Análisis de la innovación en marketing y del comportamiento del consumidor en el sector del comercio en España stars

Abstract

Globalization and the intensification of competition, the rapid evolution of technology, shorter product life cycles and the existence of an increasingly challenging, segmented and connected demand, amongst other factors, have spurred the study of innovation as a key factor for achieving advantageous positions and attracting customers. In this context, the problem of small urban retailers is also a concern for researchers, as the economic crisis has accelerated the closure of traditional retail establishments, even as new formats are emerging and others are being recovered in response to new consumers. This doctoral thesis sought to help fill a gap that existed when it was begun in the scientific literature on marketing innovation and, in so doing, contribute to finding solutions to address the new competitive scenario today’s retailers face. To this end, it took a twofold approach to the study of retailers: first, it looked at supply (companies) and, second, it examined the behaviour of the demand (consumers). The first approach focused on marketing innovation. The results show that it is still in the early stages, with only 27.2% of companies claiming to pursue innovation in marketing and modifications in product design being the most frequent type of innovation introduced. Specifically with regard to retail, the percentage falls to 26.1%, with an emphasis on innovation in communication. However, marketing innovation is the second most common form of innovation pursued by small and medium-sized retailers, whereas in other sectors it ranks last of all four types (product, process, organization and marketing). The size of the company, its specific business, whether or not it exports, and investment in internal R&D are the characteristics that make companies most likely to pursue marketing innovation. The crisis has also affected the structural characteristics of companies that innovate in this way. The second approach analysed the behaviour of high-street shoppers to determine what consumers value in terms of quality customer-seller interactions. The results showed that personalized attention is the factor most often cited by high-street shoppers, but was less relevant for those who prefer shopping centres. Most strikingly, an analysis of service quality simultaneously measuring normative expectations, predictive expectations and the importance of each attribute of the SERVQUAL-P scale showed that whilst the normative- and predictive-expectation dimensions were the same, they differed in terms of importance. The main contribution lies in the finding that personalized attention, when assessed in terms of importance, has two dimensions: (1) courteous attention and (2) a personal relationship. Whilst courtesy is always welcome, personal relationships are less valued and often rejected. The thesis concludes with academic and practical implications and proposes new lines of research.