Revelando el misterio: factores determinantes para la relevancia de mercados tradicionales en mercados emergentes

The purpose of this document is to investigate the determinants that influence consumers in their choice of retail formats for different grocery shopping tasks. This research will decompose total customer value into the dimensions posited in Sheth’s theory of consumption values: functional, emotional, social and epistemic dimensions and empirically test this conceptualization. The principal contribution is the analysis and empirical testing of total customer value considering the conditional value as a moderating variable; the extension of Sheth´s original theory, proposing the inclusion of an additional variable to the social dimension - community values - in an emerging market grocery retail context. Being able to increase marketing and retail executives’ understanding of these additional aspects of consumer purchasing behavior is very relevant especially in a context of highly competitive, largely commoditized retail markets as differentiating factors and potential sources of competitive advantage.