Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.5805/SFTI.2018.20.5.509

A Study of Consumers' Responses to the Attributes of Salespeople in Fashion Retail Stores  

Seo, Min Jeong (Dept. of Fashion Design, Chonbuk National University)
Jun, Daegeun (Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, Andong National University)
Publication Information
Fashion & Textile Research Journal / v.20, no.5, 2018 , pp. 509-519 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study is to examine the effects of salespeople' attributes (i.e., empathy, availability, professional appearance) on consumer cognition, emotion, and behavior. A conceptual model was developed based on stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory and cognition-emotion theory. A total of 542 questionnaires were collected online and some incompletely written questionnaires were excluded. Because of the high possibility of memory distortion, only the questionnaires (n=220) written by those who visited fashion stores within one week were used for the final analysis. The results of PLS analyses demonstrated that 1) salespeople's empathy directly affected consumers' shopping emotion; 2) salespeople's availability and professional appearance indirectly affected consumer's shopping emotion through store image; 3) consumers' shopping emotion positively affected purchase intention. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in conclusion. As a result of this research, the main characteristics of the salespeople were identified in order to allow the consumers visiting the fashion store to buy the fashion products naturally and the basic directions of sales manuals for the salespeople in the fashion store were presented. It is also hoped that academic researchers will be able to use the characteristics of salespeople as the main data to understand how they affect consumers' cognitive and emotional responses and how they are connected to purchase behavior.
Keywords
salespeople; empathy; cognition-emotion; purchase intention;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Kim, H. S. (2013). The effect of nonverbal communication of salesperson on conflict, intimacy and repatronage intention of customer: Focused on the difference by customer gender. Journal of the Korean Society of Design Culture, 19(1), 132-142.
2 Kim, J., Ju, H. W., & Johnson, K. K. P. (2009). Sales associate's appearance: Links to consumers' emotions, store image, and purchases. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 16(5), 407-413. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2009.06.001   DOI
3 Kim, J. H., & Huo, L. S. (2011). Assessing customer emotional reactions toward the physical environment of multiplex cinemas. Journal of Marketing Management Research, 16(1), 1-26.
4 Kim, M. J., Lee, H. R., & Chae, M. S. (2015). The influence of drugstore environment on perceived overall atmosphere, emotion, and revisiting intentions. Journal of Distribution Research, 20(3), 1-22. doi:10.17657/jcr.2015.07.31.1
5 Kim, S. H. (2006a). The effect of cognitive and emotional empathy on emotional dissonance and prosocial behavior to customer. Korean Marketing Review, 21(2), 115-147.
6 Kim, S. H. (2006b). A study on relationship of salesperson's emotional intelligence, burnout, and customer-oriented selling behavior. Korean Management Review, 35(1), 183-225.
7 Kim, S. H. (2007). Effect of the verbal and non-verbal communication of salespersons in service encounter on customers' emotion and behavioral intention: Focusing on the emotional contagion phenomenon. Journal of Consumer Studies, 18(1), 97-131.
8 Kim, Y. J., Lee, Y. R., & Kim, B. R. (2014). Impact of salespersons and other customers in a fashion store: Focus on physical attractiveness and self-image congruence. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 38(6), 783-795. doi:10.5850/JKSCT.2014.38.6.783   DOI
9 Kim, S. H. (2009). Is salespersons' service faked or authentic?: The effects of authenticity perceived by customers about salespersons' emotional labor on service quality evaluation. Journal of Korean Marketing Association, 24(3), 1-33.
10 Kim, S. H. (2015). Your pleasure leads to my pleasure?: Double face of positive emotion by attributions of a successful purchase. Korean Management Review, 44(5), 1391-1420. doi:10.17287/kmr.2015.44.5.1391   DOI
11 Koo, D. M., & Lee, J. H. (2011). Inter- relationships among dominance, energetic and tense arousal, and pleasure, and differences in their impacts under online vs. offline environment. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1740-1750. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.03.001   DOI
12 Kumar, A., & Kim, Y. K. (2014). The store-as-a-brand strategy: The effect of store environment on customer responses. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(5), 685-695. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.04.008   DOI
13 Kyung, M., & Seo, S. (2018). A study on the classification of department store by store image and store image attributes influencing the classification of department stores. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume, 68(1), 109-125.   DOI
14 Mazursky, D., & Jacoby, J. (1986). Exploring the development of store images. Journal of Retailing, 62(2), 145-165.
15 Lazarus, R. S. (1984). On the primacy of cognition. American Psychologist, 39(2), 124-129. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.39.2.124   DOI
16 Lee, H. H., & Moon, H. K. (2012). Consumer responses to retailer's location-based mobile shopping service: Focusing on PAD emotional state model and information relevance. Journal of Distribution Research, 17(2), 63-92.
17 Lee, J. H., & Hur, A. H. (2008). Comparison of the salesperson's service on fashion retailing formats: Focused on department store, discount store, and outlet store. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing Industry, 10(3), 289-297.
18 Lee, S. H., Comer, L. B., Dubinsky, A. J., & Schafer, K. (2011). The role of emotion in the relationship between customers and automobile salespeople. Journal of Managerial Issues, 23(2), 206-226.
19 Mazaheri, E., Richard, M. O., & Laroche, M. (2011). Online consumer behavior: Comparing Canadian and Chinese website visitors. Journal of Business Research, 64, 958-965. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.11.018   DOI
20 Mehrabian, A. (1996). Pleasure-arousal-dominance: A general framework for describing and measuring individual differences in temperament. Current Psychology, 14(4), 261-292. doi:10.1007/BF02686918   DOI
21 Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.
22 Menon, S., & Kahn, B. (2002). Cross-category effects of induced arousal and pleasure on the internet shopping experience. Journal of Retailing, 78, 31-40. doi:10.1016/S0022-4359(01)00064-1   DOI
23 Mortimer, G., & Clarke, P. (2011). Supermarket consumers and gender differences relating to their perceived importance levels of store characteristics. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 18(6), 575-585. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2011.08.007   DOI
24 Russell, J. A., & Mehrabian, A. (1977). Evidence for a three- factor theory of emotions. Journal of Research in Personality, 11(3), 273-294. doi:10.1016/0092-6566(77)90037-X   DOI
25 Nagasawa, R. H., Hutton, S. S., & Kaiser, S. B. (1991). A paradigm for the study of the social meaning of clothes: Complementarity of social-psychological theories. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 10(1), 53-62. doi:10.1177/0887302X9101000108   DOI
26 Park, M. J., & Lee, S. E. (2009). The effect of VMD image appropriateness on consumers' affective, cognitive, and conative responses: Testing models based on the emotion-cognition theory and the cognitive theory of emotions. The Research Journal of the Costume Culture, 17(3), 459-471. doi:10.29049/rjcc.2009.17.3.459   DOI
27 Roy, S., & Ghosh, L. (2013). Understanding apparel store image: A scale development approach. Journal of Services Research, 13(2), 53-70.
28 Sharma, A., & Levy, M. (2003). Salespeople's affect toward customers why should it be important for retailers?. Journal of Business Research, 56(7), 523-528. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(01)00248-X   DOI
29 Sharma, A., & Stafford, T. F. (2000). The effect of retail atmospherics on customers' perceptions of salespeople and customer persuasion: An empirical investigation. Journal of Business Research, 49(2), 183-191. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00004-1   DOI
30 Sherman, E., Mathur, A., & Smith, R. B. (1997). Store environment and consumer purchase behavior: Mediating role of consumer emotions. Psychology & Marketing, 14(4), 361-378. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6793(199707)14:4<361::AID-MAR4>3.0.CO;2-7   DOI
31 Chang, H. J., Eckman, M., & Yan, R. N. (2011). Application of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to the retail environment: the role of hedonic motivation in impulse buying behavior. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 21(3), 233-249. doi:10.1080/09593969.2011.578798
32 Ward, J. C., & Barnes, J. W. (2001). Control and affect: The influence of feeling in control of the retail environment on affect, involvement, attitude, and behavior. Journal of Business Research, 54(2), 139-144. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00083-1   DOI
33 Woody, E. (2011). An SEM perspective on evaluating mediation: What every clinical researcher needs to know. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 2(2), 210-251. doi:10.5127/jep.010410   DOI
34 Yoo, C. J., Park, J. H., & MacInnis, D. J. (1998). Effects of store characteristics and in- store emotional experience on store attitude. Journal of Business Research, 42(3), 253-263. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(97)00122-7   DOI
35 Yurchisin, J., & Damhorst, M. L. (2009). An investigation of salesperson appearance and organizational identification. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 13(3), 458-470. doi:10.1108/13612020910974555   DOI
36 Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35(2), 151-175. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.35.2.151   DOI
37 Abnett, K. (2016, May 19). The robot opportunity. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved May 22, 2016, from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-tech/the-robotics-opportunitymanufacturing-efficiencies
38 Babin, B. J., & Darden, W. R. (1995). Consumer self-regulation in a retail environment. Journal of Retailing, 71(1), 47-70. doi:10.1016/0022-4359(95)90012-8   DOI
39 Baker, J., Grewal, D., & Parasuraman, A. (1994). The influence of store environment on quality inferences and store image. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(4), 328-339. doi:10.1177/0092070394224002   DOI
40 Carrig, D. (2016, August 11). Top retailers that are closing stores in 2016. USA Today. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/08/11/retailersclosing-stores-macys-walmart-kmart-sears-aeropostale/88560318/
41 Das, G. (2014). Factors affecting Indian shoppers  attitude and purchase intention: An empirical check. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(4), 561-569. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser. 2014.04.005   DOI
42 Chebat, J. C., & Michon, R. (2003). Impact of ambient odors on mall shoppers' emotions, cognition, and spending: A test of competitive causal theories. Journal of Business Research, 56(7), 529-539. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(01)00247-8   DOI
43 Cho, Y. N., Rutherford, B. N., & Park, J. K. (2013). Emotional labor's impact in a retail environment. Journal of Business Research, 66(11), 2338-2345. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.04.015   DOI
44 Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
45 Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K. A., & Davis, L. M. (2003). Empirical testing of a model of online store atmospherics and shopper responses. Psychology & Marketing, 20(2), 139-150. doi:10.1002/mar.10064   DOI
46 Davis, M. H., Mitchell, K. V., Hall, J. A., Lothert, J., Snapp, T., & Meyer, M. (1999). Empathy, expectations, and situational preferences: Personality influences on the decision to participate in volunteer helping behaviors. Journal of Personality, 67(3), 469-503. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00062   DOI
47 Donovan, R. J., & Rossiter, J. R. (1982). Store atmosphere: An environmental psychology approach. Journal of Retailing, 58(1), 34-57.
48 Donovan, R. J., Rossiter, J. R., Marcoolyn, G., & Nesdale, A. (1994). Store atmosphere and purchasing behavior. Journal of Retailing, 70(3), 283-294. doi:10.1016/0022-4359(94)90037-X   DOI
49 Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
50 Jang, S. C., & Namkung, Y. (2009). Perceived quality, emotions, and behavioral intentions: Application of an extended Mehrabian-Russell model to restaurants. Journal of Business Research, 62(4), 451-460. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.01.038   DOI
51 Jung, S. J. (2014, December 4). The boom that online retailers are launching offline stores [온라인만 하던 인터넷몰, 오프라인 賣場(매장)개설 붐]. ChosunBiz. Retrieved May 1, 2016, from http://biz.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/12/24/2014122400080.html
52 Kim, H. L. (2016, May 12). 인공지능 '로봇'....백화점 매장서 옷 골라주다! [AI robots recommend clothing at department stores]. TV Chosun. Retrieved from http://news.tvchosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/05/12/2016051290206.html