MARKETING ORIENTATION IN EMERGING

ECONOMIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING IN FOOD
RETAILING OUTLETS

A THESIS

Submitted by

SUJA S

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

ANNA UNIVERSITY
CHENNAI 600 025

OCTOBER 2019
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CHAPTER 5

5 RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 PREAMBLE

Most organized retail outlets have recognized the importance of

retaining the existing customers for the successful and profitable long-run
business, as the cost of creating a new customer is six times more than the cost
of retaining an existing customer (Kotler 1977). Researchers have found that
even a satisfied customer has got minimal chances of doing repeat purchases
with the same outlet in the present competitive scenario, whereas an engaged
customers are willing to defend, promote and do battle with others, if required,
on behalf of the company/outlet (Dooley 2006). Hence customer satisfaction
can only be the first step for lasting relationships, whereas customer
engagement would retain the customer with the company/outlet for the long-
run or lifetime relationships. Customer engagement can be brought into
practice by the retailing outlets through the experiences offered by experiential
marketing.

Based on the review of literature, a theoretical model is

developed to verify the possible relationship between the experiences offered
by ―experiential marketing‖ consisting of sense, feel, think, act and relate
experiences and ―customer engagement‖ consisting of focused attention,
perceived usability, endurability, novelty, aesthetics and felt involvement,
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leading to the creation of ―post purchase involvement‖, consisting of value,
trust, affective commitment, word-of-mouth, loyalty and brand community
involvement. A questionnaire based survey elicits responses from, 1497
customers of organised food retail outlets and the findings of the study are
presented.

5.2 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

The findings of the study are as follows

5.2.1 Profile of the Respondents

Demographic profile: The age of the customers of organised food retailing

outlets at malls is found to be that 69% of the customers were in the age group
of 25-46 years. This is very interesting because it shows that a commendable
% of adults are going to organised food retail outlets for the purchase of food
items. Looking at the gender of the respondents it is found that 72% of the
respondents are females. This result shows that the organised food retail
outlets satisfy the needs and wants of the female customers who play a major
role in taking care of the food requirement of the family members. on marital
status it is found that 71% of the customers of organised food retail outlets
were married. Educational qualification also seems to play an important role
in the purchase of groceries at organised food retail outlets since, it is found
that 94% of the customers had more than school education showing that
mostly educated customers are the buyers at organised food retail outlets. on
the basis of occupational status, it is found that majority (98%) of the
shoppers are housewives or earning members of the family. As the housewives
and the earning persons of the family take care of the shopping activities of the
home, and as all the requirements can be got under one roof at the organised
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food retail outlets they may choose the organised retail outlets for their
shopping.

Purchase practices: Looking at the monthly purchase made by the

respondents, it is found that 84% of the respondents were doing monthly
purchases at the food retailing outlets between Rs.5,000 and Rs.20,000.
Considering the mode of transportation used by the customers, it is found that
52% of the customers use cars, 33% use two-wheelers and the remaining 15%
use either bus or the public mode of transportation for their travel purpose. It
has been observed from the result that most of the respondents use their own
vehicles either car or two-wheelers and only a minimal number of customers
use the public mode of transportation for their visits to the organised food
retailing outlets. The purchase practices related to distance from home reveals
an interesting finding that people are not bothered about the distance, i.e.,
people residing at even more than 3km of distance are particular about
purchasing at their chosen food retailing outlets of the malls of their choice.

5.2.2 Customer‟s Perceptions About Experiential Marketing,

Customer Engagement and Post Purchase Involvement

Customer‟s perceptions of Experiential Marketing: Experiential marketing

offers five different types of experiences, namely sense, feel, think, act and
relate experiences for attracting the attention of the customers.

Sense experience: Sense experience consists of visual, hearing, smell, touch

and taste experiences. Visual Experience The findings of the study shows that
window display in addition to light and colour are the top two factors in
creating positive customer‘s perception related to visual experience. The
assortment has been identified as the third factor in influencing the visual
experience of customer perception at organized food retail outlets in shopping
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malls. Hearing Experience Calm and pleasant ambience is the first factor in
influencing the customer‘s perception about the hearing experience. Mild
music and sales bell related to discounts have been ranked as the second and
third hearing experience factors respectively in the customer‘s perception.
Smell Experience Mild refreshing fragrance inside the outlet has been ranked
as the first factor in influencing the customer‘s perception about the outlet.
Likewise, the absence of rotten and foul smell of products has been ranked as
the second factor in driving the customer‘s perception. Touch Experience
Maintenance of mild temperature has been ranked as the first touch factor in
influencing the customer‘s perception. Dust free environment and proper
arrangement of passage space are the two factors which are ranked as the
second factors in influencing the perception of the customers. Taste
Experience Healthier and tastier snacks items for kids have been ranked as the
first factor in influencing the customer‘s perception. Life of taste of groceries
has been ranked as the second factor in influencing the perception of the
customers.

Feel Experience: Proper guidance of service personnel‘s has been ranked as

the first factor in influencing the perception of the customers. Good feel of
shopping environment makes customers to come for repeat purchase has been
ranked as the second factor while safe parking has been ranked as the third
factor in influencing the feel experience of the customers.

Think Experience: Customers spending their valuable time in thinking about

the outlet has been ranked as the first think factor in influencing the
customer‘s perception of think experience. Shopping experience in this outlet
helps in arriving at a decision about the products has been ranked as the
second factor and the first thought of a particular outlet when thinking about
shopping has been ranked as the third factor in influencing the perception of
customers.
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Act Experience: Preparation of new food items in an innovative way has been
ranked as the first act factor in influencing the customer‘s perception. The
outlet fulfills the search for food items has been ranked as the second factor
while attitudinal change to adopt new styles of living has been the third act
experience factor in influencing the perception of the customers.

Relate Experience: Purchase decision related to cultural factors has been

ranked as the first relate factor while that related to family background factors
has been ranked as the second factor in influencing the perception of the
customers. Sharing of shopping experience with friends, family and colleagues
has been the third relate experience factor in influencing the perception of the
customers.

The analysis also reveals that the relate experience has been
higher in the perception of customers among all the five experiences offered
by the strategic experiential modules.

Customer‟s perception of Customer engagement

Focused attention: Customers let themselves move during shopping

experience has been ranked as the first focused attention factor while customer
absorbed in shopping task has been ranked as the second factor in influencing
the perception of the customers. Customer‘s losing track of world around
when shopping has been the third focused attention factor.

Perceived usability: Reliable consistency has been ranked as the first

perceived usability factor in influencing the customer perception. Assured
durability of products has been ranked as the second factor in influencing the
perception of the customers while experiencing pleasurable and memorable
shopping experience and satisfactory adoption of craftsmanship are ranked as
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the third and fourth factors respectively in influencing the perception of
customers.

Aesthetics: Customer‘s like for assortment and spacing has been ranked as the
first aesthetic factor in influencing the perception of the customers. External
layout appealing to visual sense has been ranked as the second factor and
aesthetically appealing outlet and outlet appealing visual sense have been
ranked as the third and fourth factors respectively in influencing the perception
of the customers.

Endurability: Hearing sales call for the purchase of groceries has been ranked
as the first endurability factor in influencing the customer perception.
Approachable location by everyone has been the second endurability factor in
influencing the perception of the customers. Likewise, watching kids channel
before the purchase of any kids products has been ranked as the third
endurability factor. Attractive banners and hoardings has been ranked as the
fourth factor in influencing the perception of customers.

Novelty: Continued shopping at outlet out of curiosity has been ranked as the
first novelty factor while the layout of outlet inciting curiosity among the
customers has been ranked as the second factor in influencing the perception
of the customers. Shopping in the outlet has been a new experience has been
the third novelty factor in influencing the perception of the customers.

Felt Involvement: Customers are drawn into their shopping task has been
ranked as the first felt involvement factor and making the shopping experience
a fun for customers has been ranked as the second factor in influencing the
perception of the customers. Customer‘s trying to bring their friends, family
members and colleagues during shopping has been the third felt involvement
factor in influencing the perception of the customers.
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The result reveals that aesthetics has been higher among all the
six attributes of customer engagement.

Customer‟s perceptions of Post Purchase Involvement

Value: Conversion of purchase experience as a memorable event

has been ranked as the first value factor while the value for customer‘s money
through discounts, membership benefits, offers and so on has been ranked as
the second factor in influencing the perception of the customers. Valuing
feelings and emotions of customers is ranked as the third factor in influencing
the perception of customers.

Trust: Promising quality of products and reliable price has been

ranked as the first and second trust factors respectively in influencing the
customer‘s perception. Receiving exact or higher quantity of products has
been the third trust factor in influencing the perception of the customers.
Trustworthy range of products has been earmarked as the fourth factor in
influencing the perception of customers.

Affective Commitment: Customers declaring themselves as a

part of the outlet has been ranked as the first affective commitment factor
while customer‘s feeling of emotional attachment has been ranked as the
second factor in influencing the perception of the customers. Owing a great
deal to customers is ranked as the third factor in influencing the perception of
customers.

Word-of-mouth: Discussion in social network has been ranked

as the first word-of-mouth factor in influencing the customer perception.
Discussion with friends and family has been ranked as the second factor and
the intend to buy or continue buying has been the third word-of-mouth factor
in influencing the perception of the customers.
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Loyalty: Trustable price, quality and quantity have been ranked
as the first loyalty factor in influencing the customer‘s perception. Customer‘s
coming back for future purchase has been ranked as the second factor in
influencing the perception of the customers. Purchase of all food products
from the same outlet has been the third loyalty factor and customer
recommendation is ranked as the fourth factor in influencing the perception of
customers.

Brand Community involvement: Reading of customer

behavioural intention has been ranked as the first brand community
involvement factor in influencing the customer perception. Engagement of
customers by satisfying their values has been ranked as the second factor while
implementation of valuable suggestions has been the third brand community
involvement factor in influencing the perception of the customers.
Engagement of new visitors has been ranked as the fourth factor in influencing
the perception of customers.

The result shows that trust and loyalty has been higher in the
perception of the customers among all the six levels of post purchase
involvement factors offered by the outlets.

5.2.3 Relationship Between Experiential Marketing and Customer

Engagement & Customer Engagement and Post Purchase
Involvement.

The relationship between experiential marketing and customer

engagement is found to be highly significant with beta=0.787 and t=20.590.
The R-Sq value is also sufficiently high with 0.620. Customer engagement
upto sixtytwo % can be explained/ attained by offering the experiences
through experiential marketing. This reinforces the theory that the
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implementation of experiential marketing techniques helps the food retailing
outlet to survive in the competitive environment by means of engaging the
customers. The current wave of changes in the organized food retailing outlets
in shopping malls has forced the organized food retailers to adopt experiential
marketing techniques for their survival. So, the techniques of experiential
marketing are resulting in positive ways of engaging the customers in the food
retailing outlets. Customer engagement in organized food retail outlets has
been attained through the sense, feel, think, act and relate experiences offered
by the experiential marketing techniques. This reinforces the theory that the
implementation of experiential marketing techniques helps the food retailing
outlets to survive in the competitive environment by means of engaging the
customers. The current wave of changes in the organized food retailing outlets
in shopping malls has forced the organized food retailers to adopt strategic
experiential module techniques to survive. It also indicates that the food
retailing outlets are consciously monitoring the ways of customer engagement
and were sensitive to its changes in a positive way. So, the techniques of
experiential marketing are resulting in positive ways of engaging the
customers in the food retailing outlets.

The relationship between customer engagement and post

purchase involvement is found to be highly significant with beta=0.877 and
t=30.052. The R-Sq value is also sufficiently high with 0.769. Customer
engagement can contribute upto seventy-six % of the levels of post purchase
involvement. Customer engagement in organized food retail outlets leads to
various levels of post purchase involvement of the customers. When a
customer has been engaged with an outlet, he or she enter into any one level of
post purchase involvement, namely value, trust, affective commitment, word-
of-mouth, loyalty and brand community involvement. The engaged customers
when entering the levels of post purchase involvement, stay with the same
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outlet for long-run or lifetime. Hence the outlet starts receiving permanent
income from the existing customers.

5.2.4 Moderating Effect of Demographic Variables on The

Influence of Experiential Marketing on Post Purchase
Involvement

While considering the moderation effect of demographic

characteristics of customers on experiential marketing on post purchase
involvement, it is found that no significant difference occurred due to the
interaction effect. Experiential marketing elements are used extensively in
modern marketing communication methods which are the target to a very
specific audience. This experiential marketing effort and communication only
impact the specific target audience rather than cutting across all demographic
segments of customers in a specific time period.

5.2.5 Difference in the Perception of Experiential Marketing,

Customer Engagement and Post Purchase Involvement Based
on Customer Features Related to Personal Profile and
Purchase Practices

The study also investigates whether or not there is a difference in

the perception about experiential marketing, customer engagement and post
purchase involvement based on the personal profile factors related to
demographics, namely gender, age, marital status, educational qualification,
occupational status and number of family members.

The results reveal that there is no significant difference between

men and women with regard to experiential marketing, customer engagement
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and post purchase involvement, which shows that the experiences offered by
experiential marketing engage both men and women in the same way in the
creation of post purchase involvement.

Incontrast, looking at the age groups of the respondents the, result

reveals that the customers of different age groups react differently for the
experiences offered through the experiential marketing techniques. With
regard to the engagement, all age groups of customers react in the same
manner. The result also reveals that level of post purchase involvement varies
with different age groups.

5.3 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

The inferences derived from the study have implications to both

academicians and business community. Theoretically, the results uphold the
utility of the five factors of experiential marketing in retailing. From
managerial perspective, the retailers can attract customers through the macro-
environmental factors with the help of experiential marketing. For instance, if
the parking, location, size, shape, the external colour and lighting of the outlet
are in a way that they theme an experience, which has been devoid of negative
cues and full of positive cues, then they have good impact upon the
perceptions of the customers about the retail outlet.

The theme can be based on culture, festivals, occasion and so on.

The meso and micro environment comprising of the internal factors the retail
outlet such as flooring, assortment, music, temperature, product availability,
passage space and so on can easily attract the customers and if the experience
is going to be a unique one and if it differentiates itself from the competitors,
then it can attract the customers easily though the richest experiences which
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the customers of the current generation are in need of and for which they are
willing to pay even a higher price than the normal rate.

Moreover, retailers can use the scale items developed in this

research to identify their strengths and weaknesses from the customer‘s
standpoint. Clear understanding of the application of experiential marketing
would help the business community to explore the mindset and effectively
target the customers through the marketing communication materials, and
thereby aim for productive output.

For the academic community, this research sheds light into the
evolution, development and application of experiential marketing. The
connection of experiential marketing with other fields of study such as
psychology and behavioural sciences has been established. The results of this
study take one step closer to the reality of the concept of experiential
marketing.

5.4 SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Retailing is mostly dependent to a large extent on the

characteristics of products being marketed. This study does not consider such
factors based on product characteristics. Future researchers can develop richer
models capturing the product characteristics.

to complement the current research, further studies can be

designed to factor human feelings, emotions and thinking into the model tested
and to expand its findings.
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Replication of the tested model, either as it is or modified in
different retail settings and in different cultural contexts apart from Indian
milieu, will greatly aid in affirming the study findings.

The world of retailing has grown in leaps and bounds because of

the internet medium. This has given rise to studies in the area of digital
marketing, online presence of brands and customer psychology on the internet.
Virtual experiential marketing has come to be the need of the hour, coupled
with virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Extensive research is needed in
the area of virtual experiential marketing to cater to the exponentially growing
e-retail market. The availability of multiple choices of brands, fragmentation
of media and well informed customers have warranted time bound research in
this area.

5.5 CONCLUSION

With the hyper and super market innovations drawing everyone

even closer to the concept of experiential marketing, products and services
would be consumed only with richest experiences. Consequently, there must
be a shift in the thought of marketing, leading to the attainment of the five
experiences through experiential marketing. to compete successfully, retailers
must theme rich experiences to the customers through the five factors of
experiential marketing, namely sense, feel, think, act and relate experiences.

Under the highly competitive retail market, the challenge for

retail researchers and practitioners is to find the efficient way to generate
experiences favourable for the engagement of retail customers directed
towards post engagement dimensions which are significant for the success of
retail outlets. Overall, the findings of this study, evoked from a field survey at
organized food retailing outlets, indicate that retail practitioners should pay
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special attention to the offering of experiences through the retail atmospherics
in engaging the customers to develop the post purchase involvement for the
long-run profitability of the business.