2015/01/05 by Chi‐Tsun Huang, Kuen‐Hung Tsai, Yu‐Chih Chen · 2 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Culinary Culture and Tourism #Consumer Retail Behavior Studies
paper · doi:10.1108/bfj-05-2013-0136
openalex publication_date 2015/01/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to answer why wet markets still survive in Taiwan while facing to fierce competition from western-style supermarkets. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopt the perspectives of retail service to develop a model to address how food quality, relational benefit, and personnel service affect consumers’ satisfaction. A sample of 250 consumers was surveyed in a major wet market at Taiwan. Findings – The results obtained from the partial least square (PLS) method reveal that food quality and relational benefit positively affect consumers’ satisfaction, and the effects of these increase with time; employee service has a positive effect on consumers’ satisfaction, but the effect decreases with time; and the ambience does affect consumer satisfaction, but the store design does not. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical answers to the question about why wet markets still play a critical role in the food retailing industry in a newly industrial economy where consumer’ tastes are supposed to be more westernized or so-called ‘supermarketized’ four decades after the introduction of supermarkets.