In the following part of the theoretical framework, theories on consumer behavior including shopping motivation and loyalty will be presented as foundation of the external analysis.
Based on Woodworth (Woodworth, 1992) and other scholar theories, the third research question What motives drive fashion consumers into being loyal customers? will be studied as the organism (O), also referred to as the consumer or customer. In order to evaluate the customer’s motivation process, which can be highly important, in order for fashion brands to understand how they can enhance customer loyalty, the first part of this section will present relevant theories concerning this
Source: Author’s creation based on (Kotler & Keller, Marketing Management, 2009)
matter. Secondly, theories supporting the analysis of the consumer responses towards the communicational tools and how they potentially can generate loyalty, will be presented.
According to Kotler “The marketer’s task is to understand what happens in the consumer’s consciousness between the arrival of the outside marketing stimuli and the ultimate purchase decisions” (Kotler, Marketing Management, 2003). Shopping behavior and motivation has been discussed in numerous consumer behavior researches due to its relevance of effecting consumer decisions.
4.5.2 Shopping motivation
The understanding of consumer motivation in the context of shopping, has been an interesting subject to many scholars throughout the years. According to Tauber (Tauber, 1972), consumers are motivated by two dimensions, which are personal and social motives. These motives have later been investigated, and according to Sheth (Sheth, An Integrative Theory of Patronage Preference and Behavior, 1983) he proposed two additional motives, referred to as functional and non-functional motives. In 1994 Barbin, Darden and Griffin (Barbin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994)
investigated shopping motives within utilitarian and hedonic motives, which later were eloborated by Arnold and Reynolds, whom added six categories within hedonic shopping motives including adventure shopping, social shopping, gratification shopping, idea shopping, role shopping and value shopping. Motives which were later confirmed and generalized together, by Cardoso (Cardoso & Pinto, 2010). These generalizations will later be applied within the external analysis (Part O).
The scholars mentioned in the paragraph above, primarily focus on shopping in terms of offline shopping. However, other theories have focused on the process within an online setting, which also will be included in this thesis do to the fact that online shopping today is inevitable to consider, when coping with the subject of consumer behavior in the context of fashion brands.
4.5.3 Shopping orientation
In relation to shopping motives and literature concerning the subject, thesis’ on the subject vary, however, despite these variations this thesis will elaborate on two motivational orientations; the hedonic motivational orientation and the utilitarian motivational orientation (Westbrook & Black,
1985). Utilitarian shopping has been described in several ways with adverbs such efficient, rational, deliberate and task oriented. Thus, it is all about actual need and function, which includes meeting basic needs, finding greater convenience, seeking variety, why purchasing is a problem-solving activity. In the context of this activity, consumers will experience that they achieved something (Barbin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994).
In opposite, hedonic shopping involves emotional and more sensitive aspects within the customers’
experience with products. This experience is driven by the customers’ desire for fun, entertainment and satisfaction, why it is defined as a positive customer experience, regardless if a purchase is made or not (Arnold & Reynolds, 2003).
Based on the field of shopping motives this section concludes, that whether consumer motives are based on hedonic or utilitarian needs, they are important in order to examine future consumer intentions. The table below illustrates the differences between the motives discussed above.
Table 2: Differentiating factors between Utilitarian and Hedonic shopping motives
4.6 Theories Applied in the Response Part
With the range of brands and products available today, consumers have an unpresented number of opinions when purchasing, which makes the competition for consumer attention even harder for the retailers. The research within the field of customer loyalty has been examined for decades, and due to the development of the Internet, the examination of loyalty in the context of marketing is still a great topic of interest. According to Sheth (Sheth, How Adults Learn Brand Preference, 1968), the behavioral approach, states that a consumer is loyal when he regularly purchases the same brand.
Thus, loyalty is measured based on actual purchase behavior, including retention rates, sequence of
UTILITARIAN MOTIVES The Rational Approach
HEDONIC MOTIVES The Emotional Approach
- Achievement shopping for a specific purchase and goal
- Necessity shopping - Efficiency shopping
- Adventure shopping for stimulation and excitement - Gratification shopping to enhance one’s mood - Social shopping to experience pleasure from interacting
with others
- Idea shopping to stay current with trends
- Role shopping to gain pleasure from buying for others - Value shopping
Source: Author’s creation based on (Arnold &
Reynolds, 2003) & (Cardoso & Pinto, 2010)
purchase, purchase probability etc. In opposite, Jacoby and Chestnut (Jacoby & Chestnut, 1978), suggest that the behavioral definition is inadequate, because it does not differentiate the true loyalty and the spurious loyalty, which occur when no alternatives are available. However, in addition to the criticism, researchers including Engel and Blackwell have proposed a measurement of loyalty referred to as attitudinal loyalty in opposite the behavioral dimension (Engel & Blackwell, 1982).
Loyalty has been expressed as a biased behavioral purchase process as a result of a psychological process (ibid). Furthermore, brand loyalty has been perceived as “a favorable attitude toward a brand resulting in consistent purchase of the brand over time” by Assael (Assael, 2001), whom is supported by Keller who, furthermore, suggests that loyalty is present when favorable attitudes for a brand are manifested in repeated buying behavior (Keller, Conceptualizing, Measuring, and
Managing Customer-based Brand Equity , 1991).
4.6.1 Customer satisfaction
According to Selnes (Selnes, 1993), it has been suggested that brand reputation is a major driver of customer loyalty, and hence companies seek to increase the equity of their brands. Furthermore, he states how quality affects not only customer satisfaction, but also the reputation of the brand. Why, both the reputation and customer satisfaction are important determinants. While concluding the lack of research within the field of marketing communication drivers and loyalty, scholars from
disciplines as diverse as human resources, engineering, and marketing have identified different antecedents to (dis) satisfaction. The primary distinction between these antecedents is that (1) some increase satisfaction when present but do not increase dissatisfaction when absent, (2) some
increase satisfaction when absent but do not increase satisfaction when present, (3) some impact both satisfaction and dissatisfaction and negative evaluations to the extent that they are present or absent, and (4) some have no impact on satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Due to the marketing perspective of this thesis, the terms satisfiers, dissatisfiers, criticals, and neutrals refer to these factors (Vargo, Nagao, He, & Morgan, 2007) (Cadotte & Turgeon, 1988)(Appendix 12).