This content is only partially available in English.

Directory

Please log in to get access to full employee list or edit your profile.

 

Dr. Tobias Scholz

Dr. Tobias Scholz

School of Business | Undergraduate Degree Programs | Bachelor of Science Business Administration (dual)
Lecturer

Hochschule Mainz
Dr. Tobias Scholz
Room M2.26
Lucy-Hillebrand-Straße 2
55128 Mainz

Marketing
Consumer behavior
Social Influence in buying behavior
Retail management
Personal selling

By request (contact via e-mail)

Publications

2023

Shopping Companions and Their Diverse Impacts: A Systematic Annotated Bibliography 

Research studies of shopping with companions, or “co-shopping,” have investigated different "types of companion" (e.g., children, spouses, parents, friends) and the nature of their influence on shoppers’ retail experience. By means of a systematic literature review guided by the standard review protocol PRISMA and qualitative content analysis, this paper offers a state-of-the-art overview of 66 studies and their findings, through the middle of 2023. It finds that sparse attention has been paid to shopping companions’ behaviors and personalities and that it is so far impossible to attribute their impacts on shoppers specifically to one or more types of companion. It also finds that the various factors that could facilitate understanding of how companions’ influences work in practice remain largely unexplored. In short, too little is known about how companions exert their influence and how shoppers process it and there remains much to be investigated about the interplay between shoppers, their companions, and an interacting salesperson. Our detailed findings and their implications could therefore usefully shape the agenda for future research into accompanied shopping.

Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244023122190

06.07.2022

 

23.03.2020

Re-designing adaptive selling strategies: the role of different types of shopping companions 

This paper explores the influence of shopping companions in retail sales conversations and the necessity of designing more comprehensive sales training programs. In particular, the characteristics and behaviors of shopping companions and their subsequent effects on accompanied shoppers, the salesperson and the sales conversation are examined. Shopping companions have not played a role in adaptive selling research and most practical trainings for salespeople so far, although they can significantly affect shopper behavior and decision-making, and require distinct approaches by salespeople. Systematizing in-depth interviews with salespeople and qualitative content analysis reveal a variety of different character traits and behaviors of shopping companions that can lead to positive and negative outcomes from a salesperson’s perspective. The interactions that take place between customers and salespeople are the core element of customer-oriented service in retailing. When a holistic customer-oriented service is part of their value proposition, retailers should consider re-designing training programs for salespeople and include the influence of shopping companions. In doing so, salespeople’s customer orientation can be increased by augmenting their capabilities and enabling them to make use of adaptive selling techniques specifically designed for co-shopping situations.

17.07.2018

With whom do you shop? A systematic review of research on co-shopping 

Presentation at the 25th International Conference on Recent Advances In Retailing And Services Science 2018, Madeira, Portugal

Back to list