ABSTRACT

Photographs are commonly used in store atmospherics research, although their ecological validity lacks conclusive support. To this end, we examine the effect of different representation media of a retail environment (i.e. one photograph, three photographs, or a real store visit) on customer experience, satisfaction, and behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. Two studies examine the robustness of our findings across low- and high-experience stores. The results show that only in the high-experience store environment, a real store visit results in a significantly higher average perceived customer experience. Moreover, the chosen representation medium affects satisfaction and behavioural loyalty in both store types. Again, a real store visit results in higher scores. Upon studying low-experience stores and/or focusing on attitudinal loyalty as the outcome variable, pictures, however, do seem to be ecologically valid. To conclude, whether it is safe to simulate a retail environment with photographs depends on the particular retail context and the outcome variables under study.

摘要

照片通常用于商店大气研究，尽管它们的生态有效性缺乏确凿的支持。为此，我们研究了零售环境的不同表现媒体（即一张照片、三张照片或一次真实的商店访问）对客户体验、满意度以及行为和态度忠诚度的影响。两项研究检验了我们在低体验和高体验商店中发现的稳健性。结果表明，只有在高体验的商店环境中，真实的商店访问才能显着提高平均感知客户体验。此外，所选择的表示媒介会影响两种商店类型的满意度和行为忠诚度。同样，真实的商店访问会导致更高的分数。然而，在研究低体验商店和/或将态度忠诚度作为结果变量时，图片似乎在生态上是有效的。总而言之，用照片模拟零售环境是否安全取决于特定的零售环境和所研究的结果变量。