HEDONIC AND UTILITARIAN SHOPPING VALUES: ANTECEDENTS AND RELATIONSHIP WITH RETAIL OUTCOMES

Abstract

Induced by the recent debate regarding the influence that the store environment can have on consumers and by the massive amount of resources that retailers have spent in order to create satisfied consumers, this study proposes a new model in which the relationship between store environment variables (physical environment, organization, assortment, and salesman service) and retail outcomes variables (satisfaction, repurchase intention, and word-of-mouth) is mediated by hedonic and
utilitarian shopping values. To test the theoretical model, data were collected from the 399 respondents who purchased appliances at a store located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The results indicated that among the environmental variables of the store, only the assistance of salesman has positively influenced the values of hedonic and utilitarian shopping. Hedonic shopping value influenced positively all the retail outcomes variables while utilitarian shopping value did not influence any of them. The results suggest that in this particular case, hedonic shopping value was much more important than utilitarian shopping value to determine purchase satisfaction, repurchase intention, and intention of word-of-mouth. The results also suggest the greater importance of salesman service in situations that the store environment is not especially attractive or different.