Perception of customer retail experiences in Poland
ISSN: 0887-6045
Article publication date: 28 December 2020
Issue publication date: 5 April 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Poland’s political and economic transition of 1989 resulted in a cultural trauma experienced by consumers, which has influenced their perception of the retail experience. However, younger Polish consumers can remember neither communism nor the transition period. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the differences in perception of customer experiences in retail between Poland’s pre- and post-transitional generations.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey is first conducted with a sample of 1,045 Polish consumers measuring their perception of utilitarian and hedonic customer experiences in retail environments. Then, five qualitative focus group interviews with 29 participants provide an in-depth understanding of the survey results.
Findings
The quantitative study suggests that the pre-transitional generation is focused on utilitarian experiences, whereas the post-transitional generation is attracted to hedonic experiences in retail environments. The qualitative study provides an understanding of how the utilitarian and hedonic aspects of customer retail experiences are perceived and how the cultural trauma manifests in consumers’ values.
Originality/value
The study provides a new perspective on the customer experience in retail contexts from a society that has undergone a cultural trauma. The findings focus on generational differences in consumer attitudes toward hedonic and utilitarian experiences in a post-transition society and expand the theory of cultural trauma into the field of customer retail experience.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dr Alison Pearce, Dr Ryan Elder and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and feedback on the original submission which helped to improve this paper.
Funding: This research was financed by grant number DEC-2012/05/B/HS4/04213 from the Narodowe Centrum Nauki (National Science Centre).
Citation
Kacprzak, A. and Dziewanowska, K. (2021), "Perception of customer retail experiences in Poland", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 182-200. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-03-2019-0116
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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