The Specification of Store Environments: the Role of Design-Architecture in the Development of Retailer Brand Loyalty

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for the inclusion of the aesthetic in the study of retail branding. It proposes modifications to the Mehrabian & Russell (1974) stimulus-organism-response model which characterises most approaches to the holistic study of store environments. Store prototype and retailer attachment are among the global and attribute level variables that could together with collative variables such as novelty and complexity help explain retail brand loyalty. The framework is exploratory and aims to add to existing knowledge on the dynamic, situated, perceptive processes at hand when consumers are exposed to the multitude of cues and messages typically contained in the retail branded environment.