Shopping behaviour is an increasingly important area of research
as firms seek to understand customer motivations and their purchase
behaviour further. Despite the interest in shopping behaviour, it remains
to be understood how these behaviours are related to satisfaction-related
outcomes. A contribution to the academic literature as well as to managerial
practice is made by identifying the relationship between three types of shopping
behaviour: expectation congruence, satisfaction, and positive word-of-mouth
communications. Specifically, the research examines if shoppers who engage
in various types of shopping behaviour have the expectations of their shopping
experience met, and whether this results in customer satisfaction and loyalty
to that store. The research is based on a sample of 308 Wal-Mart and
Target customers. The analysis of the data was performed with path modelling
where the hypothesised model was supported and shown to have predictive
relevance. In addition, significant moderating effects were found by gender for the
relationship between shopping behaviour and expectation congruence and for the
relationship between satisfaction and positive word-of-mouth communications.