ISRN-No: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--11/01039--SE

Differentiation through Aesthetics in Supermarkets

MENG DOU ESRA EKIZ

Supervisor: Per Åman

Strategy and Management in International Organizations Master of Science in Business Administration

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Title: Differentiation through Aesthetics in Supermarkets

Authors: Esra Ekiz & Meng Dou

Supervisor: Per Åman

Background:

This thesis strives to analyze aesthetic services used in supermarkets. Supermarkets face fierce competition and varied marketing dilemmas such as traditional marketing versus service marketing. Nevertheless, encompassing elements from both traditional marketing, such as physical products, and service marketing, such as relationship building, supermarket management is challenging. Thus, it is crucial to understand consumers’ perceptions for both services and products in order to satisfy their needs and wants and succeed in the market place. Therefore, this thesis offers a better understanding of aesthetic elements used in supermarkets from customers’ perspective.

Aim:

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the applications of aesthetics in supermarkets. It intends to examine and theorize the consumer perceptions regarding aesthetic elements applied in supermarkets; to test the differentiation strategy in supermarkets, through the usage of aesthetic elements, from consumers’ perspective.

Definitions:

Aestheticization of daily life: it can be seen as the extension of art or the appreciation of art on daily life. It suggests ‘the collapse of the distinction between high art and mass culture, leveling out of symbolic hierarchies and cultural declassification’ (Featherstone, 2007). It reflects onto business through its emphasis on beauty, sensory appeals, pleasure consumption etc. Analyzing aesthetic applications in supermarkets from a customer perspective, this thesis finds out that from both companies’ and consumers’ perspective, these applications are based on aestheticization of daily life.

Completion and Results:

Aesthetic elements used in supermarkets are identified in the content analysis and discussed in the empirical study through focus group interviews. It is found out that aesthetic services indeed improve customer satisfaction. However, the fierce price competition limits supermarkets’ services to instrumental rather than expressive performance. Moreover, utilized aesthetic services in supermarkets tend to be standardized, due to benchmarking processes, in consumers’ eyes, causing these services to lose their value to be differentiated.

Key Words: Aesthetics, Service Marketing, Art, Fashion, Supermarkets

Acknowledgements Writing a thesis is a challenging process and this has been told us by our professors and senior students numerous times. However, even when we decided to write it together in the summer of 2010, it was seen as a distant case in our lives which needed to be taken care of when the time would come. Well, that time had come quickly without realizing it much. Nevertheless, it has been a great experience for us without much problem thanks to our well-functioning schedule, the great help we received and our friends who helped us relax on our way. Therefore, we need to thank those people who helped us make this process a fun journey.

First of all, we need to thank our tutor, Per Åman, for his supervision and guidance. These five months would not have been as much fun without him since in addition to reaching our final destination, he always has led us to enjoy the journey. Those informal conversations about aesthetics, art and postmodernism have not only contributed to our knowledge but also helped us love our topic which greatly improved our enthusiasm.

We also need to thank the people who read our paper and provided their invaluable feedbacks which helped us improve our work. When we fell into vicious circles or blind acceptance, they helped us open our eyes with critical thinking.

Finally, thanks to our friends, we kept enjoying the life and they were always there to give us their full support for anything we needed.

Esra Ekiz & Meng Dou

I think my parents, Yüksel & Akif Ekiz, deserve special mentioning since they were the ones who encouraged me to further continue my education with a master’s degree and who have been supporting me in every possible way. Nevertheless, another person in my family made it very hard for me to take this journey to Sweden. That would be my sister, Merve Ekiz, since it was very hard for me to leave her for two years. Nonetheless, by calling me every day, she made me feel her support and brought joy to my life.

Swedish Institute played an important role during my study time by providing me with a scholarship which made it possible for me to study in Sweden.

I cannot omit this name, Javier Cruz, from my personal acknowledgements. My dear friend has been with me in every facet of my life in Sweden. His contributions to both my studies and my personal life were unforgettable.

The last but not the least, I need to thank my thesis partner, Meng Dou for her patience with me, efficient work and easy-going nature.

Esra Ekiz

To my dear family and friends, I would not make this far without your support. It was a long and tough journey from the very beginning of studying in the U.K. in 2008 until now, three years abroad. I have grown up and learnt more than I ever expected. But it is you, all of you that always believe in me and in my choices, and never give up. I need to thank my parents, my Uncle’s family in Sweden, especially my father who taught me ‘it is the heart that leads us going on and on, the darkness will come and the fear will grow, but without them there cannot be courage and it is the challenge makes us stronger’.

To my dear friends, Verena Dischler and Julia Seidel, I am lucky to have you always here with me for these two years in Sweden, it is you that make this strange country feel like a home.

In the end, I would like to thank my partner, Esra Ekiz, for her brilliantness as well as the time we have spent together.

Meng Dou

Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................. 2 1.1.1 Service Economy .................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Retailing ................................................................................................................................. 3 1.1.3 Supermarkets.......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.4 Aesthetics ............................................................................................................................... 4

1.2 ISSUES ......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................... 8 1.4 AUDIENCE ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.5 OUTLINE ..................................................................................................................................... 8

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................... 10

2.1 MARKETING .............................................................................................................................. 10 2.1.1 Evolutionary Path of Marketing........................................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Service Marketing ................................................................................................................ 13 2.1.3 Aestheticism in Marketing .................................................................................................... 17 2.1.4 Differentiation in Marketing ................................................................................................ 19

2.2 ART ........................................................................................................................................... 20 2.2.1 High Art ............................................................................................................................... 21 2.2.2 Postmodernism ..................................................................................................................... 24

2.3 FASHION ................................................................................................................................... 29 2.3.1 Fashion from the Kantian Perspective ................................................................................. 30 2.3.2 Fashion in Postmodernism ................................................................................................... 31 2.3.3 Style ...................................................................................................................................... 32 2.3.4 Diffusion of Fashion ............................................................................................................ 33

2.4 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 35

3 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 37

3.1 CONTENT ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................. 38 3.2 FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS ...................................................................................................... 40

3.2.1 Preparations ........................................................................................................................ 40 3.2.2 Interview Process ................................................................................................................. 43 3.2.3 Coding .................................................................................................................................. 43 3.2.4 Remarks ............................................................................................................................... 45

4 SUPERMARKETS ......................................................................................................................... 47

4.1 GENERAL STRATEGIES .............................................................................................................. 47 4.2 LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN ................................................................................................. 48 4.3 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN SUPERMARKETS ............................................................................... 49 4.4 IN-STORE DESIGN ..................................................................................................................... 50 4.5 SERVICES IN SUPERMARKETS .................................................................................................... 51

5 EMPIRICAL STUDY ..................................................................................................................... 53

5.1 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................... 53 5.1.1 Content Analysis .................................................................................................................. 53 5.1.2 Focus Group Interviews ....................................................................................................... 56

6 ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 70

7 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................. 74

7.1 DISCUSSIONS ............................................................................................................................. 75 7.2 IMPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 76 7.3 CONTRIBUTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 77

7.3.1 Theoretical Contributions .................................................................................................... 77 7.3.2 Contributions to Practice ..................................................................................................... 77

7.4 LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH ................................................................................... 78

8 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 80

9 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................... 104

Figures FIGURE 1 LOGIC MAP OF THE THESIS ........................................................................................................... 7 FIGURE 2 DISTRIBUTION OF AESTHETIC ELEMENTS WITHIN THE CONTENT ANALYSIS ............................... 55 FIGURE 3 MOSTLY USED SERVICE ELEMENTS IN SUPERMARKETS ............................................................. 55 FIGURE 4 NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN THE CONTENT ANALYSIS FOR EACH AESTHETIC ELEMENT ................ 56

Tables TABLE 1 INTERVIEWEE PROFILES FOR THE PILOT FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW ............................................. 41 TABLE 2 INTERVIEWEE PROFILES FOR THE FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS ..................................................... 42 TABLE 3 CODING CARD .............................................................................................................................. 44 TABLE 4 SAMPLE CODING CARD ................................................................................................................ 44 TABLE 5 SERVICE ELEMENTS USED IN SUPERMARKETS ............................................................................. 54 TABLE 6 ELEMENTS DISCOVERED IN THE CONTENT ANALYSIS AND THEIR RELATED SOURCES .............. 111

1

1 Introduction

The huge distribution systems, extensive buying power and convenient locations have made the big supermarkets become the norm in most of the cities and towns around the world. These seem to be the determinant factors how supermarkets win the battle among local corner stores and/or convenience stores. Of course, this led to the demise of small local and independent shops since they have not been able to provide enormous variety of products at lower prices.

Many studies have been conducted in the field of marketing to show the importance of customer service over price and quality such as product variety, cleanliness of the market, location and fast checkout (Banning and Weber, 1994; Min, 2006). Nevertheless, these kinds of services to customers appeal to the rational decision making criteria. On the other hand, Holt (2007) says that “While people digest information with the mind, it is the heart that attracts them first.” which clearly shows that consumers look for more than rational alternatives when they are shopping. This derives from an aesthetic approach to marketing which can be shown by the below quote:

“At the heart of pragmatism is the refusal to accept the correspondence theory of truth and the idea that true beliefs are accurate representations of reality. At the heart of romanticism is the thesis of the priority of the imagination over reason – the claim that reason can only follow paths that the imagination has broken.”

Source: Richard Rorty, 2007, (cited from Wijland and Fell, 2009 p. 748)

It can be said that from a pragmatic point of view, consumers need to compare their choices to alternatives and see whether their decisions are coherent with relevant situations. On the other hand, psychologically consumers will search within a limited range of alternatives enabled by their vision. Thus, aesthetics of shopping is closely related to the latter view. For instance, even though all rational criteria point out to a certain supermarket, many customers choose other market/markets to do their shopping which clearly eliminates all other alternatives. Hence, the alternatives are limited from the start for customers by their mental frames. The rational criteria may make sense only for choosing among those limited alternatives.

Even though aesthetic thinking have been reflected in many business fields such as product design, advertising and promotion, it seems that this view has not been given enough importance when it comes to services, especially supermarkets. Furthermore, there is lack of literature about consumer-side of the issue of aesthetics since consumers’ responses to aesthetic elements used in supermarkets is an unstudied area. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the theory by researching aesthetic elements from a customer point of view in supermarket settings. Moreover, an

2

explanation, regarding how these perceptions are formed, is tried to be provided with the help of the art theories through synthesizing the empirical analysis and the theories regarding the ‘judgment of aesthetics’.

In this introductory chapter of the thesis, first a background will be provided in order to illustrate the importance of service industry and retail sector in which supermarkets, the unit of observation of this thesis, operate. Then issues will be presented which makes the topic of interest worthwhile to investigate. Afterwards, the purpose of this research and the related research questions will be established to set the agenda of the research. Then, the potential audience of the research will be determined to whom this research may be of interest. Finally, the outline of the rest of the study will be presented in order to clarify the order and the logic of the presentation of the main headings.

1.1 Background

This background section aims to provide the necessary information regarding the unit of observation for this study which is supermarkets. Brief information will be given regarding service economy and retailing sector since supermarkets operate within these. Furthermore, aesthetics will be introduced in this chapter in order to show its importance within current marketing applications and in supermarket strategies. Thus, this background is crucial as it provides the necessary information why the unit of observation is important in the economy and how aesthetics affects the strategies of them.

1.1.1 Service Economy

The world economy has gone through drastic changes due to globalization, new demographic trends, rise of information technology and deregulations in many countries’ industries. Nevertheless, the most important catalyst of change can be said to be the development of the so called ‘service economy’. Grönroos (1988) describes service economy as a structural change since it has caused major alterations in the capital structures and fundamentals of industries and employment conditions.

Services play a pivotal role in many countries’ economies. First of all, services contribute more to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than manufacturing activities. According to an OECD report on service economy, services accounted for over 60% of the economic activity in most of the OECD countries before 2000s. The share of services is expected to rise even more in the new millennium due to the advances in information technology and knowledge-based activities and a new service orientation (OECD, 2000). The second important contribution of services to economies is their role in the creation of employment since unemployment is a major challenge confronting many countries. The World Economic Situation and Prospects (2011) shows that service sector is one of the strongest sectors in job growth. Indeed, job creation in services exceeds overall job growth (OECD, 2000).

3

1.1.2 Retailing

Retailing is an important sub-category within service activities. It is defined as the final step in the distribution of goods to consumers consisting of activities such as selling merchandise and rendering services incidental to these sales activities (Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, 2007). Some of the business examples of retailing sector are supermarkets, clothing stores, music and book stores, florists, automobile dealers etc.

According to a report from Asian Productivity Organization (APO), the share of retail sector in total GDP is more than 5% in most of the APO member countries such as Japan and Malaysia. Even though this share drops to the levels around 4.5% for many of the OECD countries, it still represents a major economic activity (Asian Productivity Organization, 2009).

Since retailing is a relatively labor intensive sector, the contributions of retailing to the employment is even more striking. The share of retail employment varies between 7.2% and 10.6% in OECD countries (Asian Productivity Organization, 2009).

1.1.3 Supermarkets

Supermarkets are chosen as the unit of observation for this thesis because they not only compete for the major part of the pockets of the citizens but also have become the working example of the radical changes experienced in many societies.

Even though the local grocery stores had been the places where customers were going daily, recent trends in demographics has changed this situation. As the economies of scale necessitates the existence of giant players in the sector, suburban local stores have been replaced with the branches of these giant players which physically position themselves based on the population density. This operational challenge not only attracted the managers but also the attention of politicians since it has effects on regional development, food prices etc. (Sundin, 2008).

Competition among supermarkets has become fierce and had numerous consequences ranging from the closure of local stores to decreasing operating margins, forcing some players to exit the industry. The source of competition has been moving towards cost leadership since the big players have been able economize on many of their operations and push the prices down. This is especially apparent in the aggressive pricing strategies of the biggest chains such as Wal-Mart (Hausman and Leibtag, 2007). In addition to the prices, other elements of the classical marketing mix are also used in that the location of the stores are chosen to be convenient for customers, discounts are heavily employed as promotions and a great variety of quality products are offered. Differentiation efforts seem to reflect these marketing mix elements in combination with some aesthetic strategies such as store design and sensual appeals. Moreover, the widely influential service marketing concepts seem to bring applications to supermarkets such as

4

relationship building between customers and front line employees and fast check-out options. Nevertheless, most of the marketing efforts seem to revolve around the marketing mix. On the other hand, even a brief scrutiny of many sectors and businesses such as mobile phones, computers, cars, apparels, hotels, restaurants etc., exhibits how companies have been able to add value to their products and services by adding aesthetic elements. While these businesses have been increasing their margins on their products and services, customers have been enjoying aesthetic appeal of their offerings. Nonetheless, in order to accomplish this, companies need to pay attention to the perceptions of their customers because marketing is no longer a one-size-fits-all mentality but rather a joint effort of companies and customers to create meaning and value together. Furthermore, supermarket business model is a combination of marketing mix and services where aesthetic strategies play a crucial role. In this case, the perceived customer services provided by supermarkets cannot be separated into only marketing mix elements or services, but rather interactively influence each other. Hence, it seems beneficial to study customers’ perceptions of aesthetic applications in supermarket settings and the implications of these applications on overall marketing efforts which have been highly successful for other sectors in terms of differentiation.

1.1.4 Aesthetics

Aesthetics concerns the nature of art and beauty and the judgments of taste regarding these topics. Since the existence of art is as old as human history, ideas regarding its evaluation also dated back to ancient times and have evolved since then.

One of the most influential discussant of the topic has been the German philosopher Immanuel Kant who viewed art as a disinterested entity independent from the concerns of usefulness, purposiveness and rightfulness (Kant, 2000, original in 1790). This led art to be excluded from many arenas in the life such as commerce. Two centuries after Kant, postmodernism, evolving from modernism, brought a totally different perspective to art, freeing it from the strict boundaries Kant has drawn. In the postmodern view, art welcomes anything and everything as a subject to itself. Moreover, it lets art be an object of people’s everyday lives by demolishing the boundaries between art and life. Hence, there is no reason, from a postmodernist view, to exclude art from commerce which is an important facet of life.

Therefore, the evolution of perspectives regarding art can be used to understand how aesthetics is used in the business world where art from the Kantian perspective helps explain how judgments regarding art are built whereas postmodernism sheds light onto the current applications of aesthetics in commerce. Moreover, by comparing these two different perspectives, one may be able to understand consumer behavior since under each perspective there are different assumptions regarding how the spectators of art react to certain stimuli of art. Thus, these two views regarding art will be examined in great detail later in the chapters.

5

1.2 Issues

In a social context, aesthetic refers to the concepts including harmony, order, symbolism, and taste whereas the significance or emotion behind this is the key part of ‘layers of meaning’ (Hirschman, 1980) for consumers, which refers to the symbolic meaning of aestheticization of daily life (Postrel, 2003). Even though grocery shopping is a major part of consumers’ daily lives, the research seems to pay limited attention to aesthetic applications in supermarkets focusing only on the supply-side related issues while ignoring customers’ perceptions. Research on aesthetics can help companies build a loyal customer base since it is suggested that even though price is an important driver for consumers, it is insufficient to build loyalty (Lunding, 1959). Moreover, since quality and performance are taken for granted, in order to differentiate, it is essential to pay attention to aesthetics (Postrel, 2003). Nevertheless, in order to accomplish this, it is necessary to look beyond the sales figures under different aesthetic scenarios. That is to say, it is important to understand how consumers perceive certain aesthetic dimensions and why they particularly perceive in this way which leads to increased or decreased sales. It is only by this way companies can find the path to customer loyalty. Otherwise, sales figures are deemed to fluctuate depending on the number of customers in a given situation.

This research focuses on aesthetic service evaluation happening in supermarkets which is a combination of marketing mix elements, namely 4 Ps (Price, Place, Products and Promotions), and services (shopping environment, experience, fun etc.). The 4 Ps are identified as the outcome or transaction in the service model of supermarkets, while services, which are closely related with ‘fun and pleasant feelings’ established by in-store environment of supermarkets, can be seen as the process.

The perceived service quality, in this case, is directly related to both the outcome and the process interactively, where customer involvement, satisfaction and possibilities of re-purchasing are determined. It is argued that satisfaction is the result of fulfilling both the outcomes and the process, and high satisfaction further results in customer loyalty. Thus, in addition to offering customers low prices, convenient locations, product variety etc., supermarkets constantly strive for differentiation by adding aesthetic elements and service marketing concepts such as store design, in-store experiences and relationship building. However, the benchmarking process, which is used to identify the competitive factors and a firm’s relative standing against its competitors, forces supermarkets to look alike since they all try to achieve similar standards. Thus, the more they try to accomplish differentiation, the more they become similar (Moon, 2010). Thus, it is necessary to understand how aesthetics is judged under different perspectives such as the high art perspective of Kant or the postmodernist view. By developing a profound understanding of aesthetic judgment and the introduction of aesthetics into the commercial world, it would be possible to identify consumers’ point of view on aesthetic elements used in supermarkets.

6

Hence, this thesis strives to examine and theorize the perceptions of customers regarding aesthetic elements used in supermarket management strategies and the implications of these on differentiation. In order to accomplish this, several other theories and perspectives are also used. Firstly, the theory of art will be included in order to show the evolution of art from the Kantian perspective of high art to postmodernism which has aestheticized the daily lives of modern consumers. The reason to employ this wave of theories is because they help explain the introduction of aesthetics into marketing and consumers’ judgment regarding aesthetics under different perspectives. Secondly, fashion theories will be used in order to better explain the effects of aestheticization in fast-changing consumption environments. Thus, these theories are believed to be helpful to contribute to the understanding of differentiation. Lastly, the concept of differentiation will be scrutinized from these views to figure out whether aesthetic strategies contribute to the distinction of a particular company in the eyes of consumers. All of these theories contribute to the understanding of strategies employed by companies.

After the introduction of these theories, the empirical part of the study will be presented. However, it is crucial to note that the empirical study is conducted to reveal consumers’ perceptions. Thus, the empirical study is independent from the literature review since the empirical study is not entirely based on the concepts examined in the literature. Nonetheless, these two separate studies will be synthesized in the conclusion in order to reach the propositions of this thesis. Hence, the theories explained in the literature review will be used in the conclusion to confront the results of the empirical analysis. Thus, in addition to contributing to the knowledge regarding customer perceptions of aesthetics in supermarkets, this thesis attempts to provide an explanation to how these perceptions are shaped by connecting it to ‘judgments of aesthetics’ which is extensively examined by Kant (2000, original in 1790). The logic of the entire thesis is given in Figure 1.

7

Figure 1 Logic Map of the Thesis

8

1.3 Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the current theory by examining applications of aesthetics and consumers’ perceptions of these applications in supermarket settings with the help of marketing, especially differentiation, art and fashion theories. Thus, the two research questions to be answered by this thesis are:

1. How do consumers perceive aesthetic elements used by companies in supermarket settings?

2. Are supermarkets able to differentiate their offerings through the usage of aesthetic elements in the eyes’ of consumers?

1.4 Audience

This thesis might be of interest to a wide range of people with different purposes. First of all, including an extensive literature review and content analysis part, this thesis is believed to serve students and academics in the field of management who may be interested in any of the theories dealt within this research such as the theories of art and fashion or the topics of differentiation and service marketing. Secondly, senior managers working in supermarkets may find this research useful in that even though there is comprehensive research conducted by private companies regarding many of the elements used in supermarkets, there is a gap in terms of consumer perceptions. Thus, by better understanding consumers’ responses and perceptions, the managers might be able develop better strategies. Moreover, the explanations given with the help of the art theories, regarding how consumer perceptions are formed, may even interest the managers more since it may enable them to shape their strategies accordingly. Finally, anyone, who is interested in how art and aesthetics has come to be employed in the business world, may find this research interesting since from the literature review to empirical study, this research shows the evolution of art into commerce with an emphasis on aestheticization of daily life and its implications in supermarkets.

1.5 Outline

The structure and logic of this thesis are designed as follows:

In the Literature Review chapter, theories and concepts are given with the aim of presenting fundamental theoretical background. In detail, it starts with marketing theories which develops through the evolutionary path of marketing to service marketing. Then, it follows with the role of aestheticism and differentiation in marketing.

The second part of the theory chapter covers the concepts and points of views about art. Firstly, there is a discussion of art from the Kantian perspective, namely high art. Secondly, the discussion shifts to a postmodernist view of art in order to contrast to the

9

high art concept. Finally, the concept of aestheticization of daily life is examined under the postmodernist theory.

The third part of the theory chapter provides the definitions and discussions about fashion, respectively from the Kantian perspective and postmodernism. Then style and diffusion of fashion are analyzed according to these views.

At the end of the literature review a summary of the chapter is given since it is necessary to provide an overview of the whole theory development in this thesis.

The Methodology chapter presents the research methods that are employed in this research, namely content analysis and focus group interviews. Then the reasons of choosing them, the procedures used in each method and the difficulties and challenges of these methods are discussed.

The fourth chapter is about Supermarkets and aims to provide the necessary information regarding supermarkets which constitutes the foundations for the empirical research in that it will make it easier for the readers to comprehend the elements used in supermarkets. Firstly, background information of supermarkets will be introduced, such as definitions, their general strategies, logistics and supply chains. It follows with the consumption behavior in supermarkets, in-store design and services in supermarkets, aiming to give a preview of the current situation in the sector.

The Empirical Study chapter consists of the empirical data collected for this research and the results of this data. It starts with the presentation of the identified elements from the content analysis. Then, it follows with the results of the focus group interviews which are based on the aesthetic elements.

The Analysis chapter focuses mainly on the analysis of the focus group interviews. It lays the foundations for the Conclusion chapter and the propositions provided in that chapter.

The Conclusion chapter answers the research questions and thus, fulfills the purpose of the research. It starts with the discussions of the theories employed before under the light of empirical findings. Three concluding propositions are given with relevant explanations. Finally, the implications of the research for the practical management, contributions to theory and practice, limitations and further research are presented at the end of the paper.

10

2 Literature Review

This chapter of the thesis is a comprehensive literature review that elaborates on the related theories and concepts that are used later within this thesis. There are three main waves of theories that are the cornerstones of the study. First of all, the marketing theories will be presented which are important since this thesis basically approaches the issue from a marketing point of view. Secondly, the theories of art will be elaborated on which is helpful to explain the usage of aesthetics within the business world. Moreover, they help clarify how spectators of art perceive art under different perspectives regarding art which will be useful when dealing with the customers’ perception regarding aesthetic elements used in supermarkets. The final wave of the theories concern fashion, taste and style which are necessary for the conclusions of this research in that they help explain the fast changing trends within the shopping culture. These theories are independent from the empirical research. Nevertheless, they will be used in the analysis of the empirical study by confronting the results of them and in the conclusion by synthesizing all theories with the empirical findings.

2.1 Marketing

Marketing theory has shifted from the goods-centered view to the service-centered view due to the economic and social changes. The goods-centered view reflects the fundamental marketing approach which emphasizes products and utility, or 4 Ps; whereas service-centered view reflects the paradigm shift for marketing which focuses on relationships among marketing actors and service process consumption. The focus of the traditional marketing has been the functional values of products (Cherington, 1920; Weld, 1917), customer view (Drucker, 1954; McKitterick, 1957) and optimization in decision-making (Kotler, 1967; McCarthy, 1960). The economic changes in the institutions (Nystrom, 1915; Weld, 1916) has brought not only a shift of focus to relationship marketing (Duncan and Moriarty 1998) and service marketing (Grönroos, 1994a); but more importantly a shift from tangible to intangible focus. Furthermore, there have been impacts of aestheticism on marketing academia and applications which have brought symbolic and experiential values into light in addition to hitherto existing functional values.

This chapter firstly covers the evolutionary path of marketing which has witnessed major paradigm shifts during its history. As stated above, the concept of 4 Ps is presented as it plays the fundamental role in perceived customer services in supermarkets. Secondly, service marketing is dealt with which is vital in today’s marketing understanding. Thirdly, aestheticism in marketing is briefly explained in order to show its relevance within the field of marketing and this serves as an introduction to the later chapters regarding art and aestheticism in marketing. Moreover, since supermarket business model can be seen as a package of 4 Ps and services, explaining aesthetic products as well as services are highly essential for comprehending

11

their roles in perceived consumer services in later chapters. Finally, differentiation in marketing is examined since all of the above mentioned theories and marketing fields attempt to explain the differentiation efforts of companies that try to set themselves apart from their competitors.

2.1.1 Evolutionary Path of Marketing

This section presents the two most important paradigms within the field of marketing, namely the 4 Ps (or traditional marketing) and service marketing. Firstly, the concepts and the logic of the traditional marketing are explained. Then, the shift towards a new paradigm that is the emergence of service marketing is presented.

2.1.1.1 4 Ps – Traditional Marketing Thinking

The traditional marketing thinking was characterized as a decision-making activity aiming to satisfy the target customers’ needs at a profit and then making optimal decisions on the marketing mix, namely 4 Ps (product, price, place and promotion) (McCarthy, 1960; Kotler, 1967). Later Kotler (1972) stated that ‘marketing management seeks to determine the settings of the company’s marketing decision variables that will maximize the company’s objectives in the light of expected behavior of non-controllable demand variables’. Thus, this marketing paradigm – marketing mix – is set to fulfill the marketing concept in the notion that ‘the firm is best off by designing and directing its activities according to the needs and desires of customers in chosen target markets’ (Grönroos, 1994a).

Regarding this concept, two major elements are identified: activities and targets. Firstly, activities refer to the analysis, planning and implementation of various marketing tasks, including market analysis, advertising, sales promotions, pricing, distribution, product packaging and so on. Nonetheless, these activities are separated from other activities of firms and delegated to specialists located in the marketing department. This results in the alienation between marketing and the rest of the organization, such as production, technical service and deliveries (Grönroos, 1994b). Secondly, targets refer to customers’ needs and desires or markets, which suggest that the 4 Ps approach concerns the interactive elements. However, Grönroos (1989 and 1990) argues that the ‘marketing mix and its 4 Ps approach constitute a production-oriented definition of marketing, and not a market-oriented or customer-oriented one’. Moreover, McCarthy (1960) adds that the 4 Ps model does not explicitly include any interactive elements although it has the interactive nature.

Primarily, goods and operand resources are dominant aspects in this traditional sense – goods-centered view and as Fisk et al. (1993) state they ‘aid to production and marketing of goods’. Furthermore, Shostack (1977) adds that ‘the classical marketing mix, the seminal literature, and the language of marketing all derive from the manufacture of physical-goods’ emphasizing the operand resources, defined as

12

‘resources on which an operation or act is performed to produce an effect’ (Constantin and Lusch, 1994). That is to say, production and technology related to goods for satisfying customers’ needs and desires are primarily based on operand resources, including people, technologies and raw materials.

The process of fulfilling customer needs can be seen as a cycle of pre-producing goods with operand resources, then finding out customers’ interests and giving promises through external marketing activities (advertising or sales), and finally keeping promises. Grönroos (1998) defines this as the outcome consumption, characterized as a ‘closed process’ in which customers take no direct part. In this model, the three key actors are the physical goods or products, marketing or sales department, and the target market. More importantly, three key functions of marketing are identified as giving promises, fulfilling promises and enabling promises. Calonius (1988) suggests that the promise concept should be seen as the center in marketing models, whereas Bitner (1995) extends this view by identifying ‘enabling promises’ as internal marketing and ‘giving promises’ as external marketing. With the notion of reactive customers, who do not take an active part in the process, this outcome consumption ignores the variety of customer needs and instead leads to a result where the features of products are all the same.

2.1.1.2 The Emergence of Service Marketing

Without a direct involvement of customers, the goods-centered view of marketing mainly addresses operand resources, production, physical distribution, and utility as indicated above. That is to say, outcome and value-in-exchange are the two main driving forces for companies. Here, physical goods refer to the outcome produced by companies aiming at maximizing profits by fulfilling customers’ needs and requirements although customers in this process are playing the outsider role. While, value-in-exchange describes the notion of delivering value to customers; physical, pre-prepared products are the main value companies aim to exchange with customers. Therefore, customer satisfaction is largely embedded in the utility of products as the outcome consumption. In other words, companies interpret functionality as customers’ main expectation to be satisfied. However, with the microeconomic paradigm shift, the emergence of services marketing began and the focus shifted from product marketing to recognition of the inadequacies of the dominant logic for dealing with service marketing’s subject matters (Dixon, 1990). This implies that functionality or utility cannot satisfy customers’ desires and needs alone as companies attempted to do before; rather the service or experience taking place during the process of consumption matters to customers’ satisfaction. This leads to the shift from the goods-dominant view to the service-dominant view in which intangibles, processes and relationships are central (Lusch and Vargo, 2004).

13

2.1.2 Service Marketing

One of the major service marketing theories is service-centered view. It highlights the processes of marketing as a continuous series of social and economic issues, in which the significance of relationships between customers and companies are addressed. As Lusch and Vargo (2004) state, it is important to ‘cultivate relationships that involve the customers in developing customized, competitively compelling value propositions to meet specific needs’. In other words, service-centered view is customer-centric (Sheth et al., 2000). Compared to the goods-centered view, customers play a key role in this consumption process which is more than a simple customer orientation. This means the purpose of doing business is no longer ‘to customers’ but more ‘with customers’, namely co-creation of value.

In service consumption, values take place during the consumption process which is distinctive from the consumption of physical products. The goods-dominant logic emphasizes the unit of output and value-in-exchange. By contrast, service-dominant logic highlights the participation in the creation of values. Thus, it is essential to distinguish the plural form of ‘services’ as products or units of output and the singular form of ‘service’ as a process. The former one indicates the kind of products produced by service companies such as banks whereas the latter one refers to the actual process occurring in the consumption activities, for instance the shopping experience provided by stores as their services but not products. On the other hand, the ‘sense-and-respond’ strategy explains this process feature in terms of customer involvement or collaboration in order to adapt to the individual and dynamic needs, which is opposite to the ‘make-and-sell’ strategy (Haeckel, 1999). In other words, it is the idea that all activities of a firm should be integrated into their marketing responsiveness to achieve profits which come from customer satisfaction rather than units of goods sold (Kohli and Javorski, 1990; Narver and Salter, 1990). Nonetheless, it is essential to clarify that the physical products or goods are important in this ‘process’ as they play the fundamental role in customer satisfaction. In supermarket settings, particularly, price, quality and variety of products have the basic determining role in satisfying customer expectations as the physical attributes of products whereas the in-store experience and employee service are the key elements of the process of shopping.

In the following section, firstly, the nature of services is explained in order to exhibit the differences between the physical products and services. Later, the concept of service quality is elaborated to be able to show how consumer evaluations regarding service offerings are formed.

2.1.2.1 The Nature of Services

Service is defined as the “processes consisting of a series of activities where a number of different types of resources are used in direct interaction with a customer, so that a solution is found to a customer’s problem” (Grönroos, 2000). That is to say, there are

14

two main interactive actors: a firm and its customers, whereas the service as the missing product (Grönroos, 1998) plays the central role in this consumption process. It points out to the key characteristics of service including intangibility, interactivity, integration, relationship and inseparability. These features are distinctive but they influence one another as determinants of service and service quality, ‘it is a process of integrating and transforming resources, which requires interaction’ (Lusch and Vargo, 2006).

Intangibility refers to the distinction of services from physical products which are tangible (here, services are seen as products). Services are impossible to keep in stock and hardly can be prepared in advance, due to the consumption process which requires the interaction of customers. For instance, solving individual problems or communicating specific requirements with customers necessitate the presence of customers and these services are lost unless they are provided to customers for that specific period in that they cannot be produced and stocked.

Interactivity is the central concept in the process view of service marketing as defined above. In other words, it indicates doing business with customers rather than to customers, where customers in this process play an active role instead of being passive receivers. This, on the other hand, is the key feature which closely relates to service quality evaluated by customers through service encounter process.

Integration refers to the resource-integration concept (Lusch and Vargo, 2006) in which customers, employees and organization are seen as operant resources. In particular, customers’ preferences, as information, are integrated into the co-creation process. Moreover, employees’ knowledge and skills of communicating with customers are also critical to service and service quality; and organization’s reputation or brand image has been viewed as one way of emotionally relating to customers.

Relationship means the emotional connection built up between firms and customers by service processes, often being described as trust, commitment, and loyalty (Lusch and Vargo, 2006). To a large extent, this aspect determines further actions of customers such as re-purchase and word-of-mouth. Certainly, physical products have the ability to develop relationship with customers through their outstanding features or under a legendary brand name. What distinguishes services from physical goods is the experienced relationship developed throughout service process such as the shopping experience rather than the actual usage of a certain product.

Inseparability closely relates to the process of consumption which implies that services cannot happen without actual interactions with customers (here service is seen as a process). Comparing with intangibility of services, referring to services as products, however, some service processes cannot be separated from physical products or environments even if it is possible to partly prepare them beforehand such as in shopping malls or restaurants. That is to say, physical elements, for instance, music and lights in shopping environments, are integral parts of the service process (Grönroos, 1998), which impact the service encounter.

15

2.1.2.2 Service Quality

As indicated above, services are distinctive from products due to direct consumer involvement and consumption process. Hence, it is essential to study what affects consumers’ evaluation and how these effects occur. According to the characteristics of services described above, three challenges of service quality have been raised. Firstly, it is difficult for companies to understand how consumers perceive services and evaluate service quality (Zeithaml, 1981) due to the intangible nature of services. Comparing with physical goods, services cannot be tested, counted, or measured in advance before the actual service process happens. Secondly, there is no certain standard in service quality and consistency of behavior from service personnel is difficult to assure (Booms and Bitner, 1981). This is caused by the interactivity and integrative nature of services in which each buyer – seller interaction is unique regarding employees’ communication skills and individual customers’ expectations. Thirdly, service quality cannot be separated from the quality of the outcome of products. That is to say, the outcome as what customers actually perceive, such as milk, cheese or music in the store, also affects how customers evaluate service quality. Nevertheless, the ways customers receive products matter much more than the actual products when it comes to the evaluation of service quality. Therefore, it is difficult for companies to balance both aspects to fulfill consumers’ expectations.

Hence, there are two variables determining the evaluation of service quality, namely the expected service and the perceived service. The former one can be seen as similar to the expected products. That is to say, customers have their expectations and preferences of what they want. These expectations and preferences partly depend on customers’ own requirements and judgments but more importantly they relate closely to information and promises customers receive from firms such as advertising, word-of-mouth and previous experience with a service (Grönroos, 2007). The latter one highly concerns the consumption process. It is how consumers experience these buyer-seller interactions (Johnston and Bonoma, 1981). The perceived service as the outcome of an evaluation process is compared with the expected service during and after the consumption processes (Grönroos, 2007). In service contexts, it is more related to how customers receive services rather than what they get, namely it is an experience. Although what they get is the basic part of the service, how they receive it is more critical to the evaluation process.

As stated above, the promise concept has been applied in both goods-centered view and service-centered view in that firms should give, fulfill and enable promises. The promise-giving process can be held by traditional marketing activities such as advertising and pricing, as well as word-of-mouth. These influence customer expectations. More importantly, promise – fulfilling and enabling processes can be viewed as performances which determine how customers receive services and in turn, which they compare with their expectations. Swan and Combs (1976) divide perceived

16

performance into two sub–processes, namely, instrumental performance and expressive performance.

Instrumental performance is the technical level of a product in the product context. Applying into service context, it can be seen as the technical result or the outcome of a service process. For instance, groceries are the outcome of shopping in supermarkets. Expressive performance is related to ‘psychological’ level or the buyer-seller interactions in the service context, for example, how employees solve individual customers’ problems and how they communicate, or how the store sounds and feels like.

Instrumental and expressive performances interactively affect the evaluation of service quality. Comparing with physical products, the process of production of services is invisible for customers; however, expressive performance, as the process of service, includes direct interaction with customers and is crucial to customer satisfaction and furthermore to loyalty and trust. On the other side, instrumental performance in this evaluation process plays the prerequisite role and can be seen as the basic expectations of customers.

Mirroring to Swan and Combs’s (1976) instrumental performance and expressive performance, the quality of service can be viewed as technical quality and functional quality (Grönroos, 2007). Similarly, the quality of the outcome or the result of a service is related to the technical quality, while how the process itself is perceived by customers is the functional quality. In the service context, the latter one poses larger effects to customer satisfaction. Along with the perceived service quality evaluations, technical quality and functional quality together establish the image of a firm which impact customer expectations.

With technical quality and functional quality, service evaluation process can be seen as ‘filling the Five Gaps’ identified by Parasuraman et al. (1988) based on service quality model. The model mainly aims at fulfilling customer requirements by filling the gaps between what consumers actually desire and how companies interpret the needs of consumers and the actual service customers receive from the companies.

The five gaps can be divided into inside the firm or marketers and outside the marketplace. Specifically, the instrumental performance can be pre-prepared before the interaction happens within the firm or/and marketers, and this technical quality is relatively easier to measure and assure than functional quality defined as the process itself. Similarly, expressive performance happens mostly in the marketplace and can hardly be pre-prepared. In other words, the interaction process happening in the marketplace can be called ‘service encounter’ defined as ‘a period of time during which a consumer directly interacts with a service’ (Shostack, 1985).

Apart from the traditional marketing mix, namely 4 Ps (product, price, place and promotion), this service encounter concept highlights three extended marketing mix elements proposed by Booms and Bitner (1981): physical evidence, participants and

17

process. Physical evidence is the physical surroundings and all tangible cues. Participants include all human actors in the interaction process, such as personnel and customers. Process refers to the interaction or experience during service consumption process, such as shopping experience (Bitner, 1990). In this case, physical evidence represents the instrumental performance which can be pre-prepared in advance. For example, the design and arrangements of the store in bank services; music and lights in the shopping malls. On the other hand, the participants and the process can hardly be under total control which represents the expressive performance. A firm might train employees to gain the required communication skills, but the actual perceived service quality by customers depends on the particular situations during the service process. Although the three extended dimensions interact with the traditional 4 Ps of the marketing mix during the practical events, it is essential to distinguish them in order to examine service quality in terms of the process itself or experience. As Bitner and Brown (2000) address ‘this service encounter process influences customer satisfaction, loyalty, repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth recommendations’.

2.1.3 Aestheticism in Marketing

Aiming to achieve customer satisfaction and loyalty through distinguishing products or services from competitors, the concept of aestheticism has been widely involved in marketing by marketers and scholars. This is because, it is taken for granted that bringing aesthetic aspects can help companies establish brand image and differentiate from competitors as aesthetic is believed to bring beauty to a brand (Wijland and Fell, 2009). Baisya and Das (2008) address that ‘regular product research on aesthetics can help companies understand and appreciate its contribution to total customer satisfaction, with further help in enhancing the image of both the product and the company while also inducing brand loyalty’. Particularly, marketers largely use aesthetic elements as marketing or promotional tools, packaging, advertising and alike (Schmitt and Simonson, 1997). Be it an advertising campaign or a product design element, aesthetics in marketing leads to differentiation as Scruton (1974) states that they are appreciated for their uniqueness and cannot be replaced by ‘another that will do just as well.’

Regarding aesthetics as the notion of beauty, it seems that its relations with marketing in the sense of products or services are limited to the outlook or ‘attractiveness’. Venkatesh and Meamber (2006) identify four approaches of art and aesthetics in marketing, namely, (1) managerial-orientation with the key issue being marketing principles’ application to advance arts consumption (Andreasen and Belk, 1980); (2) consumption-orientation with an emphasis on experiential, symbolic and hedonic components in consumption (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982); (3) everyday life-orientation with aesthetic consumption occurring in everyday life situations (Featherstone, 1991); and (4) cultural product-orientation with a focus on the insights of consumer culture through the study of cultural products (Holbrook, et al., 1986). These four approaches provide an evolutional view of the applications and development of aestheticism in marketing. Especially, the third and fourth approaches, corresponding to

18

aestheticization of everyday life and consumer culture, reflect that aesthetics no longer represents only fine arts but rather individual experience or symbolic meanings possessed and interpreted by consumers in everyday life.

Thus, the concept of aesthetics has been widened into different forms and applications in marketing practice. Firstly, the sensory experience is closely related to the sensory perceptions including touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight and movement (Baisya and Das, 2008) and secondly, aesthetic experience concerns everyday objects (Forty, 1986) or everyday aesthetics, relating to the feelings or emotions of customers with objects.

The next two sections provide different applications of aesthetics within marketing, namely aesthetic products and aesthetic consumption. These sections demonstrate how aesthetics is used differently between physical products and shopping as an experience.

2.1.3.1 Aesthetic Products

In today’s consumption world, not only operas, concertos or paintings are seen as aesthetic but also cars or watches have capabilities to offer aesthetic dimensions in the eyes of consumers. Charters (2006) suggests a continuum of aesthetic dimensions of products ranging from minimal aesthetic, aesthetic design, substantially aesthetic to almost entirely aesthetic. This continuum implies two values of aesthetics in products, namely, functional value and experiential value. That is to say, some products aim to provide essentially utility as functional purposes, whereas others are primarily designed to offer unique individual experiential consumption in that aesthetic products mainly satisfy customers’ sensory perceptions.

As indicated above, in the studies of management and marketing, the most widely applied aesthetic strategies start with branding and promotion with the intention of establishing product differentiation. Relating lifestyle or experiences with products is not new for marketing. This application of aesthetics has been seen as a significant competitive dimension, particularly in technological product brands such as Apple. With their beautiful designs, their products have been viewed beyond their functionality to reflect sensory satisfaction and pleasure, which increases the margins and profitability for the companies. For instance, ‘Apple sold two million computers in the first 12 months after the iMac was introduced and 6.5 million computers in 3.5 years’ (Elsenman, 2004). This shows that innovating along aesthetic dimensions enables firms to capture extension values through satisfying consumers’ sensory appreciation as well as reducing their price sensitivity.

2.1.3.2 Aesthetic Consumption

With the wider meaning of aesthetics in the notion of sensory experiences, aesthetic consumption has been paid increasing attention by marketers and academics. Heilbrun (2002) states that ‘everyday objects have the potential to satisfy aesthetic needs of consumers through sensory experiences’, which Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) refer

19

to as the ‘engagement in experiences for pleasure and fun’. This is distinctive from aesthetic products. The consumption focuses on how consumers feel about products by using them, namely their aesthetic response. It includes feelings or emotive aspects of experience described as fantasy, fun, enjoyment and pleasure. It is worth noting that aesthetic experience is ‘self-rewarding’ or in Kant’s terminology ‘disinterested’ (Venkatesh and Meamber, 2008). That is to say, what matters is how the individual feels or evaluates an aesthetic product for his or her own sake. As symbolic considerations can take precedence over utilitarian ones (McCracken, 1988), aesthetics and beauty of a product can also put the functional features of the product to lesser importance.

Therefore, aestheticism plays two main roles, first as a marketing tool and second as an aesthetic consumption concept. The first one has been widely used in product design or product development aiming to attract potential customers and achieve customer loyalty, whereas the latter one emphasizes the experiential values established through the process of consuming products. Nonetheless, both of the above aspects stayed limited to physical products with less attention on services, which has great potential for applying experiential and symbolic value due to its process nature.

This thesis focuses on aesthetic consumption since the main service supermarkets provide to their customers is the shopping environments and services, not the physical products. Nevertheless, the elements of traditional marketing, such as 4 Ps, will still be examined since it is hard to split supermarket business model into ‘physical products’, ‘services’, ‘aesthetics’ etc. Rather, all of these elements affect one another and collectively constitute the ultimate shopping experience.

2.1.4 Differentiation in Marketing

The concept of differentiation has been widely studied and applied in market segmentation, marketing strategy and products, and the relation among them has long been discussed in the literature. It is generally accepted that in order to win the game in the business world, products and services of a company should stand out differently than competitors’, so that customers can easily distinguish them from others and possibly be loyal to them which Shaw (1912) refers as ‘the strategy of product differentiation to meet human wants more accurately than the competition’.

Product differentiation has a long history in marketing theories and practices. Regarding certain characteristics of a product itself, differentiation can be achieved through product features, colors, trade-marks, logo, packaging, or style. However, the application and studies of differentiation in service settings remain limited. This is partly due to the inseparable nature of service from physical products or environments. Black (1951) addresses this by stating that ‘a service is a good creation of utilities, and if marketing is defined as creation of utilities in commodities alone, there is little room for the concept of services rendered directly’. That is to say, management or marketers pay most of their attention to product differentiation to achieve customer satisfaction

20

and loyalty. By contrast, in service settings, such as supermarkets, which sell most items at low prices, a demand for a service is expressed rather than a demand for a product differentiated by the addition of services (Black, 1951). Thus, with generally low prices and standardized product variety among different supermarkets, their differentiation shall be focused on services.

It is generally accepted that differentiation itself is a critical concern to services. It determines the willingness of customers to switch between service providers, to repurchase and recommend to others, and further to remain loyal (Fisher, 1991). For instance, if customers’ basic expectations regarding groceries are low price and good quality, a company can achieve customer satisfaction by offering them, but it cannot build trust, commitment or loyalty since all other competitors offer the same. Service quality, however, as one way of differentiation, is positively associated with customer loyalty, trust and commitment (Chenet et al., 2010). It is not only providing the basic needs, but also paying attention to the way customers perceive the service. That is to say, with high consideration on the distinctive expressive performance instead of instrumental performance, firms are capable of establishing long-term relationships such as trust, commitment and loyalty which is highlighted by Black (1951) as ‘genuine product differentiation does exist, and further, there is genuine differentiation between services’.

Therefore, it can be concluded that differentiation plays a critical role in contributing to relationship building between brand and customers in terms of trust, commitment, and loyalty in service settings.

2.2 Art

Art has been at the center of human attention throughout the history of man. It is evident from the archeological studies that even long before philosophers who attempted to define art, aesthetics, the nature of artistic creation or artist, mankind tried to reflect their interests, emotions and thoughts to be able to evoke similar kinds of reflections in others. It is, of course, arguable whether all of the attempts to accomplish these kinds of reflections can be classified as art or even included in a matter of artistic discussion. Nevertheless, it still implies that art and aesthetics have always been a part of human evolution.

The aim of this section is to provide a brief understanding of how the conceptualization and perspectives of art have been changing. This will be done through the depiction of the two extreme views of art, a Kantian perspective of art representing the high art continuum, on the one hand, and postmodern perspective of art which brings art to everyday lives of people, on the other hand.

The reason why a Kantian perspective has been chosen is because of Kant’s influence on the discipline. Even though he has been heavily criticized, such as for knowing little about arts by Adorno or for approaching the issue of aesthetics from the spectators’

21

point of view rather than of the creators’ by Nietzsche (Cheetham, 2001), he has been one of the most influential philosophers on the discipline of art. Therefore, he can be said to be a good point of reference to explain the processes of judgment on aesthetics and the traditional perspective of high art. Moreover, his emphasis on spectators’ perspective provides a foundation to understand customers’ point of view.

The second perspective of art has been chosen as postmodernism not only because of its influence worldwide but also because of its reflections and applications in the business world. Thus, in addition to be employed as a comparison to the Kantian traditional art view, postmodernist art will be one of the cornerstones of this thesis by helping explain the influence of aesthetics on the commercial world.

Before starting the discussion of art in this chapter, it is useful to provide a definition of art. Nonetheless, it is not an easy undertaking to define art which has been a continuous and popular theme of lengthy and generally unresolved discussions.

Since most of the elements of art in this thesis will be discussed from the traditional and Kantian perspectives, it would be proper to employ a Kantian definition. Kant (2000, original in 1790) describes art as “a kind of representation that is purposive in itself and, though without an end, nevertheless promotes the cultivation of the mental powers for sociable communication”. In addition to this Kantian definition, a modern description can be provided by Beardsley (1981), in which he says “an artwork is an arrangement of conditions intended to be capable of affording an experience with marked aesthetic character”. Although the explanations of the terms used in the definitions, the criticisms against and detailed arguments for each definition is beyond the scope of this thesis, by looking at these two definitions one can have a rough understanding of what constitutes art and artwork without a need to go into further discussions. Combining the two definitions, the essential nature of art can be understood as the reflection of a representation to invoke experience through communication. Thus, excluding the differences between high art and daily postmodern art, be it a painting from Van Gogh or a graffiti drawn on the street walls of a Manhattan district, it can be said that they are the forms of representations in artists’ mind which arouse experiences in the spectators’ imagination.

2.2.1 High Art

In this section of the thesis, art and aesthetics will be elaborated from the Kantian perspective of art to explain how art is viewed and how the judgments regarding aesthetics are formed from a high art perspective. If high art is to counter argue the postmodernist art, by this way, the historical evolution of art can be shown. Furthermore, this evolution can shed some light onto how this evolution in the history of art could pave the way to art’s permeation into commerce.

When one is evaluating beauty, it is generally said that it is a matter of individual tastes and thus, subjective. However, in the eighteenth century and from the perspectives of

22

the formalist criticism, Kantian aesthetics and abstract art, which have come to be viewed as inseparable from one another (Prettejohn, 2005), it was disputed to be universal and a way of knowing connected to common sense (Gadamer, 1975). Thus, it is essential to examine this way of thinking to have a thorough understanding of the judgment of aesthetics.

Kant (1988, original in 1790) describes judgment as “the faculty of thinking the particular as contained under the universal”, universal being rule, principle or law. If the judgment includes the particular under a given universal, then the judgment is determinant. On the other hand, if the universal has to be found out by departing from a given particular, then the judgment is reflective. Thus, aesthetic judgment is a form of reflective judgment resembling a process of induction. What makes aesthetic judgment a matter of debate is this reflective nature because unlike a determinant judgment, the principle of the reflective judgment is unknown and this raises the question of how it is possible to make a judgment without having a concept a priori (Burnham, 2005).

According to Kant (1988, original in 1790) aesthetic judgments (judgments of taste) have four characteristics. First of these characteristics is disinterestedness. This characteristic implies a state of pleasure due to one’s judgment of an object as beautiful rather than vice versa. That is, it would not be a judgment of beauty if the judgment is based on pleasure but rather it would be a judgment of agreeable. Hence, aesthetic judgment is disinterested from concepts of good or sensations of agreeable which are related to cognitive objectivity and sensual subjectivity respectively. This means that aesthetic judgment concerns with the form of the object (shape, arrangement, rhythm etc.) and not with the sensible content (color, tone etc.) which is related to interest (Burnham, 2005).

This disinterested aesthetic contemplation is different than judgments built around sensual pleasure (Szmigin, 2006), which is an idea shared by Schopenhauer (1883) who claims that the object is perceived in a form of disinterested reflection detached from other relations or connections. Thus, the beautiful is distinguished from the agreeable; pure contemplation is demanded by the beautiful in contrast to the agreeable which gratifies.

Second characteristic of aesthetic judgments is universality. This means that contrary to the notion of “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” (Burnham, 2005), people claim that their judgments are shared by other people leading to universality of taste (Kant, 1988, original in 1790). Universality is distinct from both the subjectivity and objectivity of judgments. Since it is a kind of reflective judgment, it should be universal without being attached to a concept (Burnham, 2005).

Third characteristic of aesthetic judgment is purposiveness. The purpose of an object is the manufacturing concept of itself. Thus, in order for an object to have purpose, it should look as if it has been designed. Nevertheless, purposiveness requires the object to look like purposive without any definite purpose. Therefore, the object should not be

23

viewed as having a functional utility to accomplish something or having perfection to look like something. Thus, even if the object has a purpose, the purpose cannot comprise the beauty and the beauty cannot have a purpose (Burnham, 2005).

The fourth and the final characteristic of aesthetic judgment is necessity meaning that judgment necessitates other people also to approve it. Necessity is based first, on an object’s being exemplary of an aesthetic judgment rather than following a principle and second on common sense (Kant 1988, original in 1790).

Now it should be clear, from a Kantian perspective, how aesthetic judgments are formed. The underlying logic of Kant’s classification regarding the universality of aesthetic judgments derives from the same logic of all other judgments (Burnham, 2005). Thus, it is said that aesthetic judgments are, as all other cognitions, formed by the interplay of understanding and intuition or concepts and sensibility respectively. However, it is useful to note that since aesthetic judgments are not determinate in their nature, intuition does not come from a predefined concept but rather is defined by the general harmony of understanding (Burnham, 2005). The understanding and intuition, together, act like common sense causing the judgments to be perceived as valid and universal.

As Burnham (2005) explains, Kant’s arguments for the judgment of aesthetics depart from the beauty of the nature. When it comes to fine arts the issue changes from how judgment is built to how object is created. According to Kant what makes a piece of art more than an artificial representation of the nature is an aesthetic idea which is a set of sensible presentations. No single concept can sufficiently explain these presentations. The creation comes into play here to build this aesthetic idea in a tasteful mode of expression. The concept of tastefulness has two dimensions (Kant, 1988, original in 1790). Firstly, it has to be capable of being shared to secure the universality. Secondly, and maybe more importantly, the viewer should find something more than the conceptual understanding of the object. That is, the viewer should also be able to capture the creator’s state of mind of excitement and harmony during the creation.

The way how Kant describes art is useful for the further discussions in this thesis. According to him, art is the activity of making according to a preceding notion. However, he notes that art is different than science since art is a practical ability, irreducible to determinate concepts. Moreover, art is distinct from craft since craft is not satisfying just for the activity of making but rather has an interest in the existence of the product itself for its payoff to result (Kant, 1988, original in 1790).

It is possible to divide arts into two, according to a Kantian perspective, namely mechanical and aesthetic (Burnham, 2005). Even though mechanical art is different from craft, it still serves for a definite concept of a purpose whereas for aesthetic art, the object is the pleasure. In addition to this distinction Kant also differentiates between fine and agreeable art, the first producing pleasure through diverse cognitions while the latter only through sensation.

24

This way of presenting aesthetic judgment, art and the criteria for aesthetic judgment clearly shows that, from Kant’s perspective, art is associated with high aesthetics. Many philosophers and commentators criticize this perspective. For instance, Kantian judgment is said to imply a predisposition of people to reflect on art in a certain way and this view is accused of being a myth (Bourdieu et al., 1991). Bourdieu (1984) also claims that Kant’s basis of high aesthetics is left behind when the ‘sacred frontier’ which protects so-called legitimate culture as discrete and different, is abolished.

Furthermore, Kant is criticized also from outside the discipline of art. For example, in the field of consumer research Kant is criticized for eliminating all non-cognitive responses from aesthetics (Joy and Sherry, 2003). Kant’s distinction of art, science and craft also does not seem to be taken into account when it comes to the implications of aesthetic on the business world. Since the incontrovertible aim of the for-profit-businesses is making money, applying aesthetics for any kind of strategy thus, serves an intermediate purpose or an end result in terms of the payoff to the business rather than just for the sake of the act in itself which is clearly in contradiction to Kant’s view of aesthetics.

In spite of all these critiques, Kant has an undeniable influence on the subject. Therefore, examining his ideas and perspectives provides a background as to how aesthetic judgment evolved from high aesthetics to aesthetics of everyday life which is the topic of the next section.

2.2.2 Postmodernism

Having talked about Kantian perspective of art, aesthetics and aesthetic judgment, an overview of how that kind of thinking led to a view of art as high art is now apparent. Moreover, it is now possible to make the distinction between art and “other things” under that perspective since it provides a disinterestedness of art and aesthetic judgment which dictates that art is separated and distinct from other things and relations among those things. Thus, it must be clear that art cannot be used in daily life experiences or in commerce because it would mean that art will have a purpose of satisfying feelings or making money which is absolutely in contrast to Kantian perspective.

However, then how is it possible to explain or make sense out of the usage of art in advertisements, street paintings, product designs or similar concerns in the corporate agenda? Here, it is clear that there has been a paradigm shift changing the conceptualization of art, its judgment and its usage. This new paradigm is postmodernism.

Even though it is necessary to define the postmodern theory before starting any discussion, it is not any easier than defining art since there has not been a set discussion and theorization about the usage of the term. Varying ideas are in circulation regarding its description from a shallow intellectual fad (Pawley, 1986), to post-industrial order (Lyotard, 1984), and from a situation of saturated social relations with shifting cultural

25

signs leading to ‘the end of social’ (Baudrillard, 1983) to the present wave of political reaction sweeping the Western world (Gott, 1986). Whereas most critiques argue that Warhol would be a representative in postmodern art, others suggest that the works of Garcia Marquez and Cervantes should also be classified under postmodern novels (Hutcheon, 1984).

Nevertheless, for the purposes of this thesis it would be enough to position post-modernism in accordance with modernism. If modernism would be associated with the era of “social development based on industrialization, the growth of science and technology, the modern nation state, the capitalist world market and urbanization…” (Featherstone, 1991), then postmodernism would symbolize the era of changes through restructuring of socio-spatial relations by new trends in production and investment in industry, services, labor markets and telecommunications (Zukin, 1988). Thus, modernity is “the quality of modern life including a sense of discontinuity of time, the break with tradition, the feeling of novelty and the sensitivity to ephemeral…” (Frisby, 1985) based on new forms through experimentation and usage of new materials in art. On the other hand, postmodernism represents a shift from a productive to a reproductive social order in which the distinction between real and appearance is erased (Baudrillard, 1983) so are the boundaries between art and everyday life and thus, between art and commerce.

The next section depicts aestheticization of daily life which shows the detailed implications of postmodernism, and thus aesthetics, on the commercial world by explaining the differences from the concept of high art.

2.2.2.1 Aestheticization of Daily Life

The breakdown of the boundaries between art and daily life has brought an aestheticization movement into the daily lives’ of people. Nonetheless, the fact that the Kantian perspective speaks of “high art” which leads to the discussions of politics, morality or even religion should not lead to a perception that a discussion over daily lives, which generally consist of a great deal of mundane, would be a trivial undertaking since it would not have any significance. As acknowledged by Saito (2007), aesthetics, even in daily terms, has a power to influence the attitudes and actions of people exemplified by the usage of certain music, literature or films by Nazi Germany or the relationship between “the Japanese imperialism and the formation of national aesthetic, leading up to the Second World War”. On the other hand, the discussions, of course, would not go into such further details but rather will focus on the elements that lead to the influence of aesthetics on the commercial world.

The main argument for the influence of postmodernism on aestheticization of everyday life emphasizes the annihilation of boundaries between art and everyday life but a closer scrutiny will also reveal “the collapse of the distinction between high art and mass culture, leveling out of symbolic hierarchies and cultural declassification” (Featherstone, 2007). Furthermore, it may symbolize hyper-reality and the blurring of

26

boundaries between the real and the imaginary (Baudrillard, 1983). Leddy (2005) emphasizes this by pointing to the experiences, rather than the physical reality, as the source of the properties of everyday aesthetics.

Even though aestheticization of daily life is mostly associated with the media and the commercialization in popular culture (Bloch et al., 2003), it can well be tracked back to urban renewal (Cooke, 1988). That is to say, the landscape of cities has been changing with the simulation environments designed in shopping malls, theme parks and hotels (Featherstone, 2007). This change, brought by the consumer culture, can be even traced back to far earlier times when the first shopping mall was opened in Paris in 1850s (Sennett, 1976). Furthermore, as acknowledged by Featherstone (2007), even the institutions are changing such as the museums which try to attract larger audiences discarding their high-culture label, even though they were once called “cold marble mausoleums” (Levy and Kotler, 1969) which did not attract the general public. One of the most striking examples for this change is the exhibition ‘brand.new’ where the focus was the famous global brands such as Nike and Coca Cola. Szmigin (2006) describes the exhibition with the following words: “The aesthetic experience was conveyed through the placing and focus given to objects that one would not normally see within an exhibition space.” which definitely points to the collapse of our expectations and assumptions regarding exhibitions by demonstrating the quotidian objects in the aesthetic light.

Therefore, postmodernism, aestheticization of daily life and consumer culture have acted and interacted together to demolish many of the frames that once dominated people’s assumptions, to break down the frontier between life and art and to drive aestheticization into commerce.

Featherstone (2007) describes three movements within aestheticization of daily life. The first movement is said to start with the subcultures within art, such as Surrealism and Dada, during the First World War in Paris as a revolt against the institutionalization of art in museums and academics. These sub-cultural movements not only affected the visual arts but also novels, movies, music and even political thoughts. The artists associated with the movement are the exemplary of the demolition of the boundaries between art and everyday life and between reality and fantasy. For instance, the writings of Garcia Marquez is said to make the impossible believable by wrapping the commonplace into an aura of magic (McMurray, 1977) which clearly symbolizes the breakdown of boundaries.

The second movement has been carried out by artists and intellectuals by turning life into art (Featherstone, 2007) through their desire to enlarge their lives and beings and their passion for new tastes and sensations (Shusterman, 1988). The Dandyism movement exemplifies this trend by its emphasis on “the quest for special superiority through the construction of an uncompromising exemplary lifestyle in which an aristocracy of spirit manifested itself in contempt for the masses and the heroic concern with the achievement of originality and superiority in dress, demeanor, personal habits

27

and even furnishings” (Williams, 1982). Hence, in this movement also, the emphasis on the pursuit of new tastes and pleasures can easily be related to the aestheticization of consumption.

The third movement is “the rapid flow of signs and images which saturate the fabric of everyday life in contemporary society” and the theorization of this is drawn from Marx’s theory of the fetishism of commodities (Featherstone, 2007). Later Baudrillard developed Marx’s theory, however, contrary to Marx who attached a rather great deal of importance to production, Baudrillard emphasized consumption believing that production is driven by the necessity to satisfy consumer needs. Based on these ideas, Baudrillard (1981, original in 1972) refers to four types of values derived from an object, namely functional value, exchange value, symbolic value and sign value. The importance of symbolic and sign values beyond the functionality of an object derives from the notions that consumption needs are not necessarily congenital but rather constructed and the objects of consumption reflects many cues regarding the personality, lifestyle and taste of consumers. This phenomenon has been the central topic of the marketing academics and practitioners for quite some time pointing out to the reflections of aesthetics on the commercial world.

Now, it must be clear how the conceptualizations of art and aesthetics have changed throughout the evolution from the Kantian view to postmodernism and how postmodernism interacted with the consumer culture and aestheticization of daily life. In addition to these, it is apparent that the implications of this interaction has led to the contemporary applications in marketing such as the creation of symbolic and sign value beyond the use and exchange value (Bowman and Ambrosini, 2000) and the branding efforts to create a brand personality by uncovering consumers’ desires and associating them to the brand (Doyle, 1989). Therefore, the discussion now can be channeled to the evolution of the judgment of aesthetics from the Kantian view to the postmodernist perspective.

Firstly, Baudrillard (1983) points out to the demise of the distinction between high art and everyday aestheticization by stating that everything, “even if it is the everyday and banal reality, falls by this token under the sign of art, and becomes aesthetic”. Hence, art ceases to be distinct from life which eliminates the disinterestedness of judgment in the Kantian view from the postmodernist perspective. Again Baudrillard (1983) assures this by referring to the dissolution of art’s transcendence:

And so art is everywhere, since artifice is at the very heart of reality. And so art is dead, not only because its critical transcendence is gone, but because reality itself, entirely impregnated by an aesthetic which is inseparably from its own structure, has been confused with its own image.

Source: Jean Baudrillard, 1983, (p.151)

Secondly, Lash (1988) made a distinction between discourse and figure attributing the figural elements to postmodernism. In addition to emphasizing desire over ego, Lash

28

attaches importance not just to the creator but also to the viewers and their wants for the object. This is in contrast with the Kantian view of judgment’s purposiveness without purpose. Furthermore, as outlined above one of the characteristics of postmodernism is the will of artists and intellectuals to try novel tastes and sensations and to extend their “selves” through aestheticization of their lives. This is again in contrast to Kantian view in that it attaches a definite purpose to art.

Before discussing the third element of judgment under postmodernism, the two previous distinctions of judgments of postmodernism from the Kantian view need to be examined under the concept of de-differentiation by Lash (1990). Kant’s disregard of non-cognitive elements in the judgment of aesthetics has raised objection from the contemporary marketing academics and practitioners (Joy and Sherry, 2003) and their support has gone to Lash (1990) for his concept of de-differentiation in which sensation and immediacy positioned to the center of aesthetics (Szmigin, 2006).

According to Lash (1990) postmodernism is a process of de-differentiation with four main components, the first being the mixed, rather than the autonomous, cultural spheres, i.e. aesthetic, ethical and theoretical. The second component is the cultural and social zones which also get closer leading to a de-differentiated cultural-economy, which is the third component of the process. This kind of economy symbolizes the inclusion of the artist in the cultural product such as biographical novels or performance art where the subject is the creator. However, maybe more important than this is the consumption side where the viewers become an interactive part of the cultural production process. The final component of the process is the mode of signification referring to the relationships between the signifier, signified and referent. With the de-differentiation of this relationship, the boundary between the real and the image is shaken.

This de-differentiation process reflects the consumer culture where consumers actively integrate in the process of value creation rather than being the passive recipients of products which can be referred as consuming-as-integration (Holt, 1995). Thus, consumers also become producers in that by integrating, they create meaning out of products (De Certeau, 1988).

Returning back to the issue of judgment, the third distinction between the Kantian view and postmodern perspective is the universality of the judgment. Whereas the universality comes from the common sense in the Kantian view, under the postmodern perspective it can be said that the conventions lead to aesthetic consensus where convention represents the understanding and acceptance of a culture (Szmigin, 2006). Thus, this consensus enables aestheticization of daily life where consumers can integrate the objects into their lives without learning any special codes (Mitchell, 1986).

Therefore, as opposed to the Kantian view which is based on the cognitive evaluation of the aesthetic object and a disinterested, controlled pleasure taken from it, postmodernism paves the way to the inclusion of all kinds of objects in the merits of

29

aesthetics and the sensual appreciation of them. The possibility of assimilation of diverse objects into the realm of aesthetics is enabled through the breakdown of the boundaries between the fantasy and the real which leads to a consensus from the mass consumers that everything and anything can be art. Moreover, a great role has been assigned to consumers in the consumption culture in that they need to actively construct meaning and value from the objects they use or interact with. Hence, new opportunities have been opened up for the marketers in terms of not only adding more value to their products but also how they add this value beyond the functionality of the object.

2.3 Fashion

Art, aesthetics and judgment of the taste were not the only topics that had found their ways into many philosophers’ and sociologists’ discussions. Fashion, taste and style have also been discussed extensively by many of the authors from Kant (2006, original in 1798) to Simmel (1981, original in 1904; 1991, original in 1908) and from Veblen (1961, original in 1889) to Lyotard (1988). What makes these topics interesting is probably their inherent ambiguity regarding their judgments much the same way as the ambiguity of aesthetic judgments. Moreover, the diffusion of fashion within and across societies has attracted much attention and become the topic of many theories.

Even though fashion is generally used in the field of clothes and adornment, the concept can be used in a variety of other contexts such as interior design, architecture, furniture, child rearing techniques (King and Ring, 1980), names (Lieberson, 2000) and management techniques (Abrahamson, 1996). What makes fashion, taste and style particularly important within the realm of this thesis is the fact that fashion stands at the intersection of art and aestheticization of daily life, thus postmodernism. Hence, it has a potential ability to explain some of the applications of marketing in the field of supermarkets such as store designs.

Before starting the discussions, again it is useful to employ the definitions of these terms. Style is defined as “a distinctive or characteristic manner or appearance” whereas taste refers to “an individual’s preference towards or inclination for a particular style” (King and Ring, 1980). Style is the object of the fashion such as a particular representation in architecture. On the other hand, taste concerns the subjective part as in one’s “taste” in art. Finally, fashion refers to the cycle of “the rise, culmination and decline of popular acceptance of a style” (Lockley, 1968).

The following sections are structured to describe firstly fashion from the Kantian perspective. Second, fashion will be examined from the postmodernist view. Then the concept of style will be discussed. Finally, different theories regarding the diffusion of fashion will be examined.

30

2.3.1 Fashion from the Kantian Perspective

Fashion is an undeniable part of the modern man as Kant (2006, original in 1798) points it to be a way of social competition to improve one’s social standing by being better than others. Furthermore, as Campbell (1987) describes it, “it is a solution to aesthetics of taste by offering a socially valid standard of taste on the individual preferences and choices of the members of the community of tastes”. That is, the long continued debate over whether a universally accepted taste could be found out which, at the same time, leaves room for individual preferences seem to be solved by the introduction of fashion into the discussion. In addition to helping explain this philosophical debate, it can be said that fashion also provides a possible solution to one of the most striking dilemmas of the modern man, that is the conflict between being an accepted part of the society in which one exists and yet being different than other people in the society with his or her personal characteristics. Developing his thoughts from Kantian understanding, Simmel suggests on this theme that:

“Fashion is the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaptation; it leads the individual along the road which all travel, it furnishes a general condition, which resolves the conduct of every individual into mere example. At the same time it modifies to no lesser degree the need for differentiation, the tendency towards dissimilarity, the desire for change and contrast on the one hand by a constant change of contents”

Source: Simmel, 1981, (original in 1904), (p. 6-7)

Therefore, it can be concluded that fashion helps people in their social adaptation process by allowing them to both meld into the society and express their individual differences. However, Kant (2006, original in 1798) distinguishes between fashion and aesthetic judgment in that he proposes that fashion is actually bad taste because it stems from blind imitation. Yet, this does not make fashion any less important than art in that fashion is also socially binding when the individuals within the society is concerned (Gronow, 1993).

In addition to the judgment of fashion, its diffusion also attracted much interest and varied theories. According to the traditional fashion adoption model, ‘trickle down’ theory, the diffusion of fashion is explained through the class distinctions within the society which was a powerful determinant in one’s social standing. The main proposal of this theory is the vertical flow hypothesis which suggests that the diffusion of fashion is a vertical flow from the upper classes, who adopt the respective fashions first, to the lower classes within the society (Foley, 1893; Simmel, 1981, original in 1904). Simmel describes this situation as:

31

… the fashions of the upper stratum of the society are never identical with those of the lower, in fact, they are abandoned by the former as soon as the latter prepare to appropriate them.

Source: Simmel, 1981, (original in 1904), (p. 7)

Therefore, it can be said that fashion was a privileged right of the rich men in the upper classes of the society who tried to set themselves apart from the rest of the society not just through their education and occupations but also by distinguishing their tastes. Hence, when a fashion started to diffuse through the adoption of large crowds, it ceased to be a distinguishing feature and become ordinary rather than a privilege which decreased its appeal in the eyes of the upper classes.

2.3.2 Fashion in Postmodernism

As it was described earlier, postmodernism is characterized by the demolition of the boundaries between high art and popular culture, between art and life and between art and commerce. The intellectuals and artists rebel against the institutionalization of art by trying new forms and materials in art, subjecting the ordinary things into their works and making the line between fantasy and real blurry. These reflections found their way into the public through the media and consumer culture which made aesthetics available to the mass society. This, in turn, has led people to seek novel experiences in every facet of their lives.

Fashion has become one of the most important instruments through which the young people carry out experimentation and play which turn out to be the stylization of their whole lives (Chambers, 1987; Calefato, 1988). For many young people and groups from bohemian and romantic art-school tradition, the aestheticization occurring through the rapprochement of art and everyday life has close linkages to stylization of life (Frith and Horne, 1987). This is especially true for the artistic subcultures which claim that “art can be anywhere or anything since for them even the body and other sensory objects in the world can be art which cannot be ‘museumified’” (Featherstone, 2007).

Dandyism, which is within the second movement in postmodernism, symbolizing the attempt of turning life into a work of art, has a direct attribution to fashion. It represents an exemplary life through superiority and originality in dress, behavior and personal habits (Williams, 1982).

Furthermore, Baudelaire, Simmel and Benjamin all wrote about the life in big cities such as Paris and Berlin in which modernity started with changing flow of commodities, images and bodies like a fashionable pageants (Featherstone, 2007) which has been a cornerstone in the evolution into postmodernity.

The pace at which fashion changes increased so much that it also increases time-consciousness with simultaneous pleasures of newness and oldness which points out to the incredible plurality of styles in modern life (Featherstone, 2007).

32

When the Aestheticism (or Art Nouveau, or Jugendstil) movement started at the turn of the twentieth century, fashion long ceased to be the privilege of the upper class and fashion started to be used even in the interior design of the middle classes’ houses (Featherstone, 2007).

Thus, it is clear that the traditional ‘trickle down’ theory of the fashion is no longer valid to explain the diffusion of fashion. That is because today’s modern social environment, which is quite different from the socially clustered society of the previous century, is shaped by mass merchandising and manufacturing strategies, the rise of mass media information and influence and increased levels of income (King and Ring, 1980). Later fashion adoption theories suggest that rather than a ‘trickle down’ flow, a ‘trickle across’ flow exists in the fashion diffusion process in which fashion adoption occurs simultaneously across time and socioeconomic groups (King, 1963).

2.3.3 Style

When it comes to the issue of style, Simmel proposes that:

By virtue of style, the particularity of the individual work is subjugated to a general law of form that also applies to other works; it is, so to speak, relieved of its absolute autonomy. Because it shares its nature or a part of its design with others, it thus points to a common root that lies beyond the individual work…

Source: Simmel, 1991, (original in 1908), (p. 64)

Therefore, it is apparent in the case of style that rather than seeking differentiation, it focuses on the harmony. Thus, as Simmel (1991, original in 1908) puts it, only applied art can have style since they share common attributes and serve for specific purposes by satisfying the needs of men. This is similar to the argument of Kant (1998, original in 1790) for the difference between craft and art in that whereas art is disinterested, craft is designed to serve a purpose. However, Simmel’s account for fashion is closer to art rather than craft in that he states that:

As a matter of fact, fashion does have a purpose – or function – but it is a purely social, and, hence, formal one.

Source: Simmel, 1981, (original in 1904), (p. 7)

Thus, this social need which fashion seeks to serve does not impede fashion to be counted as the functional equivalent to the principle of good taste (Gronow, 1993). That is probably because this need is a social phenomenon, rather than an individual self-interest, in search for a solution to the dilemma between the social cohesion and individuality which is further elaborated by Simmel as:

33

(…) This is clearly proved by the fact that very frequently not the slightest reason can be for the creations of fashion from the standpoint of an objective, aesthetic, or other expediency. While in general our wearing apparel is really adapted to our needs, there is not a trace of expediency in the method by which fashion dictates, for example, whether wide or narrow trousers, colored or black scarves shall be worn .

Source: Simmel, 1981, (original in 1904), (p. 7)

Nevertheless, when explaining aestheticization of daily life in the context of marketing, a different scenario is faced in that no matter how ambitious companies are in their pursuit of customer satisfaction in terms of providing aesthetic products or services, they need to do this efficiently and effectively. Thus, these aesthetic provisions also need to serve corporate goals by being easy to manufacture, transport, maintain, stock etc. Therefore, the company side of the coin turns the aestheticization attempt into a stylization one. As Hancock (2002) argues this turns aestheticization into a quantifiable measure emasculating its importance as a mode of cognition and experience. In addition to the efficiency and effectiveness concern, another reason for the simplified style of aesthetics is because of the need to make them comprehensible or manageable for the managers (Schmitt et al., 1995). This recalls Adorno’s (2001, original in 1991) argument about culture stating that culture has been reduced to a standardized and replicable quantity.

The disputes regarding the long-term and diversified effects of the stylization of aesthetics, such as its usage to promote unethical or unhealthy commodities (Welsch, 1997), decreased value of aesthetic experiences (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1979, original in 1944) and its utility to control employee behavior (Hancock and Tyler, 2000), are beyond the scope of this thesis.

Nevertheless, the stylization and quantification of aesthetics implies that products, services and images companies provide, which are designed to be aesthetic, are standardized and replicable. This is especially true in the case of supermarkets where the design of stores, shelves and packaging has to be replicable and standardized so that it would be efficiently and effectively managed throughout the whole value chain.

2.3.4 Diffusion of Fashion

As it is described in the previous sections two specific theories have been used to describe the diffusion of fashion within and across societies. While the trickle down theory is used to explain the diffusion within societies, the trickle across theory explains it across societies. The trickle down theory suggests that fashion travels from the upper social classes to lower ones while trickle across theory rejects this idea by assuming that the same fashion can exist in different social classes at the same time.

34

Be it a ‘trickle down’ or a ‘trickle across’ theory to explain the diffusion and adoption of fashion, the conclusion is the same that when a fashion becomes too diffused it ceases to be unique for the initial adopters and thus it loses its appeal. Gronow explains it by:

The impetus to set oneself apart as an individual by choosing differently is already given by the fact that, once a taste has been generally adopted, it becomes impossible to recognize it as one’s own and to identify oneself with it. It completely becomes anonymous.

Source: Gronow, 1993, (p.96)

This implies that fashion is transitory, doomed to have an end which then needs to be replaced by yet another fashion and Simmel puts this as follows:

As soon as the example has been universally adopted, that is, as soon as anything that was originally done by a few has really come to be practiced by all – as it is the case in certain portion of our apparel and in various forms of social conduct – we no longer speak of fashion. As fashion spreads, it gradually goes to its doom … fashion includes a peculiar attraction of limitation, the attraction of simultaneous beginning and end…

Source: Simmel, 1981, (original in 1904), (p. 9)

When it comes to the implications for supermarkets, the long-term strategies for aestheticization used in supermarkets, tend to appeal to customers when they are not so common within and across supermarket chains such as the first applications of turning shopping into an experience by placing supermarkets in shopping malls and designing the whole structure to tell a story such as the Christmas or Halloween theme. However, nowadays these kinds of strategies are not only common within a chain but also widely used by all chains with just slight changes. Thus, these arguments lead to a thinking similar to Klein’s (2001) which suggests that the aestheticization process is not only accepted by consumers but becomes something that is expected, if not taken for granted. Hence, these applications become the minimum standard for customers which do not lead to increased satisfaction. Welsch goes even one step further by saying:

Our perception needs not only invigoration and stimulation, but delays, quiet areas and interruptions too… Total aestheticization results in its own opposite. Where everything becomes beautiful, nothing is beautiful anymore; continued excitement leads to indifference; aestheticization breaks into anaestheticization.

Source: Welsch, 1997, (p.25)

35

2.4 Summary of Literature Review

The theoretical background presented above mainly covers three waves of theories: marketing, art and fashion. As indicated above, the major objective of this literature review is providing fundamental theories and concepts that are applied in the further analysis of the empirical findings.

The marketing part of the theory can be seen as the departure point. It starts with the discussion of the marketing evaluation which shifted from the goods-centered view to the service-centered view, and then it further reviews the service marketing with a service quality focus. It ends with the role of aestheticism and differentiation in marketing.

Two important paradigms in the field of marketing are firstly examined, namely, the 4 Ps and service marketing. The core idea of 4 Ps reflects the outcome, such as goods. It plays the driving force for companies in terms of fulfilling customers’ needs while customers are the outsiders of the process of production. By contrast, the service-centered view emphasizes the importance of customer involvement in the processes of providing services. This not only leads to the difficulties of the evaluation of service quality, but also shows that service quality is affected by instrumental and expressive performances interactively. Moreover, another wave of marketing theories, aestheticism, complicates the issue further since it is harder to evaluate aesthetic products and services.

In the case of supermarkets, service can be seen as a combination of 4 Ps (outcome) and service (process), thus it is necessary to review both the traditional and service view of marketing. Moreover, service quality evaluation cannot be separated into only instrumental or expressive performances. In other words, customers get satisfied from the variety of products as well as a pleasant shopping environment which can be designed through aesthetic applications.

The art theory in this thesis is the cornerstone which helps explain how aesthetics is judged under Kantian perspective of fine art as well as under postmodernism. Aesthetic judgments from the Kantian view are claimed to be disinterested, universal, purposive, and necessary to be shared by many people. However, this seems to be in contradiction with the business world whose main aim is making money. Nevertheless, this view provides a background to aesthetic judgments. On the other hand, postmodernism and aestheticization of daily life propose the annihilation of boundaries between art and everyday life. By this point of view, all kinds of objects and everything can be art and beautiful. More importantly, sensations, interactive consumption and symbolic meanings emerge as indispensable parts of the consumption process. Therefore, aesthetic elements, employed in supermarkets, fall within the limits of aestheticization of daily life.

36

Finally, fashion theory is used as it stands in the intersection of art and the aestheticization of daily life in which fashion is used as an aesthetic tool to make the lives of people more beautiful. However, one important feature of fashion is its diffusion which necessitates it to be changed frequently so that it will not become so ordinary to be shared by the majority of the people. This becomes important for the discussions of the elements used in supermarkets since the adoption of strategies used by different supermarkets resembles the adoption of fashion in that, at the end, the majority of supermarkets end up providing very similar services. However, unlike the fast pace of the changes in fashion, supermarkets tend to stick to their strategies for quite long times due to efficiency and effectiveness reasons.

To conclude, these three waves of theories are used to make sense out of the applications used in supermarkets. Each one of them is presented as theoretical background as a whole, in order to support the individual elements discovered in the content analysis for the empirical study. Thus, a synthesis of these theories is expected to bring out an explanation to the usage of aesthetic elements by helping understand whether they are successful or not from a customer point of view and whether they lead to differentiation for companies.

37

3 Methodology

In the second chapter about art and aesthetics, it is stated that aesthetics is a complex and conflicting topic which is clear from the varied definitions of it. Moreover, the issue becomes even more problematic when it comes to the judgment of it. Thus, it is a hard undertaking to conduct an empirical research on it given the challenges of setting limits, measuring and analyzing. It should be noted that this thesis is written in a short time frame under a very limited budget which further constrain the available alternatives of empirical designs. Furthermore, even though both the academic and the business society have been conducting a vast amount of research, it is hard to reach secondary data since the companies are reluctant to reveal such information gathered as a part of their marketing efforts. Although it is possible to reach the analysis and results of the academic researches, it is not easy to access the data sets for these researches. In addition to these, secondary data is problematic in that since it is collected by another party for another reason, the information may not yield in to form an answer to the research questions (Boslaugh, 2007).

Nevertheless, since the purpose of this thesis has been clearly articulated as to discovering the current uses of aesthetics in supermarkets and consumers’ perceptions of these aesthetic elements in order to come up with an understanding of the total effects of aesthetics on differentiation in supermarket settings, an inductive approach together with grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Spiggle, 1994; Strauss and Corbin, 1998) seems to be most suitable.

The outline of the processes of this thesis follows a structure of theory review, empirical study and hypotheses development which fits into the process of an inductive approach which is generally supported by qualitative data analysis (Bryman and Bell, 2007) at the end of which theory building is allowed leading to a grounded theory approach. Since the literature review of this thesis mainly serves to understand the aesthetic phenomenon and does not play a great role in theory building, the propositions which will be provided at the end of the thesis are mainly based on the focus group interviews. Thus, the theory mainly derives from the empirical research just as inductive approach suggests.

The nature of inductive approach and grounded theory requires an iterative process of gathering data, analyzing this data and refining hypotheses to fit it in order to fine tune the development of theory according to the sets of varied data. The simultaneous gathering, coding and analysis of data, based on qualitative analysis, allow a better understanding of the underlying phenomenon leading to the development of a theory to explain it rather than generalizing various situations into a predetermined theory. Nevertheless, this iteration introduces some elements of deduction into this inductive process (Bryman and Bell, 2007). In addition to this iterative process, the literature review in this thesis is synthesized with the empirical studies at the end in order to reach

38

the conclusions which employ a more deductive reasoning. Hence, this overall approach, the combination of inductive and deductive reasoning, seems to be in line with the purposes of this thesis in the sense that it allows a better understanding of aesthetic phenomena used in supermarkets from consumers’ perspective. Therefore, a theory of the effects of aesthetic elements used in supermarkets on differentiation can be reached.

Taking the purpose of this thesis and various challenges, such as the complex nature of aesthetic phenomenon and time and monetary limitations into account, the design of the empirical research for this thesis has been formed as a process of two interrelated steps. Firstly, a content analysis of the related literature will be undertaken in order to determine the mostly used aesthetic criteria in supermarkets. Secondly, focus group interviews will be arranged to discuss the related criteria with consumers. The aim of this step is to have a basic understanding as to how consumers perceive various aesthetic dimensions used in supermarkets.

The following section explains the steps during the preparation and execution of the content analysis. Then, the detailed processes within the focus group interviews will be provided.

3.1 Content Analysis

As mentioned before, academics and practitioners have been conducting extensive research on the elements attracting consumers in supermarket settings. Thus, a content analysis of these studies, in order to categorize and quantify the elements used in supermarkets, seem to be useful since the purpose of this research is not to analyze the impact of individual aesthetic elements, on sales for instance, but rather to reach a general understanding of consumers’ perceptions of these elements and the overall effect of these elements on the differentiation efforts.

It is observed that most of the research focuses on more than one element in each study. For example one article by Deutscher and Hansen (1977) focus on elements as diverse as product quality, cleanliness of the store, store design, fast check-out, product availability and relationships with employees. Thus, the content analysis is conducted to include all elements used in supermarkets to attract customers, not just aesthetic ones. Hence, the prevalence of aesthetic elements among others can be discovered by categorizing the elements in each study under common denominators. Nevertheless, the main aim of the content analysis is quantifying aesthetic elements by separating them from the others in order to set a basis for the second step of the empirical research. That is, the focus group interviews will be grounded on the elements that are already widely studied in academic research and applied in practice rather than some dimensions that are haphazardly selected. The objective and systematic nature of the content analysis (Berelson, 1952; Holsti, 1969) allow this by providing the related categorizations.

39

The sampling of the literature for the content analysis is conducted through the search of two databases, EBSCOhost and Scorpus, to collect academic articles on the subject and one search engine, Google, to access private research by organizations on the subject. The search is initiated with the following key phrases:

• aesthetics in supermarkets • aesthetics in grocery stores1 • aesthetics in retailing • sensory appeal in supermarkets • sensory appeal in grocery stores • sensory appeal in retailing • supermarket choice • consumer behavior in grocery stores • consumer behavior in supermarkets

152 articles are found during the search. 28 of them are eliminated due to their being irrelevant. All other studies are included in the content analysis.

A specific time frame for the sampling is not included in the search criteria for the articles since it is thought that the earlier applications of aesthetics in supermarkets can still be valid. Furthermore, and maybe more importantly, some applications that may be considered to be outdated can actually be preferred by customers, making them a potential candidate for a retro style.

It is observed that both aesthetic and other elements that are mentioned in the articles are sufficiently clear and well defined such as store design, price, product variety and music. Thus, coding these criteria is not vulnerable to inter-coder reliability concerns. Nevertheless, a random sample of ten articles is selected to test this assumption. The listing of the same criteria for each article by both of the coders makes this assumption valid and further necessity for inter-coder agreement is eliminated.

The content analysis has not been conducted through any computer programs but rather manual search and analysis because the nature of the computer programs does not coincide with the aims of this research. The first problem the computer programs bring about is the counting of the words over and over again which are repeated in a single article. However, this research does not focus on how frequently an element is emphasized in another research. Rather the aim is to discover how many different elements are used in a variety of researches and how prevalent these elements are among those researches. Thus, no matter how much emphasis is given to an element within a research, the detection of the presence of that specific element is sufficient. The second problem arises because of the different terminology used by different researchers. That is, sometimes different authors use different terms for the same element. The computer programs, of course, do not have a capability to detect that, at 1 The term ’grocery store’ is also used as a key word in the search since grocery store and supermarket are terms that are used interchangeably.

40

least not yet. Hence, there would be more elements discovered with a computer program even though some of those elements basically refer to the same thing. For these reasons, the content analysis has been manually conducted in that the researchers search for articles manually and read and adjust the names given to each element so that the names referring to the same concept would be the same.

3.2 Focus Group Interviews

As discussed in the part of art and aesthetics, aesthetic judgments are thought to be formed by different cognitions or perceptions under different views of Kant and postmodernists. For instance, Kant is criticized by postmodernists due to his elimination of non-cognitive elements from aesthetic judgments because the concept of the aestheticization of daily life supports the idea of sensual appeal in aesthetics. Since one of the purposes of this thesis is discovering the perceptions of consumers regarding aesthetic elements in supermarkets, it must take both the sensual perceptions and cognitive reasoning into account. The first reason of choosing focus group interviews is because it is thought to reveal both perceptions and cognitions. The interactive nature of the focus group would allow the researchers to develop an understanding about why the interviewees feel the way they do by stimulating discussions and probing among the members (Bryman and Bell, 2007). The members can remember the sensual appeal of the elements used in supermarkets while another member is describing his or her experiences. Moreover, probing or challenging from other members can also stimulate members’ reasoning as to how these elements make them think and act.

The second reason of choosing focus group interviews is because the qualitative nature of data gathering and analysis would allow a deeper understanding of consumers’ behaviors rather than the generalization of different consumer responses regarding each single aesthetic element into categories. Even though individual interviews may also serve this qualitative purpose, it is believed that the interactions of members in the focus group will yield into a deeper understanding.

In the next sections, firstly the preparation step for the focus group interviews is explained. Then the interview process is elaborated. Afterwards, the coding procedure is explained which is employed after each interview is completed. Finally, the remarks are presented to explain the limitations and challenges of the focus group interviews.

3.2.1 Preparations

Since it is important to have a fruitful discussion among the members in a focus group, a pilot focus group interview is conducted among students in order to find out whether the prepared questions will be understood correctly, whether they trigger individual responses and finally whether they start meaningful discussions among group members. The pilot focus group interview is conducted among 6 university students from different countries and different departments from the same university (see Table 1).

41

Table 1 Interviewee Profiles for the Pilot Focus Group Interview

Even though unstructured questions are used to stimulate more flexible discussions, the wording of the questions has been changed after the pilot study, considering the misunderstandings and requests from members for clarifications regarding the questions. Moreover, the response rates from different members, the interaction patterns and the extension of topics to relatively unrelated areas allowed the researchers to realize the potential variations in the interviews. Thus, the pilot study enabled the researchers to practice how to interfere with the process.

The sampling of the focus groups is made to reflect different ages, sexes and income and nationality groups (see Table 2). Five focus group interviews have been conducted with a total of 28 members with 4, 5, 7, 7 and 5 members respectively in each group. The sizes of the groups are kept relatively small since the topic of aesthetics is complex and thus can lead to deep and long responses from members (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Even though there were time and budget related limitations, 5 groups were interviewed. The decreased level of additional contributions from each group in terms of novel ideas suggests that a sufficient number of groups were interviewed considering the marginal benefits of additional interviews.

42

Table 2 Interviewee Profiles for the Focus Group Interviews

43

3.2.2 Interview Process

The structure of the focus group interviews is designed to enable interactions and deep discussions. Thus, a number of unstructured questions are asked to initiate the discussions. The moderator interventions are kept to minimum, occurring only to provide clarifications and stimulate contributions.

Each interview lasts between one to two hours, with the interviews with larger groups taking more time. The interviews start with an introductory speech of the researchers explaining the aim of the interview and the interview process. Then a general initiating statement is used such as “Please tell us about your experiences, feelings and attitudes when shopping at a supermarket”. The aim to start the discussions with a general question is to let the interviewees have an initial thinking about their shopping experiences and whether they prefer to choose to talk about any particular store. Since this thesis does not focus on any particular store, no direct questions regarding any store are asked. However, during the pilot interview, it is realized that it may be helpful to let interviewees talk about particular supermarkets since it allows them to compare different stores and give more vivid explanations and examples. Furthermore, it is also noted that most of the interactions and discussions between interviewees start when they talk about particular supermarkets. It is believed that these examples help them imagine particular occasions. Nonetheless, it is observed that no particular supermarket dominates the conversations because once a discussion about a specific feature of a particular supermarket starts, other features of the supermarket are included in the discussion and then other supermarkets start to be talked about based on those different features. Furthermore, it should be noted that most of the examples the interviewees provide include the supermarkets in Sweden since all of the interviewees permanently or temporarily live in Sweden.

3.2.3 Coding

Each of the interviews has been tape-recorded since it is hard to take notes during the interviews. Afterwards, the interviews are transcribed using these records. However, transcription and analysis are not delayed until the completion of all interviews since it is time consuming and contrary to the nature of grounded theory. Thus, transcription and analysis are started immediately after each interview.

Coding procedures and elements of grounded theory have been employed to organize the data from the transcriptions. When the transcripts are analyzed, it becomes obvious that members of the interview groups have different perceptions and evaluations regarding both aesthetic elements and other service elements used in supermarkets. Thus, during the coding process two broad concepts, namely differentiated and undifferentiated factors, are developed under which categories, namely aesthetic and service elements, and subcategories, namely positively and negatively evaluated elements, are analyzed to make the interpretation of the transcripts easier (See Table 3).

44

Table 3 Coding Card

Each interviewee’s responses regarding the particular elements used in supermarkets are placed on this table by simply noting the element under one of the categories. It may be helpful to depict the responses of one interviewee on the table in order to show the logic of the table.

This interviewee identifies the variety of products as a criterion in his decision making process and he evaluates it to be a positive element while a large sized store is considered as a negatively evaluated one. While the former one is a service element, the latter is an aesthetic element. Moreover, this interviewee does not take store decorations such as Christmas or Easter themes into account in his decision making process. Thus, store decoration is an undifferentiated aesthetic element for him. He also does not consider price as an important element. Hence, price is depicted as an undifferentiated service element. Furthermore, he evaluates the odors used in different sections of supermarkets positively, making it a positively evaluated aesthetic element. Finally, the interviewee thinks membership cards to be an incursion into his privacy, thus, evaluating it negatively. This example is depicted in Table 4.

Table 4 Sample Coding Card

45

It should be noted that there are more than one element under each subcategory. However, for the sake of simplicity, only one item in each subcategory is depicted in the example.

3.2.4 Remarks

At this point, it is necessary to analyze the challenges and limitations of the focus group interviews and how they are dealt with by the researchers. The challenges of the focus group interviews are generally operational concerns such as the hardship of organizing them due to the difficulty in gathering increased numbers of people together or the difficulty of analyzing since a vast amount of data is gathered. Even though these challenges generally concern the process of interviews, there is also a possibility of affecting the results of the analysis such as loss of invaluable insights due to limited analysis (Bryman and Bell, 2007). One of the most endangering challenges of the focus group interviews is the group dynamics that may impede the quality of discussions. The first of these dynamics is the possibility of one or more interviewees’ dominating the discussions preventing the others’ comments. Even though there are occasions such as this during the interviews, this is overcome by actively encouraging other members to speak (Krueger, 1998). Secondly, it is noted that focus group interviews may lead to group thinking due to members’ attachment to group ideas which may impede critical thinking (Janis, 1982). There is no evidence of such a group think behavior in the interviews since numerous ideas are raised by the members, some of which are in conflict with other members’ ideas. Finally, there are concerns regarding the suitability of the focus group interviews due to the potential discomfort among members (Madriz, 2000). This being said, it is believed that these situations generally happen when interviewees are the members of the same organization who are in different hierarchical levels (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Nonetheless, since the topic of this thesis does not concern any particular organization and the members of the interviews are not chosen from the same organizations, this challenge seems to be irrelevant.

In addition to these challenges, there are some limitations of the focus group interviews which may impact the credibility of its results. First of all, there are concerns regarding the generalizability of the focus group interviews due to generally limited scale and the unsystematic nature of the samples (Bryman and Bell, 2007; Sudman and Blair, 1999). Nonetheless, the aim of this thesis is not making statistical generalizations of consumer behavior regarding each element of aesthetics discovered in the content analysis. Rather, based on the grounded theory approach, its aim is generation of deeper understanding regarding the impacts of aesthetic elements on differentiation efforts. As it is mentioned in the previous sections, there is a gap in academic literature regarding aesthetic applications in supermarkets from a customer perspective. Thus, this thesis aims to provide an understanding of customers’ perceptions regarding these applications and how these perceptions are shaped. Hence, being a good tool for gaining a comprehensive understanding, focus group interviews seem to be useful and suitable for the purposes of this thesis.

46

A second concern for the focus group interviews is usually raised regarding their reliability due to the potential of different interpretations from the transcribed interviews (Bryman and Bell, 2007). This criticism seems to be the most relevant one for this study since in each group interviewees are asked general questions about the applications in supermarkets and they are allowed to talk about various aesthetic applications. In most of the cases, each interviewee has both positive and negative ideas regarding different applications. Thus, it is hard to draw consistent and meaningful analysis. Nevertheless, the coding cards (see Table 3) have been built to help the researchers analyze the data more easily.

The final concern for the focus group interviews is the lack of realism in its context and environment (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Even though this criticism is mostly related with focus group interviews which are used to test new products or campaigns, it has also implications for this thesis. For example, it may be the case that, even though one interviewee implies that he / she does not realize the music in a store, in reality he / she is subconsciously influenced by that. However, since it is the subconscious reactions that cause a certain behavior, even if the interview takes place in a real environment, the interviewees may not be able to differentiate their subconscious reactions. Furthermore, as it is noted earlier, it is believed that the interactive nature of the focus group interviews would trigger group discussions leading individuals to recall details in their shopping experiences or realize their reactions that would not have been available otherwise (Morgan, 1988).

To conclude, focus group interview is a useful method to discover “people’s interpretations of their experiences” (Hartman, 2004) and to study the underlying logic used by participants on a given situation (Lindlof, 1995). Moreover, the interaction of people is supposed to generate deeper and more revealing data than the sum of individual interviews (Lederman, 1990; Morgan, 1988). Furthermore, it is an ideal method if there is little prior knowledge about the topic and if the responses to the questions are not readily available in interviewees’ minds (Zeller, 1993). Therefore, the advantages of the focus group interview seem to outweigh its disadvantages for the purposes of this thesis.

47

4 Supermarkets

In this section of the thesis, supermarkets will be analyzed in terms of their general strategies, logistics and supply chains, consumption behavior observed in them and store design and services offered in supermarkets. General Strategies and Logistics and Supply Chain highlight the fierce price and cost competition in retail industry. Consumer Behavior and In-Store Design sections present the interactive nature between consumers and supermarkets. It briefly provides the service elements which are analyzed in the empirical study. In the end, the section of Services in Supermarkets summarizes this chapter by providing an overview.

The aim of providing this background data is to form a foundation for the empirical research which will be presented in the following chapter. Therefore, by providing the operational concerns and strategies employed in supermarkets and explaining consumer behavior, it is believed that the elements examined in the empirical research will be better understood by considering these background issues. Thus, it can be said that this chapter examines supermarkets from the companies’ point of view whereas the empirical research strives to provide a consumer perspective by revealing their perceptions.

Since the unit of observation in this research is supermarkets, it may be useful to provide a definition of them before going into the details. Huddleston et al. (2008) list the following features for supermarkets:

Supermarkets are mainly distinctive by their low prices and wide variety of products. Supermarket format is identified as offering a full line of groceries, including milk, meat, fruits, frozen products etc., with some operators offering a mix of general merchandise items. They are typically located in a center or in a stand-alone location, generally ranging in size from 40,000 to 100,000 square feet. Product brands, which they carry, are both national manufacturers’ as well as stores’ own brands (private label items). Promotions of traditional methods prevail such as newspaper advertising, coupons, store events, and discount price sales; with mass-market customers being their main target customers. Thus, wide range of products and low prices are the two main features of supermarkets.

4.1 General Strategies

There is fierce competition among supermarkets which is the main force of decreasing operating margins. Cost leadership has been generally the accepted form of competition in the marketplace since the big players have been able to economize on many of their operations and push the prices down. This trend can be seen from the first Wal-Mart supermarket opened in 1988 in Washington. ‘Wal-Mart’s aggressive pricing has been credited with reducing operating margins of competing supermarkets and lowering

48

consumer prices for many food items’ (Hausman and Leibtag, 2007). As Callahan and Zimmerman (2003) state ‘the vast majority of supermarket bankruptcy cases in the last decade have cited Wal-Mart as a catalyst’. The consequences are significant in both direct and indirect aspects, directly in raw difference between the price of Wal-Mart and its competitors (averaging 10%), and indirectly in price reductions (approximately 1-1.2%) due to expansion (Basker and Noel, 2009).

Although Wal-Mart’s effects have largely influenced the U.S. market, this implies the crucial role of price competition in the retail industry. As Ellickson and Misra (2008) highlight ‘most supermarkets choose to position themselves by offering either everyday low prices across several items or offering temporary price reductions (promotions) on a limited range of items’. Be it low price for a wide range of items or selected items, it shows that cost leadership plays a large strategic role in supermarket industry.

However, the fact that supermarket pricing strategy choices are determined mainly by industry structure and the concentration of supermarkets does not eliminate consumer demographics as an influencing factor. As it is stated by Ellickson and Misra (2008), ‘consumer demographics play a significant role in the choice of local pricing strategies’.

Therefore, price competition or cost leadership positions are the crucial strategies in food retail industry, whereas differentiation appears to be in a limited level, narrowly seen in the provision of a variety of products to attract customers.

As it is acknowledged by Lunding (1959), price is a very important factor to increase the sales volume by attracting customers. Nonetheless, the author also emphasizes the drawbacks of price competition such as decreased margins which are hard to depend on to survive and close-to-zero additional profit that can be gained from customers who come to shop for only the bargain items. That is because customers are not “tied to the store by their heartstrings”. Rather they shop for the lowest price and can switch to another market in the face of lower prices (Lunding, 1959). This challenge is amplified by the essentiality of developing services to improve customer satisfaction in supermarkets which is highlighted by both practitioners and academics that ‘customer satisfaction is an important drive of firm profitability’ (Luo and Homburg, 2007). In other words, the fact that customer satisfaction is a key antecedent to loyalty and repurchase has become the important cornerstone for multitudes of companies operating in diverse industries (Szymanski and Henard, 2001).

4.2 Logistics and Supply Chain

Due to the fierce competition, cost efficiency becomes the main driving force for supermarkets to structure their supply chains and in-store arrangements. The aim is to simultaneously reduce costs and increase performance. In empirical studies, it is found out that the majority of the operational costs are handling costs with 38% of the handling time in the retail chains occurring in store and the rest being 22% in transportation, 28% handling in warehouse, 7% as inventory in store, and 5% as

49

inventory in warehouse (Saghir and Jonson 2001; Zelst et al., 2006). This points to the importance of developing and integrating packaging systems, shelf placements, aisle width and other in-store-design elements in order to improve efficiency.

Furthermore, various models are examined by researchers and widely applied for the purposes of adequately describing handling processes and reducing costs and time. For instance, SLIM (Store Labor and Inventory Management) was the most widely applied system for handling issues in retail chains (Chain Store Age, 1965). Later on Saghir and Jonson (2001) improved this system by focusing on minimizing operating costs and reducing both inventories and handling costs.

With this overview, it can be concluded that supply chain or logistics of supermarkets aim to reduce costs in order to compete in the low margin marketplace. Moreover, this low margin and low cost policy leave supermarkets with very limited room to differentiate in the marketplace. Thus, to some extent, this low cost strategy narrows customers’ alternatives by offering mostly exchange value while ignoring other possibilities. Furthermore, other elements used in supermarkets, such as aesthetic elements, are also limited in that they need to be compatible with and complementary to the value chain activities.

4.3 Consumer Behavior in Supermarkets

The most striking element of supermarket shopping behavior is that the most popular items bought are identified as ‘must-have’ items, including milk, meat, frozen food, bread, cereals, cheese etc. whereas the items which are not in the shopping lists are called ‘impulse buy’ (Grocery Store Design, 2005). It is because most shoppers buy additional products that are not in their list due to the fact that they are probably on sale or catchy to their eyes.

Thus, the general consumption behavior in supermarkets can be seen as ‘accomplish missions’ which is called ‘utilitarian consumption’ as a task-related rational activity with satisfaction being dependent on a product acquisition mission being accomplished (Arnold and Reynolds, 2003). Comparatively, hedonic consumption’s emphasis is on shopping entertainment and emotions, consumer behaviors that relate to multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of one’s experience with products (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). That is to say, an individual with a task in mind is looking for the outcome, whereas an experiential customer is seeking fun and pleasure. It seems that whether utilitarian consumption behavior or hedonic one takes place depends on customers’ own personalities or attitudes. These being said, the in-store environment can be designed to reduce the impact of ‘accomplish missions’ while guiding consumers to enjoy the shopping experience. Therefore, supermarkets may employ strategies to increase hedonic consumption in order to decrease consumers’ price sensitivity and increase the margins on products sold.

50

Several determinant factors which interactively affect both types of consumption are identified by Banning and Weber (1994) and Min (2006), including product quality, variety, prices, supermarket location, fast checkout, employee courtesy, store opening hours, cleanliness, and availability of special departments. In supermarkets, the complexities of the surrounding can be classified into situational and social dimensions, and both of them are identified as factors determining consumption behavior and customer satisfaction. The situational dimension refers to price, time, quality and variety of products, convenience and driving distance, as well as in-store design including music, lights, temperature, cleanliness and width of aisles; whereas social dimension refers to emotional and sensory appeals caused by interactions with employees, cultural and societal contexts. The situational dimension has more impact on utilitarian consumption behavior. For instance, an individual would prefer to go to a store where he or she can easily find everything at one-stop rather than drive to different places. The social dimension then relates to the feelings and emotional aspects, namely hedonic consumption behavior. In this case, if supermarkets provide service environments, or atmosphere, which possess the features of being fun and pleasure, then it can reduce the price sensitivity and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

4.4 In-Store Design

Buying environments can be purposefully designed to produce specific emotional effects in shoppers, thereby enhancing their purchase probability (Kotler, 1973). There are several atmospheric variables affecting consumption behavior in retail stores, including music (Milliman, 1982; Morin et al., 2007; Yalch and Spangenberg, 2000), color (Bellizzi and Hite, 1992), smell (Hirsch, 1995; Michon et al., 2005; Spangenberg et al., 1996), lighting (Areni and Kim, 1994) and crowd (Machleit et al., 2000). Five broad categories of atmospheric cues are identified by Turley and Milliman (2000). Firstly, external cues refer to the architectural style and surrounding stores. This emphasizes the outlook of a store which partly relates to its identity and image settings. Secondly, general interior cues refer to flooring mainly found in cleanliness, lighting, color, music, aisle width and ceiling composition. These closely concern the five sensory experiences. Thirdly, layout and design cues include space design and allocation, grouping, traffic flow, racks and cases. Fourthly, point of purchase and decoration displays refer to signs, cards, wall decorations, and price displays. Lastly, human interactions emphasize employees’ communication skills, uniforms, attitudes and privacy.

In terms of store design, the location of shelves and arrangements are one of the critical cues for customer satisfaction. The worst case is there are hardly readable signs or labels to lead or assist customers to find products they need. In other words, forcing customers to pass all departments or shelves which are randomly arranged will cause a negative result, i.e. zero re-purchase. Thus, store design must find a balance to increase the re-purchase possibilities while maximizing the opportunities for ‘impulse buy’ (Grocery Store Design, 2005). Certainly, for the purpose of increasing re-purchase

51

possibilities, putting the ‘must-buy’ items altogether in the nearest place of entrance would be the best option for customers, but firms would be left with very limited benefits. Furthermore, due to the cost efficiency factors and the fact that some ‘must-buy’ items are required to be stored in the refrigeration areas, the location of them is preferable to be close to the refrigeration units. Similarly applied to crowd, large open space brings comfortable feelings to customers, but a store with large variety of products requires big areas and quite a lot of shelves, thus the degree of ‘enough space’ is the key.

In addition, psychological effects are widely applied among supermarkets, such as, colors in branding and price cuts. Angela Wright, the color psychology pioneer, identifies the links between patterns of color and human behaviors. For instance, Sainsbury stores in the U.K. applied orange as the main color of its brand as orange may remind that one might be hungry (Channel 4, 2009). Similarly with the word ‘special’ on the label of price, it tricks customers to believe it is really ‘special’ for them and worthy to buy.

The five categories indicated above are separate but interactive. Ballantine et al. (2010) argue that the typical customer experiences degree of all these and other stimuli as an ongoing and collective experience. Take the sensory experience for example; hearing and seeing are happening at the same time when customers enter the store. Additionally they are mostly sub-conscious.

4.5 Services in Supermarkets

In the case of supermarkets, product features are positively associated with the price, quality and variety of products (Bonanno and Lopez, 2004). With the price competition, supermarkets suffer from the reduction in prices while at the same time being necessitated to control product quality in order to attract customers. Hence, it seems ‘investing in services is more likely to differentiate them from the competition, segmenting the market in a more effective way and capturing consumers with low price sensitivity’ (Bonanno and Lopez, 2009). Services here are not limited to only providing wide range of product variety or providing one-stop shopping experiences, but are more intended to create the ‘experience-based consumption’ which emphasizes the creation of emotionally engaging experiences through in-store ‘entertaining experiences’ (Bäckström and Johansson, 2006).

Apart from the intense competition, this shift towards ‘experience-based consumption’ in supermarkets is led by the forefront developments in services geared towards improving customer satisfaction (Davies, et.al., 2001). The satisfaction is defined as a cognitive state which reflects individual’s subjective interpretation of his or her feelings towards all the complexities of the surrounding (Wicker, 1969). Moreover, customer satisfaction is a psychological process of evaluating outcomes based on predetermined expectations (Booms and Nyquist, 1981). Similarly with shopping centers, customer

52

satisfaction in supermarkets can be viewed as an individual’s emotional reaction to personal evaluation of the total set of experiences encountered, of which the total set of experience is likely to be rather diverse (Anselmsson, 2006). What distinguishes supermarkets from shopping malls is products which are mainly groceries although increasingly they involve other kinds of products and services such as pharmacy products, household products, clothes or banking services, even restaurants which can also be observed outside the cashiers.

Due to the intensive price competition among supermarkets, the benchmarking process is a necessity which begins with identifying the determining factors of customer satisfaction (Min, 2010), where customer satisfaction largely depends on consumption behavior. As discussed above, some customers aim at the outcome or ‘accomplish missions’ while others tend to look for a pleasant and fun shopping experience with the outcome as a basic requirement. Hence, regarding different consumption behaviors, shopping environment or atmosphere should be designed in order to satisfy customers. Both the situational and social dimensions affect customer satisfaction in one way or another. In other words, each of them respectively represents the two service performances, namely, situational dimension can be seen as the factors of determining instrumental performance while social dimension affects expressive performance, then fulfills different customers’ expectations.

53

5 Empirical Study

This chapter of the thesis presents the empirical studies conducted. The first section depicts the results of the studies, firstly the content analysis and later the focus group interviews. Later, the analysis of the focus group interviews is given.

5.1 Results

The results of the empirical studies are given in this section. Firstly, the content analysis is provided with its results and analysis. Then the focus group interviews are presented which are based on the elements discovered in the content analysis. The results of the focus group interviews are provided and each of the elements discussed within the focus groups is explained in further detail.

5.1.1 Content Analysis

As it is mentioned in the third chapter about methodology, the content analysis is conducted to reveal aesthetic elements used in supermarkets that are researched in academic literature and for the private companies. However, in order to better understand the relative position of aesthetic elements among others such as price, quality, employee service etc., the content analysis is initiated to include all of the elements that are used in supermarkets. 124 articles are identified as related to the topic of this thesis.

40 different elements are identified to affect consumer behavior in supermarkets (See Appendix 1 for the full list of articles and the elements included in them). They are divided into “aesthetic elements” and “other service elements” by the researchers and listed below (see Table 5). The elements are identified as “aesthetic elements” if they appeal to any of the five senses of consumers. Otherwise, they are labeled as “other service elements”.

54

Table 5 Service Elements Used in Supermarkets

The percentage of aesthetic elements and service elements are depicted in Figure 1 with aesthetic elements occupying 40 % of all the articles. This clearly shows that there are more elements identified as ‘other service elements’, such as price, convenience, promotions etc.

55

Figure 2 Distribution of Aesthetic Elements within the Content Analysis

Mostly used 10 service elements are depicted in Figure 2. As it can be seen from the figure, 4 items out of 10 are aesthetic elements which points out that the focus of various researches is on the ‘other service elements’.

Figure 3 Mostly Used Service Elements in Supermarkets

All of the items listed below are analyzed only in one article which means that they are the ones analyzed the least.

• Complementary products • Emotional connection • Environmental friendliness • Ethics

56

• Fashion • Light • Merchandising policy • One-stop shopping • Opening hours • Space • Store image

The number of articles analyzing different aesthetic elements is depicted in Figure 3. Atmospherics stands out with a higher ratio of inclusion in the literature, followed by music, shelf design, store design and in-store experience. These top 5 elements clearly outstrip the rest of the elements.

Figure 4 Number of Articles in the Content Analysis for Each Aesthetic Element

16 criteria are identified as mostly researched and applied aesthetic dimensions in supermarkets (see Table 5). All of these different criteria are employed in the focus group interviews to determine consumer perceptions about them and their differentiating potential in supermarkets. Even though not all of the elements are probed with detailed and structured questions, interviewees are made to talk about them. Thus, the content analysis is proved to be useful since it forms the basis of the focus group interviews.

5.1.2 Focus Group Interviews

As it is mentioned in the third chapter about methodology of the focus group interviews, they are quite useful methods to generate deep understanding of a particular topic

57

through discussions, group interactions and probing. This has proved to be true in the focus group interviews conducted for this research. Enormous amount of data has been generated for both aesthetic elements used in supermarkets and other service elements. Thus, it is necessary to discuss all of the aesthetic elements in detail and also other service elements in general as to have a better understanding through the comparison of them.

5.1.2.1 Aesthetic Elements Used in Supermarkets

As it is mentioned in the content analysis, 16 distinct elements have been identified in the academic literature and private company research as the mostly used aesthetic criteria in supermarkets. After the identification of these elements in the content analysis, they are discussed in detail in the focus group interviews in order to get a better understanding of how consumers perceive them and what consumers’ general impressions regarding the usage of them are. Now, it is time to analyze them one by one in order to capture the details of the whole picture.

5.1.2.1.1 Atmospherics

As it can be seen from the content analysis, atmospherics is the mostly studied aesthetic element. It refers to the factors in store environment, both tangible and intangible (Hoffman and Turley, 2002), which are designed to create certain emotional or behavioral responses in consumers (Kotler, 1973). Atmospherics is a general term consisting of most of the elements used as aesthetic applications such as music, scents, color etc.

It is said that atmospherics is what differentiates experience from just a product or service and it directly affects certain consumer behaviors (Hoffman and Turley, 2002) such as increased shopping time, more money spent during a regular shopping visit to a store, increased impulse buying and even a potential long-lasting relationship (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Foxall and Greenly, 2000; Sherman et al., 1997; Babin and Attaway, 2000).

The discussions regarding atmospherics in supermarkets have been initiated with a general phrase such as “What do you think of the atmosphere in supermarkets?” In all of the interviews, all of the interviewees agreed as if they have prior concurrence that atmosphere in supermarkets is an important factor and it affects their mood and thus, their shopping experience. Nonetheless, when it comes to discussing the details, most of the members are unable to invoke any specific experience or memory. Furthermore, although some of them provide examples, those include a mix of things ranging from interactions with other people to cleanliness. Even though the nature of atmospherics is general and can include many factors, the same people reject the idea that they are affected by certain aesthetic elements. What makes this issue controversial is the fact that while people mention some of the aesthetic elements as important, later on in the discussion, they deny being affected by them.

58

Therefore, it seems that people see atmospherics as a whole and do not evaluate each factor in isolation. Rather, as long as they are satisfied in general, they think of the store as having a good atmosphere. On the other hand, if they are unsatisfied with a specific element, they start to look more in detail.

5.1.2.1.2 Branding

Branding is the most vital attempt among marketing efforts of a company. The reason why branding is included in the aesthetic elements is because branding is the field in which aesthetic applications are most widely used. Nonetheless, when it comes to the marketing of supermarkets, it seems that not only aesthetic elements but also other efforts are lacking in branding of supermarkets. Companies do not heavily invest to build a consistent branding image that can help them construct long-term relationships with their customers. Therefore, most consumers are very disloyal and they change their shopping destinations very frequently.

This is quite easily observed from the answers interviewees provide in the focus group interviews. When they are asked to talk about supermarket brands, they find it very hard to recall any specific attribute of any particular supermarket such as logo, slogan, ideology, customer relationship focus or whatsoever. Hence, they cannot identify any specific reason as to why they can stay committed to any supermarket.

One interesting example has been brought up by one of the interviewees in the first interview. Being older than the rest of the interviewees in the group, he has been talking about the supermarkets in relatively older times. He has given two supermarkets in Sweden as an example and mentioned that in the past there were strong supporters of each of these supermarkets and these people were identifying themselves with these companies. Even though he has mentioned that the reason for this was political, it shows that under certain circumstances people can choose to commit to supermarkets. The important thing for the companies is to find these attraction points, be it an aesthetic design or an ethical stance.

When one examines branding in other sectors, especially in consumer products, one discovers that many customers are highly committed and they emphasize their intention to use or repurchase the same brand in the future. This provides a strong customer base for those companies and helps them focus on other facets of marketing efforts. Moreover, those companies can add higher levels of margins considering the additional values they provide their customers with. Lacking these capabilities, supermarkets have troubles keeping a customer base. Thus, branding is one of the most important elements that supermarkets need to work on.

5.1.2.1.3 Cleanliness

In an empirical study it has been shown that the cleanliness of a store is the second most important attribute in a supermarket setting for customers (Deutscher and Hansen,

59

1977). When one thinks of it, it is not a surprising fact since supermarkets are the places where consumers usually go daily to do their shopping for food and related items. Thus, not only for aesthetic reasons but also for health and hygiene related reasons, cleanliness is an important element in supermarkets.

All of the interviewees in each of the interviews mention that cleanliness is important in supermarkets. In the first and second interviews, two stores, whose strategies are mostly based on cost-leadership and which are identified as bargain-stores by consumers, are identified as less clean than others. Nonetheless, other than these, it seems that there is no big difference among stores regarding cleanliness. That being said, it may be the case that this is more related with laws and regulations rather than company strategies since supermarkets are quite highly regulated and scrutinized.

As a conclusion, cleanliness is an important decision element for consumers but rather than a differentiation factor it is a must-be element meaning that being clean does not contribute to the positive evaluations of supermarkets but not being clean is an important factor in negative evaluations. Thus, supermarkets need to keep up, at least, with the minimum standards regarding it.

5.1.2.1.4 Color

There are various researches regarding effects of color on human cognition (Jacobs and Suess, 1975; Wexner, 1954). Regarding consumer behavior, color is known to affect both consumers’ evaluations and behaviors (Crowley, 1993). Therefore, color can be used to affect both customers’ evaluation of a certain environment and their purchasing patterns.

Most of the interviewees mention that color is an important factor in supermarkets especially in terms of its usage on the walls. However, they are not able to specify any reasons over their preferences for certain colors. That is probably because responses to colors are learned and instinctive in their nature (Babin et al., 2003). Furthermore, the interviewees are not able to identify any differences among stores regarding their color-related design. Indeed, most supermarkets use cool colors over warm colors since the former is associated with better feelings (Bellizi et al., 1983).

Therefore, it can be said that consumers feel good in shopping environments which are painted in cool colors, such as white, but this is a more intrinsic response rather than a preference. Moreover, owing to the extensive research, companies respond well to this necessity and design their stores accordingly. On the other hand, this again turns into a minimum standard where the ‘proper’ colors pass the evaluation whereas poorly designed ones attract negative attention.

5.1.2.1.5 Fashion

Fashion refers to the fashion and styling of the goods or services offered by a retailer and it is considered to contribute to the image of a company (Lindquist, 1974). This

60

attribute has been taken from a study reflecting the elements used in retail shops. The reason to include this element is because the way a supermarket provides its services can become a fashion and change consumers’ perceptions. Thus, it is important what consumers think about different supermarkets in terms of this attribute.

The interviewees are unable comment on this attribute at first, saying that they cannot associate fashion with supermarkets. However, it should be noted that fashion is not an attribute that is just used by apparel, accessories or beauty businesses. It can be applied to many diverse areas (King and Ring, 1980). For example, a club in a metropolitan city hosting parties with changing themes is considered fashionable because it is able to keep up with the changing trends in its target group.

After some examples, as the one mentioned above, are provided to the interviewees, they come to think of applications that can be potentially feasible in supermarkets that can be considered fashionable. For example, one of the interviewees has mentioned that one supermarket chain in his country changes the design of certain sections in its stores according to major events in the society such as important sports events. As he mentions this, other interviewees start to comment. Even though it is an unheard application for most of them, they seem to agree that it is a good idea.

Nonetheless, from that discussion, it cannot be concluded that these kinds of strategies are effective ways to attract customers since even though consumers may react positively to some ideas presented in a market research, their views may change in the real life (Pendergrast, 1993). On the other hand, it should be noted that these strategies are used by many other retailers such as book stores for the arrival of a major movie or book, cosmetic chains for a new perfume introduced by a pop star whose single ‘happens to be’ broadcasted at the same time or beer companies selling their products in many service retailers when the World Cup is approaching.

5.1.2.1.6 In-Store Activities

In-store activities refer to the interesting novelties, activities and offers stores present to their customers and it is reported to affect especially the frequency of customer visits to a store (Anselmsson. 2006).

Some of the examples that are mentioned by the interviewees for this category are the food samples cooked and distributed to customers in the stores and lotteries that are designed whose prizes are exhibited and sometimes tested by customers. Nevertheless, it is noted that these are applied in some of the countries mentioned in the interviews and not common in the others.

The interviewees note that even though these applications do not make them evaluate the other parts of supermarket service differently, they improve their shopping experience. One of the interviewees, who comes from a country where these kinds of applications are more common, states that:

61

“There are sometimes really interesting practices employed in supermarkets. For example, there is a very big chain which has the biggest supermarket in my city. Once there was a campaign in which customers were asked to bring their old newspapers which needed to be recycled. When you go there to submit them, they were weighing it and giving you a coupon with the amount you submitted and at the end of the campaign the top 10 persons submitting the most, earned a prize. However, this was not the fun part. A month or so later, when I went there again, I saw that there was a postmodern sculpture made of old newspapers. The aim was to direct attention to the necessity of recycling. Anyways, this gave me an interesting story to tell my friends.”

Interviewee 4, Group 4

This example and the following comment is very useful reminding one that one of the most important functions of branding is storytelling. As organizational members form an understanding, meaning and judgment based on the stories of an organization (Weick, 1995; Watson, 1995) so do customers regarding a brand. However, maybe even more important than this is a potential opportunity that a company presents to its customers in terms of a story that they can tell to their friends. As Sartre puts it:

“… a man is always a teller of tales, he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens through them”…

Source: Sartre, 2000 (original in 1938), (p.39)

By telling a story about a company or brand, customers let them into their lives, they are able to build a bond between the company and themselves. Hence, the companies constitute a meaning in their lives rather than being yet another store on the street.

Another good example for this comes from the same interviewee. He explains that the same supermarket conducted another campaign in which consumers were asked to bring the old books they do not need anymore. These books were sent to poor villages and schools who cannot afford these materials. The interviewee states that:

“The company can do this by also saying that ‘we donate 1% or whatever of your purchases to these schools’ but this is different. In that case I would not feel personally contributing to anything. But when I carry the books to the store, that becomes my own contribution. This is something the store and I do collectively.”

Interviewee 4, Group 4

To sum up, it seems that food samplings and similar strategies are used by most supermarkets and they affect the frequency of visits. On the other hand, more vivid attractions and interactions help customers create meaning and possibly lead to satisfaction and loyalty.

62

5.1.2.1.7 In-Store Experience

In-store experience is a complex issue for service providers due to the nature of services such as simultaneous production and consumption (Grönroos, 1984; Langeard et al., 1981) and intangibility (Lusch and Vargo, 2004). Therefore, customers tend to rely on some surrogate cues in order to evaluate the companies (Shostack, 1977). In order to capture consumer reasoning Booms and Bitner (1981) proposed 3 additional Ps to the traditional 4 Ps of the marketing, namely physical evidence, participants and process. Departing from this logic, it can be said that customers’ experience is affected by physical environment, employees and other customers and processes as to how a service is delivered in supermarkets.

Most of the interviewees tend to sum up most of the other aesthetic elements into this concept in order to explain their whole experience even without being aware of the above mentioned marketing terms. They mention that the lights, music, cleanliness and other things collectively have an effect on their mood. Even though they cannot singularly point out to the each attribute, their shopping moods change under certain circumstances.

Even though this understanding is important from a general marketing point of view, it has shown that there are various researches already emphasizing these issues and practitioners in supermarkets widely employ these researches. That being said, these efforts mostly end up in similar applications. Thus, consumers are unable to respond to them cognitively but rather they employ their basic senses and instincts. Hence, they come to a like-or-dislike state of mind without much reasoning.

5.1.2.1.8 Labels

Labels can be used for various purposes in supermarkets such as indicating the ordinary price, special discounts or exhibiting the different sections for different kinds of products. It is shown that these kinds of presentations affect customers’ perceptions (Babin et al., 2003).

Regarding the price labels, many of the interviewees state that it is important to have clear labels. Moreover, it is said to be important to use distinguishable labels for special discounts since many interviewees emphasize that they like to be able to see clearly what is on sale rather than going through every label carefully. One of the interviewees mentions that the best way of letting people know about the discounts is using the leaflets because even if big labels with different colors hang from the top of the shelves to indicate a discount, customers still need to go into every section to be able to see those. Thus, leaflets that can be placed at the entrance of the store can be very useful.

Regarding the usage of labels to separate the different sections within a store, most of the interviewees speak out complaints due to lack of invisibility or clarity or even total omission of the labels in bigger supermarkets. Hence, many of them emphasize a strong

63

dislike towards these bigger supermarkets where they cannot find what they are looking for.

When it comes to differentiating between alternative stores in both of these dimensions, interviewees do not see any big difference. However, one of the interviewees points out to the usage of web sites as a tool to announce promotions, thus as a kind of label. She thinks that if for any reason, she checks out the web sites, some of them have really slow web sites. On the other hand, some of them open up really fast in addition to having nice layouts. Nonetheless, she mentions one interesting point that there is one store with a really neat and nice website. On the other hand, this same supermarket is the one known as the bargain-supermarket and employs a very unorganized and reckless design in its stores. Thus, she concludes that even though the web site is nice, it cannot be a motivating factor for her to choose this supermarket due to its real store design.

Therefore, it appears that people find labels somehow important but at the end there are more important criteria determining their choices. Hence, even in the absence of some certain criteria they like in the labels, they do not seem to be influenced by it.

5.1.2.1.9 Light

Various researches have been conducted to uncover the effect of illumination on human behavior (Mehrabian, 1976; Kumari and Venkatramaiah, 1974; Gifford, 1988) and on consumer behavior (Birren, 1969; Rook, 1987; Markin et al., 1976) suggesting that bright lights facilitate arousal whereas soft lights reduce stimulation.

Most of the interviewees emphasize that light is an important factor for their shopping experience. Even though it may not be a determining factor for the store choice, the interviewees are able to distinguish among different stores in terms of lights. When they are talking about the supermarkets whose in-store lighting they do not like, they state that they try to keep their shopping short since after a while it becomes disturbingly uncomfortable.

“...in this supermarket , it is very energy saving, they make good prices but the light is not so good at all, sometimes even on and off…and there are not many customers anymore.”

Interview 1, Group 1

The responses collected from the interviews suggest that even though lighting is an important factor, it seems to impact time spent in a store and possibly the amount of money spent but not consumer choice regarding stores. All other things being equal, maybe consumers choose the one whose lighting they like but since the store environment and other elements, such as prices and variety, constitute a much more complex scenario, lighting does not seem to lead to a consistent choice.

5.1.2.1.10 Music

64

The studies regarding the impact of music on shopping attitudes show that music affects moods and purchasing behavior (Alpert and Alpert, 1990; Yalch and Spangenberg, 1990), the time consumers spent on shopping (Milliman, 1982) and consumers’ perception regarding the time for waiting (Chebat et al., 1993).

Most of the interviewees note that the applications regarding music are not very common in the country where the interviews are conducted. On the other hand, in some other countries, music is employed both on regular occasions and on special occasions where certain kinds of other music is selected such as during Christmas periods.

The interviewees, who do not have much experience with music in the stores, have mixed ideas regarding music. Some state that music can be nice when used properly while others think that it is impossible to select music that can make all customers happy. On the other hand, interviewees, for whom music is a normal part of shopping, generally implies that most of the time, they are not even aware of the background music. However, some state that on a special occasion with distinguishable music, sometimes they recall a memory and they buy that item.

Therefore, combining the results of previous research and the responses from the interviewees, it seems that consumers do not pay much attention to music. The explanation to different levels of sales or perceptions regarding waiting time must stem from sub-conscious activities in the brain. Moreover, the responses regarding music on special occasions show that even if music has impact on the behavior, it tends to stay limited to money spent on that specific shopping occasion but does not lead to a long-term positive behavior.

5.1.2.1.11 Product Display

Even though visual and other sensual stimuli can be a strong stimulating factor for consumers, most of the researches on product placement design focus on the optimization of shelf space allocations and the display of products within that shelf space (Dreze et al., 1994). Clearly, these strategies intend to increase the turnover of products, stimulate impulsive purchases and leverage the power of high-margin and high-turnover products. On the other hand, there are many other factors that should be considered such as aesthetics of displays and also there are various temporary displaying options supermarkets can employ.

The interviewees never talk about the placement of a product on a certain shelf. That is, of course, not surprising since the shelf allocation strategies do not rely on the cognitive reasoning of consumers but rather on psychological and sub-conscious behaviors. Thus, most of the time consumers are not even aware of these. On the other hand, they do realize aesthetic designs that attract them.

One of the interviewees touches open an interesting point during the interview stating:

65

“We were sometimes going to country side when I was little. Then I grew up and we stopped that visits. Even though the city I used to live was not a small one, now I live in a metropolitan and mostly never go to country side. Now, I have two small children and they are not aware that there is a life outside this metropolitan and they live a different life there. Growing up in such an environment full of machines, technology and so on, they do not see the environment, animals and nature. Once we were in a supermarket and the dairy section was designed with animals. Next to the milks and yoghurts, there were cow figures. There was a hen, a basket of eggs lying on straws and so on, next to the section of eggs. To be honest I like it. I am afraid that children of next generation will not even know that eggs come from hens. Not just about this, I like a little bit more color, more attractions…”

Interviewee 3, Group 3

Some other interviewees in this group and also in two others mention similar ideas emphasizing that they appreciate if there are some variations, small differences and more vibrant designs. They admit that if they continue seeing the same shelves and similar placement of products over and over again, they do not find it odd. However, they realize feeling better when they see a change.

To sum up, the interviewees agree on the idea that they like product designs a little bit spiced up. They are aware of the operational concerns of supermarkets but they appreciate their efforts of being livelier.

5.1.2.1.12 Shelf Design

Shelf design is one of the most important elements in supermarket management with an emphasis on efficiency of the shelf space allocation decisions since shelf space is a scarce and strategically important resource for supermarkets (Murray et al., 2010; Chen et al., 1999; Turcsik, 2003; Urban, 1998). By manipulating the location of a product within a display, the area devoted to a product, product adjacencies and aesthetic elements, customer attention is said to be caught (Dreze et al. 1994).

The interviewees state that they would like to find the items they are looking for without much effort. Most of them emphasize that after a few visits to a store they get used to it and know which product is where and they get irritated when they cannot find the same products in the same place.

One of the interviewees claim that changing the location or shelves where a product is displayed should be a purposeful strategy supermarkets use in order to make customers feel that the supermarket is a living organism with constant change. Another is saying that they do this to show consumers that they are indeed constantly renovating their design and organization for customers. Yet another one insists that instead, the only aim of this is to make customers wander around the store to find what they are looking for so that through their “journey” they will buy additional things.

66

It seems that all of the interviewees have something to add to this topic. It may be the case that they get to know about this issue through media and other sources because it is a popular issue with companies spending thousands of dollars to get the best shelf space. However, it is also a fact that they really do not like the changes which do not seem useful for them. Whatever the reason is, none of the interviewees mention aesthetic dimensions during the interviews. When they are reminded about this issue, most of them stress that they do not really realize how a product stands in a certain location in comparison to others.

Therefore, it appears that the display of products is yet another point which interviewees do not carefully pay attention. However, when the placement is changed, they realize this and get confused.

5.1.2.1.13 Space

Space is another important resource for supermarkets due to high costs of attractive real estates. Thus, optimizing the usage of space is another vital concern for them. There are two shelf space management techniques spelled out, namely the space-to-movement and product reorganization techniques. The former one concerns the store-specific movement patterns whereas the latter one deals with cross-category merchandizing or ease of shopping. Hence, it can be seen that most of the efforts regarding space is done to maximize efficiency or increase sales.

When the issue of space opens up, most of the interviewees speak out the specific layouts of the stores. Even though they mention some of the layout choices they do not like, they express that it may be necessary for the organization of the store. However, they especially find the width of the aisles problematic. For them, it not only looks ugly and chaotic but also constrains their shopping. For example, there is one specific bargain-store which is usually given as a specific example for this in which it is said to be impossible for two shoppers to choose products from two shelves standing across each other.

Therefore, even though most of the time space related issues are operational in nature for both companies and customers, there is also an aesthetic part in which the interviewees find it too claustrophobic when the width of the aisles are not enough at least for two people. Hence, again it is an issue whose absence bothers consumers.

5.1.2.1.14 Store Design

Store design generally refers to tangible aspects applied in the interior store environment (Bäckström and Johansson, 2006) and may include most of the elements mentioned in this section such as space and shelf design. It is mentioned that in order to provide a pleasurable shopping experience, it is not enough to provide the basic must-have elements (Wakefield and Baker, 1998) such as cleanliness and adequate space.

67

Rather, today stores are considered to be a form of entertainment (Buzz, 1997; Kim, 2001; Sit et al., 2003).

Nonetheless, as it is mentioned previously, the interviewees find most of the aspects in supermarkets as only “requirements” which has to be there in order for supermarkets to “pass” the class. However, those aspects are not necessarily enough to make consumers satisfied. For instance, one of the interviewees explains this by saying:

“Those Christmas decorations in supermarkets don’t attract me. They are all the same in each supermarket. They need to do something different to stand out. However, it is troubling when I don’t see any decorations at all because then, it means they don’t care about customers at all. Then, they even lack the basic courtesy.”

Interviewee 1, Group 2

5.1.2.1.15 Store Image

Although the definitions vary, an explanatory definition for the store image is “consumer’s evaluation of all salient aspects of the store as individually perceived and weighted” (Doyle and Fenwick, 1974).

When asked, most of the interviewees again mention that store image is not an attribute that they can easily think of in case of supermarkets. They express that many products, brands, sometimes services and even other retail stores have more distinguishing attributes that set them apart from others and make them gain a personality but supermarkets fail in this sense. One of the interviewees emphasizes this through a vivid metaphor as follows:

“When I think of some of the shopping malls or retailers in my country, even the idea of going there makes me excited because each time you go there you find something new, even something thrilling. My children run around not knowing what to try first. If I am to associate them with a personality, I would say they are vivid, lively, energetic and sometimes unpredictable but in a good way. However, when it comes to supermarkets, most of them, all around the world, they are boring. They are like the kind of persons, I wouldn’t like to hang out with.”

Interviewee 3, Group 3

Another interviewee adds:

“I believe sometimes it is even worse than a boring person. Sometimes I don’t have much money and I go to these bargain-supermarkets. There, I see some food I normally like but the kind of feeling I get isn’t nice. For instance, in such places, I don’t often come across products that I say ‘Oh nice, I should buy this and invite my friends to come over to my place to

68

share it.’ Because I feel like those products are not for sharing, so are those stores. They are for the times when you don’t have money and when you don’t have so many expectations.”

Interviewee 1, Group 3

It is clear that not all supermarkets have the same strategy and try to appeal to the highest expectations of consumers. However, these examples show that even the ones with higher standards and differentiation strategies do not manage to address the experience-seeking customers well.

5.1.2.1.16 Store Size

Store size is a crucial determining factor for most of the other elements used in supermarkets such as product variety, width of the aisles, store design etc. However, most of the literature regarding store size focuses on the design related issues such as the organization of shelves and the layout of the store. When the issue is approached from these angles, the ease of locating products becomes an important factor for consumers. It brings with it additional concerns such as adequate personnel support to figure out the locations of products (Lozar, 1974), clear labeling of sections within a store and good organization of sections (Sommer and Aitkens, 1982).

The majority of the interviewees seem to be concerned with the ease of locating products in larger supermarkets. Although they emphasize that they expect a more complex organization in case of larger supermarkets, they still require it to be well organized. However, most of them express that in many cases those larger supermarkets are poorly organized. Moreover, another factor contributing to this problem is the fact that most of the people do not go to large supermarkets that often because of time limitations. Thus, they do not have enough experience to get used to the locations of many products. Hence, the interviewees state that they lose considerable time finding out the location of the product they want. Nevertheless, when it comes to longer shopping lists such as the monthly ones, being a one-stop shopping for many items offsets the disadvantages related to more complex organizations since the interviewees mention that they prefer to go to those larger ones anyway.

In addition to these issues, one interviewee mentions an interesting point by saying:

“I hate those large supermarkets. I feel lost. I feel so small. Some people say that the narrow places give them a claustrophobic feeling. No, for me the larger ones are worse. I feel like I will never be able to get out.”

Interviewee 1, Group 1

Although this is an unexpected comment, it should be noted since there can be more people feeling the same way which can be dealt with being more neatly organized.

69

5.1.2.2 Other Service Elements in General

Although only the aesthetic elements have been discussed in the interviews and no specific questions have been asked regarding the other service elements, the interviewees mentioned their thoughts regarding some of the other elements in order to show their importance, clarify their point of views and to make comparisons. Hence, it is also worthwhile to have a look at them in order to gain a general understanding.

The elements that are mentioned the most are product variety and product quality. Most of the interviewees express that they do not generally prefer the cheapest supermarkets due to lower quality of goods and limited product variety. Even though they may go to the cheaper ones for some special items or for discounts, they choose to go to the others where they can find more than one brand with differing qualities so that they can choose whichever they want according to their tastes or budgets.

Convenience is another crucial element since many of the interviewees mention that they do not bother to go to the cheapest stores or the stores with the widest selection of goods if it is a daily and ordinary shopping.

If these three elements are almost the same for more than one supermarket, most of the interviewees say that they will choose the cheapest one. Thus, even though price is an important criterion, it is not the most vital one.

The element that is negatively evaluated by many of the interviewees is the membership cards that supermarkets issue for the individual customers. The majority of the interviewees complaining of the membership cards suggest that the companies intervene with their privacy. Moreover, many of them state that most of the items that the stores offer them as part of a supposedly individual discount are already low-priced items. Therefore, in order to gain a few dollars of discount in a month, they do not want to sacrifice their personal information.

If the employee service is to be combined with emotional connection to come up with a new element, it would be one of the most striking elements because it is not mentioned by many interviewees but when one of them opens up the issue, it appears that everybody has a word to say about it. Furthermore, as it is discussed in the in-store activities, everybody seems to have a story to tell about which is an important relationship builder for the companies.

Most of the interviewees suggest that with supermarkets, the intimacy between the shopkeepers and customers has been lost. Moreover, the new relationship, if there is any, lacks trust and individualized nature. Hence, they mention that they do not see any reason to be committed or loyal to any store.

One of the interviewees comes up with a metaphor:

70

“The old shops were more intimate. The shopkeeper used to care about you. He knew your favorite cheese and he reminded you to buy a chocolate for your daughter. For example, if you wanted to buy cheese and you didn’t know which one to buy, he let you taste different kinds. And he started to explain where each product came from, what was special about the product and so on. It was kind of a primitive story telling in everything. For example, my dad loves to talk about those old good days. He likes one particular example in which when he was buying fish from the local grocery, the man used to tell him how his friends caught the fish. Since they were kind of big sized fishes, there had been always an adventure behind it. But my dad adds, ‘I don’t know whether those stories were true or he was making them up but they were fun.’ When I was a child, there were those local stores. So, I know a little about them. But they were then totally replaced with the chains. There were not that much of variety or entertainment in the sense that we are used to today. But definitely they were better.”

Interviewee 1, Group 2

It is undeniable that how large supermarkets has eased the lives of consumers. However, it is also apparent that they lack many of the attributes of the small local stores. For one thing, they are generally unable to build relationships and keep their customers loyal. It is true that they have enormous power, scientific management techniques and great capabilities which they use to increase their sales and thus, revenues. Nonetheless, they cannot attract the hearts of their customers through price, convenience etc.

6 Analysis

Management of supermarkets is a challenging business due to low operating margins (Banning and Weber, 1994) and high competition (Holz-Clause and Geisler, 2007). Moreover, supermarkets suffer from the challenges of services that many other service businesses also face such as intangibility of services. On the other, hand unlike a hotel, theater or an air travel provider whose main product is a service, consumers of supermarkets return home with a physical product which complicates the issues for management even further. Hence, it is said that the success of supermarkets is affected

71

by how well they retain customers (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990; Lovelock and Wright, 2002; Kotelikov, 2008). Thus, both academics and practitioners try to figure out the most important elements in retaining customers.

This research has focused on aesthetic elements of supermarket services since there is a gap in the literature as most of the studies on this issue focus on the company-side of the picture while paying little attention to customers’ responses to these elements. Therefore, the aim of this study has been set to discover the perceptions of consumers regarding aesthetic elements used in supermarkets and the effects of these on differentiation. Moreover, an explanation, regarding how these perceptions are shaped, is tried to be provided through the help of the art theories, especially the ones regarding the judgment of aesthetics.

In order to accomplish this, first a vast literature search has been done and the results are shown in the content analysis section. After the mostly used elements in supermarkets are determined through this analysis, these elements are introduced to focus group interviewees to be discussed in order to have a deeper and better understanding. The focus group interview method has chosen to shed some light onto consumer perspective since most of the previous research has a focus on the company-side of the issue. Hence, this chapter of the thesis provides the analysis of the empirical research which builds the foundations towards the conclusions and propositions provided at the end of the research. Building on the content analysis, the focus group interview results are analyzed.

Even though a long list of aesthetic elements have been identified in the previous research as important decision making criteria for supermarket customers, the focus group interviews reveal that these elements are not really motivating for customers. It may be true that usage of these factors might increase sales under certain circumstances but they do not seem to create loyalty or commitment.

Before supermarket chains became so ubiquitous, the independent, local, small stores had been dominating the market place and most of the phenomena that are discussed in the case of supermarkets were unheard at those times, such as the endless variety and the super-sized stores. Nonetheless, there were some attractive elements that those small-sized local stores offered such as the intimate relationship between sellers and customers. When that relationship disappeared, consumers did not have any reason to stay loyal to any of the big impersonal chains.

That being said, this is not the only reason why it is so challenging to operate the present supermarkets. The first set of the challenges can be explained through the marketing theories provided in the literature review and they stem from the marketing mix of the traditional 4 Ps of marketing. The fierce competition forces supermarkets to offer instrumental performance elements such as decreased prices, increased variety and higher product quality. Nonetheless, the main service supermarkets offer to their customer is the service of shopping which is not a physical product itself. Hence, the

72

elements of service marketing such as the perishability and intangibility of services complicates issues even more.

In order to escape the competition and offer customer increased value, companies try to differentiate their offerings from their competitors. Thus, they come to offer service elements such as increased employee service, membership cards and fast check-out options. Realizing that these are not enough, companies have also employed aesthetic elements such as the usage of odors in different sections of the store, store design, music etc.

One of the most agreed upon ways of increasing performance in service businesses is to offer more expressive performance rather than instrumental performance to its customers in that the physical products or pre-prepared store features are seen to be the prerequisites of the business instead of being differentiation factors. In the case of supermarkets, although having different strategies and tactics, most supermarkets within the same categories, such as bargain-stores, offer products and services which are very similar to those of competitors’.

When the issue of concern is a service business, it is more common to reach these kinds of confusing results out of certain management decisions. That is because consumers of service businesses reach services with certain expectations in their minds. On the other hand, during the production or consumption process of the service, they actually experience that service, the so called ‘perceived service’, which is generally different than their expectations. Thus, this creates a gap between what they are expecting and what they receive, resulting in unmet expectations. Moreover, there is also a gap between how companies perceive consumers’ needs and those consumers’ actual needs. Finally, there is another gap between the perceived features companies try to fulfill and the actual performance they produce.

These gaps are quite apparent for supermarkets from the focus group interviews conducted for this research. Even though aesthetic elements are used to differentiate one’s business from the others, in the case of supermarkets, they have become hygiene factors as Herzberg (1966) identified for job motivators. These are the minimum criteria for consumers thus, do not lead to positive evaluations. Even though the elements used in supermarkets might affect the sales figures, it happens through a sub-conscious process in consumers’ mind. Thus, these elements do not converge with the actual expectations of consumers.

Moon (2010), suggests another reason why the attempts of companies to differentiate end up in homogenization. According to her, the reason is the benchmarking process that the companies use to track their performance against their competitors. During this benchmarking process, they identify evaluation criteria and position themselves and the competitors in terms of their performances. However, this process mainly leads to sameness rather than differentiation. That is because, once the positioning is done, rather than trying to distinguish oneself from the others by emphasizing the differences,

73

each company tries to catch up with the average standards that the others are offering. At the end, each company looks similar to others. One of the most striking facts that Moon (2010) points out is the fact that people tend to use concrete, measurable and agreed upon definitions when they are employing aspirational ideas such as beauty. This is one of the gaps in the current literature since most of the researches overemphasize the quantitative side of the aestheticization in supermarkets by pointing out to the dollar amount spent and time spent during a shopping visit to a supermarket (Eroglu et al., 1991) and paying little attention to consumer perceptions. Therefore, this thesis strives to augment the understanding by analyzing the customer perspective regarding aesthetic elements used in supermarkets.

In addition to the operational concerns, such as the necessity to design every step in the value chain to complement one another, this overemphasis on the quantifiable measures leads supermarkets to employ similar service offerings and apply look-alike designs. Therefore, most of the elements offered by them, including the aesthetic services, are not differentiated in consumers’ eyes.

Nonetheless, the art theories presented in the literature review show that all of these applications have come to being under the logic of postmodernism, especially aestheticization of daily life. When the boundaries between high art and popular art and between art and commerce are demolished, the commercial world realized that the businesses can also offer art-like products and services. In the case of supermarkets, consumers come to shop at neatly designed stores in which one can enjoy the stimulus appealing to their five senses through Christmas decorations, food samples, background music, attractive smells from pastry sections and shiny and clean floors and walls. Even though these kinds of applications are not a matter of aesthetics from the Kantian view, they are very well suited in the context of the aestheticization of daily life serving both corporate purposes and consumer tastes.

When it comes to consumer perspective, both academic research in the field of psychology and marketing and private research conducted by organizations reveal that consumers respond positively to most of the elements used in supermarkets such as background music and store design. This may very well be true when the results are evaluated in terms of increased sales or time spent under a certain scenario. Nevertheless, most of these consumer responses are sub-conscious and non-cognitively evaluated which again points out to a postmodernist view of aesthetics. While the high art perspective suggests both cognitive and sensual evaluations of objects when the judgments are to be formed, under aestheticization of daily life, viewers of art are mostly exposed to sensual stimuli. This can be seen from the focus group interviews in which the interviewees could not distinguish different supermarkets for most of the aesthetic elements that were discussed which implies that they mostly employ their senses but not cognitions.

All in all, from both consumers’ and companies’ perspective, aesthetic elements used in supermarkets seem to be in line with the postmodernist view and daily aesthetics.

74

However, when it comes to a marketing point of view, these elements do not seem to yield in the expected returns for the companies in terms of customer loyalty. Even though, it may be true that these applications can increase sales, the time spent in supermarkets or impulsive buying, under the current competitive forces, companies are better off by retaining a loyal customer base which are committed to a specific company.

7 Conclusions

This final chapter of the thesis presents the final discussions and concluding remarks of the research. First of all, the discussions are presented which describe the conclusions reached at the end of the study by providing three propositions. Secondly, the implications are discussed in order to provide companies with suggestions. Then, the contributions are explained in terms of both knowledge generation and practical applications. Finally, the limitations of this research and the directions for future research are provided.

75

7.1 Discussions

The analysis of the empirical study points that, for supermarkets, operational concerns in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in supply chain, store design, inventory management etc. overweigh the marketing concerns in terms of retaining customers. Thus, even though aesthetics first arose as a marketing field within commerce, for supermarkets, it gets stuck among operational decisions. Thus, for the sake of streamlining all value chain activities, most aesthetic elements are ‘stylized’, as it is called in fashion theories, in a measurable and quantifiable format which turns aesthetics into agreeable, rather than beautiful, designs. Thus, the first concluding proposition of this thesis suggests:

P1: Aestheticization strategies used in supermarkets leads to stylization of certain elements which tend to be duplicable and standardized, turning them into replicas rather than leading to unique aesthetic experiences for customers.

This concern is valid even though a supermarket is analyzed and evaluated in itself without regard to any of its competitors. However, taking the competitive forces into account, of course the challenge is amplified since it is easily observable that most supermarkets with similar strategies, such as the differentiating ones or bargain-stores, have similar aesthetic elements. Thus, from the fashion theory’s terminology, a certain aesthetic element becomes a fashion and then diffuses among other supermarkets in a trickle across fashion. When the fashion becomes ubiquitous, it loses its appeal even though it once was an attraction for consumers. Therefore, most of these aesthetic elements end up being hygiene factors (Herzberg, 1966). Hence, the second proposition of this thesis is:

P2: The efficiency, effectiveness and appeal of certain aesthetic strategies lead them to be used widely across all supermarkets chains which turns them into minimum operating criteria for customers rather than enabling them as differentiation factors which help companies earn higher margins.

These two propositions provide an answer to the first research question which is ‘How do consumers perceive aesthetic elements used by companies in supermarket settings?’

For the second research question, as stated by Gronow (1993), the wide adoption of a taste prevents customers to recognize it as their own and to identify oneself with it. This is sharply in contrast to the aims of marketing, specifically branding which seeks to differentiate to enable the identification of customers with products, services or brands. Moreover, marketing and branding efforts of supermarkets are mainly limited to 4 Ps of marketing and include only limited applications of service marketing and aesthetic strategies which leads these efforts to focus on price, quality, convenience, price-related promotions and service employee and customer interactions. Nevertheless, these

76

constitute the minimum criteria for customers which do not lead to differentiation. This leads to the third proposition of the thesis which states that:

P3: Current marketing strategies of supermarkets, be it aesthetic, traditional or service related, serve to increase sales to existing customers who are not loyal to and engaged with the company since it does not have a personality with which customers can identify with. Thus, they do not lead to differentiation.

This proposition answers the second research question which is ‘Are supermarkets able to differentiate their offerings through the usage of aesthetic elements in the eyes’ of consumers?’

To conclude supermarkets have joined the pool of businesses which employ aesthetic strategies based on the promises of postmodernism and the aestheticization of daily life. The reflections of these strategies from consumers’ point of view also show that consumers judge these applications non-cognitively and mostly based on their senses. This is again in line with the arguments of postmodernism. However, postmodernism and aestheticization of daily life have brought strategies to many brands that climbed the ladders in competition and became iconic such as Apple turning computers into aesthetic designs, Swatch turning watches into fashions and Cirque du Soleil turning circus into art (Moon, 2010). Nonetheless, when it comes to supermarkets, their applications and strategies are highly duplicable and ordinary. Thus, rather than being seen as differentiation factors, they are viewed as minimum operating criteria by consumers. Therefore, in order to be more competitive and profitable in today’s formidable rivalry, companies need to be more creative and innovative offering unique propositions to their customers. In an era where consumers constantly look for unique experiences in retailing (Chain Store Age, 2011), companies can only win the battle of differentiation by being continually first as the chairman of Tesco admits (Tesco Archive, 1995).

7.2 Implications

The scholars and companies have done numerous research and investigations on services in supermarkets, such as the elements mentioned in the content analysis and utilized in practice which seem so convincing by the increases of sales in supermarkets. However, it is essential for companies to rethink the way of measuring their services in competition. Thus, the first suggestion of this thesis to companies is to challenge the granted benchmarking rules in order to be different and creative. In other words, competing with the lower and lower margins would perhaps only bring in a dead end, but continually creating something new or different which customers have not seen or experienced before might break the ice. From a postmodern view, this seems to be possible through the adoption of a fashion logic in which the companies need to continuously innovate and change since the competitive forces lead to duplication.

77

It is a fact that services in supermarkets are determined by both the physical goods and the environment provided by the store. They interactively influence how customers feel and their decisions of re-purchasing. Practically, they cannot be separated into individual factors when it comes to performance evaluation. Furthermore, the level of money spent cannot be a comprehensive criterion in the case of measuring customer satisfaction or loyalty, particularly from the customer perspective.

In addition, there are new trends in the market place that cannot be ignored such as the internet. It is generally accepted that people tend to search and compare information such as opening hours, new products, discounts etc., by accessing companies’ webpages. Furthermore, it seems there is a trend towards doing grocery shopping online (Elms et al., 2010; Walters et al., 2005; Chu et al., 2010). Therefore, the second suggestion to the companies is that the role of online shopping needs to be paid more attention in order to provide multiple channels for different requirements, as well as to design the website more friendly and easy to use – aesthetics in online services – which is curial for reaching and keeping customers.

7.3 Contributions

When the audience of this research is determined in the beginning of this research, it is intended to serve both academia and business society. Thus, the contributions of this thesis is divided into two, namely theoretical contributions and contributions to practice, which is depicted below.

7.3.1 Theoretical Contributions

As mentioned several times within this thesis, there is extensive research both from academics and practitioners in terms of different elements used in supermarkets. Nevertheless, most of these studies focus on the technical attributes, in other words instrumental performance such as price, product quality, convenience etc. Yet, the amount of studies focusing on aesthetic elements is not negligible. On the other hand, most of these studies emphasize the quantifiable and measurable dependent variables such as money spent by a consumer in a shopping visit or increased impulsive purchases. There is no doubt that these studies are useful for both academic and practical purposes. However, there is a gap in the literature studying consumer perceptions regarding aesthetic elements used in supermarkets. Therefore, this research contributes to the development of knowledge in aesthetic elements used in supermarkets from a consumer point of view by showing how consumers perceive these aesthetic elements which stems from the first research question.

7.3.2 Contributions to Practice

When it comes to the contribution of this thesis to the practice, the second research question becomes useful as it strives to find an answer to the implications of consumer

78

perceptions on the differentiation efforts of companies. The conclusion of this research shows that consumers do not perceive aesthetic elements used in supermarkets as differentiation factors but rather minimum operating standards. Thus, it may attract the attention of practitioners by showing them that their efforts are not enough to create a loyal customer base. Furthermore, the two suggestions given in the implications can initiate further critical and analytical thinking which may lead to service improvements in supermarkets.

7.4 Limitations and Further Research

This thesis consists of two main parts, namely the theoretical part and the empirical study. In the theoretical part, some major theories are chosen that are considered to be of importance for the topic such as the theory of art, fashion theory and marketing theories. During the review of these theories, no major limitations have been experienced due to the vast library resources of Linköping University. On the other hand, there have been some difficulties in the empirical study. The first reason of these limitations is the fact that this thesis is written in a short time period with a limited budget. Thus, some of the potential alternative empirical designs had to be foregone such as experimental designs to observe customer responses. The second reason is the complexity of the topic of this thesis. The issue of aesthetics has many complexities such as being dependent on the culture and the socio-economic environment. Hence, not all of these complexities could be examined or taken into account.

The first limitation of this research arises due to the fact that all of the focus group interviews have been conducted in Sweden. Even though the interviewees have been selected from different nationalities in order to reflect the cultural differences, the interviewees currently or temporarily live in Sweden and thus, their immediate frame of reference is the supermarkets in Sweden. Hence, it is believed that in a different country, under different conditions, it is possible to collect different responses regarding aesthetic elements used in supermarkets. Nonetheless, since the aim of this research is building a better understanding and not statistically generalizing the responses of interviewees regarding each aesthetic element, it is believed that this limitation does not undermine this research.

The second limitation of this research is related with the complexity of the nature of the aesthetic phenomena. Since aesthetic judgments and responses of people depend on their culture, society, socio-economic environment etc., there are many reasons as to why people respond in a certain manner. However, for the sake of concentrating on the results of these responses in terms of their effect on consumers’ perceptions in supermarket settings, the underlying dependencies have not been analyzed. Nevertheless, by just concentrating on the results of consumers’ responses, this research is better focused on the implications for supermarkets since otherwise the topic would be too broad for the specific implications for supermarkets.

79

The third limitation of this research is its focus on academic literature rather than the research that is conducted by private companies and organizations. This limitation stems from the difficulty in accessing those studies since private companies are reluctant to share their own research conducted for their own purposes. Nevertheless, as it is mentioned earlier, these kinds of studies overemphasize the quantifiable measures, such as money or time spent by a consumer and they tend to ignore consumer perspectives. Thus, focusing on the academic literature better enables this research to understand consumer perspective which is the main purpose of this research.

As it is mentioned above, the empirical study of this thesis has been conducted in Sweden thus, is affected by the conditions of this country. Thus, the first potential area for further research is to analyze aesthetic elements used in supermarkets in other countries. Hence, it will be revealed that whether consumer responses and perceptions vary in different countries. There are many independent variables, such as income level of individual consumers, country of residence, cultural differences among countries etc., to allow a vast amount of further research.

The second possible direction for future research is analyzing the causes of different aesthetic perceptions and responses. Thus, a deeper understanding in terms of causality, and not just correlation, will be achieved. And in turn, this understanding may enable different applications due to its implications for supermarkets.

The third direction for future research derives from the possibility of generalizing the conclusions regarding consumer responses. Thus, future research may attempt to generalize consumer responses under appropriate population groups. A suitable quantitative research methodology can be used to accomplish this generalization attempt. By this way, researchers might be able to draw conclusions regarding how consumers react to particular aesthetic elements in supermarkets.

The fourth and final suggestion for future research derives from the understanding that is always mentioned in this research that aesthetics exists in combination with other elements such as social dimension in terms of employee and consumer relationships or online services. Thus, aesthetic elements can be analyzed together with other elements of supermarket services. One area that might be worthwhile to study is aesthetics of online services offered by supermarkets since online grocery shopping becomes more common.

80

8 References

Abrahamson, E. (1996), Management Fashion, Academy of Management Review, 21, p. 254-285.

Adorno, T. (2001), The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. Edited by J. Bernstein. London: Verso. (Original in 1991).

Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1979), Dialectic of Enlightenment. Translated by J. Cumming, London: Verso. (Original in 1944).

Alpert, J. I. and Alpert, M. I. (1990), Music Influences on Mood and Purchase Intentions, Psychology and Marketing, 2, p. 109-133.

Amarach Research (2009), Grocery Shopping Market Research Findings, Available at: http://www.nca.ie/eng/Research_Zone/Reports/2008_consumer_market_research_survey.html Accessed 24.02.2011.

Andreasen, A. and Belk, R. W. (1980), Predictors of Attendance at the Performing Arts, Journal of Consumer Research, 7/1, p. 112-120.

Anselmsson J. (2006), Sources of Customer Satisfaction with Shopping Malls: A Comparative Study of Different Customer Segments, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 16/1, p. 115-138.

Areni, C. and Kim, D. (1994), The Influence of In-Store Lighting on Consumers’ Examination of Merchandise in a Wine Store, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 11/2, p. 117-125.

Areni, C. S. and Kim, D. (1993), The Influence of Background Music on Shopping Behaviour: Classical versus Top-Forty Music in a Wine Store, Advances in Consumer Research, 20/1, p. 336–340.

Arnold, M. and Reynolds, K. (2003), Hedonic Shopping Motivations, Journal of Retailing, 79/2, p. 77-95.

Asian Productivity Organization (2009), Productivity in the Service Sector: Retail Industry, Recent Trends and Prospects for APO Member Countries, Available at: http://www.apo-tokyo.org/rr_papers/rr2009_04_28_retail_industry.pdf Accessed 13.01..2011.

Babin, B. J. and Attaway, J. S. (2000), Atmospheric Affect as a Tool for Creating Value and Gaining Share of Customer, Journal of Business Research, 49/2, p. 91-99.

81

Babin, B. J., Hardesty, D. and Suter, T. (2003), Color and Shopping Intentions: The Intervening Effect of Price Fairness and Perceived Affect, Journal of Business Research, 56/7, p. 541-552.

Bäckström K. and Johansson U. (2006), Creating and Consuming Experiences in Retail Store Environment: Comparing Retailer and Consumer Perspectives, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 13/6, p. 417-430.

Bailey. N. and Areni, S. C. (2006), When a Few Minutes Sound Like a Lifetime: Does Atmospheric Music Expand or Contract Perceived Time? Journal of Retailing, 82/3, p. 189-202.

Baisya, R. K. and Das, G. G. (2008), Aesthetics in Marketing. Los Angeles, London: Response Books, Sage Publications.

Ballantine, P. W., Jack, R. and Parson, A. G., (2010), Atmospheric Cues and Their Effect on the Hedonic Retail Experience, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38/8, p. 641-653.

Banning, K. B. and Weber, M. (1994), Supermarket Buying Guide, Consumers Union of United States, Yonkers, New York: Consumer Reports Books.

Basker, E. and Noel, M. (2009), The Evolving Food Chain: Competitive Effects of Wal-Mart’s Entry into the Supermarket Industry, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 18/4, p. 977-1009.

Baudrillard, J. (1981), For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign, Translated by C. Levin, Saint Louis: Telos. (Original in 1972).

Baudrillard, J. (1983), Simulations. New York: Semiotext.

Beardsley, M. C. (1981), Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Beatty, E. S., Mayer, M., Coleman, E. J., Reynolds, E. K. and Lee, J. (1996), Customer-Sales Associate Retail Relationships, Journal of Retailing, 72/3, p. 223-247.

Bellizi, J. A., Crowley, A. E. and Hasty, R. W. (1983), The Effects of Color in Store Design, Journal of Retailing, 59/1, p. 21-45.

Berelson, B. (1952), Content Analysis in Communication Research. New York: Free Press.

Binkley, K. J. and Bejnarowicz, J. (2003), Consumer Price Awareness in Food Shopping: The Case of Quantity Surcharges, Journal of Retailing, 79/1, p. 27-35.

Birren, F. (1969), Light, Color and Environment. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.

82

Bitner, M. J. (1990), Evaluating Service Encounters: The Effects of Physical Surroundings and Employee Responses, Journal of Marketing, 54/2, p. 69-82.

Bitner, M. J. (1995), Building Service Relationship: It’s All about Promises, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23/4, p. 246-251.

Bitner, M. J. and Brown, S. W. (2000), Technology Infusion in Service Encounters, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28/1, p. 138-149.

Black, G. (1951), Product Differentiation and Demand for Marketing Services, Journal of Marketing, 16/1, p. 73-79.

Blair, A. E., Harris, J. and Monroe, B. K. (2002), Effects of Shopping Information on Consumers’ Responses to Comparative Price Claims, Journal of Retailing, 78/3, p. 175-181.

Bloch, P. H., Brunel, F. F. and Arnold, T. J. (2003), Individual Differences in the Centrality of Visual Product Aesthetics: Concept and Measurement, Journal of Consumer Research, 29/4, p. 551-565.

Bonanno, A and Lopez, R. A. (2004), Private Labels, Retail Configuration and Fluid Milk Prices, Selected Paper for the 88th EAAE Seminar: Retailing and Producer-Retailer Relationships in the Food Chains, Paris, 5-6 May.

Bonanno, A. and Lopez, A. R. (2009), Competition Effects of Supermarket Services, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 91/3, p. 555-568.

Booms, B. H. and Bitner, M. J. (1981), Marketing Strategies and Organization Structures for Service Firms, in Marketing of Services, Donnelly, J. H and George, W. R. (eds.), Chicago: American Marketing Association.

Booms, B. H. and Nyquist, J. L. (1981), Analyzing the Customer and Firm Communication Component of the Services Marketing Mix, in Marketing of Services, Donnelly, J. H. and George, W. R. (eds.), Chicago: American Marketing Association.

Borin, N. and Farris, P. (1995), A Sensitivity Analysis of Retailer Shelf Management Models, Journal of Retailing, 71/2, p. 153-171.

Boronico, J. S. and Panayides, A. (2001), The Joint Determination of Price, Quality, and Capacity: An Application to Supermarket Operations, Journal of Applied Mathematics and Decision Sciences, 5/3, p. 133-151.

Boslaugh, S. (2007), Secondary Data Sources for Public Health: A Practical Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1984), Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Translated by R. Nice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

83

Bourdieu, P., Darbel, A. and Schnapper, D. (1991), The Love of Art: European Art Museums and Their Public. Cambridge: Polity.

Bowman, C. and Ambrosini, V. (2000), Value Creation versus Value Capture: Towards a Coherent Definition of Value in Strategy, British Journal of Management, 11, p. 1-15.

Boyd, E. D. and Bahn, D. K. (2009), When Do Large Product Assortment Benefit Consumers? An Information-Processing Perspective, Journal of Retailing, 85/3, p. 288-297.

Bruner, G. (1990), Music, Mood and Marketing, Journal of Marketing, 54/4, p. 94–104.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007), Business Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Second Edition.

Burnham, D. (2005), Kant’s Aesthetics, Available at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/kantaest/ Accessed 24.02.2011.

Burt, S., Johansson, U. and Thelander, Å. (2007), Retail Image as Seen through Consumers’ Eyes: Studying International Retail Image through Consumer Photographs of Stores, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 17/5, p. 447-467.

Buzz, D. D. (1997), Entertailing. Nation’s Business, December, Cover Story.

Calefato, P. (1988), Fashion, the Passage, the Body, Cultural Studies, 2/2, p. 223-228.

Callahan, P. and Zimmerman, A. (2003), Price War in Aisle 3, Wall Street Journal, May 27.

Calonius, H. (1988), A Buying Process Model, Innovative Marketing – A European Perspective. Proceedings of the XVIIth Annual Conference of the European Marketing Academy, Blois, K and Parkinson, S. (eds.), University of Bradford, England.

Campbell, C. (1987), The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Chain Store Age (2011), Top 10 Trends for Retailers in 2011, 87/2, p. 12.

Chain Store Age, (1965), Shelf Allocation Breakthrough, 41, p. 77–88.

Chambers, I. (1987), Maps for the Metropolis: A Possible Guide to the Postmodern, Cultural Studies, 1/1, p. 1-21.

84

Chandrashekaran, R. (2004), The Influence of Redundant Comparison Prices and Other Price Presentation Formats on Consumers’ Evaluations and Purchase Intentions, Journal of Retailing, 80/1, p. 53-66.

Channel 4 (2009), Supermarket Psychology, Available at: http://www.channel4.com/food/features/supermarket-colour-psychology_p_1.html Accessed 01.03.2011.

Charters, S. (2006), Aesthetic Products and Aesthetic Consumption: A Review, Consumption, Markets and Culture, 9/3, p. 235-255.

Chebat, J. C., Gelinas-Chebat, C. and Filiatrault, P. (1993), Interactive Effects of Musical and Visual Cues on Time Perception: An Application to Waiting Lines in Banks, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 77, p. 995-1020.

Cheetham, M. A. (2001), Kant, Art and Art History: Moments of Discipline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chen, S. S. and Lou, MonroeYung-Chien, B. K. (1998), The Effects of Framing Price Promotion Message on Consumers’ Perceptions and Purchase Intentions, Journal of Retailing, 74/3, p. 353-372.

Chen, Y., James, D. H., Hess, W. F., Ronald T. and Zhang, J. Z. (1999), Accounting versus Marketing Profits: A Relevant Metric for Category Management, Marketing Science, 18, p. 208-229.

Chenet, P., Dagger, T. S. and O’Sullivan, D. (2010), Service Quality, Trust, Commitment and Service Differentiation in Business Relationships, Journal of Service Marketing, 24/5, p. 336-246.

Cherington, P. T. (1920), The Elements of Marketing. New York: Macmillan.

Chu, J., Urriza, M. A., Calvo, J. J. C. and Chintagunta, P. K. (2010), An Empirical Analysis of Shopping Behavior Across Online and Offline Channels for Grocery Products: The Moderating Effects of Household and Product Characteristics, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 24, p. 251-268.

Constantin, J. A. and Lusch, R. F. (1994), Understanding Resource Management, Oxford, OH: The Planning Forum.

Cooke, P. (1988), Modernity, Postmodernity and the City, Theory, Culture and Society, 5/2, p. 475-492.

Cronin Jr, J. J., Brady, K. M. and Hult, Tomas M. G. (2000), Assessing the Effects of Quality, Value and Customer Satisfaction on Consumer Behavioral Intentions in Service Environments, Journal of Retailing, 76/2, p. 193-218.

85

Crowley, A. E. (1993), The Two-Dimensional Impact of Color on Shopping, Marketing Letters, 4, p. 59-69.

Darke, R. P. and Chung, M. Y. C. (2005), Effects of Pricing and Promotion on Consumer Perceptions: It Depends on How You Frame, Journal of Retailing, 81/1, p. 35-47.

Darke, R. P. and Dahl, W. D. (2003), Fairness and Discounts: The Subjective Value of a Bargain, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13/3, p. 328-338.

Davies, F. M., Goode, M. M. H., Moutinho, L. A. and Ogbonna, E. (2001), Critical Factors in Consumer in Supermarket Shopping Behavior: A Neural Network Approach, Journal of Consumer Behavior, 1/1, p. 35-49.

De Certeau, M. (1988), The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Degeratu, A. M., Rangaswamy, A. and Wu, J. (1990), Consumer Choice Behavior in Online and Traditional Supermarkets: The Effects of Brand Name, Price, and Other Search Attributes, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 7/1, p. 55-78.

Delvecchio, D., Lakshmanan, A. and Krishnan, S. H. (2009), The Effects of Discount Location and Frame on Consumers’ Price Estimates, Journal of Retailing, 85/3, p. 336-346.

Demoulin, T. M. N. and Zidda, P. (2008), On the Impact of Loyalty Cards on Store Loyalty: Does the Customers’ Satisfaction with the Reward Scheme Matter?, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Service, 15/5, p. 386-398.

Demoulin, T. M. N. and Zidda, P. (2009), Drivers of Customers’ Adoption and Adoption Timing of a New Loyalty Card in the Grocery Retail Market, Journal of Retailing, 85/3, p. 391-405.

Deutscher, T. and Hansen, R. A. (1977), An Empirical Investigation of Attribute Importance in Retail Store Selection, Journal of Retailing, 53/4, p. 59-72.

Dhar, K. S., Hoch, J. S. And Kumar, N. (2001), Effective Category Management Depends on the Role of the Category, Journal of Retailing, 77/2, p. 165-184.

Dixon, D. F. (1990), Marketing as Production: The Development of a Concept, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 18/4, p. 337-343.

Dolen, V. W., Lemmink, J., Ruyter, D. K. and Jong, D. A. (2002), Customer-Sales Employee Encounters: A Dyadic Perspective, Journal of Retailing, 78/4, p. 265-279.

86

Donovan, R. and Rossiter, J. (1982), Store Atmosphere: An Experimental Psychology Approach, Journal of Retailing, 58, p. 34–57.

Donovan, R. J., Rossiter, J. R., Marcoolyn, G. and Nesdale, A. (1994), Store Atmosphere and Purchasing Behavior, Journal of Retailing, 70/3, p. 283-294.

Doyle, P. (1989), Building Successful Brands: The Strategic Options, Journal of Marketing Management, 5/1, p. 77-95.

Doyle, P. and Fenwick, I. (1974), Shopping Habits in Grocery Chains, Journal of Retailing, 50, p. 39-52.

Dreze, X., Hoch, J. S. and Purk, E. M. (1994), Shelf Management and Space Elasticity, Journal of Retailing, 70/4, p. 301-326.

Drucker, P. F. (1954), The Practice of Management. New York: Harper and Row.

Dube, L. and Morin, S. (2001), Background Music Pleasure and Store Evaluation: Intensity Effects and Psychological Mechanisms, Journal of Business Research, 54/2, p. 107–113.

Dube, L., Chebat, J-C. and Morin, S. (1995), The Effects of Background Music on Consumers’ Desire to Affiliate in Buyer-Seller Interactions, Psychology and Marketing, 12/4, p. 305–319.

Duncan, T. and Moriarty, E. S. (1998), A Communication-Based Marketing Model for Managing Relationships, Journal of Marketing, 62/2, p. 1-12.

El-Amir, A. and Burt, S. (2009), Towards Modeling the Retailer as a Brand: A Social Construction of the Grocery Store from the Customer Standpoint, Journal of Brand Management, 17/6, p. 429-445.

Ellickson, P. B. and Misra, S. (2008), Supermarket Pricing Strategies, Marketing Science, 27/5, p. 881-828.

Elms, J., Canning, C., de Kervenoael, R.,Whysall, P. and Hallsworth, A. (2010), 30 Years of Retail Change: Where (and How) Do You Shop?, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 38/11-12, p. 817-827.

Elsenman, M. (2004), Aesthetic Interfaces: A Theory of Symbolic Differentiation, Academy of Management Proceedings, pC1 – C6, p. 1-8.

Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K. A. and Chedat, J. C. (2005), The Interaction of Retail Density and Music Tempo: Effects on Shopper Responses, Psychology and Marketing, 22/7, p. 577-589.

87

Eroglu, S., Scholder, P. E. and Machleit, K. A. (1991), Environmental cues in retailing: Suggestions for a research agenda. Presentation made at the Symposium on Patronage Behavior and Retail Strategic Planning: Cutting Edge 2, 1991, in press.

Estelami, H. and Maeyer, D. P. (2004), Product Category Determinants of Price Knowledge for Durable Consumer Goods, Journal of Retailing, 80/2, p. 129-137.

Featherstone, M. (1991), Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London: Sage.

Featherstone, M. (2007), Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Fisher, R. J. (1991), Durable differentiation strategies for service, Journal of Service Marketing, 5/1, p.19-28.

Fisk, R. P., Brown, S. W. and Bitner, M. J. (1993), Tracking the Evolution of the Service Marketing Literature, Journal of Retailing, 69/1, p.61-103.

Foley, A. C. (1893), Fashion, The Economic Journal, 3/11, p.458-474.

Forty, A. (1986), Objects of desire: Design and Society, since 1750-1980. London: Thames and Hudson.

Foxall, G. R. and Greenly, G. E. (2000), Predicting and Explaining Responses to Consumer Environments: An Empirical Test and Theoretical Extension of the Behavioral Perspective Model, The Service Industries Journal, 20/2, p. 39-63.

Frisby, D. (1985), Georg Simmel, First Sociologist of Modernity, Theory, Culture and Society, 2/3, p. 49-67.

Frith, S. and Horne, H. (1987), Art into Pop. London: Methuen.

Gadamer, G. H. (1975), Truth and Method. New York: The Seabury Press.

Gedenk, K. and Neslin, A. S. (1999), The Role of Retail Promotion in Determining Future Brand Loyalty: Its Effect on Purchase Event Feedback, Journal of Retailing, 75/4, p. 433-459.

Gentile, C., Spiller, N. and Noci, G. (2007), How to Sustain the Customer Experience: An Overview of Experience Components that Co-Create Value with the Customer, European Management Journal, 25/5, p. 395-410.

George, R. J. (2005), Supermarket shopping: what is This Thing Called ‘Customer Service’?, Journal of Food Products Marketing, 11/2, p. 1-20.

Ghosh, P., Tripathi, V. and Kumar, A. (2010), Customer Expectations of Store Attributes: A Study of Organized Retail Outlets in India, Journal of Retail and Leisure, 9/1, p. 75-87.

88

Gifford, R. (1988), Light, Decor, Arousal, Comfort and Communication, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 8, p. 177-189.

Glaser, B. G. and Strauss, A. L. (1967), The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.

Goff, G. B., Boles, S. J., Bellenger, N. D. and Stojack, C. (1997), The Influence of Salesperson Selling Behaviors on Customer Satisfaction with Products, Journal of Retailing, 73/2. p. 171-183.

Gomez, I. M., McLaughlin, W. E. and Wittink, R. D. (2004), Customer Satisfaction and Retail Sales Performance: An Empirical Investigation, Journal of Retailing, 80/4, p. 265-278.

Gott, R. (1986), The Crisis of Contemporary Culture, Guardian, December 1, p. 10.

Greenland, S. J. and McGoldrick, P. J. (1994), Atmospherics, Attitudes and Behavior: Modeling the Impact of Designed Space, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 4/1, p. 1–16.

Grewal, D. Levy, M. and Lehmann, R. D. (2004), Retail Branding and Customer Loyalty: An Overview, Journal of Retailing, 80/4, p. ix-xii.

Grewal, D., Baker, J., Levy, M. and Voss, B. G. (2003), The Effects of Wait Expectations and Store Atmosphere Evaluations on Patronage Intentions in Service-Intensive Retail Stores, Journal of Retailing, 79/4, p. 259-268.

Grewal, D., Krishnan, R., Baker, J. and Borin, N. (1998), The Effect of Store Name, Brand Name and Price Discounts on Consumers’ Evaluations and Purchase Intentions, Journal of Retailing, 74/3, p. 331-352.

Grewal, D., Levy, M. and Kumar, V. (2009), Customer Experience Management in Retailing: An Organizing Framework, Journal of Retailing, 85/1, p. 1-14.

Grocery Store Design, (2005), Available at: http://mathdl.maa.org/images/upload_library/4/vol6/online/groceryproject.pdf Accessed 01.03.2011.

Gronow, J. (1993), Taste and Fashion: The Social Function of Fashion and Style, Acta Sociologica, 36/2, p. 89-100.

Grönroos, C. (1984), A Service Quality Model and Its Marketing Implications, European Journal of Marketing, 18/4, p. 36-44.

Grönroos, C. (1988), New Competition in the Service Economy: The Five Rules of Service, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 8/3, p.9-19.

89

Grönroos, C. (1989), Defining Marketing: A Market-Oriented Approach, European Journal of Marketing, 23/1, p. 52-60.

Grönroos, C. (1990), Service Management and Marketing: Managing the Moments of Truth in Service Competition. Lexington, MA: Free Press/Lexington Books.

Grönroos, C. (1994a), From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing, Asia-Australia Marketing Journal, 2, p. 9-29.

Grönroos, C. (1994b), Quo Vadis, Marketing? Toward a Relationship Marketing Paradigm, Journal of Marketing Management, 10/5, p. 347-360.

Grönroos, C. (1998), Marketing Service: The Case of a Missing Product, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 13/4-5, p. 322-338.

Grönroos, C. (2000), Service Management and Marketing, A Customer Relationship Management Approach, Chichester: John Wiley.

Grönroos, C. (2007), A Service Quality Model and Its Marketing Implications, European Journal of Marketing, 18/4, p. 36-44.

Grove, J. S. and Fisk, P. R. (1997), The Impact of Other Customers on Service Experiences: A Critical Incident Examination of ‘Getting Along’, Journal of Retailing, 73/1, p. 63-85.

Haeckel, S. H. (1999), Adaptive Enterprise: Creating and Leading Sense-and-Respond Organizations. Boston: Harvard School of Business.

Han, S., Gupta, S. and Lehmann, R. D. (2001), Consumer Price Sensitivity and Price Thresholds, Journal of Retailing, 77/4, p. 435-456.

Hancock, P. (2002), Aestheticizing the World of Organization: Creating Beautiful Untrue Things, Tamara: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science, 2/1, p. 91-105.

Hancock, P. and Tyler, M. (2000), “The Look of Love”: Gender and the Organization of Aesthetics, in Body and Organization, J. Hassard, R. Holliday and H. Willmott (eds.), London: Sage.

Hansen, M. J., Raut, S. and Swami, S. (2010), Retail Shelf Allocation: A Comparative Analysis of Heuristic and Meta-Heuristic Approaches, Journal of Retailing, 86/1, p. 94-105.

Hardesty, M. D. and Bearden, O. W. (2003), Consumer Evaluations of Different Promotion Types and Price Presentations: The Moderating Role of Promotional Benefit Level, Journal of Retailing, 79/1, p. 17-25.

90

Harris, L. C. and Ogbonna, E. (2010), Hiding Customer Complaints: Studying the Motivations and Forms of Service Employees’ Complaint Concealment Behaviors, British Journal of Management, 21/2, p. 262-279.

Hartman, J. (2004), Using Focus Groups to Conduct Business Communication Research, Journal of Business Communication, 41/4, p. 402-410.

Hausman, J. and Leibtag, E. (2007), Consumer Benefits from Increased Competition in Shopping Outlets: Measuring the Effect of Wal-Mart, Journal of Applied Econometrics, 22/7, p. 1157-1177.

Heilbrun, B. (2002), Alessi: Italian design and the Re-Enchantment of Everyday Objects, in Consumer Behavior: A European Perspective, Solomon, M., Bamossy, G. and Askegaard, S. (eds.), Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall.

Henry’s Foods of Beverly (2009), Fine Foods, Fine Service, Retail Merchandiser, 49/4, p. 29-33.

Herzberg, F. (1966), Work and the Nature of Man. Cleveland: World Publishing.

Hirsch, A. (1995), Effects of Ambient Odors on Slot-Machine Usage in a Las Vegas Casino, Psychology and Marketing, 12/7, p. 585-94.

Hirschman, E. and Holbrook, M. (1982), Hedonic Consumption: Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions, Journal of Marketing, 46/3, p. 92-101.

Hirschman, E. C. (1980), Commonality and Idiosyncrasy in Popular Culture: An Empirical Examination of the “Layers of Meaning” Concept, Consumer Esthetics and Symbolic Consumption. New York.

Hoffman, K. D. and Turley, L. W. (2002), Atmospherics, Service Encounters and Consumer Decision Making: An Integrative Perspective, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 10/3, p. 33-47.

Holbrook, M. B. and Hirschman, E. C. (1982), The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun, Journal of Consumer Research, 9/2, p. 132–140.

Holbrook, M. B., Bell, S. and Grayson, M. W. (1986), The Semiology of Cinematic Consumption: Symbolic Consumer Behavior in out of Africa, Journal of Consumer Research, 13/3, p. 374-381.

Holsti, O. R. (1969), Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Holt, D. B. (1995), How Consumers Consume: A Typology of Consumption Processes, Journal of Consumer Research, 22/1, p. 1-16.

91

Holt, M. (2007), in Brand Beauty, van der Berg, Z., New Zealand Marketing Magazine, February 1,

Holz-Clause, M. and Geisler, M. (2007), Grocery Retailing Profile, Available at: www.agmrc/markets/Food/groceryindustry.htm Accessed: 20.04.2011.

Huddleston, P., Whipple, J., Mattick, R. N. and Lee, S. J. (2008), Customer Satisfaction in Food Retailing: Comparing Specialty and Conventional Grocery Stores, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 37/1, p. 63-80.

Huffman, C. and Kahn, E. B. (1998), Variety for Sale: Mass Customization or Mass Confusion? Journal of Retailing, 74/4, p. 491-513.

Hul, K. M., Dube, L. and Chebat, J. (1997), The Impact of Music on Consumers’ Reactions to Waiting for Services, Journal of Retailing, 73/1, p. 87-104.

Hutcheon, L. (1984), Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox. London: Methuen.

Jacobs, K. W. and Suess, J. F. (1975), Effects of Four Psychological Primary Colors on Anxiety State, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 49, p. 143-161.

Janis, I. L. (1982), Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascos. 2nd edition. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Johnston, W. J. and Bonoma, T. V. (1981), Purchase Process for Capital Equipment and Services, Industrial Marketing Management, 10/4, p. 253-264.

Joy, A. and Sherry, Jr., J. F. (2003), Speaking of Art as Embodied Imagination: A Multisensory Approach to Understanding Aesthetic Experience, Journal of Consumer Research, 30/2, p. 259-281.

Kant, I. (1988), Critique of Judgment. Translated by. J. C. Meredith. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Original in 1790).

Kant, I. (2000), Critique of the Power of Judgment. Edited by P. Guyer, Translated by P. Guyer and E. Mathews. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. The Cambridge Edition of the Work of Immanuel Kant. (Original in 1790).

Kant, I. (2006), Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (ed.). Translated by R. B. Louden, New York: Cambridge University Press. (Original in 1798).

Kellas, S. (2008), Decoding the Shopper Decision Making Process, ECR Baltics Forum November 5th 2008, The Nielsen Company, Available at: http://hu.nielsen.com/site/documents/Nielsen_StoreChoice_ValueReport_Dec07.pdf Accessed 26.02.2011.

92

Kenhove, V. P., Wulf, D. K. and Waterschoot, V. W. (1999), The Impact of Task Definition on Store-Attribute Saliences and Store Choice, Journal of Retailing, 75/1, p. 125-137.

Kim, B., Srinivasan, K. and Wilcox, T. R. (1999), Identifying Price Sensitive Consumers: The Relative Merits of Demographic vs. Purchase Pattern Information, Journal of Retailing, 75/2, p. 173-193.

Kim, Y. K. (2001), Experiential Retailing: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Success in Domestic and International Retailing, Journal of Consumer Services, 8, p. 287-289.

King, C. W and Ring, L. J. (1980), The Dynamics of Style and Taste Adoption and Diffusion: Contributions from Fashion Theory, Advances in Consumer Research, 7, p. 13-16.

King, C. W. (1963), Fashion Adoption: A Rebuttal to the Trickle Down Theory, in Toward Scientific Marketing, S. A. Greyser (eds.), Chicago: American Marketing Association.

Klein, N. (2001), No Logo. London: Flamingo. (Original in 1999).

Kniazeva, M. and Belk, R. (2010), Supermarkets as Libraries of Postmodern Mythology, Journal of Business Research, 63/7, p. 748-753.

Koelemeijer, K. and Oppewal, H. (1999), Assessing the Effects of Assortment and Ambience: A Choice Experimental Approach, Journal of Retailing, 75/3, p. 319-345.

Kohli, A. K. and Jaworski, B. J. (1990), Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions and Managerial Implications, Journal of Marketing, 54/2, p. 1-18.

Kotelikov, V. (2008), Customer Retention: Driving Profits through Giving Lots of Reasons to Stay, Available at: www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/customer_retention.html Accessed 20.04.2011.

Kotler, P. (1967), Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kotler, P. (1972), Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control. 3rd. Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kotler, P. (1973), Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool, Journal of Retailing, 49/4, p. 48-64.

93

Kotler, P. (1991), Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control, 7th Ed., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Krueger, R. A. (1998), Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. Newbury Park, California: Sage.

Kumar, P. (2005), The Competitive Impact of Service Process Improvement: Examining Customers’ Waiting Experiences in Retail Markets, Journal of Retailing, 81/3, p. 171-180.

Kumari, K. B. and Venkatramaiah, S. R. (1974), Effects of Anxiety on Closure Effect Disappearance Threshold (Brain Blood Shift Gradient), Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1, p. 114-120.

Lam, Y. S. and Mukherjee, A. (2005), The Effects of Merchandise Coordination and Juxtaposition on Consumers’ Product Evaluation Purchase Intention in Store-Based Retailing, Journal of Retailing, 81/3, p. 231-250.

Langeard, E., Bateson, J. E. G., Lovelock, C. H. and Eigler, P. (1981), Services Marketing: New Insights from Consumers and Managers, Report No. 81-104, Cambridge, MA: Marketing Science Institute.

Lash, S. (1988), Discourse or Figure? Postmodernism as a Regime of Signification, Theory, Culture and Society, 5/2, p. 311-336.

Lash, S. (1990), The Sociology of Postmodernism. London: Routledge.

Leddy, T. (2005), The Nature of Everyday Aesthetics, in The Aesthetics of Everyday Life, Light, A. and Smith, J. M., New York: Columbia University Press.

Lederman, L. C. (1990), Assessing Educational Effectiveness: The Focus Group Interview as a Technique for Data Collection, Communication Education, 39/2, p. 117-127.

Leszczyc, T. L. P. and Timmermans, H. (2001), Experimental Choice Analysis of Shopping Strategies, Journal of Retailing, 77/4, p. 493-509.

Leszczyc, T. L. P., Sinha, A. and Sahgal, A. (2004), The Effect of Multi-Purpose Shopping on Pricing Location Strategy for Grocery Stores, Journal of Retailing, 80/2, p. 85-99.

Levy, J. S. and Kotler, P. (1969), Broadening the concept of marketing, Journal of Marketing, 33 (January), p.10-15.

Lieberson, S. (2000), A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions and Culture Change. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Lindlof, T. R. (1995), Qualitative Communication Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

94

Lindquist, J. D. (1974), Meaning of Image: A Survey of Empirical and Hypothetical Evidence, Journal of Retailing, 50/4, p. 29-38.

Lockley, L. C. (1968), Styles in Fashion and Marketing Scholarship: A Cautionary Note, Journal of Marketing, 32, p. 52-54.

Longo, D. (2010), Quick Check Pioneers Self-Checkout, Convenience Store News, 46/9, p. 37-37.

Lovelock, C. and Wright, L. (2002), Principles of Service Marketing and Management. 2nd edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ :Prentice Hall.

Lozar, C. C. (1974), Application of Behavior Setting Analysis and Undermanning Theory to Supermarket Design, in Man-Environment Interactions: Evaluations and Applications, Part 2, Carson, D. H., Stroudsburg (eds.), PA: Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross.

Lunding, J. F. (1959), “Heart Appeal” in Grocery Advertising, Journal of Marketing, 24/2, p. 74-76.

Luo, X. and Homburg, C. (2007), Neglected Outcomes of Customer Satisfaction, Journal of Marketing, 71/2, p. 133-149.

Lusch, R. F. and Vargo, S. L. (2004), Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing, Journal of Marketing, 68/1, p. 1-17.

Lusch, R. F. and Vargo, S. L. (2006), Service-Dominant Logic: Reactions, Reflections and Refinements, Marketing Theory, 6/3, p. 281-288.

Lyotard, J. F. (1984), The Postmodern Condition. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Lyotard, J. F. (1988), Peregrinations, Law, Form, Event. New York: Columbia University Press.

Machleit, K., Eroglu, S. and Mantel, S. (2000), Retail Crowding and Shopping Satisfaction: What Modifies This Relationship?, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9/1, p. 29-42.

Madriz, M. (2000), Focus Groups in Feminist Research, in Handbook of Qualitative Research, Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (eds.). 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Magi, W. A. (2003), Share of Wallet in Retailing: The Effects of Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty Cards and Shopper Characteristics, Journal of Retailing, 79/2, p. 97-106.

Mangleburg, F. T., Doney, M. P. and Bristol, T. (2004), Shopping with Friends and Teens’ Susceptibility to Peer Influence, Journal of Retailing, 80/2, p. 101-116.

95

Mano, H. (1999), The Influence of Pre-Existing Negative Effect on Store Purchase Intentions, Journal of Retailing, 75/2, p. 149-172.

Markin, R. J., Lillis, J. R. and Narayana, C. L. (1976), Social-Psychological Significance of Store Space, Journal of Retailing, 52, p. 43-54.

Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (2007), Retail Sector, Available at: http://dllr.maryland.gov/lmi/industryclusters/retail.shtml Accessed 18.12.2010.

Mattila, S. A. and Patterson, G. P. (2004), The Impact of Culture on Consumers’ Perceptions of Service Recovery Efforts, Journal of Retailing, 80/3, p. 196-206.

Mattila, S. A. and Wirtz, J. (2001), Congruency of Scent and Music as a Driver of In-Store Evaluations and Behavior, Journal of Retailing, 77/2, p. 273-289.

Mauri, C. (2003), Card Loyalty, A New Emerging Issue in Grocery Retailing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Service, 10/1, p. 13-25.

Maxham, G. J. and Netemeyer, G. R. (2002), Modeling Customer Perceptions of Complaint Handling Over Time: The Effects of Perceived Justice on Satisfaction and Intent, Journal of Retailing, 78/4, p. 239-252.

Mayer, M. D., Ehrhart, G. M. and Schneider, B. (2009), Service Attribute Boundary Conditions of the Service Climate-Culture Satisfaction Link, Academy of Management Journal, 52/5, p. 1034-1050.

McCarthy, E. J. (1960), Basic Marketing, A Managerial Approach. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

McCracken, G. (1988), Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

McKitterick, J. B. (1957), What Is the Marketing Management Concept?, in Frontiers of Marketing Thought and Science, Frank M. Bass (eds.), Chicago: American Marketing Association.

Mclntyre, H. S. and Miller, M. C. (1999), The Selection and Pricing of Retail Assortments: An Empirical Approach, Journal of Retailing, 75/3, p. 295-318.

McMurray G. R. (1977), Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Ungar.

Mehrabian, A. (1976), Public places and private spaces. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Meng, J., Summey, J. H., Herndon, N. C. and Kwong, K. K. (2009), Some Retail Service Quality Expectations of Chinese Shoppers, International Journal of Market Research, 51/6, p. 773-796.

96

Menon, K. and Dube, L. (2000), Ensuring Greater Satisfaction by Engineering Salesperson Response to Customer Emotions, Journal of Retailing, 76/3, p. 285-307.

Menon, K. and Dube, L. (2004), Service Provider Responses to Anxious and Angry Customers: Different Challenges, Different Payoffs, Journal of Retailing, 80/3. p. 229-237.

Michon, R., Chebat, J.-C. and Turley, L. (2005), Mall Atmospherics: The Interaction Effects of the Mall Environment on Shopping Behavior, Journal of Business Research, 58/5, p. 576-83.

Milliman, R. (1982), Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket Shoppers, Journal of Marketing, 46/3, p. 86-91.

Min, H. (2006), Developing the Profiles of Supermarket Customers through Data Mining, The service Industries Journal, 26/7, p. 1-17.

Min, H. (2010), Evaluating the Comparative Service Quality of Supermarkets Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process, Journal of Service Marketing, 24/4, p. 283-293.

Mitchell, W. J. T. (1986), Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Mittal, B. and Lassar, M. W. (1996), The Role of Personalization in Service Encounters, Journal of Retailing, 72/1, p. 95-109.

Miyazaki, D. A., Sprott, E. D. and Manning, C. K. (2000), Unit Prices on Retail Shelf Labels: An Assessment of Information Prominence, Journal of Retailing, 76/1, p. 93-112.

Moon, Y. (2010), Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd. New York: Crown Business.

Morgan, D. L. (1988), Focus Groups as Qualitative Research (Qualitative Research Methods Series 16). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Morin, S., Dube, L. and Chebat, J.-C. (2007), The Role of Pleasant Music in Servicescapes: A Test of the Dual Model of Environmental Perception, Journal of Retailing, 83/1, p. 115-130.

Murray, C. C., Talukdar, D. and Gosavi, A. (2010), Joint Optimization of Product Price, Display Orientation and Shelf-Space Allocation in Retail Category Management, Journal of Retailing, 86/2, p. 125-136.

Narver, J. C. and Slater, S. F. (1990), The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability, Journal of Marketing, 54/4, p. 20-35.

97

Nathalie, T. M. D. (2011), Music Congruency in a Service Setting: The Meditating Role of Emotional and Cognitive Responses, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Service, 18, p. 10-18.

Nijssen, E. J. and Douglas, S. P. (2008), Consumer World-Mindedness, Social-Mindedness, and Store Image, Journal of International Marketing, 16/3, p. 84-107.

Nystrom, P. (1915), The Economics of Retailing. New York: Ronald Press. 1/2.

OECD (2000), The Service Economy, Business and Industry Policy Forum Series.

Oliver, L. R., Rust, T. R. and Varki, S. (1997), Customer Delight: Foundations, Findings, and Managerial Insight, Journal of Retailing, 73/3, p. 311-336.

Parasuraman, A., Berry, L. L. and Zeithaml, V. A. (1988), Communication and Control Processes in the Delivery of Service Quality, Journal of Marketing, 52/2, p. 35-48.

Pawley, M. (1986), Architecture: All the History that Fits, Guardian, December 3, p. 10.

Pendergrast, M. (1993), For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the World’s Most Popular Soft Drink. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Postrel, V. (2003), The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value is Remarking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness. New York: HarperCollins.

Prasad, C. J. S. and Aryasri, A. R. (2008), Study of Customer Relationship Marketing Practices in Organised Retailing in Food, VISION – The Journal of Business Perspective, 12/4, p. 33-43.

Prettejohn, E. (2005), Beauty and Art 1750 – 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rafaeli, A. (1989), When Cashiers Meet Customers: An Analysis of the Role of Supermarket Cashiers, Academy of Management Journal, 32/2, p. 245-273.

Reichheld, F. F. and Sasser, W. E. Jr. (1990), Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services, Harvard Business Review, 68 (September-October), p. 105-111.

Reynolds, E. K. and Beatty, E. S. (1999a), Customer Benefits and Company Consequences of Customer-Salesperson Relationships in Retailing, Journal of Retailing, 75/1, p. 11-32.

Reynolds, K. E. and Beatty, S. E. (1999b), Relationship Customer Typology, Journal of Retailing, 75/4, p. 509-523.

Ronald, E. M. (1982), Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket shoppers, Journal of Marketing, 46/3, p. 86-91.

98

Rook, D. W. (1987), The Buying Impulse, Journal of Consumer Research, 14, p. 189-199.

Russell, J. G. and Petersen, A. (2000), Analysis of Cross Category Dependence in Market Basket Selection, Journal of Retailing, 76/3, p. 367-392.

Saghir, M. and Jonson, G. (2001), Packaging Handling Evaluation Methods in the Grocery Retail Industry, Packaging Technology and Science, 14/1, p. 21–29.

Saito, Y. (2007), Everyday Aesthetics. New York: Oxford University Press.

Sartre, J. P. (2000), Nausea. London: Penguin (Originally published in 1938).

Schmitt, B. and Simonson, A. (1997), Marketing Aesthetics. New York: The Free Press.

Schmitt, B., Simonson, A. and Marcus, J. (1995), Managing Corporate, Image and Identity, Long Range Planning, 28/5, p. 82-92.

Schopenhauer, A. (1883), The World as Will and Idea. London: Routledge and Keeagan Paul.

Scruton, R. (1974), Art and Imagination: A Study in the Philosophy of Mind. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd.

Sennett, R. (1976), The Fall of Public Man. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Shaw, A. W. (1912), Some Problems in Market Distribution, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 26/4, p. 703-765.

Sherman, E., Mathur, A. and Smith, R. B. (1997), Store Environment and Consumer Purchase Behavior: Mediating Role of Consumer Emotions, Psychology and Marketing, 14, p. 361-378.

Sheth, J., Sisodia, R. S. and Sharma, A. (2000), The Antecedents and Consequences of Customer-Centric Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28/1, p. 55-66.

Shostack, G. L. (1977), Breaking Free from Product Marketing, Journal of Marketing, 41/2, p. 73-80.

Shostack, G. L. (1985), Planning the Service Encounter, in The Service Encounter, Czepiel, J. A., Solomon, R. M. and Surprenant, F. C. (eds.), New York: Lexington Books.

Shusterman, R. (1988), Postmodernist Aestheticism: A New Moral Philosophy?, Theory, Culture and Society, 5, p. 337-355.

99

Simmel, G. (1981), Fashion, in Perspective on Fashion, G. B. Sproles, (ed.), Minneapolis: Burgess Publ. (Originally published in International Quarterly, 1904, 10, p.130-155).

Simmel, G. (1991), The Problem of Style, Theory, Culture and Society, 8, p. 63-71 (Original in 1908).

Simonson, I. (1999), The Effect of Product Assortment on Buyer Preferences, Journal of Retailing, 75/3, p. 347-370.

Sit, J., Merrilees, B. and Birch, D. (2003), Entertainment-Seeking Shopping Centre Patrons: The Missing Segments, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 31/2, p. 80-94.

Siu, N. Y. M. and Chow, S. K. H. (2003), Service Quality in Grocery Retailing: The Study of Japanese Supermarket in Hong Kong, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 16/1, p. 71-87.

Sommer, R. and Aitkens, S. (1982), Mental Mapping of Two Supermarkets, Journal of Consumer Research, 9, p. 211-215.

Spangenberg, E., Crowley, A. and Henderson, P. (1996), Improving the Store Environment: Do Olfactory Cues Affect Evaluations and Behaviors?, Journal of Marketing, 60/2, p. 67-80.

Spiggle, S. (1994), Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 21 (December), p. 491-503.

Sprott, E. D. and Shimp, A. T. (2004), Using Product Sampling to Augment the Perceived Quality of Store Brands, Journal of Retailing, 80/4, p. 305-315.

Srivastava, J. and Lurie, H. N. (2004), Price-Matching Guarantees as Signals of Low Store Prices: Survey and Experimental Evidence, Journal of Retailing, 80/2, p. 117-128.

Stassen, E. R., Mittelstaedt, D. J. and Mittelstaedt, A. R. (1999), Assortment Overlap: Its Effect on Shopping Patterns in a Retail Market When the Distributions of Prices and Goods are Known, Journal of Retailing, 75/3, p. 371-386.

Strauss, A. L. and Corbin, J. (1998), Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Sudman, S. and Blair, E. (1999), Sampling in the Twenty-First Century, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27/2, p.269-277.

Sundin, E. (2008), Small Businesses – The Solution for What and for Whom? p.195-208. In Elsner, W. and Hanappi, H. (eds), Varieties of Capitalism and New Institutional Deals. Regulation, Welfare and the New Economy. Edward Elgar.

100

Swan, J. E. and Combs, L. J. (1976), Product Performance and Consumer Satisfaction: A New Concept, Journal of Marketing, 40/2, p. 25-33.

Szmigin, I. (2006), The Aestheticization of Consumption: An Exploration of ‘brand.new’ and ‘Shopping’, Marketing Theory, 6/1, p. 107-118.

Szymanski, D. M. and Henard, D. H. (2001), Customer Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29/1, p. 16- 35.

Taylor, A. S. and Baker, L. T. (1994), An Assessment of the Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in the Formation of Consumers’ Purchase Intentions, Journal of Retailing, 70/2, p. 163-178.

Terblanche, N. S. and Boshoff, C. (2004), The In-Store Shopping Experience: A Comparative Study of Supermarket and Clothing Store Customers, South African Journal of Business Management, 35/4, p. 1-10.

Tesco Archive (1995), The Competitive Environment, Paper Presented at Chairman’s Conference, 20 November, G13.10.

The Nielsen Company (2008), A Global Nielsen Consumer Report: Grocery Store Choice and Value for Money, Available at: http://hu.nielsen.com/site/documents/Nielsen_StoreChoice_ValueReport_Dec07.pdf Accessed 26.02.2011.

Theodoridis, P. K. and Chatzipanagiotou, K. C. (2008), Store Image Attributes and Customer Satisfaction Across Different Customer Profiles within the Supermarket Sector in Greece, European Journal of Marketing, 43/5-6, p. 708-734.

Thomas, L. J., Vitell, J. S., Gilbert, W. F. and Rose, M. G. (2002), The Impact of Ethical Cues on Customer Satisfaction with Service, Journal of Retailing, 78/3, p. 167-173.

Turcsik, R. (2003), Got Milk, Need Space, Progressive Grocer, 82/1, p. 49-51.

Turley, L. and Milliman, R. (2000), Atmospheric Effects on Shopping Behavior: A Review of the Experimental Evidence, Journal of Business Research, 49/22, p. 193-211.

Urban, L. T. (1998), An Inventory-Theoretic Approach to Product Assortment and Shelf-Space Allocation, Journal of Retailing, 74/1, p. 15-35.

Urbany, E. J., Dickson, R. P. And Sawyer, G. A. (2000), Insights into Cross- and Within-Store Price Search: Retailer Estimates vs. Consumer Self-Reports, Journal of Retailing, 76/2, p. 243-258.

101

Urriza, M. A. and Calvo, J. C. (2007), Loyalty Effects and Price Response at Online and Offline Channels: A Study across Consumer Packaged Goods Categories, 6th International Congress Marketing Trends, Available at: http://www.escp-eap.net/conferences/marketing/2007_cp/Materiali/Paper/Fr/ArceUrizza_CebolladaCalvo.pdf Accessed 01.03.2011.

Veblen, T. (1961), The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Random House (Originally published in 1889).

Vella, P. J., Gountas, J. and Walker, R. (2009), Employee Perspectives of Service Quality in the Supermarket Sector, Journal of Service Marketing, 23/6, p. 407-421.

Venkatesh, A. and Meamber, L. A. (2006), Arts and Aesthetics: Marketing and Cultural Production, Marketing Theory, 6/1, p. 11-39.

Venkatesh, A. and Meamber, L. A. (2008), The Aesthetics of Consumption and the Consumer as an Aesthetic Subject, Consumption Markets and Culture, 11/1, p. 45-70.

Verboef, C. P., Lemon, N. K., Parasuraman, A., Roggeveen, A., Tsiros, M. and Schlesinger, A. L. (2009), Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies, Journal of Retailing, 85/1, p. 31-41.

Vida, I., Obadia, C. and Kunz, M. (2007), The Effects of Background Music on Consumer Responses in a High-End Supermarket, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 17/5, p. 469-482.

Wakefield, L. K. and Baker, J. (1998), Excitement at the Mall: Determinants and Effects on Shopping Response, Journal of Retailing, 74/4, p. 515-539.

Walters, D. M., Toase, C. M., Hong, P. P. and Meckel, M. (2005), A Survey into Consumer Experiences and Attitudes towards Online Grocery Shopping in the UK, IADIS International Conference on WWW/Internet 2005, Available at: http://www.iadis.net/dl/final_uploads/200507L029.pdf Accessed: 18.01.2011.

Watson, T. J. (1995), Rhetoric, Discourse and Argument in Organizational Sense Making: A Reflexive Tale, Organization Studies, 16/5, p. 1-13.

Weick, K. E. (1995), Sensemaking in Organisations, London: Sage.

Weld, L. D. H. (1916), The Marketing of Farm Products. New York: Macmillan.

Weld, Louis. D. H. (1917), Marketing Functions and Mercantile Organizations, American Economic Review, 17/7, p. 306-318.

Welsch, W. (1997), Undoing Aesthetics. London: Sage.

Wexner, L. B. (1954), The Degree to which Colors (Hues) are Associated with Mood-Tones, Journal of Applied Psychology, 38/3, p. 432-435.

102

Wicker, A. W. (1969), Attitude versus Action: The Relationship of Verbal and Overt Behavioral Responses to Attitude Objects, Journal of Social Issues, 25/4, p. 41-78.

Wijland, R. and Fell, C. (2009), Critical Brand Poetics: “from the M at the end of the Earth”, Journal of Marketing Management, 25/7-8, p. 745-761.

William, J. R. (1961), Full Cycle for Self-Service?, Journal of Marketing, 25/4, p. 15-21.

Williams, R. H. (1982), Dream Worlds: Mass Consumption in Late Nineteenth Century France. Berkeley: California University Press.

Wirtz, J., Mattila, S. A. and Tan. L. P. R. (2000), The Moderating Role of Target-Arousal on the Impact of Affect on Satisfaction – An Examination in the Context of Service Experiences, Journal of Retailing, 76/3, p. 347-365.

World Economic Situation and Prospects (2011), United Nations, New York, Available at: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_current/2011wesp.pdf Accessed 25.04.2011.

Yadav, S. M. and Seiders, K. (1998), Is the Price Right? Understanding Contingent Processing in Reference Price Formation, Journal of Retailing, 74/3, p. 311-329.

Yalch, R. and Spangenberg, E. (2000), The Effects of Music in a Retail Setting on Real and Perceived Shopping Times, Journal of Business Research, 49/2, p. 139-147.

Yalch, R. F. and Spangenberg, E. R. (1990), Effects of Store Music on Shopping Behavior, Journal of Services Marketing, 4, p. 31-39.

Yuen, E. F. T. and Chan, S. S. L. (2010), The Effect of Retail Service Quality and Product Quality on Customer Loyalty, Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 17/3-4, p. 222-240.

Zeithaml, V. A. (1981), How Consumer Evaluation Processes Differ between Goods and Services, in Marketing of Service, Donnelly, J. and George, W. (eds.), Chicago: American Marketing Association.

Zeller, R. A. (1993), Focus Group Research on Sensitive Topics: Setting the Agenda without Setting the Agenda, in Successful Focus Groups: Advancing the State of the Art, D. L. Morgan (ed.), Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Zelst, S. V., Donselaar, K. V., Woensel, T. V., Broekmeulen, R. and Fransoo, J. (2006), Logistics Drivers for Shelf Stacking in Grocery Retail Stores: Potential for Efficiency Improvement, International Journal of Production Economics, 121/2, p. 620-632.

103

Zukin, S. (1988), The Postmodern Debate over Urban Form, Theory, Culture and Society, 5/2-3, p. 431-446.

104

9 Appendix

40 elements have been identified in the content analysis as the mostly used applications in supermarkets. These have been divided into two as “aesthetic elements” and “other service elements” in order to distinguish and show the prevalence of aesthetic elements since the fundamentals of this thesis are based on aesthetics.

124 articles and private company researches have been included in the content analysis. This appendix is prepared to provide the elements that are mentioned in each of these articles in order to assist readers who may be interested.

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

Table 6 Elements Discovered in the Content Analysis and Their Related Sources