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Cross-national differences in price–role orientation and their impact on retail markets

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Abstract

This paper analyzes differences in price–role orientations between economically developed and emerging markets and how these differences influence store brand and store format preferences. It extends cross-national research on price–role orientations by (1) focusing on culturally similar but economically different countries, (2) relating differences to preferences for store brands and low-price store formats, and (3) analyzing these effects for functional versus hedonic and low- versus high-price product groups. Based on theories explaining the effects of income on individual price perception and behavior, we hypothesize cross-national differences in price and value consciousness, the price–quality schema, and prestige sensitivity. Furthermore, we present a theoretical link between these price–role orientations and store format preferences based on the ability of store formats to address different price roles. A survey conducted in Germany and Poland reveals several cross-national differences in price–role orientations and resulting preferences, which, however, depend on product group characteristics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration and MAPP Centre for Research on Customer Relations in the Food Sector, Aarhus University, Business and Social Sciences, Bartholins Allé 10, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Stephan Zielke

  2. Department of Marketing, University of Economics in Katowice, ul. 1 Maja 50, 40-227, Katowice, Poland

    Marcin Komor

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  1. Stephan Zielke
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  2. Marcin Komor
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Correspondence to Stephan Zielke.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 6 Single-item scales
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Appendix 2

Table 7 Multi-item scales and factor loadings
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Appendix 3

Table 8 Discriminant validity (variance extracted and correlations)
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Zielke, S., Komor, M. Cross-national differences in price–role orientation and their impact on retail markets. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 43, 159–180 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0379-4

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