Exploiting consumer–employee–retailer interactions in technology-enriched retail environments through a relational lens

Shopping as a “networked experience”: an emerging framework in the retail industry

“…This study extends the previous ones on the impact of new technology on retailing (Demirkan and Spohrer, 2014;Pantano, 2014;Hristov and Reynolds, 2015;Hagberg et al, 2016;Pantano, 2016;Willems et al, in press. ;Bertacchini et al, 2017), by introducing the concept of shopping as "networked experience", as an extension of the traditional in-store shopping activity towards the network.…”

“…These social influences occur through word of mouth communication (WOM) (Lee et al, 2011;Mishra et al, in press. ), observational learning (Chen et al, 2011;Lu et al, 2016), and social support (Zhang et al, 2014;Mohan et al, 2012;Pantano and Migliarese, 2014). In particular, word of mouth is considered a form of information seeking that occurs when consumers suggest or demand the opinion of others before choosing.…”

“…Similarly, the observation of other consumers' behavior influences the purchase decision in both online and offline retail settings (Zhang, 2010;Wang and Yu, 2017). Interacting with store personnel contributes also to create a pleasant store experience when personnel is perceived to have the capacity of providing a good service and supporting consumers while shopping with advice and suggestions when requested (Mohan et al, 2012;Pantano and Migliarese, 2014;Rapp et al, 2015), with positive consequences for consumer purchase behavior. For these reasons, social support is largely acquiring the attention of scholars particularly with regards to the role of social media and online social environments, with digitally-mediated forms of interaction among groups of consumers emerging as key drivers of purchase behavior (AmLiang et al, 2011).…”

Understanding the effect of smart retail brand – Consumer communications via mobile instant messaging (MIM) – An empirical study in the Chinese context

“…On a mobile smart retail channel such as WeChat, media richness has powerful direct links with positive word of mouth, which has substantial implications for Chinese mobile strategies. Research has indicated that building relationships with consumers is more difficult when the relationships are consumer-computer as compared to consumer-person (Poon et al, 2012;Pantano and Migliarese, 2014). The findings of this study suggest that these negative effects can be alleviated by the use of MIM, which is associated with consumer involvement, emotional connections and positive word of mouth.…”

Can constructive deviance be empowered? A multi-level field study in Australian supermarkets

“…Retailers must to maintain high standards of service and good relationships between customers and retail employees (Lee & Yang, 2013;Pantano & Migliarese, 2014). To achieve these aims, retail organizations create reliable routines that guide and restrict employees in their work (Feldman & Pentland, 2003;Kasiri, Cheng, Sambasivan, & Sidin, 2017;Pentland, Haerem, & Hillison, 2011).…”