Study 3: Analyzing the Reciprocity between Corporate and Store Images: The Moderating Roles of Evaluation Approaches and Corporate Brand Dominance

Abstract

A retailer’s corporate image and store image, i.e., the perceptions a customer holds about the retail firm or retail store (Keller 1993), are known to be drivers of a consumer’s choice of store and a retailer’s performance (Ailawadi and Keller 2004; Corstjens and Lal 2000; Grewal, Levy and Lehmann 2004; Martenson 2007). However, a retailer’s corporate image may be a function of the retailer’s store image and vice versa. Therefore, the interrelations between the two are important. This study addresses the lack of empirical findings on this reciprocity that is the effect of corporate image on store image and the resulting feedback effect of store image on corporate image (this cycle continues until the feedback loop is closed) (Martens and Haase 2006). This relationship is crucial because the two images are managed at different organizational levels (i.e., the corporate and store levels), although both levels aim to attract customers.