Retail patronage intentions: the relative importance of perceived prices and salesperson service attributes

This paper uses conjoint analysis to investigate the relative importance to consumers of prices and selected salesperson service attributes when shopping in consumer electronics stores. The findings indicate that, with all salesperson attributes tested, there is a larger difference between responses to the low and middle levels of the attributes than to those between the high and middle levels. Thus, regardless of price, a retailer should avoid poor service levels on any attribute, and a retailer who charges higher than average prices does not need to provide the highest service levels on all attributes.