The effects of self-congruity, functional store image, and social responsibilty image on store loyalty / Jamaliah Mohd Yusof

The concept of image of a retail store has received greater attention by researchers since last few decades. Its usefulness as the basis of various customer behavioral outcomes such as loyalty, patronage intention, purchase intention, and repatronage intention are widely acknowledged from previous empirical studies. Meanwhile, in the retailing environment, the intensified competition among retailers which has long become the challenge for success has required retailers to focus their marketing activities on the basis of their marketing mix which is reflected by its image as perceived by customers. In that regard, within the constantly evolving business landscape, the focus of academic research and by practitioners on the concept of store image has undergone rapid growth over the decades and accordingly, is the primary focus of this study. This study was mainly aimed at understanding the perceptions of Malaysian consumers to the image of the store, which in turn examined its effect on store loyalty. Self-Congruity theory was employed as a theoretical foundation for developing the present conceptual model. More significantly, this study investigated the symbolic store image and self-image congruence, functional store image and social responsibility image relationships in addition to shopping orientations and past shopping experience as antecedents.