Co-creating affective atmospheres in retail experience

Annamma Joy, Jeff Jianfeng Wang, Davide C. Orazi, Seyee Yoon, Kathryn LaTour and Camilo Peña

Journal of Retailing, 2023, vol. 99, issue 2, 297-317

Abstract: Despite substantial research focusing on retail atmospheric elements and the creation of social atmospheres, a holistic theory of atmosphere addressing consumer heterogeneity remains elusive. This research examines how embodied interactions with retail socio-material elements and consumers’ expertise levels create affective atmospheres. Through a three-year-long ethnographic study of winery tours, we identify three core elements in the co-creation of affective atmospheres: material features, sensory modalities, and social interactions. We use text mining to build corresponding dictionaries and analyze customer review data from several retail sites, demonstrating the positive effect of retail atmospherics on customer sentiment. Focusing on consumer segmentation, we further show that different levels of consumer expertise (novices, enthusiasts, and experts) influence the subjective perception of atmospheric elements and the way staff members are expected to behave to jointly create affective atmospheres. Based on our multi-method findings, we offer theoretical and managerial implications that are generalizable to broader retailing contexts.

Keywords: Affective atmospheres; Retail atmospherics; Staff-customer interaction; Customer experience; Ethnography; Textual analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jouret:v:99:y:2023:i:2:p:297-317

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2023.05.002

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