Retail Intimidation

Abstract

The importance of studying higher-order emotions, such as love and rage, has long been recognized in the marketing literature (Batra et al. 2012; McColl-Kennedy et al. 2009). This paper looks to add to this growing body of literature by examining a previously unexamined emotion, retail intimidation. Intimidation occurs when individuals are made to feel afraid, nervous, timid, or inferior by someone or something else. As such, it stands to reason that retailers may produce feelings of intimidation in some shoppers, perhaps as a result of the store’s atmosphere, prices, merchandise, or other factors. Through a critical incident technique study with a content analysis, the authors find four main antecedent categories to intimidation: employee issues, self-conscious customers, store atmospherics, and retail strategy. The researchers address each of the categories and the resulting subcategories while providing theoretical and managerial implications.

The importance of studying higher-order emotions, such as love and rage, has long been recognized in the marketing literature (Batra et al. 2012; McColl-Kennedy et al. 2009). This paper looks to add to this growing body of literature by examining a previously unexamined emotion, retail intimidation. Intimidation occurs when individuals are made to feel afraid, nervous, timid, or inferior by someone or something else. As such, it stands to reason that retailers may produce feelings of intimidation in some shoppers, perhaps as a result of the store’s atmosphere, prices, merchandise, or other factors. Through a critical incident technique study with a content analysis, the authors find four main antecedent categories to intimidation: employee issues, self-conscious customers, store atmospherics, and retail strategy. The researchers address each of the categories and the resulting subcategories while providing theoretical and managerial implications.