دانلود رایگان مقاله ساخت فروشگاه محل یادگیری اثر فعالیت آموزش داخل فروشگاه قانونی خرده فروشان قصد خرید

abstract

This article considers the store as a place of learning and builds on institutional theory to examine whether the implementation of educational activities in the store environment has a positive effect on consumer perceptions of retailer legitimacy and whether such legitimacy in turn has positive effects on shopping intentions. Findings from a study conducted in a real retail setting reveal that although in-store activities do not exert main effects on legitimacy and shopping intentions, corporate attributions play a major role. Precisely, the value that consumers derive from practicing an in-store educational activity increase retailer legitimacy and shopping intentions only when consumers do not perceive any corporate goals behind the implementation of the activity. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

5. Conclusion and discussion

5.1. Theoretical contributions This study presents two main theoretical contributions. First, the idea that firms have social obligations that go beyond economic and legal responsibilities and that they must take an interest in the welfare of the community and in education has long been argued (e.g. Carroll, 1991; McGuire, 1963) but receives little empirical attention. In the retailing literature more specifically, the examination of the educational role of retailers is very scarce (Hollenbeck et al., 2008; Sands et al., 2015). This study thus contributes to retailing literature with this empirical study conducted in a real retail setting that is the first to provide clear field evidence of the effects of educational in-store activities. The results suggest that a store is not only a place of exchange and social relationships (Bloch et al., 1994) but also a place of learning where consumers can go to discover, practice, and increase their knowledge through courses provided by the retailer. As such, implementing instore educational activities can't be considered to be any other social action because these additional activities lead retailers to broaden their social roles and to endorse the role of educators. Because education is widely considered a universal value (Darling-Hammond, 1997; Mason, 2001), this research argues that implementing such educational activities may help retailers increase their legitimacy, that is, the extent to which they are socially accepted and embedded (Arnold et al., 2001; Suchman, 1995). Nevertheless, the first important result of this study highlights the absence of positive main effects of in-store educational activities. A comparison of the levels of legitimacy and shopping intentions across conditions of participation indicates that practicing an educational activity in the retail setting does not have any positive effects. However, an interesting result is that practicing a lower-priced activity leads to an increase in legitimacy as compared to a higher-priced activity. In other words, when consumers engage in a higher-priced (versus lower-priced) activity, they perceive the retailer as less able to provide services that meet their own needs and those of the society compared to other retailers (Handelman & Arnold, 1999).