Store personality as a source of customer value

Abstract

Customer value has been considered a strategic imperative in the retail environment, since the customer is more value conscious than ever before (Sweeney and Soutar 2001). In this study, the authors investigate store personality as a potential source of value. Furthermore, they examine the mediating role of customer value in the relationship between store personality and two key outcome variables (i.e., satisfaction and loyalty). Additionally, they investigate self-congruence (i.e., the match between store personality and the personality of the customer), as a potential moderator in the store personality – customer value relationship. The findings of this study provide support for the strategic role of store personality and the mediating impact of customer value therein. However, we did not find support for the moderating role of self-congruence. This implies that store personality is valued by the customer, regardless of whether the store’s personality matches the customer’s self-concept.