Does Social and Ecological Image of Retailer Organic Branding Have a Positive Effect on Consumers’ Beliefs?
(A2019-4919)

AUTHORS

Yating Tian, Technische Universität München

KEYWORDS

Purchase intention ; Retailer organic brands; Social image

ABSTRACT

The research explores effects of social and ecological image of retailer organic brands on consumers’ beliefs. Consumers can perceive the retailer brand value by borrowing from social and public information sources, other than the product self. This study fills the research gap between brand knowledge transfer and consumers’ purchase intention by investigating the influence of the social and ecological image of associated entities and retailer identity. The research uses the method of structural equation modeling. Consumers’ belief, social and ecological image, retailer identity, and brand knowledge are four constructs. The image of retailers is perceived by consumers include distinguished values in comparison to traditional food brands. Instead of analyzing the economic benefits, this research explores the intangible value of retailer brands. The findings shows that the social and ecological image has a positive effect on the consumers’ beliefs; retailer identity has a significant influence on purchase beliefs and the strength of knowledge transfer has a strong and significant effect on the beliefs of consumers that lead to purchase intention. A positive image of the associated entities, with which retailers engage, can have positive effect on consumers’ beliefs. The conclusion is summarized image of retailer organic brands perceived by consumers are influential to