Store Healthfulness: assessing the perceptions of the shoppers in the retailing environment

Introduction It has been well established by the extant literature and research that whether food decisions will be healthy or unhealthy depends on environmental cues available in a situation (Hofmann et al., 2008; Salmon et al., 2014). Previous studies have identified multiple dimensions of the food environment. Glanz et al. (2005) developed a model that categorizes food environments into four types: community Nutrition Environment (the number, type, and location of food stores in a given area); consumer Nutrition Environment (the in-store factors affecting food choice, such as availability, price, quality, and marketing); organizational Nutrition Environment (the food options available in schools, workplaces, and other institutions) and information Environment (media and advertising that influence dietary choices). Most food environment research has focused on the community nutrition environment (e.g., measuring store locations and access) rather than the consumer nutrition environment (e.g., in-store availability, pricing, and placement of food items). However, since retail stores are the primary location for food purchases, understanding the in-store factors that shape purchasing behavior is critical. In fact, the retail store environment, as the place where most food and drink choices and purchases are made, is regarded as a crucial battleground in trying to change and influence behaviors. Retailers serve as gatekeepers between producers and consumers. In this role, they can promote healthy choices by facilitating changes in consumption patterns that address physical and psychological concerns related to health and wellbeing. Because of their market position, large-scale and high-volume consumer interactions, food retailers are appropriate places to influence consumers to buy and then consume “better” food products (Bartels et al., 2015). Healthier store environments can encourage better dietary choices by offering high-quality, affordable, and well-positioned healthy foods. This means that, if managed properly, in store marketing levers could facilitate healthier food purchasing (Foster et al., 2014). The healthiness of the store environment has been measure through the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEMS-S) was developed to assess the availability, pricing, and quality of healthy food options in retail stores. The study aimed to create a valid and reliable tool to measure the healthfulness of retailing environments and to fill the gap according to which most tools focus on just one or two factors, typically availability and price among the marketing mix, while fewer consider variety, quality, in-store promotions and communication, and product placement. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that there is a variability in the healthfulness of the store environment. Specifically, premium supermarkets tend to offer high-quality healthy foods; discount supermarkets often have fewer healthier choices and promote less healthy foods more aggressively; small grocery stores, world stores (specialty stores selling ethnic foods), and petrol station stores tend to have poorer food environments, but there is significant variation within these categories. The tool measures the activities and strategies developed by the retailers, not the perceptions of the shoppers, adopting the point of view of the company. In literature perceptions are linked to the concept of image, and specifically corporate image, which is typically conceptualized as the overall impression that an organization makes on its various stakeholders (Beristain and Zorrilla, 2011). This image can therefore be considered as the organization’s “perceived identity”, in contrast with corporate identity. In literature, there is a certain convergence around the idea that corporate identity is a set of symbolic representations and signals “...with which the public can recognize the company and distinguish it from others and which can be used to represent or symbolize the company” (Shee and Abratt, 1989). Melewar and Karaosmanoglu (2006) delve deeper and conceptualize it as the presentation of an organization to every stakeholder. The difference between the two concepts lies in the fact that corporate identity is generally seen as belonging to the sender’s side of the message (the company), while corporate image is more commonly related to the receiving side of the communication process, the stakeholders (Thøger Christensen and Askegaard, 2001). This two concepts are linked together by the communication and the management of the retail mix. Purpose Given this scenario, the present work intends to analyse, starting from the variables identified by the NEMS model, how shoppers perceive the healthiness of the retail environment and which elements of the retail mix contribute the most to the development of this perception. In particular, assortment, price, promotion, layout and instore communication have been considered and the impact of the overall health image of the store, satisfaction and loyalty have been measured. Furthermore, existing research has shown that there are some differences in the healthfulness of the environment depending of the type of stores. Thus, we tested also the differences in perceptions among supermarkets and discount. Conceptual framework Store image is widely recognized as a crucial factor in the retail industry and is often defined in the literature as the attitude consumers develop toward a retail brand. In other words, it represents customers’ perceptions of various store attributes. Similarly, Wu, Yeh, and Hsiao (2011) described store image as consumers’ overall attitude toward a store, shaped by both its intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics. A positive store image helps retailers capture the attention of potential customers, increase their interest, enhance customer satisfaction, and encourage favourable word-of-mouth recommendations and loyalty to the store. Store image can be developed based on various factors, including convenience, price perceptions, product quality and assortment, store atmosphere, instore communication, product arrangement and customer service. These elements play a crucial role in shaping consumers’ attitudes toward a retailer’s brand (Hanaysha, 2020). Lindquist (1974) identified nine elements, including merchandise, service, atmosphere, and promotion; Doyle & Fenwick (1974) focused on five elements, such as product, price, and location; Bearden (1977) highlighted factors like assortment, parking, and friendly personnel and Ghosh (1990) proposed eight elements, including merchandise, store atmosphere, customer service, and sales incentives. A positive store image can positively impact store loyalty but this effect pass through store satisfaction since it is considered a major determinant of store loyalty. Store satisfaction is defined as the consumer’s subjective evaluation of whether a store meets or exceeds expectations. Rooted in the disconfirmation paradigm, satisfaction arises from comparing expectations with actual store performance. Consumer behaviour is constantly evolving and influenced by exogenous trends and dynamics. Today, the increasing quest for health and well-being means that more and more people are willing to pay a higher price for high-quality products with an optimal nutritional composition (Ali, T. & Ali, J, 2020; Alsubhi et al., 2023). Consequently, health represents one of the main drivers of consumers’ food choices as they become increasingly aware of the link between food and well-being (Saba et al., 2019). Therefore, in order to strengthen their positiong, many retailers have chosen to offer and promote healthy alternatives to meet the needs of the mid- and high-end of the market (Hoskins et al., 2024). Given the higher importance assumed by health and wellbeing we hypothesize a positive impact of health store image on store satisfaction and on store loyalty. Furthermore we assume that the management of the retail mix can positively contribute to the creation of the health image of the store. Given the differences highlighted by the literature between supermarkets and discount, we expect a different health image (greater for the supermarket) and a different impact of retail mix variables (greater in the supermarket format). Methodology In order to test the hypothesis presented in the literature review section, a questionnaire has been developed and administered online to a total sample of 1001 participants. For the data collection a Market Research Company has been involved to ensure the representatives of the sample in the Italian context and the generalizability of the results obtained. The questionnaire was divided into different sections. After the socio-demographic profile (51% female, 49.55 average age, 3.01 average number of members of each family, 66% employed), questions about the perceptions of different retail mix of the preferred store (discount or supermarket) were asked. A brief definition of healthy products assured the all the participant were aligned and a filter question related to whether or not respondents were buyers of health-oriented products guaranteed that the sample was familiar to the products and had the knowledge and experience to answer the questions. Then, questions about the assortment variety, price level, promotion, instore allocation and instore communication presence of healthy products, overall health image of the store, satisfaction and loyalty were asked. Participants were invited to evaluate on a 7-point Likert scale all the variable mentioned. All the scales used obtain Cronbach’s alpha greater than the minimum acceptable value of .70. First of all, to test the differences in the perceptions of the health image between supermarkets and discounts we conducted the ANCOVA. Then, a structured equation model was run to test the relationships between retail mix variables, perceived healthfulness of the store, satisfaction and loyalty using SmartPLS software. Findings Results showed a significant difference (p.value <.001) among the perceptions of healthiness of discounts (Mdis=4.64) and supermarkets (Msuper=4.78). The extant literature posits the presence of a variability in the healthfulness of the environment considering different store types from the perspective of the company (identity). The results confirm the same pattern in the perceptions of the shoppers, underlying a coherence between store image and store identity. Furthermore, the results of the SEM analysis show a difference in the impact of retail mix on the health image of the stores. Specifically, considering the discount format, only the variety of the assortment has been found having a significant impact on the perceived healthiness of the store (p=.003). On the contrary, in the supermarket, assortment, price, promotion and instore communication were found significant (p<.001), while space management was found slightly significant (p=.065). The path coefficients show that assortment (.235) and price (.201) are the most impactful variables, followed by information provided, promotion and space allocation. In both store formats, the relations between health image and satisfaction and satisfaction and loyalty were highly significant (p<.001). Contributions This study makes a valuable contribution to the field of nutritional marketing, considering the perspective of the shoppers, in understanding which are the variables that contribute the most to the creation of the health store image. From a theoretical perspective, this research addresses a significant gap in the existing literature by including in the analysis not only price of the healthy products and products availability but also instore communication, products allocation and promotion. The comparison between supermarkets and discount adds also another piece of information related to the different perceptions among different store types. Practical implications The findings of this study underscore the main variables retailers have to manage to build up a stronger health store image in different store types. For supermarkets, it is very important not only to offer a wide variety of healthy products, but also to maintain a good value for money and offer additional information to help shoppers making more informed decisions. For discount, where the expectation are probably lower, information are not needed or required and the offer is by definition less expensive, is important to manage the assortment and variety displayed instore. The ability of the retailers to provide a healthy image can positively affect store satisfaction and store loyalty. Research limitations and outlook The present research has some limitations. Even if the sample can be considered representative of the Italian population, there is an imbalance in the composition of the two samples when divided by store type. In fact, those who declare a preference for discount stores represent slightly more than 10% of the total sample, thus reducing comparability with he sample that answer the questions considering a supermarket. The second limitation is linked to the difficulty of the participant to rank on a scale their perceptions, with the risk of missing nuances, perceptions, and the reasons behind behaviours and responses