Are you being served? Exploring consumer perspectives of retail brand integrity: an abstract

Retail brand competition is increasing, global competition coupled with the economic crisis of 2008 has impacted on the UK high street; many well-known retailers went into administration and others are streamlining with store closures and redundancies. The expansion of discount retailers may appeal to price sensitive consumers, but this has incurred allegations of exploiting producers. In the past, research has found that consumers consider that workers in developing countries cannot expect the same salaries and working conditions as western-workers but more recently there have been allegations that UK employees are exploited with low pay and poor working conditions. With discount retailers appearing to grow their market-share in this price sensitive climate, it seems that retailers who have attempted to install stronger brand identity through better quality products, superior customer service and stable employment are suffering from applying integrity to their business practice. However, there also seems to be a backlash against businesses that focus on the ‘race to the bottom’ and the impact this has on society. This research seeks to explore how consumers perceive the integrity of retail brand identity and how that translates into a buying decision. To do this, focus groups that target Baby Boomers and Generation X examined consumers interpretation and perceptions of retail brands found on the UK high street, including: middle-market retailers John Lewis and M&S that communicate customer service, product quality and enhanced employee conditions will be contrasted against Primark and Sports Direct, which both focus on low pricing. The results found that similar to research that examined exploitation in developing countries, where a consumer centric approach was adopted based on product attribute evaluation (Eckhardt et al. 2010), there was some heightened concern for UK employees. This was of particular concern when the participants had experienced, or their family or friends had experienced, reduced worker conditions and salaries. The findings advance the debate around consumer citizen (Gabriel and Lang 1995) as to whether or not consumer actions endorse free-market capitalism. Although there was some consideration that discount retailing had increased competition and reduced pricing thresholds which led to the loss of UK high street retailers, it was also considered that UK retailers were not proactive in enticing consumers onto the high street with homogenised product offering (which encourages price sensitivity) or unique experiences that would enhance retail brand identity.