Shoppers' attachment with retail stores: Antecedents and impact on patronage intentions

Systemic changes are transforming traditional brick-and-mortar retailing, with some venerable retailers closing some or all of their stores, others reinventing store layouts and shopper engagement tactics, and, interestingly, the migration of erstwhile online-only retailers to the physical retail landscape. Given these changes, it is imperative for brick-and-mortar retailers to identify newer customer relationship mechanisms that motivate patronage intentions. Drawing from research on consumer-brand relationships, this study introduces store attachment as a second-order relational construct comprising of store-self connection and store prominence. Subsequently, for store attachment, cognitive and emotional antecedents as well as consequent influence on store patronage intentions are hypothesized and tested. Based on the findings, implications are offered for retailing researchers and practitioners.