Research Topic: Influence of Store Reputation towards Customer

Patronage: A Case Study at the Tesco and Giant

Hypermarket.

1. INTRODUCTION

In this introduction, we will be discussed about the background of the case

study, problem statement, significant of study, objectives, hypotheses, variable,

research questions and limitation of the study.

1.1. Background of the case study

Tesco is a global grocery and general merchandising retailer

headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest

retailer in the world measured by revenues after Wal-Mart and

Carrefour and the second-largest measured by profits after Wal-Mart. It

has stores in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and North America and

is the grocery market leader in the UK, Malaysia, the Republic of

Ireland and Thailand.

The company was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 and opened

its first store in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgware, and Middlesex. The Tesco

brand first appeared after Cohen bought a shipment of tea from T.E.

Stockwell and he used those initials and added the first two letters of

his own surname. Originally a UK-focused grocery retailer, Tesco has

diversified both geographically and into areas such as the retailing of

books, clothing, electronics, furniture, petrol and software; financial

services; telecoms and internet services; DVD rental; and music

downloads. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a

constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Tesco opened its first store in Malaysia in May 2002 with the

opening of its first hypermarket in Puchong, Selangor. Tesco Malaysia

currently operates 36 Tesco and Tesco Extra stores. Total store by

state in Malaysia is Selangor with 11 stores, Perak six stores, Johor

five stores, Kuala Lumpur and Penang four stores, Kedah three stores,

Melaka two stores, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan one store. Tesco

partnered with local conglomerate Sime Darby Berhad, which holds

30% of the shares. Tesco also acquired the Malaysian operation of the

wholesaler Makro, which was rebranded Tesco Extra and provides

products for local retailers. Tesco Malaysia offers a value range, own

branded range, electronic goods, the loyalty clubcard and clothing.

Tesco Malaysia's clubcard introduced Green ClubCard Points in 2007

making Tesco Malaysia to be the first Tesco international business to

introduce the scheme Green ClubCard Points.

The Giant store brand was founded by the Teng family as a

simple grocery store in one of the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur in 1944. Its

mission was to offer a wide variety of food products at the lowest

possible prices. As its reputation grew, so did its business.Dairy Farm,

which acquired Giant in 1999, recognized that the key to Giant's

success had been its ability to continuously offer value for money

products. It retained this core principle even as it began transforming

Giant into a national and international brand.

After six years of effort, which included redesigning the stores,

the introduction of the non-food products into the Giant hypermarkets,

the implementation of international retail standards that includes safety,

cleanliness, structured training, and a vibrant shopping environment as

well as centralized buying functions and improved operations, Dairy

Farm has made Giant the undisputed leader in Malaysia’s retail sector.

In 1999, the first Giant Hypermarket store opened in Shah

Alam, Selangor. By 2006, the company had grown to operate a total of

86 hypermarkets/supermarkets in Malaysia with outlet size ranging

from the 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m2) hypermarket in Shah Alam to the

11,000 sq ft (1,000 m2) supermarket in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The

chain also includes 6 stores in Singapore and 17 hypermarkets

inIndonesia. Giant hypermarkets offer a wide range of local

merchandise, such as fresh local fruits, vegetables, and seafood within

a wet market environment.

On December 3, 2005, The The Employees Provident

Fund (EPF) acquired the entire stake in Giant TMC Bhd’s property-

owning subsidiary Hartanah Progresif Sdn Bhd for RM382 million.

Under an agreement signed on December 1, the EPF will enter into a

leasehold agreement with Giant TMC for 10 to 15 years. Dairy Farm

Giant Retail CEO John Coyle (left) and EPF GM of Property

Investment Department-Operation Mohamad Lotfy Mohamad Noh

sealed the deal, witnessed by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs

Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal and Dairy Farm Group chief

executive Ron Floto. On March 22, 2008, the first Giant Hypermarket

in Brunei Darussalam was opened on Gadong A, Brunei-Muara

1.2. Problem statement

The level of customer satisfaction may be influenced by various

attributes from internal and external factors. Customer satisfaction may

be identified as internal and external customer satisfaction of an

organization. From the literature review, researchers on external

customer satisfaction have been identified. The researchers also want

to research whether the store reputations or store image have big

influence towards customers patronage in Tesco and Giant

hypermarket.

1.3. Significant of study

Gathering of this data will lead to a better understanding of the

influencing level of the attributes on customer satisfaction. The results

of this study will not only contribute to the awareness of the relationship

between the variables but it will also direct managers in areas for

quality improvement to increase customer satisfaction. Through the

statistical analysis, a conclusion on the existence of a relationship

between qualities attributes of a goods service, products quality,

products availability and customer satisfaction will be more obvious.

1.4. Objectives

The main objectives of this study were to identify attributes that

influence customer patronage and determine their relationships with

customer patronage.

1.5. Hypotheses

To support this study, several hypotheses are developed and

constructed. These hypotheses are considered necessary to

statistically prove the various relationships within the study. The

hypotheses are:

1.5.1 If the quality of service is high, then store image or reputations

of the company will increase.

1.5.2 If the quality of products is high, then store image or

reputations of the company will increase.

1.5.3 If the products availability always good, then the store image or

reputations of the company will increase..

1.5.4 If the atmosphere of company always in good conditions, then

the store image or reputations will increase.

1.5.5 If the price of the products always competitive, then the store

image or reputation will increase

1.5.6 When the store image of company is high, then consumer

patronage will increase.

1.6. Variable

The variables included in this research are place, goods quality

and service quality as independent variables and customer satisfaction

as the dependent variable.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1: Relationship between Independent Variables and

Dependent Variables

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Store Image

- Products quality- Service quality- Good

atmosphere- Price

competitive- Products

availability

Customer satisfaction

1.7 Research Question

Research questions are divided according to factors that

influence customer satisfaction and their relationship.

1.7.1 Factor that influence customer patronage:

1.7.1.1 What level of store image that influence consumer

patronage in Tesco and Giant?

1.7.2 Relationship between customer patronages with their factors:

1.7.2.1 What the relationship between store images and

customer’s patronage?

1.8 Limitation of Study

There are some constraints faced by the researcher in completing this

study.

1.8.1 Location of the study

This study will be focusing on customers of GIANT Hypermarket and

Tesco Extra at Seksyen 13, Shah Alam. We need to separate our

group members to distribute the questionnaires to their customer.

1.8.2 Respondent Cooperation.

There are several problems that we have to face it.

1.8.2.1 Respondents not understand the questions.

1.8.2.2 Biases answer from the respondents.

1.8.2.3 Respondent that not shows commitment and fully

cooperation to answer accurately.

1.8.3 Time Constraint

The time given is limited and not sufficient in order to conduct this

research. Time management need to set in order to complete this

research due to the limited time.

1.8.4 Budget Constraint

The budget available for conducting this study is very limited.

Therefore, simple sampling method will be used in this study. The

small cope of study also will help in reducing budget.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

. This section discusses on the previous research related to this study. Many

studies in consumer patronage have suggested that shopping orientation and store

image are among the factors that influence the patronage behavior of the consumer

2.1. Service quality

Service quality is an attitude or global judgment about the

superiority of a service. To be globally competitive service industries

must achieve a quality service that exceeds customers’ expectation.

Service quality determines an organizations success or failure.

Companies and organizations that virtually every industry employs

customer satisfaction measures for the straightforward reason that

satisfied customers are essential for a successful business. Service

quality also determines a customer’s satisfaction. However, the

determinants of service quality are complicated with the dynamic

business environment. Therefore, this measurement dimensions

depend on the industry itself. Service quality is influenced by

expectation, process quality and output quality; in other words the

standards of service is defined by customers who have experienced

that service and used their experience and feelings to form a judgment.

In order to achieve a quality service organization, commitment

from employees and support from all levels of management is

necessary. Therefore, it is important for managers who provide goods

or services constantly to keep track of information about the company’s

well being as far as meeting its customers’ needs are concerned.

Service companies are trying to find ways to improve and provide

superior quality service to satisfy their customers. He also mentioned

that satisfying customers is an ultimate goal for every company, as

customers are the greatest resources, both short-term and long term

survival of the company.

2.2. Transaction-specific model

Figure 2: Transaction-Specific Mode

This model was suggested by Teas (1993) and later expanded

by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1994) – PZB henceforth. This

model posits a customer’s overall satisfaction with a transaction to be a

function of his or her assessment of service quality, product quality and

price. Transaction-specific satisfaction significantly influences overall

customer satisfaction. Customers are likely to consider specific aspects

of the transaction such as product features, service features, as well as

price to be satisfied with the overall market experience.

The full model was found to be significant. They further state

that the results suggested that the model satisfactorily explains

customer satisfaction and that full service market owners should focus

on three major elements, which are service quality (responsiveness),

price and goods quality (reliability).

Evaluation of Service Quality

Price

Transaction SatisfactionEvaluation of Product

Quality

2.3. Models Used to Evaluate Service Quality

A related theory to customer satisfaction that has been adapted

by Bartlett and Han (2007) in customer satisfaction is the SERVQUAL

model by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1991). This model indicates

that there are five dimensions used in measuring customer service

quality. The dimensions included in this model are tangibles, reliability,

responsiveness, empathy and assurance. The tangibles include the

physical appearance of the facilities, equipment, personnel and

materials used to communicate with customers. Elements within the

tangibles dimension are cleanliness, space, atmosphere, appearance

of server and location. Measuring element of responsibility and

reliability are speed, willingness to respond, accuracy and

dependability. The dimension of assurance and empathy may be

measured using elements of knowledge, trained professional,

communications and caring.

Other models that have been used to evaluate service quality

are DINESERVE by Stevens et al (1995, cited from), Two-Way by

Schvaneveldt, Enkawa and Miyakawa (1991), SERVPERF by Corin

and Taylor (1992), Normed Quality by Teas (1994) and

QUALITOMETRO by Franceschini and Rossetto (1997) (cited from).

The theoretical background of the Two-Way model uses latent

evaluation factors: services quality is evaluated by answers given by

customers to questions about “objective” (quality attributes) and

“subjective” (satisfaction levels).

The SERVPERF model evaluates service quality by perceptions

only, without expectations and without importance weights. While in the

Normed Quality model, the problems for expectations become a

redefinition of this component and discrimination between ideal

expectation and feasible expectation. In the QUALITOMETRO model,

customer expectations and perceptions are evaluated in two distinct

moments.

Finally in the DINESERVE model, expectations were the

measure of this instrument. Quality evaluation according using this

model is carried out by means of a comparison between quality

expectations and perceptions profiles using MCDA. Although these

stated models use different response scales but all of them consist of

five dimensions which are tangibles, reliability, assurance,

responsiveness and empathy.

A research using the DINESERVE model as a basis was

conducted by Aigbedo and Parameswaran (2004). They used this

evaluation model in their research where it was a performance-only

measure. Their research was conducted in USA regarding importance-

performance analysis for improving quality of campus food service. An

example of a research conducted using the SERVPERF model is by

Soriano (2002) determining customer satisfaction factors in restaurants,

a situation in Spain.

2.4. Definition of products quality

The collection of features and characteristics of a product that

contribute to its ability to meet given requirements. Early work in

controlling product quality was on creating standards for producing

acceptable products. By the mid-1950s, mature methods had evolved

for controlling quality, including statistical quality control and statistical

process control, utilizing sequential sampling techniques for tracking

the mean and variance in process performance. During the 1960s,

these methods and techniques were extended to the service industry.

During 1960–1980, there was a major shift in world markets, with the

position of the United States declining while Japan and Europe

experienced substantial growth in international markets. Consumers

became more conscious of the cost and quality of products and

services. Firms began to focus on total production systems for

achieving quality at minimum cost. This trend has continued, and today

the goals of quality control are largely driven by consumer concerns

and preferences.

There are three views for describing the overall quality of a

product. First is the view of the manufacturer, who is primarily

concerned with the design, engineering, and manufacturing processes

involved in fabricating the product. Quality is measured by the degree

of conformance to predetermined specifications and standards, and

deviations from these standards can lead to poor quality and low

reliability. Efforts for quality improvement are aimed at eliminating

defects (components and subsystems that are out of conformance), the

need for scrap and rework, and hence overall reductions in production

costs. Second is the view of the consumer or user. To consumers, a

high-quality product is one that well satisfies their preferences and

expectations. This consideration can include a number of

characteristics, some of which contribute little or nothing to the

functionality of the product but are significant in providing customer

satisfaction. A third view relating to quality is to consider the product

itself as a system and to incorporate those characteristics that pertain

directly to the operation and functionality of the product. This approach

should include overlap of the manufacturer and customer views. 

Quality control (QC) is the collection of methods and techniques

for ensuring that a product or service is produced and delivered

according to given requirements. This includes the development of

specifications and standards, performance measures, and tracking

procedures, and corrective actions to maintain control. The data

collection and analysis functions for quality control involve statistical

sampling, estimation of parameters, and construction of various control

charts for monitoring the processes in making products. This area of

quality control is formally known as statistical process control (SPC)

and, along with acceptance sampling, represents the traditional

perception of quality management. Statistical process control focuses

primarily on the conformance element of quality, and to somewhat less

extent on operating performance and durability

2.5. Definition of store image

Martineau (1958) was the first researcher to offer the following

description of store image: “it is… the way in which the store is defined

in the shopper’s mind, partly by its functional qualities and partly by an

aura of psychological attributes”. The more favourable the image, the

more likely it is that consumer would shop and buy at the store. The

researchers have conceptualized store image to include store

attributes. Many conceptualizations of store image have been

advanced in the past (Doyle and Fenwick, 1974; James et.al, 1976;

Kunkel and Berry, 1968; Marks, 1976). The dominant attitudinal

perspective that is taken in the literature treats store image as the result

of a multi-attribute model (Marks, 1976; James et.al., 1976.) According

to Bloemer and Ruyter (1998) store image is defined as the complex of

a consumer’s perceptions of a store on different (salient) attributes.

Different authors have identified different store attributes as part

of the overall image towards the store. Lindquist (1974) combined

models from 19 studies and came up with nine different elements:

merchandise, service, clientele, physical facilities, comfort, promotion,

store atmosphere, institutional and post transaction satisfaction. Doyle

and Fenwick (1974) distinguished only five elements: product, price,

assortment, styling and location. Bearden (1978) come with the

following characteristics: price, quality of merchandise, assortment,

atmosphere, location, parking facilities and friendly personnel.

According to Bloemer and Shroeder (2002) store image is the sum of

all the store’s attributes, in the way perceived by the consumer, through

his or her experience with the store. Burt and Carralero-Encinas (2000)

consider the retail store as the key success factor to a retail company.

The major source of competitive advantage for retailers can be found in

the value added delivered to customers, through the performance of

functions or activities. This value added must be based on consumer

needs and values. Thus it is fundamental that store understand the

store image importance in their positioning statement. For McGoldrick

(1990) the accumulated image is also an indicator of the asset

value of the “retail brand”, which represents the long-term results of the

marketing activities. To understand the image effects can lead to better

purchase decisions for consumers and to better strategies for retail

stores. As stressed by Osman (1993), customers’ patronage behaviors

towards a particular store depend on their image of that particular store.

The more favorable the store image, the higher the valence of the store

customers.

Fox et al. (2004), examined the relationship of price to grocery

shopping behavior and found that was less important in driving

consumer spending than promotion and store assortment. But Sieder

and Costley (1994), found price to be a major determinant of store

choice in the grocery shopping context. They also reported that

consumers had accurate perceptions of market pricing related to the

store that they considered in their study. According to Yavas (2003),

price is an important driver in store choice among a battery of

patronage motivations. Studies have also linked the pricing policies of

an organization to consumer value perceptions and ultimate shopping

intentions. (Biswas et al, 2002).

According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2007), retail store image

have images of their own that serves to influence the perceived quality

of products that carry and the decision of consumers as to where to

shop. These images stem from their design and physical environment,

their pricing strategies, and product assortment. As stressed by Alba et

al (1994), a study of retail store image based on comparative pricing

strategies found that consumers tend to perceive stores that offer a

small discount on a large number of items (i.e. frequency of price

advantage) as having lower prices overall than competing stores that

offer larger discounts on a smaller number of products (i.e. magnitude

of price advantage). Thus, frequent advertising that presents larger

numbers’ of price specials reinforces consumer beliefs about the

competitiveness of a store’s prices.

In the past, store displays were mainly used for promotional

purposes. But as consumers became more sophisticated, retailers

have discovered new roles for effective displays: communicating

product information and store image, assisting consumers in making

purchase decisions, and creating an exciting shopping environment

(Bell and Ternus, 2002). For the purpose of this study, store image is

defined as customers’ perception about quality, price and atmosphere

of the furniture store only as the main attributes. This was assessed by

the customers’ cognitive attitudes towards those attributes. Below is

store image components partly adapted from Giraldi et.al. (2005)

Table 2.1: Components of Store image

Component Details

Price Low price

Competitive price

Quality Good or poor quality

stock brand names

Atmosphere Sufficient number of employees

Well trained employees

High quality décor

Beautiful

Besides store factors such as merchandise, service, price,

atmosphere, promotion and people, retail stores also have images of

their own to influence the perception of the consumer. Their perceived

quality of products and others will subsequently lead to consumer

decisions to shop. This personalize self images that the store possess

are strictly associated with consumer personality and lifestyle.

Consumers tend to shop in stores that have images consistent with

their own self images (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007).

Baker (1998) posits that the store environment offers a rich set

of informational cues that consumers use to make inferences about

products and service. For example, customers who see a store with

marble floors and crystal chandeliers may expect merchandise quality

to be high, and prices to be expensive. Several studies have

empirically supported the notion that store environment cues lead to

consumer inferences and expectations about a store's merchandise,

service, prices and shopping experience costs (such as waiting time),

which in turn influence store patronage intentions (Baker,

Parasuraman, Grewal and Voss 2000; Baker, Grewal and

Parasuraman 1994; Chebat, Chebat- Gelinas, and Filiatrault 1993;

Grewal and Baker 1994; Mazursky and Jacoby 1986). They propose

that consumers' decisions to stay and shop in a store where they need

salespeople to help them through the shopping process (particularly in

a store they have not previously patronized) are based on the cognitive

inferences they make from in-store cues about waiting time and

perceived crowding, and from how they feel about the overall

atmosphere of the store.

Kotler (2000) argued that a retail store offers a unique

atmosphere that may influence the consumer’s patronage decision.

This influence is in part manifested through an inference-making

process, whereby consumers make judgments about what they don’t

know (e.g., product quality, price) based upon what they can observe in

the store’s environment (Baker 1998).

Specifically, we seek to determine if the number of customers in

the store (perceived crowding), number of employees in the store, and

presence (versus absence) of music, influence customer perceptions of

crowding, expectations about waiting time, and their evaluation of the

store's atmosphere, which, in turn, is proposed to influence customers

perceptions of value and store patronage intentions in past store

environment research (e.g., Baker, Grewal and Levy 1992; Darden and

Babin 1994; Donovan and Rossiter 1982, Donovan, Rossiter,

Marcoolyn and Nesdale 1994), posits that the physical environment

influences an individual’s emotional response to that environment.

Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1993) proposed that implicit

promises made by tangible cues (e.g., cues in the store environment)

may influence customer expectations.

The retail store atmosphere has been shown to have a positive

influence on consumers’ patronage intentions (e.g., Baker, Grewal and

Levy 1992; Darden, Erdem and Darden 1983; Donovan and

Rossiter 1982; Hui et al. 1997). The physical retail environment has

become a primary tool for differentiating one brand from another,

particularly as the product selections among competing retailers

overlap. In short, retailers attempt to control the look of their sales floor

as a way of encouraging purchases, creating value, and controlling the

mental representation of a store in the mind of the consumer (Baker,

Grewal and Parsasuraman 1994; Grewal, Baker, Levy and Voss

2002). Keller (1993), store equity is defined as ‘‘the differential effect of

store knowledge on customer response to the marketing activities of

the store.’’ It is important to note that equity in both Keller’s definition

and in this definition is a consumer based concept rather than a

financially based concept and is conceptualized at the channel of

distribution level. As such, corporate retailers may have different store

equities for different retailing distribution outlets including brick-and

mortar stores, catalogs, and electronic storefronts, even though store

images may overlap. Keaveney and Hunt (1992), suggests that a store

image is developed by comparing incoming information to existing

category information in memory, and, therefore, store image is not only

a function of the image of a particular store but also of the images and

associations in the memory of existing store and/or retail categories.

Thus, the most recent conceptualization integrates not only the

perceptions and beliefs about a particular store but also the macro

levels of general schematic associations including the perceptions and

beliefs of general categories of retailers (e.g., discount, department, or

grocery stores).

Store image is the second component of store knowledge, which

is the gestalt of perceptions and attributes linked to a store, as reflected

in associations held in the memory (e.g., Grewal et al., 1998; Marks,

1976, Zimmer and Golden, 1988). Although researchers have

investigated various attributes of a store image, store image scales

suggest that the important attributes include general attributes (i.e.,

merchandise), store appearance, and salesmanship/service (Manolis

et al., 1994) based upon functional, experiential, or symbolic benefits

(Keller, 1993). Because the preceding discussion detailed the

conceptualizations of store image, the following discussion will be

limited to how this conceptualization fits into customer-based store

equity. Based upon a customer’s experience with a specific store, store

category, or retailers in general, the attributes associated with a store

can vary according to their favourability, strength, and uniqueness

(Keller, 1993). Retailer store image is important because it is a factor

determining retailer strategic behaviour. Retailers try to position their

stores such as that a defendable and sustainable market position is

obtained that fits their firms’ larger goal and strategies. This strategic

process involves the necessary actions being taken to resolve

discrepancies between the stores’ desired and achieved position on

each of the retail mix variables. (Arnold et.al.,1983). Ghosh (1994)

considers store image to be composed of eight different elements of

the retail marketing mix: location, merchandise, store atmosphere,

customer service, price, advertising, personal selling, and sales

incentive programs. The decision to patronize a store usually starts

with a set of characteristics or attributes that consumers consider

important. Consumers often use these attributes to determine which

stores can cater to their needs. Patronage studies in the past have

attempted to identify determinants of store choice in relation to

attributes, such as price, quality, variety of merchandise, credit

availability, return policies, and well-known labels/brands. According to

Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1995) environmental dimensions such

as air quality, lighting, layout, carpeting, and aisle width and placement

are physical store attributes used to project store image and influence

store choice.

Lewison (1994) discussed the store environment relative to the

five senses (i.e. sight, sound, scent, touch, taste). The store and its

environment are important because 70-80% of purchase decisions are

made in the store while inspecting the merchandise. Retail

management should attempt to create a motivating, comforting store

environment, with exciting store interior and appealing merchandise

presentation. Lewison describes how a retailer can use sensory

appeals, sight, sound, scent, touch and taste appeal to affect a

favourable store image and a pleasant shopping environment. For

example, the retailer might use sight appeal to arouse the consumer’s

attention. The use of sight appeal can be accomplished by creating

harmonious, contrasting, or clashing visual relationships in display,

layout, or physical arrangement of the store. In general, harmonious

relationships are seen in quieter, plusher, more formal retail settings,

while contrasting and clashing relationships are found in more exciting,

cheerful, and informal stores. Yalch and Spangenberg (1988) studied

the effects of environmental music (i.e., foreground, popular top-40 with

lyrics, background, easy listening without lyrics, no music) played in

two men’s departments of a clothing store on consumers after they

shopped. Specifically, this study was conducted to examine the

relationship between types of music provided in a retail store and in-

store shopping behavior.

According to Holman & Wilson (1982) retailers should identify

store attributes, especially environmental dimensions that directly

impact the physical environment and result in positive responses from

their consumers, as well as those attributes that will affect future

patronage decisions. Shim and Kotsiopulos (1992a) used seven

factors to measure the importance of store attributes. These were sales

personnel, customer services, and visual image of the store, price /

return policies, easy access, brand / fashion, and quality / variety.

Price/return policies, brand/fashion, and quality/variety gave partial

explanations to the patronage of specialty stores. Shopping

orientations, information sources, and personal characteristics were all

found to influence the importance of store attributes. A group of

people categorized as appearance managers patronized

specialty stores and placed emphasis on the importance of store

attributes (Shim & Kotsiopulos, 1992a). Salespeople are a key

component of the retail environment. They serve as the primary social

agent in shoppers’ social experience with the store and can influence

customer satisfaction, store perceptions and patronage

intentions (Baker et al. 2002). Retailers can easily manipulate their

sales staff by hiring individuals who they feel will “fit” well with the

desired store image. Even once a staff member is hired, retailers still

exert control over appearance with dress and grooming policies. This is

particularly the case with retailers in the apparel industry. When

retailers hire employees who do not fit the store image, consumers

may experience dissonance from the resulting contrast. This reaction

can produce negative reactions such as negative effect, unfavorable

store evaluations and store avoidance (Babin and Babin 2001).

.

3. PROCEDURAL METHOD

This section presents an overview of the methods to use in the study. Areas

covered include the research design, population, sample and sampling techniques,

data collection and analysis.

3.1. Research design

The study will involve the evaluating the relationship between

customer patronage with the store image or reputation. Consequently,

the research will be designed to achieve the objectives set out by the

researcher.

3.2. Population

The population customers of Tesco and Giant are biggest and

involve several range of age. The ranges of age customer of Tesco

and Giant are children, teenager and adult. The target population for

this study are teenage and adult.

3.3. Sample and sampling technique

In order to conduct this research, we will use the simple random

sampling method. By using this sampling technique, it assures each

range of age in the population has an equal chance of being included

in sample have been choice randomly.

3.4. Data collection

There have two types of data collection; secondary data and

primary data. Secondary source of data can be collect by doing the

online information database and data thru the journals base on

journals, books and internets. Primary data is more accurate compare

to secondary data. However it is hard to get and it required more cost,

effort from researcher and timely. Researcher will use questionnaires

method to get the accurate data and it will be analyse thru the SPSS

software.

3.4.1 Secondary Data

Secondary data have previously been gathered by someone,

other than the researcher and/or for some purpose other than

the research project at hand. In this study, the researcher use

online information data base and journals.

3.4.1.1 Online information database

The data searchable by search engines online.

Some online databases are available free of charge

and are supply by as a service host organization.

The researcher gets the information to complete our

research by searching the internet to get the

information more detail about Tesco and Giant

Company.

3.4.1.2 Journals (Books, Journal and Internet)

A journal is the important information to support

understanding on the research project concern. It

also provides a supportive structure of solid

information and to discuss terrorized, comment and

offer opinions. In this research the researcher insert

a few journals to support and to make them better

understanding and confidence on the topic that they

want to study.

3.4.2 Primary Data

Primary data is the data collected for specific studies from the

original sources through surveys. There are several method of

collecting data, such as communication/questioning,

observation and experimentation. In this study, the researcher

use face to face interview and direct questionnaire. It is

collected from several sources by using survey instrument that

include questionnaires distribution to the respondents.

3.4.2.1 Questionnaires

The type of instrument use in this research is 5 point

likert scale questionnaire. The questionnaires are in

close question. The questionnaire was dividing into 3

sections. Section A included demographic factors

while section B tested the independent variables

(store image) and section C tested the dependent

variable (customer patronage). The five-point likert

scale assigned points 1,2,3,4 and 5 to terms of

strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree and

strongly agree as in the order of the numbers

Simple questionnaires will be giving to the customer

of Tesco and Tesco Extra as our respondents. All

the answer will be analyze to be the research data.

Researcher will wait the respondents answer all the

questions and assist them if they needs any help.

3.3 Frame of Work

Thesis Proposal Stage (week)L. Review & formulation of research modelGoal and objectives formulationMethodology developmentPilot studyData collectionData input and analysisFindingsWrite-upSubmission

4. REFERENCES

1. Dayang Nailul Munna Abang Abdullah & F.Rozario (2009). Influence of Service and Product Quality towards Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study at the Staff Cafeteria in the Hotel Industry.

2. Shirshendu Ganguli & Sanjit Kumar Roy (2010). Generic technology-based service quality dimensions in banking: Impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

3. Yam B. Limbu, Marco Wolf & Dale Lunsford (2011). Consumers’ perceptions of online ethics and its effects on satisfaction and loyalty

4. Patricia Huddleston, Judith Whipple, Rachel Nye Mattick and So Jung Lee. Customer satisfaction in food retailing: comparing specialty and conventional grocery stores

5. Binta Abu Bakar, Felix Mavondo and Val Clulow ( 2005). Customer satisfaction with supermarket retail shopping .

6. Alba, W.J. et.al.(1994), The influence of Prior Beliefs, Frequency Cues, and

Magnitude Cues on Consumers’ perception and comparative price Data,

Journal of Consumer Research 21: 219-35.