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Summary of the Article
In the article published by American Journal of Business Research, Champion et al. (2010) explore the effects of retail image on student perceptions of merchandise quality and willingness to buy. The article highlights that it has become apparent that competition continues to typify the modern business environment. As such, there has been a need for companies to differentiate themselves from their rivals.
Companies may embark on promotion of image as a method to differentiate themselves. Champion et al. (2010) pinpoint that companies might also want to promote their retail stores as that witnessed when Apple launched its Apple Store.
Using an empirical study, the authors hypothesize that store image is an important aspect of competition in markets. The companies try to woo customers by changing their perception and experiences of their stores. Subsequently, the first hypothesis is that a heightened store image brings about positive change on consumer’s perception on the quality of the products.
Second, Champion et al. (2010) make a prior induction that a high store image increases the willingness of the buyers to spend. Third, an increase of positive perception brings about an increase in willingness of the customers to purchase the products.
Champion et al. (2010) highlight that, in a situation of high involvement in the decision making process, there is a high correlation of store image and perspective of the consumer on the quality of the product.
The article uses empirical methods to enhance that the results are reliable and consistent. The authors use two pretests to anticipate the results before conducting the final study. The first pretest involved the determination of the right products using a sample of 51 respondents. The research team requested the sample population to rate the level of product involvement related to varied products in a scale of 1-7.
The second pretest entailed a sample population of 95 undergraduate students in determining the right stores to research on every product. The products in both pretest experiments required that the respondents were familiar with the products and able to categorize the products to be either low or high involvement. The final study, which was the main research, aimed at testing the hypotheses among 270 students.
They were all pursuing their undergraduate courses. The research also aimed at testing the undergraduates’ perceptions of the store image product quality and willingness of the customers to purchase the products (Champion et al., 2010). Since the sample population consisted of psychology and business students, Champion et al. (2010) say that the diversity would bring about rich results.
The researchers provided each student with different versions of questionnaire where they would respond to the queries based on different products. The evaluation and description of the product was dependent on the ability of the students to give their perspectives about the product just after viewing it.
The results indicated that there is a strong association between store image and the willingness of the customers to purchase a product. Besides, Champion et al. (2010) assert that the hypothesis that a strong image store may in turn change the customer’s perception about the product’s quality is correct.
Besides, the hypothesis that the heightened store image may lead to increased willingness of the buyers to purchase the product is true. The rationale is that out of 270 students who took part in the research, over 200 hundred students responded that a store image is important in highlight the products overall quality even if there was reduced involvement with the product.
Inter relationship of marketing concepts
To this end, it is important to analyze marketing concepts in line with the above research results and their significance in the field of marketing. Mitchell (2001) says that marketing research indicates that it is critical for companies to have a marketing rationale that increases its store image. This will in turn lead to ability and willingness of the buyers to purchase the company’s products giving it an edge over their rivals.
In addition, having the appropriate marketing strategy leads to the ability of the company to producing goods that solve the needs of consumers and derive value to them due the price strategy (Van den Poel & Leunis, 1999). It is apparent that a feasible marketing mix also ensures that the store image that the company promotes will be informative to the customer.
This leads to increased willingness of the customers to purchase the products. Besides, the customers are able to access the products given that the company assumes the right channel of distribution.
Marketing strategy involves managing a particular product. A company may have a broad range of products and there is the need to manage the products through developed plan. Companies come up with a design and a plan to manage its products and activities, which culminates to the marketing strategy.
Another aspect of the marketing plan that people ought to be aware of is the concept of marketing segmentation (Mitchell, 2001). It is related to the marketing strategy since it aims at enhancing the company’s ability to meet the needs of segments of the customers uniquely. Customer segmentation implies that specific clients with similar needs receive customized products.
Throughout the fiscal year of a company, Van den Poel & Leunis (1999) articulate that the marketing strategy elicits appraisal and reviews from the marketing department. It is important for a company designs a strategy that has a specific time. As such, the strategy must be articulate on its marketing life cycles for all its products.
This is in recognition that different products have different life cycles ranging from brand awareness to maturation. In addition, the company employs a pricing strategy during the marketing process that dictates the demand for its goods. Although the pricing of goods is a major factor in increasing the company’s revenues, Champion et al. (2010) assert that the store image ought to be an integral part of the marketing strategy.
The rationale is that a heightened store image may lead to improved perception about the products’ quality regardless of the level of involvement that the customers exhibit. In addition, a company should use research as a way of identifying its target market. Target market is the segment of the population that has specific characteristics such gender belonging, race, ethnicity and nationality (Van den Poel & Leunis, 1999).
This helps the company to arrive at the market that it can reap revenues and ultimately, increase brand awareness. This is by embarking on an appropriate marketing selection process that encompasses the entire marketing strategy (Mitchell, 2001).
References
Champion, J., Hunt, J., & Hunt, T. (2010). The Effect of Retail Store on Student Perceptions of merchandise quality and willingness to buy. American Journal of Business Research, 3(1), 1-17.
Mitchell, V. (2001). Re‐conceptualizing consumer store image processing using perceived risk. Journal of Business Research, 54(2), 167‐172.
Van den Poel, D., & Leunis, J. (1999). Consumer acceptance of the internet as a channel of distribution. Journal of Business Research, 45(3), 249‐256.
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