Consumer World-Mindedness, Social-Mindedness, and Store Image

TLDR

Advances in communications technology reduce geographic distance, increasing consumer awareness of global products and ethical issues, prompting retailers to adapt positioning and assortments to reflect consumer world‑ and social‑mindedness. The study develops measures of consumer world‑ and social‑mindedness and investigates their relationship to cultural exposure and store image among 191 Dutch consumers. The study surveyed perceptions of three store types—the Body Shop, fair‑trade outlets, and a grocery store with imported foods—to assess store image. Results show that greater cultural exposure boosts consumer world‑ and social‑mindedness, which in turn significantly enhances store image, with implications for retail and international marketing.

Abstract

As advances in communications technology shrink the impact of geographic distance, consumers are likely to become more aware of and familiar with products and services in other parts of the world, as well as global social and ethical issues. Retailers have responded to these trends (termed here “consumer world-mindedness” and “consumer social-mindedness”) by adapting their positioning and product assortment. The authors develop measures of consumer world-mindedness and social-mindedness and examine their relationship to exposure to other cultures and store image using a survey of 191 consumers in the Netherlands. The authors examine images of three types of stores: the Body Shop, fair-trade stores, and a grocery store with an imported food products section. The results confirm that consumers’ exposure to foreign cultures increases consumer world-mindedness and social-mindedness and that both have a significant impact on store image. The authors conclude with a discussion of implications for retail and international marketing management.