International Journal of Marketing and Business Communication

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Retail Quality and Relationship Quality: Gender Based Perspective in Retail


Affiliations
1 Department of Commerce, Motilal Nehru College, Delhi University, New Delhi, India
2 Delhi University, New Delhi, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The retail, globally, is one of the fastest growing businesses. India, with the second largest population in the world, offers to be an attractive retail destination for both domestic as well as global retail investors. In the context of growing importance of retail in India, this paper seeks to explore the impact of consumers' gender on quality parameters in modern retail formats. The study employs exploratory and descriptive research methodologies. Customers of both department stores and hypermarkets did not differ significantly in their perceptions of service quality and relationship quality on the basis of gender. The findings of the study have direct implications on development of marketing mix or value creation strategies. The perception based analysis suggests the adoption of a marketing mix based on relevant dimensions to be effective in creating quality and relationships across the two retail formats. The study provides insights into how well the retailers contribute towards customer satisfaction on various service quality and relationship quality parameters. These could be used by store managers in resource allocation in accordance to critical service attributes and in designing strategies for improvement in lacking areas. The research contributes to furthering knowledge on retailing in India and thereby seeks to fill the gap with respect to quality in retail.

Keywords

Retail Service Quality, Relationship Quality, Perceptions.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Albrecht, K., & Zemke, R. (1985). Service America: Doing business in the new economy, Dow-Jones-Irwin, Homewood: Illinois.

  • Atkins, P. M., Marshall, B., Stevenson, J., & Rajshekhar, G. (1996). Happy employees lead to loyal patients. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 16, 14-23.

  • Bains, P., Fill, C., & Page, K. (2010). Marketing, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

  • Banudevi, P. B., & Illango, M. (2014).The organized retail market-Indian perspective. Indian Journal of Research, 3(1), 115-17.

  • Barlow, R. G. (2000). Frequency marketing-What's next?, Direct Marketing, 62(9), 2-4.

  • Bass, F. M. (1993). The future of research in marketing: Marketing science. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, 1-6.

  • Beatson, A., Lee, N., & Coote, L.V. (2007). Self-service Technology and the service encounter. The Services Industries Journal, 27(1),75-89.

  • Bennett, D., & Higgins, M. (1988). Quality means more than Smiles. ABA Banking Journal, 46.

  • Berry, L. L. (1980). Services marketing is different. Business, 30,24-8.

  • Berry, L. L. (1986). Retail businesses are service businesses. Journal of Retailing, 62(1), 3-6.

  • Berry, L. L., Bennett, D. R., & Brown, C.W. (1989). Service quality: A profit strategy for financial institutions, Dow-Jones-Irwin, Homewood: Illinois.

  • Bhaskar, N. U., & Shekhar, B.R. (2011), Impact of Service Quality on Apparel Retail Customer Satisfaction-A Study of Select Metropolitan City Hyderabad, Journal of Management Research, 3(2), E13.

  • Bolton, R. N., & Drew, J. H. (1991a). A longitudinal analysis of the impact of service changes on customer attitudes. Journal of Marketing, 55(1), 1-9.

  • Bolton, R. N. & Drew, J. H. (1991b), A multistage model of customers' assessments of service quality and value. Journal of Consumer Research, 17, 375-84.

  • Boulding, W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R., & Zeithaml, V.A. (1993), A Dynamic Process Model of Service Quality: From expectations to behavioural intentions. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, 7-27.

  • Bowen, J. W., & Hedges, R. B. (1993). Increasing service quality in retail banking. Journal of Retail Banking, 15, 21-8.

  • Buttle, F. (1999). The S.C.O.P.E. of customer relationship management. International Journal of Customer Relationship Management, 1(4), 327-36.

  • Buzzell, R.D., & Gale, B. T. (1987). The PIMS Principles: Linking strategy to performance, The Free Press: New York.

  • Caceres, C.R. and Paparoidamis, N.G. (2007), Servicequality, relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment, and business-to-business loyalty.European Journal of Marketing, 41(7/8), 836-67.

  • Cannie, J. K., & Caplin;, D. (1991). Keeping customers for life, American Management Association, New York.

  • Christopher, M., Payne, A., & Ballantyne, D. (1991). Relationship marketing, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

  • Crosby, L. A. (1989). Building and maintaining quality in the service relationship,in quality in services, Brown, S.W. and Gummesson, E. (Eds.) Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

  • Crosby, L. A., & Stephens, N. (1987). Effects of relationship marketing on satisfaction, retention, and prices in the life insurance industry. Journal of Marketing Research,24, 404-11.

  • Cunningham, J., & Roberts, P. (2006-7). What women want?. Brand strategy, 40-41.

  • Dabholkar, P. A., Thorpe, D. I., & Rentz, J. O. (1996). A measure of Service Quality for retail stores: Scale development and validation. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 24(1), 3-16.

  • Danaher, P. J., & Rust, R. T. (1994). Indirect marketing benefits from service quality. Quality Management Journal, 3(2), 63-75.

  • Day, G. S. (2000.) Managing market relationships. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 24-30.

  • Deloitte (2012). Retail (online) (cited March 17, 2014). Retrieved from http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom:India/Local Assets/Documents/Retail POV_low.pdf>

  • Dhume, S. (2012). Service quality dimensions in retail settings: an empirical study at selected apparel speciality stores of Mumbai.International Journal of Research in Commerce, Economics and Management (e-journal), 2(2),1-4.

  • Donaldson, B., & O' Toole, T. (2002). Strategic market relationships: From strategy to implementation, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  • Duggal, E., & Verma, H. V. (2013). Quality in retail: A qualitative study of construct domain and dimensions, envision. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 7, 47-61.

  • Dwyer, F. R., Schurr, P. H., & Oh, S. (1987). Developing buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 51, April, 11-27.

  • Edvardsson, B. (1998). Service quality improvement. Managing Service Quality, 8(2), 142-149.

  • Estell, L. (2002), Loyalty Lessons, Incentive, 176(11), 38-41.

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

  • Fisher, R. J., & Dube, L. (2005). Gender difference in responses to emotional adverting: a social desirability perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 850-858.

  • Fisk, R. P., Brown, S. W., & Bitner, M. J. (1993). Tracking the evolution of the services marketing literature, Journal of Retailing, 69(2), 61-103.

  • Gale, B. T. (1994). Managing customer value. The Free Press, New York

  • Getz, G, Blattberg, R., & Thomas, J. (2001). Customer equity, Harvard Business Press: Cambridge, Mass.

  • Ghosh, P., Tripathi, V., & Kumar, A. (2010). Customer expectations of store attributes: A study of organized retail outlets in India. Journal of Retail and Leisure Property, 9(1), 75-87.

  • Gilbert, D. (2003). Retail Marketing Management, Pearson Education.

  • Goel, B., & Dewan, B. (2011). Factors affecting consumer preferences of shopping at organised retail stores in Punjab. Journal of engineering, science and management education, 4, 44-49.

  • Goswami, P., & Mishra, M. S. (2009), Would Indian consumers move from kirana stores to organized retailers when shopping for groceries?, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 21(1), 127-43.

  • Gronroos, C. (1983). Strategic management and marketing in the service sector, Chartwell-Bratt, London.

  • Gronroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18(4), 36-44.

  • Gronroos, C. (1990). Relationship approach to marketing in service contexts: The marketing and organizational behaviour interface. Journal of Business Research, 20, 3-11.

  • Gronross, C. (1995). Relationship marketing: The strategy continuum. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 23(4), 252-54.

  • Gronross, C. (1996). Relationship marketing logic. AsiaAustralia Marketing Journal, 4(1), 7-18.

  • Gronross, C. (1997). Value-driven Relational marketing: From products to resources and competencies. Journal of Marketing Management, 13(4), 407-19.

  • Guenzi, P.,& Pelloni;, O. (2004).The impact of interpersonal relationships on customer satisfaction and loyalty to the service provider, Department of marketing, Scuola di Direzione Aziendale, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano, Italy.

  • Gummesson, E. (1987). The New marketing: Developing long-term interactive relationships. Long Range Planning, 20(4), 10-20.

  • Gummesson, E. (1994). Making Relationship marketing operational.International Journal of Service Industry Management, 5(5), 5-20.

  • Hampton, G. (1993). Gap analysis of college student satisfaction as a measure of professional service quality. Journal of Services Marketing, 9(1), 115-128.

  • Hummel, J. W., & Savitt, R. (1988). Integrated customer service and retail strategy. International Journal of Retailing, 3(2), 5-21.

  • Jackson, B. B. (1985). Winning and keeping industrial customers: The dynamics of customer relationships. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

  • Jain, S. K., & Gupta, G. (2006). Health Care Services: An assessment of service quality and its linkages with customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. MAIMS Journal of Management, 1(2), 13-24.

  • Jain, V. (2010). Indian retail revolution: a research analysis carried out in the Delhi region. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 10(4), 16-20.

  • Jhamb, K., & Kiran, R. (2012). Emerging retail formats and its attributes: an insight to convenient shopping. Global Journal of Management and Business Research,12(1), 63-71.

  • Kandampully, J., & Duddy, R. (1999). Relationship marketing: a concept beyond the primary relationship. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 17(7), 315-23.

  • Kandampully, J., & Suhartanto, D. (2000). Customer loyalty in the hotel industry: The role of customer satisfaction and image. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(6), 46-51.

  • Kandampully, J., & Suhartanto, D. (2003). The role of customer satisfaction and image in gaining customer loyalty in the hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 10(1/2), 3-25.

  • Kaul, S. (2005). Measuring Retail Service Quality: Examining Applicability of International Research Perspectives in India, Working Paper, Indian Institute of Management: Ahemdabad, 10(2), 1-19.

  • Khare, A., Parveen, C., & Rai, R. (2010). Retailer behaviour as determinant of service quality in Indian retailing. Journal of Retail & Leisure Property,9(4), 303-17.

  • Kushwaha, S., & Gupta, M.K. (2011).Service quality satisfaction in Indian organised retail industry-a case study of Delhi and NCR. International Journal of Research in Commerce, Economics and Management (e-journal), 1(6), 78-81.

  • Lather, A. S., & Kaur, T. (2006). Shopping malls:New retail formats keeping pace with the shoppers' mood. The Journal of Indian Management and Strategy, 11(4), 22-9.

  • Lehtinen, U. (1996). Our present state of ignorance in relationship marketing. Asia-Australia Marketing Journal, 4(1), 43-51.

  • Leonard, F. S., & Sasser, W. E. (1982). The incline of quality. Harvard Business Review, 60, September October, 163-71.

  • Lewis, B. R., & Mitchell, V. W. (2007). Defining and measuring the quality of customer service.Marketing Intelligence Planning, 8(6), 11-7.

  • Lovelock, C. H. (1983). Classifying services to gain strategic marketing insights. Journal of Marketing, 47(3), 9-20.

  • Manjunath, S., & Prabhu, C. M. (2011). Measuring of retail service quality-a study of supermarkets in Bangalore. International Journal of Research in Commerce and Management (e-journal), 2(12), 87-93.

  • Mitchell, A. (2002). Consumers fall by wayside as CRM focuses on costs.Marketing Week,25(50), 30-31.

  • Mittal, A., & Mittal, R. (2008). Store choice in the emerging Indian apparel retail market: an empirical analysis. IBSU Scientific Journal, 2(2), 21-46.

  • Mittal, K. C., Arora, M., & Prashar, A. (2011). An empirical study of factors affecting consumer preferences of shopping at organised retail stores in Punjab. KAIM Journal of Management and Research, 3(2), 38-46.

  • Mohanty, S. (2012). Drivers of retail shopping: an exploratory study. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, (e-journal), 2(3).

  • Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, S.D. (1994), The Commitment Trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20-38.

  • Naik, C.N.K., Gantasala, S.B., & Prabhakar;, G. V. (2010). Service quality (SERVQUAL) and its effect on customer satisfaction in retailing.European Journal of Social Sciences, 16(2), 231-43.

  • Nelson, E., Rust, R.T., Zahorik, A. J., Rose, R., Batalden, P., & Siemanski, B. A. (1992). Do patient perceptions of quality relate to hospital financial performance?. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 12(4), 6-13.

  • Noble, S. M., & Phillips, J. (2004). Relationship hindrance: why would consumers not want a relationship with a retailer?, Journal of Retailing, 80(4), 289-303.

  • Osarenkhoe, A.,& Benani;, A. E. (2007). An exploratory study of implementation of customer relationship projects. Business Process Management Journal, 13(1), 149-164.

  • Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49(4), 41-50.

  • Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, Spring, 12-40.

  • Parasuraman, A., Berry, L. L., & Zeithaml, V. A. (1991). Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Retailing, 67(4), 420-50.

  • Parikh, D. (2006). Measuring retail service quality: An empirical assessment of the instrument,Vikalpa, Ahemdabad, 31(2), 45-55.

  • Phillips, L. W., Chang, D., & Buzzell, R. D. (1983). Product quality, cost position and business performance: A test of some key hypotheses. Journal of marketing, 47, 26-43.

  • Pwc (2012). Winds of change Retail reforms in India, Retrieved fromhttps://www.pwc.in/en_IN/in/assets/pdfs/industries/retail-andconsumer/Winds_of_change_Retail_Reforms_in_India.pdf> (cited 17 March, 2014)

  • Ramakrishnan, M., & Ravindran, S. (2012). Customer expectation of retail service quality-a comparative study of departmental stores in Coimbatore. International Journal of Research in Finance and Marketing, 2(7), 27-37.

  • Research International. (2005). Attitude towards shopping, The marketing whitebook, Business World, New Delhi,157-159.

  • Reichheld, F. (1996). Learning from Customer Defections. Harvard Business Review,74, 56-59.

  • Reichheld, F.F., & Sasser;, W. E. Jr. (1990). Zero defections: Quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, 68(5), 105-11.

  • Roloff, M. E.,& Miller, G. R. (1987).Interpersonal processes: New directions in communication research, London: Sage Publications, Inc.

  • Rosenberg, L. J., & Cziepiel, J. A. (1984). A marketing approach to customer retention, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 1, Spring, 45-51.

  • Rust, R.T., & Oliver, R. L. (1994). Service quality: insights and managerial implications from the frontier, in Rust, R.T. and Oliver, R.L. (Eds), Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

  • Sahay, B. B. (2003). Understanding trust in supply chain relationships. Industrial management & Data Systems, 103(8), 553-63.

  • Schlenker, B. R., Helm, B., & Tedeschi, J. T. (1973). The Effects of personality and situational variables on behavioral trust. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25(3), 419-27.

  • Sharma, A., Tzokas, N., Saren, M., & Kyziridis, P. (1999). Antecedents and consequences of relationship marketingInsights from business service salespeople. Industrial Marketing Management, 28, 601-11.

  • Sheaves, D. E., & Barnes, J. G. (1996). The fundamentals of relationships: An exploration of the concept to guide marketing implementation,in T.A. Swartz, D.E. Bowen & S. Brown (Eds.), Advances in services marketing and management, JAI Press Inc., Greenwich, CT,5, 215-45.

  • Sheth, J. N., Gardner, D. M., & Garett, D. E. (1988). Marketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York.

  • Sheth, J. N., & Parvatiyar, A. (1994). Relationship marketing: Theory, methods and applications, centre for relationship marketing. Emory University: Atlanta.

  • Sheth, J. N., & Sisodia, R. (1995). Improving the marketing productivity, in encyclopedia of marketing for the year 2000. American Marketing Association - NTC, Chicago.

  • Sinha, P. K., Banerjee, A., & Uniyal, D. P. (2002). Deciding where to buy: Store choice behaviour of Indian shoppers,Vikalpa, 27(2), 13-28.

  • Sousa, R., & Voss, C. A. (2002). Quality management revisited: A reflective review and agenda for future research. Journal of Operations Management, 20, 91-109.

  • Swan, J. E., Trawick, I. F., & Silva, D. W. (1985). How industrial sales people gain customer trust.Industrial Marketing Management, 14(3), 203-11.

  • Taj Hotels (2012).About Us-Company Information. Retrieved Fromhttp://www.tajhotels.com/About-Taj/Company-information/Default.html>

  • Takeuchi, H., & Quelch, J. A. (1983). Quality is more than making a good product. Harvard Business Review, 61,139-45.

  • Tanwar, S., Kaushik, N., & Kaushik, V.K. (2012). Evaluating the impact of retail service quality on behavioural intentions- a study of organised food sector. Asia-Pacific Marketing Review, 1(1), 27-35.

  • Taylor, S. A., & Cronin, J. J. Jr. (1994). Marketing patient satisfaction and service quality. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 14(1), Spring, 34-44.

  • Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction cost economics: The governance of contractual relations. Journal of Law and Economics, 22, 3-61.

  • Wong, A., & Sohal, A. (2002a). Customers' perspectives on service quality and relationship quality in retail encounters. Managing Service Quality, 12(6), 424-33.

  • Wong, A., & Sohal, A. (2002b). An examination of the relationship between trust, commitment and relationship quality.International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 30(1), 34-50.

  • Zameer, A., & Mukherjee, D. (2011). Food and grocery retail: patronage behaviour of Indian urban consumers. South Asian Journal of Management, 18(1), 119-48.

  • Zeithaml, V.A. (1981), How Consumer Evaluation Processes Differ Between Goods and Services, In Marketing of Services, J. H. Donnelly and W. R. George, eds. Chicago: American Marketing Association, pp.186-190.

  • Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman;, A. (1993). The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service quality. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 21(1), 1-12.

  • Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31-46.


Abstract Views: 408

PDF Views: 4




  • Retail Quality and Relationship Quality: Gender Based Perspective in Retail

Abstract Views: 408  |  PDF Views: 4

Authors

Ekta Duggal
Department of Commerce, Motilal Nehru College, Delhi University, New Delhi, India
Harsh V. Verma
Delhi University, New Delhi, India

Abstract


The retail, globally, is one of the fastest growing businesses. India, with the second largest population in the world, offers to be an attractive retail destination for both domestic as well as global retail investors. In the context of growing importance of retail in India, this paper seeks to explore the impact of consumers' gender on quality parameters in modern retail formats. The study employs exploratory and descriptive research methodologies. Customers of both department stores and hypermarkets did not differ significantly in their perceptions of service quality and relationship quality on the basis of gender. The findings of the study have direct implications on development of marketing mix or value creation strategies. The perception based analysis suggests the adoption of a marketing mix based on relevant dimensions to be effective in creating quality and relationships across the two retail formats. The study provides insights into how well the retailers contribute towards customer satisfaction on various service quality and relationship quality parameters. These could be used by store managers in resource allocation in accordance to critical service attributes and in designing strategies for improvement in lacking areas. The research contributes to furthering knowledge on retailing in India and thereby seeks to fill the gap with respect to quality in retail.

Keywords


Retail Service Quality, Relationship Quality, Perceptions.

References