The explanatory potential of congruence in the relationship between retail image, brand image and retail customer satisfaction

This paper aims to contribute to current customer satisfaction and retailing literature by conceptualising the relationship between retail image, brand image and whether a congruent relationship between the two influences customer satisfaction. Whilst most literature pertaining to customer satisfaction tends to consider the concept in terms of an independent variable, this paper seeks to explore retail image and brand image as antecedents to achieving this state and further proposing the mediating explanatory potential that a congruent relationship between the two plays. A conceptual model is developed, central constructs and subsequent research propositions are discussed.