The impact of consumer confidence on store satisfaction and share of wallet formation

Abstract

For retailer managers, it is crucial to understand the relationships between customers’ store attribute evaluations, satisfaction, and share of wallet as well as how these relationships change over time depending on the business cycle. This study investigates this complex relationship using an extensive dataset for all grocery chains in the Netherlands over the period 2009–2012. Our findings indicate that retailers should not overemphasize the importance of a favorable price image in times of low consumer confidence. Instead, our study shows that the relationship between service attributes and customer satisfaction is stronger in periods with low consumer confidence.