Post-pandemic retail in India: an analysis

The current study examines consumer-retailer emotional attachment and interpersonal likeability towards word-of-mouth and consequently post-pandemic local store loyalty. Further, the mediating influence of word-of-mouth and information sharing was examined on emotional attachment, interpersonal likeability, and local store loyalty. Data was collected from customers purchasing products from local stores in north-western India via an online structured questionnaire. A covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) for confirmatory factor analysis, mediation, and moderation analysis was used for data analysis. Word-of-mouth was found to act as a partial mediator between interpersonal likeability, consumer-retailer emotional attachment, and local store loyalty. Information sharing was a significant moderator between word-of-mouth and local store loyalty relationships. The current study attempts to understand the significance of these constructs in the Indian market post-pandemic in the local or small unorganized retail store loyalty context.