Aligning Brand and Consumer Identity Through Creative Merchandising Boosts Loyalty
Retailers can cultivate stronger consumer relationships, loyalty, and willingness to pay by ensuring their brand identity resonates with consumers' self-perceptions through carefully curated merchandise and innovative display strategies.
Journal of Retailing · 2020
Key Findings
- 01Creative merchandise offerings (unique, local, art-like, sustainable, high-fashion) can establish a distinct retail brand identity.
- 02Innovative merchandising strategies (thematic displays, storytelling, playfulness, exclusivity, virtual merchandising) help connect the brand to the customer.
- 03Social and technological tools can amplify brand identity communication to consumers.
- 04Identity congruence between the retailer and consumer leads to enhanced engagement, brand loyalty, and willingness to pay.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers and marketers should view merchandise not just as products, but as tangible expressions of brand identity that must actively resonate with the consumer's self-concept to build strong, lasting relationships.
How to apply
When developing product lines or planning store layouts, consider how each element can reinforce a specific brand identity that aligns with the desired customer profile's self-perception.
Project actions
- 01When selecting products for a design project, think about the 'story' they tell about the brand.
- 02Consider how the presentation of products (e.g., in a mock store display) can communicate brand values and appeal to a specific user identity.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides practical, actionable strategies for retailers.
- +Highlights the psychological link between identity and consumer behavior.
Limitations
It can be challenging to objectively measure 'identity congruence' without extensive user testing.
Reliability & validity
The reliability of findings from practitioner interviews can be moderate, as individual experiences may vary. Validity is strengthened by the focus on established retail concepts and the potential for triangulation with other market research.
Think critically
To what extent can a brand's identity be manipulated through merchandise and merchandising alone, without genuine alignment with core brand values?
Design Principles
"Brand identity is co-created through the congruence between a brand's offerings/presentation and the consumer's self-identity."
Understanding and actively shaping the perceived identity congruence between a brand and its customers is crucial for building lasting relationships. This research provides actionable strategies for designers and marketers to leverage product selection and presentation to foster deeper emotional connections and drive business success.
What This Means for Your Design
Brands can become more popular and get customers to spend more if their products and how they are displayed feel like they match who the customer is or wants to be.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify design choices related to product selection and presentation, linking them to brand identity and consumer connection.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
(2020). Forging meaningful consumer-brand relationships through creative merchandise offerings and innovative merchandising strategies. Journal of Retailing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2020.11.006 Retrieved from https://designdex.org/study/524910f6-50cf-4ca4-bd2b-520037cf74ca/aligning-brand-and-consumer-identity-through-creative-merchandising-boosts-loyalty
Paragraph starter
This research indicates that aligning a brand's merchandise and merchandising strategies with consumer identity is a powerful driver of brand loyalty and engagement. By offering unique, sustainable, or locally relevant products, and employing storytelling or exclusive displays, designers can foster a stronger connection between the consumer and the brand, leading to increased customer commitment and willingness to pay.
Source
Journal of Retailing
Forging meaningful consumer-brand relationships through creative merchandise offerings and innovative merchandising strategies
journal · 2020
View sourceQuestions about this research
- What does the research say about aligning brand and consumer identity through creative merchandising boosts loyalty?
- Designers and marketers should view merchandise not just as products, but as tangible expressions of brand identity that must actively resonate with the consumer's self-concept to build strong, lasting relationships. Evidence: Journal of Retailing (2020).
- Why does "Aligning Brand and Consumer Identity Through Creative Merchandising Boosts Loyalty" matter for design?
- Understanding and actively shaping the perceived identity congruence between a brand and its customers is crucial for building lasting relationships. This research provides actionable strategies for designers and marketers to leverage product selection and presentation to foster deeper emotional connections and drive business success.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers and marketers should view merchandise not just as products, but as tangible expressions of brand identity that must actively resonate with the consumer's self-concept to build strong, lasting relationships.
- What were the main findings?
- Creative merchandise offerings (unique, local, art-like, sustainable, high-fashion) can establish a distinct retail brand identity.. Innovative merchandising strategies (thematic displays, storytelling, playfulness, exclusivity, virtual merchandising) help connect the brand to the customer.. Social and technological tools can amplify brand identity communication to consumers.. Identity congruence between the retailer and consumer leads to enhanced engagement, brand loyalty, and willingness to pay.
- What research method was used?
- Qualitative research, expert interviews.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2020 journal from Journal of Retailing.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When developing product lines or planning store layouts, consider how each element can reinforce a specific brand identity that aligns with the desired customer profile's self-perception.
- What are the limitations?
- The findings are based on interviews with retail practitioners, and may not capture the full spectrum of consumer perceptions or all possible retail contexts.
- Is there evidence that brand identity affects design outcomes?
- By offering unique, locally relevant, artistic, sustainable, or high-fashion products, and by using creative display techniques that tell a story, create exclusivity, or incorporate virtual elements, retailers can make their brand identity more appealing and relatable to consumers, leading to increased loyalty and spen Source: Journal of Retailing (2020).
- Where does this lasting relationships research apply?
- Retail industry, brand management, consumer psychology It sits within innovation & markets research on designdex.org.
Related research topics
brand identity design research · evidence on brand identity · does brand identity improve design outcomes · lasting relationships studies for designers · brand identity and lasting relationships findings · innovation & markets research evidence