• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.147-175
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of store choice criteria on customer satisfaction and store loyalty, and the moderating effects of customer emotions on the causal relationship between store choice criteria and customer satisfaction. In this regard, this study tries to identify the effects of store choice criteria on customer satisfaction and store loyalty in case of mass merchandisers, and to analyze the moderating effects of customer emotions on the causal relationship between store choice criteria and customer satisfaction. For this purpose, 300 customers, who have ever shopped at mass merchandisers, were surveyed and 246 valid responses were finally used for the data analysis. The results of this study are as follows. First, out of six store choice criteria, product factors, store reputation and physical environment turn out to have statistically significant effects on customer satisfaction. This result confirms those of the previous studies. On the other hand, store accessibility, subsidiary facilities and store atmosphere are not found to have statistically significant effects on customer satisfaction. This result is somewhat different from those of previous studies, and so further research on the subject needs to be carried out. Secondly, it turns out that customer satisfaction has a statistically significant effect on store loyalty, which is in line with the results of previous studies that perceived emotions affect customers' store attitudes which in turn influence their revisit intentions. Thirdly, as for the moderating effects of customer emotions on the relationship between store choice criteria and customer satisfaction, pleasure moderates the effects of store accessibility, subsidiary facilities and store atmosphere on customer satisfaction, arousal moderates the effects of product factors, subsidiary facilities and store reputation on customer satisfaction, and finally dominance moderates the effects of product factors and subsidiary facilities on customer satisfaction. These findings partially support the results of previous studies that customers' in-store emotional experiences such as feeling good or bad enhance their store loyalty.