Conceptualizing and Measuring the Design of Retail Environments
Julie Steen (DBA Graduate), Brian N. Rutherford (Dissertation Chair), Barry J. Babin (Second Supervisor) and Joe F. Hair (Reader)
Overview
In the current business climate, some retailers struggle to stay relevant and competitive. Research suggests that a store’s environment heavily influences consumer behavior, including the amount of money spent. Retail environments are assessed along three dimensions: ambient, social, and design. Marketing researchers have investigated the ambient dimension for over forty years and, more recently, turned their attention to the social dimension, but the design dimension has been relatively overlooked. The literature has not yet proposed a definition or a measurement scale. This study addresses these shortcomings in three ways. First, based on the marketing and architecture literatures, it develops a conceptual definition of retail environment design (RED) as multisensory, preplanned, and difficult to change, with four facets: functionality, aesthetic qualities, lighting, and signage. Second, the study develops the 20-item retail environment design (RED) scale for measuring each of the four facets. Finally, the scale is found to be nomologically valid. The outcome is a reliable and valid scale that can be used in future research and by retailers seeking to remain relevant and competitive.
14 | DBA Summaries
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