Schüller, Sophie CharlotteSophie CharlotteSchüller2023-04-132023-04-132020https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/113106With ever-increasing digitalization and fiercer competition, the role of physical retail stores is changing. Retail stores have to transform from a simple point of sale to a touchpoint driving brand experience. One essential factor affecting the brand experience in-store is retail design. Marketing literature generally acknowledges the relevance of retail design as a means to influence consumer behavior. However, the majority of studies investigate retail design environments on a micro level, not accounting for the interplay of multiple design variables and the context-dependency. Furthermore, on the management side, little research has addressed how to optimally manage the retail design process from a brand/company perspective. Considering the strategic implications and extensive investments involved in implementing retail design concepts, the underrepresentation of research on this topic is surprising. This dissertation aims to help fill these research gaps intending to answer the following overall research question: How can brands manage the retail design process for monobrand stores, thereby create visual brand recognition and transfer their brand values into retail design elements so that customers perceive them? In three distinct studies, retail environments are investigated from a brand/company perspective and consumer perspective in a holistic manner, i.e., not limited to single design variables. Each study each researches a hitherto unexplored area of retail design by means of a qualitative methodological approach. In total, the three studies are based on 89 informants who participated in in-depth expert and consumer interviews, observations, and focus groups. The first study, investigating the management of retail design from an organizational buying perspective, sketched the retail design process, identified four types of client-retail-architect-shopfitter relationships, and classified four types of retail design managers. The second study, examining visual brand recognition [VBR] in retail environments with consumers, revealed that consumers recognized brands through the combination of several design elements from three different categories. Furthermore, different applications of color, in combination with other retail design elements, were identified as the key drivers for VBR. The third study, researching how brands can translate their brand values into retail design elements and whether consumers perceive these values, revealed seven semantic transformation and attribution processes in the retail environment. Finally, the findings of these three studies can be used by brand managers to optimize the retail design process and practices.enLadenEinzelhandelInnenarchitekturDesignEDIS-5020Design SemantikMarkenwerteDesign ManagementDesign SemanticsRetail DesignBrand ValuesVisuelle WiedererkennungLadengestaltungVisual Brand RecognitionBrand-adequate design of retail environmentsdoctoral thesis