Help Store Shoppers Positively Interact

For many people, an important advantage of in-store over online shopping is the sense of community provided by the interpersonal interactions in the store. One form this takes is customers observing and assisting others who happen to be shopping in the store at the same time. Beyond providing opportunities for socialization, this Customer Citizenship Behavior (CCB) can lead to frequent customers giving suggestions to the store operator for improvements as well as enforcing store standards, such as tipping off staff about a shoplifter. CCB is of increasing value to retailers who are installing self-service technologies or experiencing staffing shortfalls.
     Researchers at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hanyang University, and Harbin Institute of Technology verified the common sense hypothesis that a shopper is more likely to show CCB when they’ve experienced or seen an employee being helpful to a customer or another employee. The researchers also reinforced findings from prior research that a show of CCB by a shopper acts to increase that shopper’s identification with and positive impressions of the store and/or of the salesperson.
     But the study findings do lead to a caution: If the shopper considers the overall level of customer service in the store to be low, their engaging in CCB produces a strong attachment to the helpful salesperson who inspired them, but not to the store itself. If that salesperson is no longer available to that shopper in future store visits, the shopper’s draw to the store fades fast. The solution is to maintain a good level of customer service in general so that the employee’s helpfulness is not seen as an exception. The researchers find that in this situation, shoppers’ show of CCB leads to identification with the store to a greater extent than to a particular salesperson or small set of salespeople.
     Research findings from Seoul National University uncovered another risk with CCB: Sometimes shoppers prefer not to be helped by their peers. In these cases, the offers of assistance from other shoppers produce a negative impression of the overall shopping experience.
     This might occur because the shopper isn’t comfortable with the purchases they’re considering. Assistance from other shoppers can cause embarrassment. Offers of help from salespeople are more acceptable than CCB because the salespeople have seen many purchases of these potentially embarrassing items. The advice: If your store carries items with high embarrassment-potential, don’t encourage CCB.

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

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