Shopping Behaviour: Bangladesh

2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy Determinants Of market stick in Loyalty Of Consumers In Bangladesh Plato Ranjan Datta, London College of Management Studies, United Kingdom Bonya rani Chakraborty, London College of Management Studies, United Kingdom Abstract Due to the bearing that guest retention is a much be- issueive st browsegy than attracting parvenu guests, the guest devotion subject has become of increased interest to virtu in ally businesses over the persist a few(prenominal) years.Loyal clients always bring much than profit for the organisation as they argon more than probably to suggest their friends and family, ready to pay premium bells and pack increased re procure intention. This understand sets out to examine the microscope stratum of consumers committal in Bangladesh among consumers who grass from unhomogeneous super barge ins. The main objective is to empirically investigate the strength of faithfulness of Bangladeshi nutriment consumers on the nates of their shop behaviour and submit-level serve furnish, and frankincense provide evidence which demonstrates a molding of consumer dedication found on these chemical elements.In order to understand consumer commission in Bangladesh Olivers four do of the full-strength toughie were adopted. A be stress of 150 aliment shopping consumers from trinity leading lines in Bangladesh were selected indiscriminately and interviewed in March by trained interviewers. The look into results indicate that Bangladeshi forage consumers ar certified of the cost and benefit (cognitive verity), atomic number 18 witting with triumph (Affective verity), at rest consumers argon likely to recommend their primary super shop to their family and friends (Co-native Loyalty) and too they flummox frequencies of pick up (Action Loyalty).The findings of inquiry house be determinationd to gap a sound basis for sellers to improve their trading operations in all t he aras, so increasing their profits and to provide the jump such survey in this re arnceicular (and extremely crucial) field in the Bangladeshi context and thus offer a tackation and heed for future research. INTRODUCTION The sell industry is dynamic, capacious and variety is a constant phenomenon. Over the sound few decades in both europium and nary(prenominal)th America sensation as seen the emergence of supermarkets as the prevalent retail form. This is collectable to the fact that consumers behaviour has changed and shifted towards convenience, luxuriously smell produce, planning for customer c ar, flexible payment methods and sophisticated channels of distrisolelyion. To cope with consumer demands retail merchants atomic number 18 constantly shaping their business strategies and striving to offer the right ingatherings and serve ups.Determinants of stack away choice, customer trueness and patronage behaviour construct been hugely canvas across the globe. so, a sheer volume of literary returnions exists regarding pabulum sell. However, in that respect is still vast scope for research in this field as the environment of retail is in a constant phase of change and the emergence of peeled line of descent formats in USA and Europe move over led to dramatic changes in consumer behaviour.This is particularly true and has significant effect on middle break consumers in Bangladesh with the newly introduced so-called supermarkets which are providing a solely new experience for those consumers offering sophisticated customer religious overhaul, a wide and assorted variety of goods, pleasant ambience, spacious layout, grapheme trade and mark products and provision for former(a) western life style facilities. Although thither is some(prenominal) research on retail in some other Asian counterparts, t here(predicate) has been precise little research in Bangladesh.The retailing industry in Bangladesh is very fragmented a nd underdeveloped. The so called European 1 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy style new super salt away format has emerged in this domain however when in the last few years so this celestial sphere of retailing is in an early phase. Therefore, it is of preponderant magnificence for retailers in Bangladesh to know the attri notwithstandinges that appeal to their customers in order to assemble them. Thus, this contain sets out to examine the distributor point of consumers the true in Bangladesh among consumers.RETAILING IN BANGLADESH Bangladesh is predominantly a conventional, poor society, where near 90% of the population is Muslim other groups represented are Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and other minorities. Per-capita income is around US$ 380 ( enlighten Report, 2004). The population has grown from 42 one million million million in 1941 to133 million in 2002 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2003) reservation it the 9th most populous country in the world (Bangladesh Bure au of Statistics, Dec. 2002). selling industry in Bangladesh is fragmented and undeveloped. regular compared to its South Asian counterparts, Bangladesh is behind in cost of development, structure and organisation. However, the last several years has witnessed dramatic changes, especially in pabulum retailing industry. This is due to the effects of globalisation, economic and trade liberalisation, changing patterns of consumers shopping behaviour, red-blooded increase of middle class consumers and the brasss liberal stance towards foreign imported food products and growth of nonionised super pedigrees.Bangladeshi food retail sector is dominated by traditional shops, and this traditional food distribution system is through so called wet markets which sell fruits, vegetables, marrow and fish together with small food breeds which sell dry foods. The traditional retailing has been nominateed for some centuries. But its expanding upon is keeping yard with rapid growth of econ omy, intense competition, population growth and changing role patterns. All these changes led to dramatic changes in the structure of the food retailing sector.Thus modern super investment trusts, supermarkets, convenient livestocks, one stop monetary funds and multi- inclose complexes developed to run the growing middle class with their demand for more sophisticated food breeds and greater varieties of products, many another(prenominal)(prenominal) of which were imported, especially in study cities. Thus unionised retail sectors are facing competition from traditional unorganised huge retail outlets. This is due to their distinctive characteristics which are not select link but rather harm related.Most of the traditional shops are unorganised, do not have proper employee structure ( ordinarily mom and pop shops break down by family members), have negligible real estate, no external or underpaid labour be and no or little taxes to pay. Consumers knownities bring from generation to generation and thus they have a strong race with most of the customers who are normally local. Therefore customers may have the hazard to procure any products on credit and pay every calendar month or every week. Thus tolls are always little, although timbre is not guaranteed and no or few imported products are for sale.This is again due to the socio-economic group of the middle and commence class which is more sensitive to price rather than quality. On the other hand the organised retail sector is incurring higher costs due to various cost pressures. A substantial proportion of their products are imported and good quality, they employ high calibre employees with consequently high labour costs, have bigger expound and so offer more comfort and value for the customer. However, this growth and expansion was not structurally organised due to lack of attention from government and public.The retail industry in Bangladesh was never before sensed substantiatingly a s a sector until recently. Therefore there is no or very moderate market data available on this sector, but various secondary sources indicate that the turnover of the food retail sector in Bangladesh could be US $ 12-14 billion and the number of retail market domicile introduce shops could be around 1 million (Gain Report, 2004). agree to the same report, Retail is one of the biggest sources of employment (12%) and it contributed 13% to Bangladeshs GDP in 2001 / 2002. The organised retail sector (i. e. arge supermarkets) is new in Bangladesh and started to appear less than 5 years ago. Within this short clock period it has attracted investors, developed confirmative perceptions among the public and bring ind government attention. none it is growing dramatically. The section in terms of volume and value in the organised retail sector of Bangladesh is 49. 60% and 18. 5% in 2003 (post market survey, 2003). To date there are 2 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy astir(predicate) 30 stash aways of this kind operating in the country, the majority of which are located in Dhaka and this sector makes up 1% of the union retail sector in Bangladesh.Ownership of all major super ancestrys is hidden and limited, owned by local retailers except one which is a stick venture and another(prenominal) in Australian ownership. However, the judgment of global retailing is at a very early defend in Bangladesh. According to Alexander (1997) international retailing is commonly assumed to concern retail operations, owned by a single club in more than one country. There is no evidence of the material front line of international outsized retailers in Bangladesh except one or ii of medium size.Traditional shops like small roadside shops accounted for 75% of the retail sector and these shops are visible end-to-end the country (Gain Report, 2004). They are very small and no foreign or imported products are available except in some shops located in urban or suburban areas where consumers can buy sex actly high quality products from neighbouring countries (i. e. India and Burma). These products are imported through mainly unauthorised channels. As these types of small shops are mainly family owned and run, they do not incur huge costs and in any case are not high quality. Shop sizes are normally 30-100 sq. feet.They open for long hours and consumers can bargain with the sellers in order to deject the price. Other types are typified as Municipal potful Mini-Market and mainly found in semi-urban or urban areas and these are under Municipal Corporation ownership. Shops are generally arranged by product or answer categories such as fish market, meat market, vegetable market, groceries etc. This folk represents 20% of the retail market (Gain Report, 2004). Most of the shops sell imported and quality products although their appeal is limited to only the middle-class or high class consumer market due to the cost factor.Products are acquired by wholesa lers and importers. The third syndicate of shops is convenience or departmental investment firms. These storehouses are sexual congressly large and offer good quality domestic and imported products. Normally visible in urban areas they represent 5% of the retail sector (Gain report, 2004). Due to their quality and reproach name these stores are always expensive and a large proportion of the population cannot afford their products. They are therefore strictly limited to upper-middle or upper class Bangladeshis and foreigners residing in major cities, especially Dhaka.Their products are acquired from importers and distributors with adequate storage facilities and some generation topped-up by local suppliers. Finally, over the last few years another sophisticated retail format has appeared in the retail sector in Bangladesh these are organised, developed and more merged which are supermarkets or the organised retail sector which at the blink of an eye represent less than 1% (Gai n report, 2004). This sector is very young and is in its early demo of development, mainly visible in major cities (i. e. Dhaka, Chittogong). These are large retailers and sell very high quality products, mainly imported goods.Less than 5% of total food consumption comes from this outlet. There are at the moment around 30 superstores and most of them have only 1 outlet except AGORA and PQS with 2 outlets. GROCERY retention LOYALTY A LITERATURE REVIEW In todays hawkish environment to compete with competitors and sustain in business all organisations are investing resources to create loyal customers by offering fantabulous products, superior services to increase customers re leveraging intentions, their consignment towards the organisations and satisfy customers needs and wants.A satisfied customer has affirmatory post-purchase behaviour which leads to him/her positive strength and dedication towards the organisation. A perpetrate customer is always remaining with the compan y for longer term. An unsatisfied, non-committed customer defect from the company. This is more prevalent case in retailing scenario where organisations are making paper thin profit. As Huddleston et al (2003) pointed out that to survive in todays competitive markets food retailers must create and maintain a loyal customer base.Omar (1999) has emphatic that store the true is the single most important factor in retail marketing success and store longevity. A review of literature by Jacoby & Chestnut (1978) indicates that much of the initial research emphasizes the behavioural scenery of subjection, after a period when the majority of researchers prized the true as a pattern of repeat purchasing (Oliver, 1997). However, Cunningham (1956) in early stage of behavioural aspect of dedication stated that store loyalty concept derived from brand loyalty with respect to tangible 3 006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy goods. Current loyalty literature indicates that there are two dimension o f store loyalty Attitudinal and behavioural dimension. Behavioural dimension is measured by proportion of purchase of a specific brand, while attitudinal loyalty dimension is measured by psychological commitment to the target object (Caruana, 2002). There are various advantages for retailers to have loyal customers. As stated by Huddleston et al (2003) customers loyalty can yield comfortable operating cost advantage for retailers. kick upstairs they have stressed that obtaining new customer costs five to hexad durations as much as retaining current customers. Loyal customer can increase their purchase spending, low costs for retailers for obtaining new customers, price premiums and customer longevity. Dick and Basu (1994) proposed that brand plays a special role in generating repeat purchase. nourishment job News defined customer loyalty more concisely as creating the strongest possible kind betwixt the retailer and customer, so that people feel they give miss something if t hey go to another store.However, Sivadas and Baker-Prwewitt defined loyalty as to get customers to recommend a store to others. Odekerken-Schroder et el (2001) defined store loyalty as the conscious acquire behaviour of a consumer expressed over season with respect to one store out of a set of stores and which is driven by commitment to this store. Huddleston et el (2003) have conducted a study in mid-western US city with six focus group in order to define store loyalty by respondents and also they have investigated respondents likes and dislikes of a preferred food store.Respondents likes and dislikes relate to identify factors associated with repeat and loyal purchase behaviour. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Dick and Basu (1994) which conceptualises loyalty as the relationship amidst relative view towards a brand and patronage behaviour. The study determine preferred convenience attributes such as store location, familiarity with store layout, one-stop shopping and being able to get in and out in a hurry. Product related attributes are product variety, good store brand, fresh produce and meats, making bulk compass point available and carrying general merchandise.The study also place environmental attributes such as cleanliness, aisle width, layout and friendly clientele. Noise from announcements and music, small or reduce aisles, too hot or too cold temperatures, bad odours from nursing bottle returns, big size of store, too busy and crowded and layout changes been selected by respondents as negative attributes. Huddleston et al (2003) pointed out that store commitment as a necessary soma for a store loyalty. Without commitment customers are spuriously loyal.Another study conducted by Koo (2003) among Korea Discount retail patrons to examine the interrelationships among store take tos, Satisf challenge and gillyflower loyalty. How store work outs can deviate consumers ecstasy and how consumers felicity can influence st ore loyalty. The conceptual model developed by Koo (2003) indicates that various discount retail characteristics have positive influences on stance towards a discount retail store which leads to store delight and this leads to store loyalty. Also it stresses that Discount retail store (DRS) attributes have a positive bear upon on store merriment.Thus create store loyalty. He developed six possible action based on his conceptual model. The research identified four store checks such as enclose atmosphere, employee service, merchandising and after gross revenue service have significant impact on office, while location, convenient facilities and value have no impact on attitude. The research findings get Bloemer & Ruyter (1998), but it is contradictory to You et al (1998) who in their study showed that only location has a significant effect on attitude. Findings also partially support that store images (i. e. tore atmosphere and value) have a positive impact on store mirth, w hile location, convenient, after sales service and merchandising have not significant impact on store gaiety. This support Bloemer & Ruyeter (1998), Kumar & Karande (2000), Thang & Tan (2003). Study further have identified Location, after sales service and merchandising have significant impact on store loyalty which contradict Bloemer & Ruyeter (1998) who identified that there is no direct relationship between store image and store loyalty, but an indirect impact on store loyalty through felicity.Koo 92003) cerebrate that the overall attitude towards discount retail has the greatest impact on store loyalty, followed by location, after sales service and merchandising. In Korean discount retail store environment his study indicates that store image and location are important factors in attracting patrons to the store. Furthermore, it indicates that satisfaction has an insignificant positive effect on store loyalty. 4 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy Jacoby and Chestnut (1978) defined store loyalty as the biased (I. e. non random) behavioural rejoinder (I. . revisit) expressed overtime, by some decision making unit with respect to one store out of a set of store, which is a function of psychological (decision making and evaluation) functioninges resulting in brand commitment. However critical part of store loyalty is seen by Bloemer et al (1998) is store commitment which is a necessary condition for store loyalty to occur. They further stresses that a loyal customer is committed and that commitment arises from sharing explicit and extensive decision making as intimately as evaluative processes.Limited and non explicit decision making and evaluation process can leads to consumers not become committed to the store. Therefore they are not loyal. Based on store commitment they have defined a degree of store loyalty as true store loyalty and spurious store loyalty. customer SATISFACTION TO CUSTOMER LOYALTY Customer satisfaction can be defined in many ways, one of which is a persons feeling of enjoyment or disappointment from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her previsions (Kotler, 2000).Bloemer et al (1998) also support this definition which states that satisfaction is occur through a matching pf expectation and perceived performance. Bloemer et al (1998) have identified two different types of satisfaction shew and potential satisfaction. Manifest satisfaction is the result of an evaluation which is well elaborated on where as latent satisfaction is the result of an tacit evaluation which is not elaborated on (Bloemer et al, 1998). Customer satisfaction positively influences customer retention, and increasing repeat sales (Anderson, Claes & Lehman, 1958).Moreover, satisfaction level is a function of the difference between perceived performance and expectations (Kotler, 1994). If the performance falls short of expectations the customer is dissatisfied. If the performance is exceeds expectati ons, the customer is highly satisfied. High satisfaction may create an emotional affinity with the brand, not just a rational preference and this creates high brand loyalty (Kotler, 1994). Even if the customer is not highly satisfied, still from behavioural aspect of brand loyalty, the customer can be brand loyal.This can occur if no other alternative is available or may be alternatives are of a higher price which the consumers can not afford or if the customers purchase power is limited. Bloemer et al (1998) were conducted an empirical study in major Swiss city in the German-speaking part of Switzerland to establish relationship between Image, satisfaction and loyalty by developing cardinal hypothesis. Hypothesis 1 examine whether positive relationship between manifest satisfaction and store loyalty is stronger than the positive relationship between latent satisfaction and store loyalty.Hypothesis 2 store image has a direct positive effect on store loyalty and hypothesis 3 examine s the indirect positive effect of store image on store loyalty through store satisfaction. Their findings indicated that the relationship between store satisfaction and store loyalty depend on the type of satisfaction and tested all three hypotheses positively. However, the study conducted by Huddleston et al (2003) indicates that satisfaction does not imply commitment to a store either many respondents stated that they could be persuaded to shop elsewhere.However, Heskett (2002) suggests that customer satisfaction is the lowest level from the five levelhierarchies of customer behaviours. Others customer behaviours are mere loyalty (repeat purchase), commitment ( go outingness to refer others to a product or service), apostle-like behaviour ( allowingness to convince others to use a product or service) and ownership. Nevertheless, Sivdas and Baker-Prewitt (2000) pointed out that satisfaction influences relative attitude, buyback and recommendation but has no direct effect on store loyalty.According to Sivdas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), service quality directly affects both relative attitude and satisfaction and that satisfaction affects relative attitude. Both relative attitude and satisfaction influence the likelihood of recommending but only satisfaction plays a part in influencing buy. Study further indicates that there is no direct relationship between relative attitude and repurchase and both relative attitude and satisfaction have no direct impact on royalty.Thus, it appears that relative attitude and satisfaction which is influenced by service quality can influence customer recommendation which leads to both customers repurchase and loyalty. Sivadas and baker-Prewitt (2000) study support Olivers model of loyalty in a store loyalty context. 5 2006 EABR & ETLC STORE IMAGE AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY Siena, Italy Existing literature indicates that store images have critical impact on store loyalty (Bloemer & Ruyter, 1998). hypothetical foundations of store image s are found in theories of brand images (Koo, 2003). Store image or store attributes have significant influence on satisfaction.Store image is defined as the complex of a consumers perceptions of a store on different (salient) attributes (Bloemer and Ruyter, 1998), or a given consumers or target markets perception of all of the attributes associated with a retail outlet to create and maintain a level of storeservice provision or quality for the store loyalty (Keaveny and Hunt, 1992 Lascu and Giese, 1995). The competition and increasing customer expectations have created a climate where quality is concerned to be a major strategic variable for improving customer satisfaction (Smith, 1990).Lucas, pubic hair and Gresham (1994) said that decision to visit a particular store can be influenced by many factors, understanding such factors and building them into store operations can increase the lucrativeness of gaining customer loyalty. They had identified the lodge basic motives for the store selection implys general store characteristics, physical characteristics of the store, convenience, merchandise, prices, store personnel, in-store effects, customer service and advertising. They had also identified the five motives for patronising ervices which include quality of service provided, appointments, reasonable fees, postponement areas, attitude of service provider. archaeozoic studies of store images are closely related to the multiattribute model. Lindquist (1974) defines store images as a structure of some sort that is tying together the dimensions that are at work and conceptualises store images as nine key attribute categories merchandise, service, clientele, physical facilities, transaction satisfaction, promotion, store ambience, institutional factors and post transaction satisfaction.By compounding retail marketing mix elements Ghosh (1990) identified eight elements of store image. These are location, merchandise, store atmosphere, customer service, pri ce, advertising, personal selling and sales incentives programs. Customers may have different perception for different stores and different store may gift different attributes to attract different types of customers in different times and in different locations. Store images may differ between smaller and big stores.A study conducted by Mitchell and Kiral (1998) found that there are differences between primary store loyal customers perception of their store and secondary store loyal customer perception of that store. This view is support to Hansen and Deutscher (1978) proposition that store attributes vary by store types. Mitchell and Kiral (1998) in their study they have asked 30 shoppers to identify which store attributes they use in Manchester at two grocery stores (e. g. Tesco and Kwick-save).They have identified three factors associated with customer perception and these are type, prison term and convenience, value. Tesco customer perceived quality, convenience and value fa ctors in that order of importance while kwick-save customer perceived quality, value and convenience when considering Tesco. Theoretical base for modelling the grocery store loyalty subsequently behavioural sentiment on loyalty majority researchers measured loyalty as a pattern of repeat purchasing.The most relevant of the models for measurement the grocery store loyalty is Olivers four-stage loyalty model (Oliver, 1997). Olivers four-stag loyalty model produced in 1997 in a simplified form and suggests that customer loyalty progresses in four phases, with to each one phase representing a greater degree of loyalty. Four stages are cognitive loyalty, affective loyalty, conative loyalty and action loyalty. fingerbreadth The Olivers four stages of loyalty model COGNITIVE Cost and benefits emotive CONATIVE ACTION *Frequency of shopping Relative attitude *Recommendation *satisfaction *Repurchase intentions Cognitive Loyalty At this stage consumers are more concerned about quality and prices of the products and services and this is why they patronise the store rather than other stores. However, at this stage loyalty may not be that strong because consumers can defect from that store and move to another store if they perceive it as a better 6 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy option. So, service quality evaluation can be taken as a good indicator of their cognitive loyalty.To understand Bangladeshi consumers cognitive loyalty three inquirys were selected to measure this category of loyalty. Affective Loyalty At this stage consumers loyalty is based on relative attitude towards the store and satisfaction gained. The relative attitude is the result of their old loyalty based on cognitive loyalty. Therefore relative attitude and satisfaction were utilise as independent variables to measures consumers affective loyalty towards the store. There are 26 question in nine categories selected to measure affective loyalty.Categories are convenience of store location, conveni ence of service provisions, congestion, cleanliness and store atmosphere, variety of ranges, shopping difficulties, travel difficulties, curiousness and degree of customer service from sales personnel. Co-native Loyalty Having a relative attitude towards the store and being satisfied with the store a consumer will hold a commitment to buy there, so repurchase intentions will be increased and consumers are willing to recommend to others.Two questions were selected to measure a consumers co-native loyalty towards the store. Action loyalty This is the final stage of a consumers loyalty. With this loyalty a consumer will be carry with the store thus leading to frequency of shopping there. Therefore, one open question was asked to consumer to measure this loyalty. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research was based on selecting three (3) leading grocery retailers from Bangladesh. Stores were selected based on market share and length of operation.In order to understand consumer loyalty in Bang ladesh Olivers four stage of loyalty model (Cognitive loyalty consumers sentience with cost and benefits Affective loyalty Consumer conscious with satisfaction Co-native loyalty consumers recommendation to other people and repurchase behaviour and Action loyalty consumers frequencies of store visits) were adopted. data were colleted using a random examine of consumers. The data and information were serene from selected grocery stores in Bangladesh. Consumers who have significant knowledge of the topic were identified and selected at random for questioning.Interviews were conducted organisation to face on exit from three selected superstores to capture the attitude and experience of consumers who had just purchased grocery items. The choice of face to face interview was in order to get high rejoinder rate and reduce the response bias. A low response rate is a common problem with self-completion questionnaires and can be subject to response bias, especially in that people with r eading and writing difficulties are less likely to respond (Robson, 2002). Furthermore, the refusal rate for face to face interviews is very lower than the non-response rate for postal questionnaires.A sample of 50 consumers in each store (3*50) making a total of 150 food shopping consumers from the three (3) selected stores in Bangladesh were selected. However, 10 subjects were not included due to rudimentary answers. It is logical that the larger the size of the sample, the greater is the precision or reliableness when research is replicated (Saunders et al, 1997). But constraints on time, manpower and costs influenced decisions on sample size in this study. The sample size was found to be instance for the store population.A study conducted by Bloemer and Ruyter (1998) in a major Swiss city in the German-speaking part of Switzerland used only 153. The current market leaders in grocery retailing in Bangladesh include-Agora, Nandan, and Value Plus were selected as samples for inve stigation. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS info were collected in early March 2005 by trained interviewers throughout the week. In order to reduce possible shopping patterns biases all interviewers used stratifying interviews across the time of the day (morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon) (Odekerken-Schroder et al, 2001) and spend (thorium and Friday).As a Muslim populated country Friday is the official holiday and Thursday normally half-day off. But special consideration were placed on weekend and evening when most of the people are going for shopping and this time always busy. All interviews were last for maximum of 12 minutes. 7 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy After collecting data from the field data were coded and analysed by using SPSS strain 11 software programmes. Quantitative analysis was used to understand the degree of store loyalty.RESULTS The main findings were Cognitive Loyalty Cognitive loyalty factors are associated with cost and benefits and three statements were asked to consumers concerning cost and benefits. The look on average of consumers was 3. 94 and SD was 0. 929. These refer to the grocery consumers in Bangladesh conscious with cost and benefit when they were shopping (on a scale rating from one to five). In this category, the send-off question was If a store provides a better price, I am going to buy from the store, the mean averages and SD of the consumers replies was 3. 77 and 0. 876.The second question was If any store provides better quality, I am going to buy from that store. The mean average and SD was 3. 92 and . 953. The third question to understand the degree of consciousness towards cost and benefits was I am always concerned about price and quality, the mean and SD for this was 4. 13 and 0. 958. Table Cognitive loyalty Cognitive loyalty factors If a store provides a better price, I am going to buy If any store provides better quality, I am going to buy I am always concerned about price and quality primitive ent ertain 3. 77 3. 92 4. 13 3. 94 Std. Deviation . 876 . 953 . 958 0. 929Affective loyalty The mean average was 3. 98 and SD was 0. 892 . These results indicate that consumers in Bangladesh conscious with satisfaction when they did shopping. In this category total 25 statements were asked to consumers with nine specific factors. These factors were convenience of store location, convenience of service provisions, congestion, cleanness and store atmosphere, variety of ranges, shopping difficulty, travel difficulty, unfamiliarity and customer service by sales personnel. These factors were chosen to understand consumers relative attitudes the store and satisfaction 8 2006 EABR & ETLCTable Affective loyalty Affective loyalty factors Parking facilities Convenient location Inside the store temperature Good place for shopping with children Credit card payment Opening and closing times Visually appealing interior Good customer service distance of checking out time Convenient to move around Atm osphere of the store is good Cleanliness of the store Pleasantness of the place Variety of items Variety of brand items Quality & variety of imported products Overcrowded in the store Long waiting time at the checkout Transportation is inconvenient Much time & effort for parking a car I am familiar with store layout Familiar with the store since I used to shop here Has presentable sales personnel Has sales personnel who show a sincere interest Has sales personnel who are willing to alleviate Total Mean 3. 89 4. 06 4. 21 3. 86 3. 66 3. 86 4. 02 4. 46 3. 46 3. 89 4. 46 4. 60 4. 59 4. 51 4. 49 4. 37 3. 12 3. 8 3. 21 3. 29 3. 32 3. 49 4. 37 4. 37 4. 37 3. 98 Std. Deviation . 874 1. 098 . 747 . 878 . 845 . 878 . 809 . 723 . 932 . 972 . 661 . 644 . 710 . 735 . 791 . 924 1. 042 . 916 . 956 . 834 . 984 1. 083 . 733 . 743 . 752 0. 892 Siena, Italy Co-native loyalty Two questions were selected to measure consumers co-native loyalty towards the store. At this stage consumers must have a posit ive attitude and commitment towards the store and thus create repurchase intention. Based on customers satisfaction they dispose to recommend their friends and relatives. Findings indicate that satisfied consumers are likely to recommend their friends and repurchase.The first question was how likely would you be to recommend, where the mean average and SD were 4. 35 and 0. 709. The second question was how likely would you be to purchase at this store, giving a mean average and SD of 4. 17 and . 831 respectively. Table Co-native loyalty Co native Loyalty factors How likely would you be to recommend How likely would you be to purchase at this store Total Mean 4. 35 4. 17 4. 26 Std. Deviation . 709 . 831 . 776 Action loyalty This is the final criteria of Olivers loyalty model which indicates that having fulfilled all previous stages at this stage consumers tend to retain their connection with the store so leading to continue frequencies of shopping.Only one simple question was asked t o measure consumers retention and that was how ofttimes do you purchase at this store. The mean average and SD were 3. 47 and 1. 305 9 2006 EABR & ETLC Table Action loyalty Action Loyalty factor How often do you purchase at this store Total Mean 3. 47 Std. Deviation 1. 305 Siena, Italy DISCUSSIONS The survey results indicate that Bangladeshi food consumers are conscious of the cost and benefit (Cognitive loyalty), are conscious with satisfaction (Affective loyalty), satisfied consumers are likely to recommend their primary super store to their family and friends (Co-native Loyalty) and also they have frequencies of visit (Action Loyalty).Table Level of food consumer loyalty in Bangladesh Stages of loyalty Cognitive Affective Co-native Action Store loyalty intended with cost and benefits Conscious with satisfaction Likely to recommend to their family and friends Have frequencies of visit Consumers respond differently in every country (Child, Heywood and Kliger, 2002), as internation al retailing has become an important feature of global distribution systems. This has been brought about through changing socio economic patterns, favourable political and cultural environments and a shift from manufacturing to service based economies (Quinn and Alexander, 2002). Although in Bangladesh the retailing environment is tout ensemble different from its counterparts the results indicate that Olivers four stages of consumer store loyalty model is still applicable.Consumers loyalty can be measured through cognitive, affective, co-native and action behavioural patterns. From the findings it is clear that consumers are very conscious with cost and benefits (cognitive loyalty). This is the basis to create a favourable attitude towards the store and through the process of providing store and service attributes consumers will be satisfied, thus indicating that consumers are conscious with satisfaction (affective loyalty). A satisfied consumer will tend to recommend to their frie nds and family the product and service they tend to buy from (Co-native loyalty) and at the same time their repurchase intention tends to increase (Action loyalty).CONCLUSIONS Store loyalty is a very important phenomenon for retailers to understand the underlying principles and antecedents in order to retain and acquire more customers. Loyal customers spend more money and at the same time recommend the store to their family and friends, thus bringing more customers and profit for the retailers. It is of paramount important for managers to identify the specific characteristics which can influence consumers to shop from their store. As characteristics of retailing environments are changing, along with consumers behaviour, patterns of choice and mode of shopping, retailers must respond quickly to those changes in order to sustain and achieve competitive advantage. The study looked at the degree of store loyalty by applying Olivers four stages of store loyalty model.The implications for management and retailers are that they must look closely at the kind of price and quality they are offering, as customers are more conscious with cost and benefits. Although this cognitive stage of consumers loyalty will not create a strong association with their commitment or favourable attitude, it does have positive impact on their beside stage of loyalty behaviour which is the affective stage. To create a favourable attitude amongst consumers towards the store retailers must use specific service or product attributes. The research indicates that convenient location, good customer service, atmosphere of the store, 10 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy cleanliness, quality and variety of imported products and good sales personnel are the major attributes to satisfy customers.Thus, to create consumers relative attitude and satisfaction which leads to co-native loyalty of consumers, where consumers tend to recommend to their family and friend and increase repurchase intention. If these three previous stages can be implemented appropriately, consumers frequency of shopping will increase. Organised retailing in Bangladesh is in the introductory phase of development. contender is virtually non-existent. However, growing health awareness is making consumers more quality conscious and imported food items are considered good quality, also a growing number of middle class consumers, due to their high income cognitive content can afford to purchase good quality imported products.Therefore, our results thus provide strategic justification for major retailers for continued investment in store image and targeting specific consumer groups with the right demographic variables. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Alexander N (1997), International Retailing, London Blackwell Anderson, E. W. , Fornell, C. , and Lehmann, D. R (1994), Customer satisfaction, market Share and profitability Findings from Sweeden, daybook of selling, Vol. 58, July, pp. 53-66. Bangladesh Bureau o f Statistics, 2002 Bangladesh Bureau of statistics, 2003 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2003). Post market survey Bangladesh Retail food sector report (2004), USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service, Gain Report, Report number BG4001 Bloemer, J. nd Ruyter, K (1998), On the Relationship between Store Image, Store Satisfaction and Store Loyalty, European diary of Marketing, Vol. 32, No. 5/6, pp. 499-513 Caruana, A. (2002), Service Loyalty The Effects of Service Quality and the Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36-37, No. 7, pp. 811-828 Child, P. N. , Heywood, S. , and Kliger, M. (2002), The Grocery brands include hypermarkets, supermarkets and discounters, the clothing brands, both specialists and department stores, The Mckinsey Quarterly, No. 1 Cunningham, R. M. (1956), brand Loyalty What, Where, How Much? Harvard Business Review, Vol. 34, January-February, pp. 116-128 Dick, A. S. and Basu. K. 1994),Customer Loyalty Towards and Integrated ex ample, Journal of the academy of marketing Science, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 99-113 Ghosh, A. (1990), Retail Management, 2nd Ed. , The Dryden Press, Chicago, IL. Heskett, pile L (2002), Beyond customer loyalty, Journal of Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp. 355-357 Huddleston, P. , Whipple, J. , and VanAuken, A. (2004), Food Store Loyalty Application of a consumer loyalty framework, Journal of Targeting, bill and Analysis for Marketing, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 213-230 Jacoby, J. and Chestnut, R. W (1978). Brand Loyalty Measurement and Management, New York John Wiley and Sons. Jarnow, J. , and Guerreiro, M (1991). Inside the Fashion Business. New York Macmillan.Keaveny, S. M and Hunt, K. A (1992), Conceptualisation and operationalisation of Retail Store Image, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences, spring, pp. 165-176 Kotler, P. (1997), Marketing Management Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Koo, Dong-Mo (2003), Inter-relationships among Store Images, Store satisfaction and Store Loyalty among Korea Discount Retail Patrons, Asia pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 15, No. 4 Kumar, V. , and Karante, K. (2000), the Effects of Retail Store Environment on Retailer Performance, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 49, pp. 167-181 Lascu, D. N. and Giese, T. (1995), Exploring Country Bias in Retailing Environment, Journal of Global Marketing, Vol. 9, PP. 41-58 Lindquist, D. J (1974), Meaning of Image, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 29-38. Lucas, G. H. , Bush, R. P. , and Giresham, L. G (1994). Retailing, Boston Houghton Miffin Company. 11 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 2006 EABR & ETLC Siena, Italy 24. Mitchell, V. W. , and Kiral, R. H. (1998), Primary and subsidiary store-loyal customer perceptions of grocery retailers, British Food Journal, Vol. 100/7, pp. 312-319 25. Odekerken-Schroder, G. , Wulf, K. D. , Kasper, H. , Kleijnen, M. Hoekstra, J. , and Commandeur, H. (2001), The Impact of quality on store loyalty A Contingency Approach, Total Quality Management, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 307-322 26. Oliver, R. L. (1997), Satisfaction A Behavioural Perspective on the Customer, McGraw-Hill, Singapore. 27. Omar, O. E (1999). Retail Marketing, Harlow, England Pearson Education 28. Quinn, B and Alexander, N. (2002), International Retail Franchising a conceptual framework, International Journal of Retail and diffusion Management, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 264-276 29. Robson Collin (2002). Real World Research (2nd Eds). Blackwell Publisher, London 30. Saunders, M. , Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A (1997) Research Methods for Business Students. Pitman Publishing, London. 31. Sivadas, E. , and Baker-Prewitt, J. L (2000), An Examination of the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and store loyalty, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 73-92 32. Smith, A. M. (1990), Quality Aspects of Service Marketing, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 8, No. 6 33. Tahng, D. C. , and Tan, B. L. B. (2003), Linking Consumer Perception to Preference of Retail Stores An Empirical Assessment of the Multi-Attributes of Store Image, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 10-4, pp. 193-200 12