Electronics Retail Store Atmospherics: A Consumer Type Comparison : A Quantitative Study of Consumer Types and Their Valuation of Sensory Cues

Sammanfattning: Background: Every fifth physical electronics store has been closed during the period between 2011 to 2017, and 30 % of all electronic products are now purchased online. As digitalization has affected both the number of physical stores negatively, but also loyalty towards firms among consumers, as price has become a more crucial role in decision making online, there is a need for physical stores to exploit the advantages that cannot be facilitated online to stay competitive. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to extend the understanding of how the valuation of sensory cues is related to consumer types in an electronics retail store context.Research Questions: To what extent are consumers in an electronics retail store utilitarian and hedonic in their needs and behavior? How do these consumers, in comparison to each other, value sensory cues in an electronics retail store environment?Methodology: The study uses a quantitative research approach with a cross-sectional research design and collects data through an online questionnaire. Findings: Consumers in an electronics retail store context tend to possess a higher degree of utilitarian traits and valued the importance of addressing the human senses significantly lower than consumers with a higher degree of hedonic traits. A significant difference between the groups is found for sight, sound and smell. Touch was found to be the most important sense for both groups. Managerial Implications: Contributes to knowledge managers could consider when relating the human senses to the strategic build-up of a store concept or the design of a retail environment.Further Research: Further research could investigate how the relationship, interplay and potential overload of stimuli affect consumers, either based on hedonic and utilitarian characteristics or other factors such as age and gender. Originality: To the best of the author’s knowledge, no other studies is researching the valuation of sensory cues in an electronics retail store environment from the consumers perspective. Keywords: Sensory Marketing, Consumer Types, Utilitarian, Hedonic, Atmospherics, Electronics Store, Retail Marketing