The Explanatory Potential of Congruence in the Relationship Between Retail Image , Brand Image and Retail Customer Satisfaction

This paper aims to contribute to current customer satisfaction and retailing literature by conceptualising the relationship between retail image, brand image and whether a congruent relationship between the two influences customer satisfaction. Whilst most literature pertaining to customer satisfaction tends to consider the concept in terms of an independent variable, this paper seeks to explore retail image and brand image as antecedents to achieving this state and further proposing the mediating explanatory potential that a congruent relationship between the two plays. A conceptual model is developed, central constructs and subsequent research propositions are discussed. Introduction The retail services industry plays a significant role within the Australian economy, accounting for 40% of final household consumption expenditure (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007). Further, the clothing and soft goods sector within this industry has experienced significant growth over the past five years; a six percent increase per annum, from $10.6 billion to $14 billion in 2006 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007). Apparel retailing is a growing, multidimensional sector where retailers strive to gain competitive advantage over their competitors. One way retailer’s can gain this competitive advantage is through achieving higher levels of customer satisfaction. Apparel retailers have dedicated capital and resources to managing the image they present to customers as well as the brands they stock with limited understanding of the influence the two have on one another and subsequent customer satisfaction. There has been little academic investigation examining whether a congruent relationship between the image possessed by both the retailer and its brands affects customer satisfaction; most research in the present area focuses on the sole relationship between retail image and brand image. This paper aims to explore customer satisfaction as such and two key antecedents to achieving it; retail image and brand image and the associated nature of the relationship. Central Theoretical Constructs Customer Satisfaction The first central construct in our conceptual framework is Customer Satisfaction, generally defined as the “post-choice evaluative judgment of a specific purchase occasion” (Anderson et al., 1994 p.54). Greenwell et al (2002 p.131) describe customer satisfaction as the “postchoice, cognitive judgment connected with a particular purchase decision.” Another provides customer satisfaction as “the summary psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumer’s prior feelings about the consumption experience” (Oliver, 1981 p.27). In extending the definition of customer satisfaction to the entire process, Oliver (1981) identifies expectations, disconfirmation,