Creating service value: a cross-retail format study of Holbrook’s typology

Abstract

Customer value is the cornerstone of marketing theory and practice. Especially in traditional retailing, which can be considered mature and highly competitive, customers are more value conscious than ever before. Holbrook’s (1999) conceptualization of customer value is applied in this study as it comprehensively entails the following value types (that have been found appropriate for retail settings): efficiency, excellence, social value, play, aesthetics, and altruistic value. Furthermore, we consider product excellence and service excellence as separate constructs because retail stores offer a mix of products and services. Based on a consumer survey (n = 392), this study addresses the following two research questions: (1) Are different retail formats typically associated with different customer value types?, and (2) What is the strategic role of different customer value types in driving customer satisfaction, repurchase intentions and word of mouth?. The ANOVA results demonstrate that store formats do indeed typically imply characteristic value types (e.g., the value retailer excels in terms of ‘play’). The PLS estimation moreover provides an insight into the relative importance of Holbrook’s value types in generating customer satisfaction, repurchase intention, and word of mouth. Whereas ‘efficiency’ is identified as a significant driver of satisfaction, ‘play’ is rather essential in generating repurchase intentions and word of mouth. The managerial relevance of these findings is mainly situated in store format specific positioning strategy advice.