INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER AND PERCEPTION OF RETAIL FORMATS: A COMPARISON OF GERMANY AND ROMANIA

摘要

This study stresses the important but neglected role of retail formats in transfer and positioning decisions of international retailers. It examines the role of core and country-specific attributes of a particular format for its local positioning in inter-format competition. Retail formats and inter-format competition have been a research topic in the past. Retail formats constitute competing categories that are designed to match the needs of consumers. Hence, retail formats are considered generic positioning profiles. They are based on format characteristics or core attributes, which determine consumer preferences for specific formats in spatial competition. Still, there are gaps in the literature, which limit the understanding of the extent to which core format attributes determine a retailer's positioning abroad and whether other attributes are relevant for different retail formats.