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Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores

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  • Louis, Didier
  • Lombart, Cindy
  • Durif, Fabien

Abstract

This research investigates the consequences for retailers and their stores of a new sustainable consumption trend—the purchase and consumption of bulk products. It examines the effects of offering packaging-free products on three subdimensions of perceived proximity (identity, process, and relational) and on transactional loyalty (satisfaction–loyalty) and relational loyalty (satisfaction–trust–loyalty). A total of 1407 buyers and consumers of bulk products at a convenience store (of a university cooperative style) filled out an online questionnaire. These consumers were then divided into three subgroups (convinced, pragmatic, and wary). This research empirically establishes that unpacked products are a strategic tool for retailers and their stores to create or strengthen the relationships established with their customers. Unpacked products and the proximity they create between a consumer and a store are the first link in the development or preservation of a relational chain between the consumer and the store. Moreover, the step reached by the consumer in his process of purchasing and consuming packaging-free products (from the discovery stage to the already well-established habit) has a direct impact on the relational chain built.

Suggested Citation

  • Louis, Didier & Lombart, Cindy & Durif, Fabien, 2021. "Packaging-free products: A lever of proximity and loyalty between consumers and grocery stores," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:60:y:2021:i:c:s0969698921000655
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102499
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    Cited by:

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    3. Mikah O. Oliver & Iva Jestratijevic & James Uanhoro & Dee K. Knight, 2023. "Investigation of a Consumer’s Purchase Intentions and Behaviors towards Environmentally Friendly Grocery Packaging," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Paweł Brzustewicz & Anupam Singh, 2021. "Sustainable Consumption in Consumer Behavior in the Time of COVID-19: Topic Modeling on Twitter Data Using LDA," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Mangirdas Morkūnas & Marija Kotryna Grišmanauskaite˙, 2023. "What Really Drives Loyalty in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Market?," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 197-212, July.
    6. Giovanna Piracci & Fabio Boncinelli & Leonardo Casini, 2023. "Investigating Consumer Preferences for Sustainable Packaging Through a Different Behavioural Approach: A Random Regret Minimization Application," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 1-27, October.

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