Diagnosing the Relationship Between Corporate Reputation and Retail Patronage

Corporate reputation is relatively stable, long-term, collective judgments by outsiders of an organization\u27s achievements. It may be an important factor that influences consumer behavior. A study was conducted in Taiwan to investigate the effects of retailer reputation on consumer store patronage patterns. A sample of 350 supermarket consumers was studied in Taiwanese cities. It was found that corporate reputation does not have a significant impact on shopping expenditure, time traveled and patronage frequencies. Three explanations that hindered the influence of corporate reputation on consumers’ shopping expenditure, travel time and patronage frequencies in grocery shopping contexts are proposed; they are perishable goods, price consciousness and reputation indifference. These imply consumers might have a positive impression toward a grocery retailer; yet they just do not want to patronize the retailer anymore. Implications for reputation and retailing research are discussed