Retailer community embeddedness and consumer patronage

This paper provides a test of a conceptual framework based in sociology that models how consumer patronage of a retailer is impacted by retailer community embeddedness. Through a mail survey (n=130) of the residents of a small, western US town, patronage was explored as a function of the three embeddedness constructs, socializing actions (the retailer's customization of offerings), reciprocity (the norm for support of local businesses), and social compliance (feeling pressured by others to shop at the local store), being mediated through two constructs, utilitarian value (the perceived value derived from the specific product offerings) and congregation (the consumer's ability to see friends). The model is estimated using a series of multiple regression equations in a path analysis that finds support for the mediated model. Not only does the sociological framework demonstrate that consumer perceptions of retailer utilitarian value appear to be malleable-being shaped by sociological factors related to community embeddedness-but that significant retailer value, in the minds of consumers, derives from the retailer being a place for congregation and community interaction.