a disordinal relationship with dominance. Further, dominance has a positive influence on store patronage intentions. This research contributes to the domains of retail sales, atmospherics, approach-avoidance theory, and emotional contagion theory. The findings, managerial and academic implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.
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    A two-essay examination of the retail world of adolescent girls
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Givan, Alexa Martinez; Beatty, Sharon E.; Reynolds, Kristy E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Throughout this dissertation, I focus on the two primary influences in an adolescent girl's shopping experience: her mother and her friends. The adolescent phase of mental development involves a gradual detachment from parents and gravitation towards peers, which results in the formation of an individual, emancipated identity. This dissertation utilizes two essays to demonstrate the different ways in which mothers and friends influence the retail experience for adolescent girls. The first essay investigates how adolescent girls process store image information and how they choose the stores in which they shop. I conduct both qualitative and quantitative studies to develop and test a model of adolescent store choice and shopping behavior. Qualitative interviews reveal the process of store stereotyping, in which adolescents apply the expectations and associations of different peer groups to stores that are associated with each group. Adolescents seem to choose stores the same way they choose friends. They gravitate toward those that appear to be part of their in-group and avoid those in out-groups. There are some variations between individuals in this process. Therefore, I test consumer need for uniqueness and identification with friends as potential moderating variables. The second essay explores mother-daughter shopping as daughters struggle to gain independence during this phase of development. In-depth interviews with adolescent girls, their mothers, and retail employees reveal the factors that influence individual shopping situations, general shopping habits, benefits experienced by mothers and daughters, and resulting retail outcomes. While there is much variety found in the way mother-daughter pairs shop, emotions experienced during the trip seem to be the key drivers of shopping outcomes. Furthermore, from a balance theory perspective, the mother-daughter dyad can often be nonsymmetrical. Adolescent girls may be content when parents do not like their chosen style, but it is difficult for moms to be satisfied when their daughters' views conflict with their own. This presents an interesting situation for marketers who must attract adolescents to the store while also enticing parents to purchase the merchandise.