Store Image Perceptions in International Retailing
an Empirical Comparison of IKEA?s
Management and Customer PerceptionsStore ImageIKEA Case StudyTransferManagement of enterprisesFöretagsledningManagementBusiness and Economics
It has been found that customers in the home market perceive the retailer?s store image more positively than customers in the host market, even though this study has found that theretailer?s store image is generally perceived very positively by customers in both examined markets. In addition, this thesis has found that there is a significant difference in how IKEA?smanagement and customers perceive its store image. It can also be concluded that IKEA management perceived store image more positively than customers. This thesis suggests several practical implications for international retailers, in addition to supporting the bulk of existing theory in this area as well as somewhat filling identifiedresearch gaps not sufficiently addressed by previous research.