ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY IN THE VIETNAMESE SUPERMARKETS

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business




Lam Hoang Vu


ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER
LOYALTY IN THE VIETNAMESE
SUPERMARKETS



MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)









Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2012

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business

Lam Hoang Vu


ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER
LOYALTY IN THE VIETNAMESE
SUPERMARKETS



ID: 60340102


MASTER OF BUSINESS (Honours)
SUPERVISOR: DR. NGUYEN THI MAI TRANG





Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2012
Running head: ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY i




ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY IN THE VIETNAMESE
SUPERMARKETS
LAM HOANG VU

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my sincere thankfulness to my research advisor, Dr. Nguyen
Thi Mai Trang, who made me believe in myself and gave me the possibility to
complete this thesis. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing
this thesis. I am sure that this thesis would not have been possible without her support.
I also thank Prof. Nguyen Dinh Tho. I am extremely grateful and indebted to him for
his expert, valuable guidance, insightful comments, and encouragement extended to
me.
I would like to express my gratitude to all ISB staffs that supported necessary
materials and helped summit my papers.
Especially, I would like to give my special thanks my family for supporting me
spiritually throughout my life.



Lam Hoang Vu
Ho Chi Minh City, December 29, 2012







ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY iii

ABSTRACT
With a population of 91 million consumers and economic growth rate averaged 6.37
percent from 2000 until 2012, Vietnam has been an attractive foreign investment
destination. Moreover, consumer preference has been changing along with higher
income, becoming sophisticated and improving living standard in recent years. In
addition, Nguyen, Nguyen, and Barrett (2007, p. 228) claim that “little has been paid
to transitional markets like Vietnam, where supermarkets are still a new retailing
system, appealing primarily to upper class consumers in urban areas of the country”.
Therefore, supermarket retailers have to take advantage of new innovations to create
their competitive advantages. When a customer goes shop at certain supermarket,
what make him/her keeping buying? And what are factors affecting his/her loyalty?
The retailers had to find out the answer to identify appropriate strategies for achieving
their own goals. Based on that, the study was carried out to reveal the impact of
service quality, product quality and assortment, layout, perceived price fairness, and
convenient location on shopper loyalty. The study was conducted by the survey
questionnaire. A sample of 420 consumers are living and working in Ho Chi Minh
City. The result revealed that service quality, product quality, perceived price fairness,
and convenient location have positive relationships with shopper loyalty.





ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II
ABSTRACT III
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. BACKGROUND 1

1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEMS 2
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES 3
1.4 RESEARCH DELIMITATION 3
1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1 SHOPPER LOYALTY 4
2.2 THE ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALY 5
2.2.1 Service quality 5
2.2.2 Product quality and assortment 6
2.2.3 Layout 7
2.2.4 Perceived price fairness 7
2.2.5 Convenient location 8
2.3 RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES 8
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 10
3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS 10
3.2 MEASUREMENT SCALES 11
3.2.1 Shopper loyalty 11
3.2.2 Service quality 11
3.2.3 Product quality and assortment 12
3.2.4 Layout 12
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY v

3.2.5 Perceived price fairness 13
3.2.6 Convenient location 13
3.3 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 13
3.3.1 Sampling 14
3.3.2 Data collection 14
3.3.3 In-depth interviews result 14
3.4 SAMPLING METHOD 15
3.4.1 Sampling 16

3.4.2 Data collection 16
3.5 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS 16
3.5.1 Cronbach’s alpha 16
3.5.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 17
3.5.3 Multiple Regression Analysis 18
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 19
4.1 DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS 19
4.2 MEASURE ASSESSMENT 20
4.2.1 Cronbach’s alpha 20
4.2.2 Exploratory factor analysis 21
4.3 HYPOTHESES TESTING 23
4.4 TESTING THE EFFECTS OF DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES 24
4.5 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 25
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION 29
5.1 CONCLUSION 29
5.2 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS 30
5.3 LIMITATION OF STUDY AND FUTURE RESEARCH 31
REFERENCES 33
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY vi

APPENDICES 38
Appendix A: Questionnaire 38
Appendix B: Codified Variables 40
Appendix C: First Time Running – Eigenvalues 44
Appendix D: First Time Running – Factor Loadings 45
Appendix E: Second Time Running – Eigenvalues 46
Appendix F: Second Time Running – Factor Loadings 47
Appendix G: Third Time Running – Eigenvalues 48
Appendix H: Charts of Testing Hypotheses 49
Appendix I: Result of Affecting of Demographic Variables 51

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: A Conceptual Model 8
Figure 3.1: Research Process 10
Figure H.1: Histogram of Shopper Loyalty 49
Figure H.2: Normal P-P Plot of Shopper Loyalty 49
Figure H.3: Scatterplot of Shopper Loyalty 50








ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY vii

LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Scales of Shopper Loyalty 11
Table 3.2: Scales of Service Quality 12
Table 3.3: Scales of Product Quality and Assortment 12
Table 3.4: Scales of Layout 13
Table 3.5: Scales of Perceived Price Fairness 13
Table 3.6: Scales of Convenient Location 13
Table 3.7: Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Coefficient 17
Table 4.1: Sample Description 19
Table 4.2: Reliability Analysis 20
Table 4.3: Factor Loadings 22
Table 4.4: Results of Pearson Correlation 23
Table 4.5: Results of Standard Multiple Regression 24

Table 4.6: Creating and Recoding Variables 24
Table 4.7: Results of Hypotheses Testing 26
Table I1: Model Summary of Testing Male 51
Table I2: Model Summary of Testing Younger 51
Table I3: Model Summary of Testing Student 51
Table I4: Model Summary of Testing Low Income 52
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the background of the Vietnamese supermarket industry as well
as the status of shopper loyalty. The research questions and objective are proposed to
explore the factors determining customer loyalty. Based on these, research delimitation
is proposed and thesis structure is presented.
1.1. Background
According to “Vietnam Retail Analysis (2008-2012)” (2010), the researchers claimed
that “fast pace growth in Vietnam’s retail market has made the country an attractive
destination for multinational retailers. Vietnam holds the 4
th
position among 30
countries attracting foreign investors. As per the WTO agreement, the government has
removed limitation on capital invested by the foreign investors.”. “The value of retail
sales in Vietnam has rapidly risen over the past few years”. “The retail sales are
expected to surge at a CAGR of around 20% during 2010-2012.”
C. V (2012) states that although the nation has faced a difficult year, the retail market in
2011 still grew and made up 15-16 percent of Vietnam’s GDP with an increase of 29.3
percent over the previous year. Currently, there are approximately 900 supermarkets,
shopping malls, and convenience stores, along with a system of 9,000 traditional
markets in Vietnam. Moreover, the spending and consumption habit of Vietnamese
people has change a lot in the last few years.

As stated in “Vietnam Retail Market Forecast to 2014” (2012), “the modern retail
channels are expected to play a crucial role in future growth”. Moreover, it is estimated
that the retail sale will continue to grow at a CAGR of around 26% during 2012-2015.
In addition, the report also mentioned that Vietnam is one of the world’s five most
lucrative retail markets. Therefore, Vietnam’s retail market will attract a number of
foreign investors as well as international brands.
These researches have pointed out that Vietnam has been considered to be one of the
most potential markets in Asia. In addition, foreign firms (like Big C, Metro) have been
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 2

entered the Vietnam retails. That means the domestics retailers have to face the toughest
challenges when the foreign firms entering Vietnam retail market. The issues are how
the domestic retailers survive and develop in the local retail market.
1.2 Research Problems
Yang, Do, Wang, Chang, and Hung (2011, p. 209) claim that 2009 was considered as a
crucial landmark for the Vietnamese retail industry with 100% foreign owned retailers
allowed under Vietnam’s commitment to WTO. It leads to a new development period
and rapid growth in Vietnamese retail market. Domestic retailers have to compete with
foreign multinational retailers on market share. In there, foreign firms take advantages
of capital and experience to reign over a share of supermarket chains. For example,
Metro has a plan to invest $100 million - $ 120 million for each outlet; Big C use $17
million to open supermarket in central Hue. And domestic firms have competitive
advantages in proximity locations and understanding local customers. As a result,
domestic firms have to enter an extreme race to compete against foreign ones. In order
to increase competitive advantages, they choose to expand stores to improve their
distributions. For example, Saigon Co.op confidently increases the outlets to reach 120
by 2012; Citimart also hopes to expand 10 more outlets in 2012. Therefore, the
appropriate strategies are the most important issue which both parties must consider in
order to prevail.
According to “Nielsen Shopper Trends” (2011), Vietnam has been faced with

inflationary pressures. It has led to some changes in shoppers’ behaviors that have
become more price-sensitive (www.nielsen.com). That means they has focused more on
value and their demands have been affected by a general increase in price. Otherwise,
Vietnamese shoppers still keep shopping at the certain store based on what they are
looking for. Consequently, it is necessary to explore the factors which determine
consumer loyalty to attract and retain customers. It also helps the firms make decisions
in order to select the most appropriate strategies for their goals.


ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 3

1.3 Research Questions and Objectives
This research is to identify, measure factors affecting shopper loyalty and determine the
relationship among them. The proposed research questions are as follows:
- Are there identifiable factors affecting shopper loyalty?
- What is the relationship between these factors and shopper loyalty? Which will
influence shopper loyalty the most?
The research objectives are:
- To identify factors affecting shopper loyalty in the Vietnamese supermarket.
- To determine the impact of each factor on shopper loyalty
1.4 Research Delimitation
This study focuses on individual shoppers in Ho Chi Minh City, who have more
shopping options than other. Children below 16 years old are not chosen to be
respondents. Moreover, the study focuses on attitudinal loyalty. Therefore, this sample
cannot represent for Vietnam nationwide. In addition, there are five factors including
service quality, product quality and assortment, layout, perceived price fairness, and
convenient location which are considered as the antecedents of shopper loyalty.
1.5 Thesis Structure
This thesis is organized as follows:
- Chapter 1 presents the research background, research problems, research questions

and objectives, research delimitation, and thesis structure.
- Chapter 2 introduces research model and its hypotheses as well as its literature review
- Chapter 3 illustrates the methodology conducted in this paper
- Chapter 4 presents research results is based on data collected
- Chapter 5 summarizes the research results, provide the findings and recommendations

ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 4

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is an overview of shopper loyalty and its antecedents which have been
conducted by previous researchers. Based on these studies, a conceptual model is
proposed.
2.1 Shopper Loyalty
Oliver (1996, cited in Donio', Massari, and Passiante, 2006, p. 446) defines customer
loyalty as “a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred
product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or
same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having
the potential to cause switching behavior”. In addition, Goodwright (n.d.) defines that
“customer loyalty is when an organization receives the ultimate reward for the way it
interacts with its customers; and competitive advantage can be achieved through
customer loyalty”.
Donio' et al. (2006, p. 446) propose three conceptualizations of customer loyalty: “as
primarily an attitude that sometimes leads to a relationship with the brand”, “as mainly
expressed in term of revealed behavior”; and “ buying moderated by the individual’s
attitudes”
In short, customer loyalty is one of the most important issues of the firms. The customer
will chose one product/service instead of one of other competitors. In other way, when
the firm delivers superior value and wins customer loyalty, it ensures that the firms can
be continued profitable. That means market share, profitability will be going up and the

cost of attracting new customer will go down (Fraenkel, 2009)
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 5

Costabile (2001, cited in Donio', 2004, p. 447) describes the dynamic model of
customer loyalty in which customer loyalty is considered as an outcome of attitudinal
dimensions including customer satisfaction, trust and commitment. In there,
“satisfaction with purchases, and consequential habit formation, explains most of a
person’s ongoing propensity to buy one or a product from a specific firm”.
Gounaris and Stathakopoulos (2004, cited in Nguyen, Nguyen, and Barrett, 2007, p.
229) claim that there are three main different perspectives of loyalty such as attitudinal,
behavioral and reasoned action. Moreover, the attitudinal approach posits that loyalty is
based on psychological commitment, purchase intention, and word-of-mouth
recommendations. In this research, shopper loyalty refers to strong feelings about
loyalty and commitment relative to their supermarkets, to continue purchasing goods in
the same supermarket and recommend it to others (Baker et al., 2002; Sirohi et al.,
1998; Zeithaml et al., 1996, cited in Nguyen et al., 2007, p. 229)
2.2 The Antecedents of Shopper Loyalty
2.2.1 Service quality.
Service quality is defined as “an overall assessment of service by the customers”
(Lewis and Booms, 1983, cited in Ganguli and Roy, 2010, p. 405). In the retail
industry, service quality is measured by interacting between customers and firm
employees. That means “quality evaluations are not made solely on the outcome
of a service; they also involve evaluations of the process of service delivery”
(Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1988, p.42). Kandampully (1998, p. 443)
states that service quality is a critical and indispensable factor in persuading
customers to use a particular service provider instead of another. In addition,
customers in service industries will switch into other firms if they have the
feeling of disconnection from the current service provider for many reasons
including inconvenience, core service failures, failed service encounters, and
response to failed service encounters (Keaveney, 1995, cited in Pollack, 2009, p.

45). Therefore, in order to gain customer loyalty, many organizations find it
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 6

essential to maintain service quality on a regular basis (Kandampully, 1998, p.
443). Pollack (2009, p. 45) reveals that service quality is a significant predictor
of word-of-mouth and intention to re-purchase. Consequently, it is expected that
the higher service quality will be more loyal to supermarket.
H1: There is a positive relationship between service quality and shopper
loyalty.
2.2.2 Product quality and assortment.
Garvin (1987, cited in Yuen and Chan, 2010, p. 225) proposes eight dimensions
of product quality such as performance, features, conformance, reliability,
durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and customer-perceived quality. The
recognition of product can be considered as an initial stage for developing
customer satisfaction and creating customer loyalty (Eduardo, Arturo, and Jorge,
2008). Kotler and Keller (2006, cited in Yuen and Chan, 2010, p. 227) claim that
the better the possibility of delivering quality products, the higher the level of
maintaining customer satisfaction “which encourages customers to make their
next purchases”.
Mantrala et al. (2009, p. 71) state that by striking appropriate balance among
variety, depth, and service levels, the retailers expect to satisfy the customer
needs by delivering the right merchandise in the right store at the right time.
When the retailer doesn’t meet the expected assortment, customers will switch to
another one which leads to the loss of both current and future sales. In addition,
the more congenial the merchandise on the shelf is organized to the customers’
preference (Alba and Hutchinson, 1987, cited in Mantrala et al., 2009, p. 74), the
easier the information about the items is processed (Fiske and Taylor, 1991, cited
in Mantrala et al., 2009, p. 74).
H2: There is a positive relationship between product quality and assortment
and shopper loyalty.

ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 7

2.2.3 Layout.
According to Aghazadeh (2005), there are three principles of layout including
circulation, coordination, and convenience. Among these, circulation includes
many factors such as location, size, shape, and character of merchandise which
control the traffic flow throughout the store. Coordination is the ability to control
customer movement or predetermined impression on the customer by combining
goods and space; and to create the desired atmosphere. Finally, convenience is
arranging items to cater to various customer needs by emphasizing on the
management’s policy, the character of the merchandise, and the character of the
customers.
Huddleston, Whipple, and VanAuken (2004, p. 225) point out that “a store with
a consistent layout in different geographical areas and stores with wide aisles and
less congestion are more likely to satisfy customers”. In addition, Wilson (2007,
p. 126) reveals that store layout has a great impact on customers “when a store
remodeled or a new store is built”. Thus, we propose that there is a positive
relationship between layout and shopper loyalty.
H3: There is a positive relationship between layout and shopper loyalty.
2.2.4 Perceived price fairness.
Pan and Zinkhan (2006, p. 230) state that “shopping channels are significantly
different in terms of the general price levels for products sold”. “Low prices, in
the form of either price promotions or general price levels, can create store
traffic and increase category sales”. However, there are consumers who are
willing to pay more for quality called price-seeking (Tellis and Gaeth, 1990,
cited in Pan and Zinkhan, 2006, p. 230)
Zeithaml (1998, cited in Bei and Chiao, 2001, p. 129) states that the perceived
price is based on the consumer’s viewpoint which “is more meaningful than
monetary price”. If consumers realize that the price of a service or product is
fair, they will be encouraged to continue to re-purchase (Lee, 1998, cited in Bei

and Chiao, 2001, p. 130). Bei and Chiao (2001) point out that perceived price
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 8

LAYOUT
H3

(+)

SHOPPER
LOYALTY
CONVENIENT
LOCATION
H5

(+)

PERCEIVED
PRICE FAIRNESS
H4

(+)

SERVICE
QUALITY
H1

(+)

PRODUCT
QUALITY AND

ASSORTMENT
H2

(+)

fairness has impact on customer loyalty. In addition, Brumley (2002) claim that
perceived price fairness has positive impact on shopper loyalty.
H4: There is a positive relationship between perceived price fairness and
shopper loyalty
2.2.5 Convenient location.
Rowley (2005, p. 578) states that it is difficult to create the differentiation
strategies for supermarkets through price, quality and product range without
concerning convenient location. In addition, Huff (1964, cited in Piron, 2001, p.
49) consider location as one of the most popular factors influencing store choice.
Michels and Bowen (2005, p. 7) claim that store location and ease of access have
significant impacts on the re-patronage intention. Koo (2003, p. 61) proposes
that among three factors: location, merchandising, and after sales service which
affect store loyalty, location is the most influential. Thus, it could be expected
that convenient location have a positive influence on customer loyalty.
H5: There is a positive relationship between convenient location and shopper
loyalty.
2.3 Research Model and Hypotheses
Based on the above studies, a conceptual model is proposed. Details about a conceptual
model and it hypotheses as follows:

Figure 2.1: A Conceptual Model
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 9

H1: There is a positive relationship between service quality and shopper loyalty.
H2: There is a positive relationship between product quality and assortment and shopper
loyalty.
H3: There is a positive relationship between layout and shopper loyalty.
H4: There is a positive relationship between perceived price fairness and shopper loyalty.
H5: There is a positive relationship between convenient location and shopper loyalty.















ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 10

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter includes five parts: the first part is research process in which is the way to
conduct research will be presented; the second part is measurement scales; the third part

is the results of in-depth qualitative research interviews; the forth part is sampling
methods; and the last part introduces the methods to analyze data.
3.1 Research Process
This study is conducted as given in the chart below (Figure 3.1)
















Figure 3.1: Research Process
Quantitative research
Testing of hypotheses
(Standard multiple regression)
Assessment of measurement
(Cronbach alpha, EFA)
Research model
Problem
definition
Measurement scales

Qualitative research
Literature
review
Official scales
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 11

The starting point of the process is the identification of research objectives based on the
definition of problems in retail markets. So, the end point is the results of hypotheses
testing by using standard multiple regression.
3.2 Measurement Scales
This part includes measurement scales of shopper loyalty and its antecedents adapted
from Allaway et al. (2011) and Nguyen et al. (2007)
3.2.1 Shopper loyalty.
Scale items of shopper loyalty are adapted from Allaway et al. (2011, p. 192) and
Nguyen et al. (2007, p. 239)
Table 3.1
Scales of Shopper Loyalty
No. Item
1 I care about the long-term success of this store
2
I have faith in this store
3
This store gives me a feeling of confidence
4
I trust this store
5
I would expend effort on behalf of this store to help it succeed
6
I say positive things about this store to others
7

I am “emotionally attached” to the store
8
I feel loyal to this store
9
I have a sense of belonging to this store
10
I am going to do my shopping in this store in next few weeks
11
I will recommend this store to someone who seeks advice
12
I am very committed to this store
13
Shopping in this store is my first choice
14
I encourage my relatives and friends to go to this store
3.2.2 Service quality.
Service quality was measured base on Allaway et al. (2011, p. 193), it shows in
Table 3.2.
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 12

Table 3.2
Scales of Service Quality
No. Item
1
This store has helpful employees
2
This store has friendly employees
3
The employees at this store(s) are polite to me
4

This store has an adequate number of employees available to assist me
5
This store is service oriented
6
In general, I am satisfied with the service offered at this store
7
My shopping experiences at this store have always been pleasant
3.2.3 Product quality and assortment.
Nine scale items of Allaway et al. (2011, p. 193) are used to measure product
quality and assortment (see Table 3.3).
Table 3.3
Scales of Product Quality and Assortment
No. Item
1
The products at this store are of high quality
2
The products at this store are very satisfactory compared to other stores

3
I shop this store because its products are superior to its competitors
4
This store has products that are not available at other stores
5
This store has good quality merchandise
6
This store has the right merchandise selection
7
This store is well stocked across its different departments
8
This store offers the assortments of product I am looking for

9
This store has an extensive assortment of products
3.2.4 Layout.
Scale items of layout are adapted from Allaway et al. (2011, p. 194). A good
layout allows the customers easy to navigate and they don’t feel pressure to
choose an item (see Table 3.4).
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 13

Table 3.4
Scales of Product Quality and Assortment
No. Item
1
Finding the product I need is easy
2
The width of aisles at this store allows for easy cart navigation
3
It is easy to locate the different departments within this store
4
This store has a leasing layout
3.2.5 Perceived price fairness.
The items of prices were suggested by Allaway et al. (2011, p. 194) (see Table
3.5)
Table 3.5
Scales of Perceived Price Fairness
No.

Item
1
I am satisfied with the general price level of merchandise at this store
2

This store provides a good value for the money
3
I am satisfied with the price/quality ratio offered at this store
3.2.6 Convenient location
Allaway et al. (2011, p. 194) introduced that the item of “This store is located
where it can be easily reached” and “I am satisfied with the location of this
store” are used to measure convenient location of the store (see Table 3.6).
Table 3.6
Scales of Convenient Location
No. Item
1
This store is located where it can be easily reached
2
I am satisfied with the location of this store
3.3 Qualitative Research
The purpose of qualitative research is to explore factors affecting shopper loyalty and
their items. Scales of shopper loyalty and the antecedents are adapted from Allaway et
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 14

al. (2011) and Nguyen et al. (2007). According to Vishnevsky and Beanlands (2004, p.
235), “the term ‘qualitative research’ encompasses a number of research methods
within the naturalistic paradigm that take different approaches to the research design”.
There are three commons of qualitative designs such as ethnography, phenomenology
and grounded theory. In there, Polit, Beck, and Hungler (2001, cited in Vishnevsky and
Beanlands, 2004, p. 236) supposed that “the main resource of data collection of
phenomenology is in depth-discussions with both the researcher and informant
participating fully”. Therefore, phenomenology would be suitable for this research.
Method of sampling, data collection and the results of in-depth interviews will be
presented in the next section.
3.3.1 Sampling.

Six participants are customer representatives. Participants were drawn from
different social class and had much shopping experiences. Each participant will
be investigated separately. All participants are living in Ho Chi Minh City.
3.3.2 Data collection.
In-depth interview has three steps. Firstly, the participants are asked a couple of
questions “which supermarket do you like best?” and “which factors of that
supermarket do you like?”. Secondly, they received a questionnaire and
examined all factors in more detail. Finally, the researcher recorded the results of
in-depth interview.
3.3.3 Results.
Details are as follows:
In measurement scales of shopper loyalty:
 The item of “I trust this store” and the item of “I have faith with this store”
had similar meanings. So, the item of “I have faith with this store” was
eliminated.
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 15

 The item of “I feel loyal to this store” and the item of “I am emotionally
attached to the store” had similar meaning. Therefore, the item of “I am
emotionally attached to the store” was discounted.
 The item of “I am very committed to this store” and the item of “I have a
sense of belonging to this store” had similar meaning. So, the item of “I have
a sense of belonging to this store” was eliminated.
 The meaning of the item of “I encourage my relative and friends to go to this
store” included the item of “I say positive things about this store to others”
and the item of “I will recommend this store to someone who seeks advice”.
 The item of “This store gives me a feeling of confidence” and the item of “I
would expend effort on behalf of this store to help it succeed” were not
necessary
In measurement scales of service quality, the item of “This store is service

oriented” was replaced by item “This store always improves service quality”
because it is quite difficult for the responses to understand.
In measurement scales of product quality and assortment, the item of “The
products at this store are of high quality” and the item of “This store has good
quality merchandise” had similar meaning. Therefore, the item of “This store has
good quality merchandise” was eliminated.
All items were measured by a seven-point Likert scale, anchored by 1: strongly
disagree and 7: strongly agree.
3.4 Sampling Method
After conducting qualitative research, the survey via questionnaire is completed. This
study includes 31 variables, in which 24 variables are independent and 07 dependent
variables. According to Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010), a general rule, the
sample size should be 100 or greater and the minimum sample should have a desired
ratio of 5 observations per variable.
ANTECEDENTS OF SHOPPER LOYALTY 16

n > 100 samples and n=5k (where k = the number of variables).
Therefore, the minimum sample size is n = 5*31 = 155.
For standard multiple regression analysis, Tabachnick and Fidell (1991) proposed that
the desired level is:
n > 50 + 8m (where m = number of independent variables)
Hence, the required sample is:
n > 50 + 8*5 = 90.
Thus, the minimum sample size is 155.
3.4.1 Sampling.
A sample of 402 respondents was drawn from different social classes living,
studying or working in Ho Chi Minh City. The sampling was conducted based
on convenience sampling. The respondents should have shopping experience.
3.4.2 Data collection.
The data collection was conducted by the survey questionnaire. Out of 455

respondents 420 returned questionnaire, of which 402 were usable, for a
response rate 92.3 percent. The accepted questionnaire must not having more
than one missing value and not selecting all “1” or all “7” for more than two
factors. The data collection was carried out from 10
th
Sep to 24
th
Oct, 2012.
3.5 Data Analysis Methods
All accepted questionnaire were reviewed for completion, coded and input the raw data
in IBM SPSS Statistic version 20. The reliability and validity of measurement scales
were evaluated by using Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis. Then,
multiple regression analysis is used to provide for interpreting the results of its
application from a managerial and statistical viewpoint (Hair et al., 2010). The list of
codified variables is shown in Appendix B.
3.5.1 Cronbach’s alpha.
According to Connely (2011, p. 45), “Cronbach’s alpha is used as only one
criterion for judging instruments or scales. It only indicates if the items “hang
together;” it does not determine if they are measuring the attribute they are