The Modern Retail Customer's Experience on Customer Engagement: Evidence from Health and Personal Care Stores in Malaysia Using Structural Equation Modelling Approach (SEM)

Abstract

Objective – The modern retail experience is about more than buying products. It's about the feeling the customer gets from being in your store, the way it makes them feel, and how it addresses the person they want to be. In today’s business arena customers are prime assets for an organization and managing the customer relationship is equally critical for the organizations. This paper aims to address the emotional response of customers, which would lead to three dimensions of emotions which are a pleasure, arousal and dominance. This research was conducted in order to observe the buying behaviour of customers that shop at health and personal cares retail outlets.

Methodology/Technique – A hypothesized model which integrates two major antecedents of health and personal cares retail stores brand was analysed and tested rigorously using the SEM. The model was tested using 400 usable questionnaires of adult respondents who reside in chosen urban areas in Malaysia. The study has used a self-administered questionnaire distributed by using retail outlets intercept.

Findings – The results show that socio-demographic variables such as age, education, income level and work sector as well as modern grocery retail format, servicescape and customer emotion experience have significant positive effect of customer engagement on health and personal cares of retail stores brand.

Novelty – These findings have important implications that demonstrate the originality or value for health and personal cares retail stores and consumer behaviour body of knowledge.

Type of Paper: Empirical.

Keywords: Customer Emotions; Customer Engagement; Modern Retail; Health; Personal Care Stores

JEL Classification: Z10; Z13; Z19