ABSTRACT
Retailers generally cannot change the intrinsic cues of products they sell, such as the scent, nutritional value, or color of product, but they can control the extrinsic cues, for which changes do not formally alter the offering. Among the nearly endless number of cues that retailer can influence, this chapter focuses on four types—store environment, merchandise, price, and communication cues—to explore how they affect shopping perceptions and behaviors. Retailers invest millions of dollars to ensure that their store atmosphere creates an appealing environment and encourages consumers to shop, using elements that can be classified into three categories: design, ambiance, and social. In addition to store environment cues and merchandise cues, retailers must carefully consider how to present price of their merchandise and services. The chapter discusses the impact of advertised reference prices as cues, and explores price and other extrinsic cues or tactics related to price. It then explores the impact of price-matching guarantees as cues that prompt consumer reactions.
