Impact of store personality on store loyalty: a study of Vietnamese specialized store chains

Abstract

This study aims to develop store personality measurement scale tailor-made for household and electronics store chains in Vietnam, an Asian transitional economy, and to examine the degree of influence of each store personality dimensions on store loyalty. The scale development is conducted in two stages: item generation and item purification. The new scale is applied to a data survey of 268 shoppers in Ho Chi Minh City (a metropolitan city in southern Vietnam) by systematic sampling. Multivariate data analysis techniques like exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling are used to analyze the data. The results reveal that store personality measurement scale is structured into four dimensions: reliability, sophistication, economy, and enthusiasm with 22 items as observed variables and store personality impacts on loyalty behavior mediated by attitudinal loyalty. Particularly, these four dimensions are found to be correlated significantly with attitudinal loyalty but not with loyalty behavior except for economy—reliability and sophistication have positive impacts, whereas economy and enthusiasm negatively relate to attitudinal loyalty. The findings help retail managers with effective positioning strategy.