Does brand orientation contribute to retailers' success? An empirical study in the South African market

Despite retailers investing considerable budgets in building and maintaining their corporate brands, very little research on the effect of brand orientation on their performance has been conducted. The main findings of this study among 196 respondents from the South African retail sector support the idea that values, norms, symbols and behavior are important elements of retailers' brand orientation. Building on insights from partial least squares path modeling, the findings emphasize the importance to a retail store's performance of agreed values and implemented norms being part of the everyday culture of all staff. Furthermore, the study shows that symbols of brand orientation and staff's brand-oriented behavior contribute significantly to a retailer's market performance.