Fashion Store Personality: Scale Development and Relation to Self-Congruity Theory
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Over five decades ago, Martineau (1958, p. 47) introducedthe notion of store personality (SP), which he defined as “theway in which the store is defined in the shopper’s mind, partlyby its functional qualities and partly by an aura of psychologicalattributes”. The strategic role of these symbolic, humanlikeattributes that can be attributed to stores, has been empiricallydemonstrated, with respect to customer satisfaction andperceived retail differentiation (Chun & Davies, 2006), as wellas with respect to store patronage and loyalty behavior (Sirgy& Samli, 1985; Zentes, Morschett, & Schramm-Klein, 2008). A potential and reasonable explanation of the power of associationswith humanlike personality, can be found in theself-congruity theory. This theoretical framework argues that ifretailers can position their stores in such a way that thestore’s personality is congruent with that of target shoppers,they are likely to succeed in attracting and retaining these consumers(Bellenger, Steinberg, & Stanton, 1976; Zentes et al.,2008), which would in turn enhance profitability (Sirgy,Grewal, & Mangleburg, 2000). However, self-image congruityis still in its infancy in retailing research (Chebat, El Hedhli,& Sirgy, 2009; O’Cass & Grace, 2008; Sirgy et al., 2000), incomparison to the extensive corroborations of the theory acrossmany product categories (Sirgy, 1982). The present study aimsto fill this gap in the literature, focusing on fashion retailingin particular. As image and identity concepts are arguablymore salient in fashion retailing than in any other sector(Cheng, Hines, & Grime, 2008; Zentes et al., 2008), store personalityperceptions can be expected to be particularly relevantin this area of the retail industry. Compared to weekly groceryshopping, for instance, shopping for clothes is an opportunityfor self-expression par excellence (Buttle, 1992; for an overviewof the role of clothing, see Burns, 2010). We start by introducing “concept-scale interaction” effects inSection 1. This phenomenon implies that rather than applying general brand/store personality scales such as the ones thatwere developed by Aaker (1997) or d’Astous and Lévesque(2003), it is advisable to adopt a contextual approach by developinga SP scale tailor-made for fashion retailing. InSection 2, we subsequently define the construct “fashion storepersonality” according to Rossiter’s (2002) C-OAR-SE procedureand Section 3 briefly discusses self-congruity theory andits applications in a retail context. Subsequently, a measurement instrument is developed forFashion Store Personality (FSP) in Section 4. The scale constructionprocedure consists of three steps. First, repertory gridanalysis is carried out in fifty-one individual interviews, in orderto generate adjectives that people naturally use to describethe personality of fashion stores. Female participants dominatethroughout this study as the interest in fashion is characteristicamong women within this age range (Evans, 1993) and clothingfor men is often bought by their female partner (Banister& Hogg, 2004). After a preliminary purification of the eliciteditem pool, a consumer survey (n=481) is carried out. Bymeans of Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotationfive underlying FSP dimensions are identified in the resultingdataset: “chaos”, “innovativeness”, “sophistication”, “agreeableness”,and “conspicuousness”. The psychometric properties ofthis measurement instrument are checked and the scale’s reliability,stability and validity meet the common standards. Subsequently, based on this operationalization, the role ofself-congruity in the context of fashion retailing is explored inSection 5. First, the extent to which consumers shop in fashionstores with a personality that they perceive to be similarto their own, is studied (Section 5.1). An inspection of thecorrelations between the consumer’s self-image and her perceptionsof FSP of her most patronized fashion store supports theidea of SC theory in fashion retailing. Furthermore, a multidimensionalscaling (MDS) visually identifies, in a multidimensionalspace, which types of consumer personality do or donot cluster with certain types of fashion store personality. Overall, the findings indicate that (1) agreeable consumersseem to patronize agreeable fashion stores, (2) open-mindedand extraverted consumers correspond to innovative fashionstores, (3) sophisticated and little chaotic stores match bestwith conscientious consumers, and (4) neuroticism in a consumeris found to be associated with conspicuousness and chaosin a fashion store. Finally, the relative importance of thefive FSP dimensions in explaining fashion store choice is assessedusing a stepwise multiple discriminant analysis (Section5.2). Overall, the results indicate that it is worthwhile to takeFSP into consideration when explaining consumers store choices. In particular, chaos and sophistication are the two FSPdimensions that consumers mind most when choosing a fashionstore to patronize. As self-image congruence seems to have an impact on consumers’store choice, the findings of the present study highlightthe role of FSP in retailing positioning strategies. In orderfor retailers to exhibit a personality that matches the oneof their target group, a wide variety of tools can be used(Brengman & Willems, 2009, on determinants of fashion storepersonality). Further research could provide additional supportfor this scale’s superiority over general brand/personality scales. Moreover, a cross-cultural validation as well as a study of thescale’s use among male consumers would be valuable.
Abstract
Over five decades ago, Martineau (1958, p. 47) introducedthe notion of store personality (SP), which he defined as “theway in which the store is defined in the shopper’s mind, partlyby its functional qualities and partly by an aura of psychologicalattributes”. The strategic role of these symbolic, humanlikeattributes that can be attributed to stores, has been empiricallydemonstrated, with respect to customer satisfaction andperceived retail differentiation (Chun & Davies, 2006), as wellas with respect to store patronage and loyalty behavior (Sirgy& Samli, 1985; Zentes, Morschett, & Schramm-Klein, 2008). A potential and reasonable explanation of the power of associationswith humanlike personality, can be found in theself-congruity theory. This theoretical framework argues that ifretailers can position their stores in such a way that thestore’s personality is congruent with that of target shoppers,they are likely to succeed in attracting and retaining these consumers(Bellenger, Steinberg, & Stanton, 1976; Zentes et al.,2008), which would in turn enhance profitability (Sirgy,Grewal, & Mangleburg, 2000). However, self-image congruityis still in its infancy in retailing research (Chebat, El Hedhli,& Sirgy, 2009; O’Cass & Grace, 2008; Sirgy et al., 2000), incomparison to the extensive corroborations of the theory acrossmany product categories (Sirgy, 1982). The present study aimsto fill this gap in the literature, focusing on fashion retailingin particular. As image and identity concepts are arguablymore salient in fashion retailing than in any other sector(Cheng, Hines, & Grime, 2008; Zentes et al., 2008), store personalityperceptions can be expected to be particularly relevantin this area of the retail industry. Compared to weekly groceryshopping, for instance, shopping for clothes is an opportunityfor self-expression par excellence (Buttle, 1992; for an overviewof the role of clothing, see Burns, 2010). We start by introducing “concept-scale interaction” effects inSection 1. This phenomenon implies that rather than applying general brand/store personality scales such as the ones thatwere developed by Aaker (1997) or d’Astous and Lévesque(2003), it is advisable to adopt a contextual approach by developinga SP scale tailor-made for fashion retailing. InSection 2, we subsequently define the construct “fashion storepersonality” according to Rossiter’s (2002) C-OAR-SE procedureand Section 3 briefly discusses self-congruity theory andits applications in a retail context. Subsequently, a measurement instrument is developed forFashion Store Personality (FSP) in Section 4. The scale constructionprocedure consists of three steps. First, repertory gridanalysis is carried out in fifty-one individual interviews, in orderto generate adjectives that people naturally use to describethe personality of fashion stores. Female participants dominatethroughout this study as the interest in fashion is characteristicamong women within this age range (Evans, 1993) and clothingfor men is often bought by their female partner (Banister& Hogg, 2004). After a preliminary purification of the eliciteditem pool, a consumer survey (n=481) is carried out. Bymeans of Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotationfive underlying FSP dimensions are identified in the resultingdataset: “chaos”, “innovativeness”, “sophistication”, “agreeableness”,and “conspicuousness”. The psychometric properties ofthis measurement instrument are checked and the scale’s reliability,stability and validity meet the common standards. Subsequently, based on this operationalization, the role ofself-congruity in the context of fashion retailing is explored inSection 5. First, the extent to which consumers shop in fashionstores with a personality that they perceive to be similarto their own, is studied (Section 5.1). An inspection of thecorrelations between the consumer’s self-image and her perceptionsof FSP of her most patronized fashion store supports theidea of SC theory in fashion retailing. Furthermore, a multidimensionalscaling (MDS) visually identifies, in a multidimensionalspace, which types of consumer personality do or donot cluster with certain types of fashion store personality. Overall, the findings indicate that (1) agreeable consumersseem to patronize agreeable fashion stores, (2) open-mindedand extraverted consumers correspond to innovative fashionstores, (3) sophisticated and little chaotic stores match bestwith conscientious consumers, and (4) neuroticism in a consumeris found to be associated with conspicuousness and chaosin a fashion store. Finally, the relative importance of thefive FSP dimensions in explaining fashion store choice is assessedusing a stepwise multiple discriminant analysis (Section5.2). Overall, the results indicate that it is worthwhile to takeFSP into consideration when explaining consumers store choices. In particular, chaos and sophistication are the two FSPdimensions that consumers mind most when choosing a fashionstore to patronize. As self-image congruence seems to have an impact on consumers’store choice, the findings of the present study highlightthe role of FSP in retailing positioning strategies. In orderfor retailers to exhibit a personality that matches the oneof their target group, a wide variety of tools can be used(Brengman & Willems, 2009, on determinants of fashion storepersonality). Further research could provide additional supportfor this scale’s superiority over general brand/personality scales. Moreover, a cross-cultural validation as well as a study of thescale’s use among male consumers would be valuable.
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