Relationship of Consumer Happiness & Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Gratitude (A Case of Apparel Industry)

Abstract

Positive emotions have drawn considerable interest of researchers in the recent past. One such emotion is happiness. The current study attempts to discover the underlying mechanism through which consumer happiness transforms into positive outcomes. Based on the “broaden and build theory of positive emotions” a model was developed and tested. Gratitude has been taken as a mediating variable. The proposed model explains the Pakistani customers’ shopping considerations from well known clothing outlets. Consumer happiness in this study has been used as an antecedent of repurchase intentions and customer advocacy, whereas, gratitude mediates the relationship between consumer happiness and positive outcomes. Data was collected with the help of structured questionnaire from 330 respondents through survey method. All questionnaires were personally administered. PLS-SEM techniques have been used through smart PLS 3 for testing the model. The relationship between consumer happiness and customer advocacy was found significant. Gratitude was found as a significant mediator among consumer happiness and outcomes. However, repurchase intention from branded clothing stores in Pakistan was found to be insignificantly affected by consumer happiness. The study contributes towards the better comprehension about the shopping experience of Pakistani shoppers towards branded clothing stores in true letter and spirit. The study contributes to the existing body of literature by incorporating experiences of shoppers from emerging economies like Pakistan and establishing the mechanism through which consumer happiness transforms consumer experiences into positive outcomes. Keywords: Consumer Happiness, Gratitude, Repurchase Intention, Customer Advocacy.