Integrated marketing communications as a tool for building strong retail chain brand loyalty: case of Lithuania

In Lithuania, there is an intense competition happening between large retail chains for consumer loyalty. The research investigates the impact of retail chain brand factors and integrated marketing communication on retail brand loyalty. Two main brand outcomes are established for the study, i.e., retail brand factor and retail brand loyalty. For the retail brand factor five largest food and non-food retail chains in Lithuania: Maxima, Lidl, Rimi, Iki, and Norfa are selected. The relationships between integrated marketing communications (IMC), brand factors, and retail brand loyalty are examined. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 272 consumers. For data analysis, statistical, mathematical methods such as correlation and regression analysis were applied. The research results revealed a statistically significant impact of retail brand identifiers and integrated marketing communication regarding consumers’ behavior to the retail brand chains’ choice. Regression is statistically significant and the coefficient of determination R2 is more than &gt; 0.20, and the ANOVA p-value is less than 0.05, and a non-standardized coefficient of impact (non-standard β-coefficient) In terms of IMC tool impact on retail brand Maxima = 0.682, Lidl = 0.663, Rimi = 0.522, Iki = 0.469, Norfa = 0.540. The impact of the retail brand Maxima on customers’ retail brand loyalty is 0.961; Lidl is 0.882; Rimi is 0.824; Iki is 0.780; Norfa is 0.836, the impact of retail brand IMC tools on customers’ retail brand loyalty perceived values is Maxima = 0.721; Lidl = 0.558; Rimi = 0.737; Iki = 0.465; Norfa = 0.715.The paper’s value is reflected by identifying factors affecting consumer loyalty to retail chain brands through IMC in the retail market in Lithuania. Retailers should consider these factors as they impact consumer decisions to stay in a long-term relationship with them.


Abstract
In Lithuania, there is an intense competition happening between large retail chains for consumer loyalty. The research investigates the impact of retail chain brand factors and integrated marketing communication on retail brand loyalty. Two main brand outcomes are established for the study, i.e., retail brand factor and retail brand loyalty. For the retail brand factor five largest food and non-food retail chains in Lithuania: Maxima, Lidl, Rimi, Iki, and Norfa are selected. The relationships between integrated marketing communications (IMC), brand factors, and retail brand loyalty are examined. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 272 consumers. For data analysis, statistical, mathematical methods such as correlation and regression analysis were applied. The research results revealed a statistically significant impact of retail brand identifiers and integrated marketing communication regarding consumers' behavior to the retail brand chains' choice. Regression is statistically significant and the coefficient of determination R2 is more than > 0.20, and the ANOVA p-value is less than 0.05, and a non-standardized coefficient of impact (non-standard β-coefficient) In terms of IMC tool impact on retail brand Maxima = 0.682, Lidl = 0.663, Rimi = 0.522, Iki = 0.469, Norfa = 0.540. The impact of the retail brand Maxima on customers' retail brand loyalty is 0.961; Lidl is 0.882; Rimi is 0.824; Iki is 0.780; Norfa is 0.836, the impact of retail brand IMC tools on customers' retail brand loyalty perceived values is Maxima = 0.721; Lidl = 0.558; Rimi = 0.737; Iki = 0.465; Norfa = 0.715 The paper's value is reflected by identifying factors affecting consumer loyalty to retail chain brands through IMC in the retail market in Lithuania. Retailers should consider these factors as they impact consumer decisions to stay in a long-term relationship with them.
Vilma Tamulienė (Lithuania), Aušra Rašimaitė (Lithuania), Živilė Tunčikienė (Lithuania) Integrated marketing communications as a tool for building strong retail chain brand loyalty: case of Lithuania

INTRODUCTION
Innovative technologies and globalization are radically changing the decisions consumers are making when purchasing and collecting information about a product. The consumer can buy a product in any location and get it delivered with just a few keystrokes on his computer or mobile device. That is why scientific literature today is explored for new outlooks on the retail business caused by fluctuations in the ever-changing technologies and consumer choices. Research provided by Sorescu et al. (2011, p. 3) reported that "innovations in the retail business are best viewed as changes in how the activities are organized, the type of activities executed, and the level of participation of the actors engaged in performing those activities. Current customers can choose between many products and services, due to the large and variable supply retail businesses are fighting for the top position. When

LITERATURE REVIEW
This research has conducted the theory relevant to the variables of the retail store. It consists of retail chain brand factors like brand, logo, motto, brand functions, brand value by retail location, goods quality, assortment, and brand price image. Integrated marketing communication tools consist of retailers' "newspapers, radio, magazines, television, outdoor advertising, the Internet, public relations, customer service hotlines, company websites, social media sites, a point of sale display" (Thaichon & Quach, 2013, as cited in Thaichon & Quach, 2016, p. 4), personal selling; and customers' loyalty to the retail brand (satisfaction, image, repeat purchase, and word-of-mouth) as a fellow.

Retail brand
Retailers primarily sell products manufactured by others (Sorescu et al., 2011). A product manufactured by others also has its brands. As stated by Kumar and Kim (2014), "retailers selling multiple brands have a limited control on the branding activities of the merchandise that they sell" (Kumar & Kim, 2014, as cited in Mathews-Lefebvre & Dubois, 2013).
What does a retail brand mean in our research? According to Kotler and Keller (2016), two or more commonly owned and controlled outlets are named chain stores. Their size allows for buying large quantities at lower prices. Only joint management is mentioned; the retail brand is not directly mentioned.
According to other scientists (Zentes et al., 2008), a retailer brand has been as "a group of the retailer's outlets which carry a unique name, symbol, logo or a combination thereof" (Zentes et al., 2008, p. 167). Ailawadi and Keller (2004, p. 332) argued that "a retail brand identifies the goods and services of a retailer and differentiates them from other competitors". There are several approaches to the retail brand concept in scientific research. Some explore claimed that this is a retail owner brand, others that it is a grocery store's brand (retail brand). In practice, these concepts may not be identical and can be understood in different ways. The brand of the retail owner and the brand of the grocery stores (retail brand) can be completely different, e.g., in Lithuania, the retail owner brand is "Palink", while the retail brand is "IKI", and they can also both be the same as with "Norfa".
To succeed, a retail brand must create a market value by brand factors. Common brand factors include brand names, logos, mottos, characters, sound marks (Chernev, 2017). Other researchers argue that brand functions can fix retail brand factors. Capon and Hulbert (2001) separate them into dual-purpose retail brand functions by the acquired usefulness: customer (consumer) and retailer (manufacturer). Kotler and Keller (2006) found that the customer is often looking at brand functions with reliable quality and lowered buying risk factors. As argued by Davis (2002), it facilitates customer selection. Analyzing brand functions towards consumer usefulness (Urbanskienė & Vaitkienė, 2007) suggested that it provides sensory pleasure while simultaneously symbolizing a set view.
The brand functions for the retailer by Kuvykaite (2001) and Keegan (2003) that the brand helps separate one company's products and assets from another company, it depicts a specific company that is offering a product, it encourages the sale of a product, makes the right choice of products to be chosen and bought. Altogether, that also helps form the customer opinion about a specific retail brand. Their research showed that retail brand functions make it easier for the consumer and retailer to decide which retail brand to choose.
Another important retail brand factor is price image. As Chernev (2017) argued, the price image is an essential aspect of a retailers brand because it can influence the decision process of customers, the store that customers choose to visit first, the likelihood that customers will purchase from the store, and the amount of money customers will spend in the store. It also adds value to the retail brand location, assortment, and quality of goods. G. Belch and M. Belch (2004) argue "that the company that understands how consumers" will respond to "various products of different quality, prices, and brand reputation has a great advantage over its competitors".
In this research, the retail chain brand is understood as a grocery store brand that carries a unique name, symbol, logo, or combination terms, ensures quality and reduces purchase risk, facilitates user selection, provides satisfaction by symbolizing the appropriate price image.

Integrated marketing communications
According to Gabrielli and Baghi (2016, p. 385), "technologies are changing the way "retail stores "and customers communicate" with each other. Kotler and Keller (2006) argued that change comes from "a need for integrated marketing communications (IMC) and IMC involves carefully integrating and coordinating the company's many communication channels to deliver a clear, consistent and compelling message about an organization and its" prod the "message" from retailer to consumer is understood as the retail chain brand. The retail chain brand is presented as a message for the consumer about a retail store's assortment, atmosphere, and services. It is well known that one component of brand tactics is set to create market value and is communicated to the target customers. Marketing communications are the promotion part of the marketing mix (Chen & Green, 2009).
A retailer chain brand can be sent from the traditional marketing communication mix as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, or directed marketing. Also, Kotler and Keller (2016) argue that IMC recognizes all the interaction points where the company and customers meet and incorporate a wide variety of messages. From that point of view, the interaction points understood it as the internet (online) marketing. Online marketing includes efforts to market products, services, and the retail chain brand. It also builds customer relationships with the brand over the internet. According to Thaichon and Quach (2013): "Marketing communications can be presented as any form of traditional and online media, including newspapers, radios, magazines, televisions, outdoor advertising, the Internet, sponsorships, public relations, customer service hotlines, company websites, social media sites, packaging's, logos, a point of sale display, or personal selling" (as cited in Thaichon & Quach, 2016, p. 4).
Retail stores can also promote their retail chain brand on websites and social media. Brand websites are websites specifically designed to build customer loyalty, collect customer feedback, and supplement other sale channels rather than directly sell the company's products. According to Sorescu et al. (2011, p. 13): "The extensive involvement of today's consumers with social media is also something that can be leveraged. Many retailers show parts of their assortment on Facebook in an attempt to gauge customer interest. Gathering customer reactions to the retailer's communications on social networking sites can be institutionalized and integrated more systematically with merchandising decisions".
That is why a retail brand website can be named as a part of the IMC. The IMC can also influence retail chain brand recognition. As stated by Keller (2009), "also pointed out that properly designed marketing communications can lead to increased brand awareness" (as cited in Thaichon & Quach, 2016). Aaker (1997) depicts that suggestive advertising can strengthen a brand's personality, the brand image, and the overall brand awareness over time (as cited in Thaichon & Quach, 2016). So the retail chain brand recognition is also dependent on and is influenced by IMC.
IMC is essential to the retail chain brand because of two fundamental rules. Firstly, communication is the base when organizations are building relations with consumers. Kotler  Companies are always trying to draw their market's attention to their brand from among plenty of other available brands. They aim to capture customer attention and make customers choose their brand and services on future purchase occasions. "Companies are always trying to draw the attention of their market to their brand from among plenty of other available brands. Thus the relation consumer -brand based on a unique brand character contributes to its strengthening and long-term relation" (Grossmanova et al., 2009, p. 67). It is assumed that IMC includes traditional marketing communications and online marketing communication from all of the above. These integrated marketing communications affect consumer loyalty to a particular retail chain brand.

Research problem
Are there the tools of integrated marketing communication impact, and if yes, what its impact is on customers' retail chain brand loyalty? The theoretical framework of the study is presented in Figure 1.
The research investigates the impact of retail chain brand factors and integrated marketing communication on retail brand loyalty.
The hypotheses are as follows: H1: There is a direct and significant relationship between IMC tools and retail chain brand factors.
H2: There is a direct and significant relationship between IMC tools and customers' retail brand loyalty.
H3: There is a direct and significant relationship between retail chain brand factors and the customers' retail brand loyalty.
Empirical research was performed to test the theoretical model provided in Figure 1. The data were collected throughout the following two stages.
First, there are five largest food and non-food retail chains in Lithuania: Maxima, Lidl, Rimi, Iki, and Norfa were selected. They are chosen based on such criteria as market share, number of stores, and average price per basket left by the customer (see Table 1). In the second stage, the quantitative online survey was performed in November 2019. The scope of the research sample is 272. The survey was based on a questionnaire consisting of four blocks. One block consists of 5 questions to identify the socio-demographic profile of the respondents. The survey included 59.9% of women and 40.1% of men. Respondents' age varied from 18 to 71 years (for more characteristics, see Table 3). The second block consists of 2 questions to identify consumer behavior using retail brand stores. Other block consists of 32 statements. The respondents were asked to express their opinion whether they agree  or disagree with the following provided statements (by 5-point Likert scale). To find out whether the questionnaire is reliable or not, it was measured using Cronbach's alpha. Cronbach's alpha test is the most popular method of estimating reliability (see Table 2).
The obtained data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 23.0). Correlation (Spearman rank correlation coefficient) and regression analysis were applied.

Results of correlation and linear regression analysis
In the research instrument, the questionnaire consisted of three blocks of statements according to the Likert scale: • integrated marketing communication for the retail brand (IMC); • retail brand factors (RB); • customer loyalty for the retail brand (L).
Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the variables/the blocks. According to Pukenas (2005), "to perform the correlation analysis Spearman's ordinal correlation coefficient is used, also criteria p (Sig.) (see Appendix A) that identify if the correlation is statistically significant (correlation significant if p < α, not significant if p ≥ α (here α -level of significance). The results of the correlation analysis revealed that all correlations are statistically significant (p = 0.000)" (as cited in Gatautis et al., 2014, p. 68). Because all coefficients are positive, so the correlation between the variables is also positive. The correlation coefficients of the variables range from 0.392 to 0.687, indicated by the average strength relationship. Therefore, it can be said that there is a positive and statistically valid linear rela-   tionship between the actions identified in the theoretical part: retail brand factors (RB), integrated marketing communication for the retail brand (IMC), and customer loyalty for the retail brand (L). Correlation analysis among the three blocks' variables showed that there are positive and meaningful relationships between them. Thus another analysis of regression was carried out.

Results of linear regression analysis
As argued by Kasiulevičius and Denapienė (2008), regression analysis determines the nature of the statistical relationship and describes the dependence of the mean values of the dependent (consequence) variable on the importance of one or more independent (cause) variables. In this paper, a simple linear regression analysis (one independent variable) was performed, which tested the hypotheses.
According to Čekanavičius (2011), three main parameters are taken into account in the linear regression analysis: the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) acquires values from the range [0,1]; the higher the value of the coefficient, the better the model fits the data. It is not suitable when R 2 < 0.20. If the A NOVA p-value is less than 0.05, then the model is appropriate and a non-standardized coefficient of impact (non-standard β-coefficient). Thus, the key data enable the solution related to impact and its meaningfulness (see Table 4).
The data presented in Table 4 are important for testing the three hypotheses are raised in the methods section of this article.
H1: There is a significant direct relationship between retail brand IMC tools and retail brand factors.
It was found out that during the improvement of an IMC, there is an increase in retail brand factors (accepted p < 0.05), i.e., linear regression is present. Regression is statistically significant and the coefficient of determination is R 2 = 0.363; 0.346; 0.339; 0.278; 0.210 > 0.20. In terms of IMC tool impact on retail brand factor, Maxima is equal to 0.682, Lidl is equal to 0.663, Rimi is equal to 0.522, Iki is equal to 0.469, Norfa is equal to 0.540. IMC tools influence retail brand factors, which responds and confirms the first hypothesis.
H2: There is a significant direct relationship between retail brand factors and customers' retail brand loyalty.  H3: There is a significant direct relationship between retail brand IMC tools and the customers' retail brand loyalty.
It was found out that there is a linear regression between retail brand IMC tools and customers' retail brand loyalty as p < 0.05 ( The paper's main goal was to explore the impacts of both IMC and retail chain brand on retail loyalty. The research was provided in Lithuania, and the respondents were also Lithuanians. Therefore, the results were obtained for this particular market. However, similarities to other countries could also be envisioned. A theoretical framework of the study with three hypotheses was tested empirically, which revealed that IMC tools influence customers 'retail chain brand and retailer brand loyalty. Comparing the results of our research with the results obtained by other researchers as Das (2014)

CONCLUSION
The quantitative study found positive significant (moderate) relationships between IMC tools and retail chain brand factors, retail brand loyalty, and IMC tools and retail brand loyalty. Regression analysis allowed us to investigate the causality of moderate relationships and showed a linear statically significant influence between retail chain brand factors, IMC tools, and consumers' loyalty to the brand.