Retail consumer selfie theory and implications

Purpose The selfie phenomenon has significantly affected retail environments. This study aims to conceptualise this phenomenon and analyse its findings and implications for managers, researchers and policymakers in retail environments. Design/methodology/approach A literature review, an exploratory qualitative study and three experiments were conducted to examine the conceptualisation, findings and managerial implications of retail consumer selfie culture as a marketing tool across different age cohorts. Findings The concepts of the extended self in a digital world, sense of vision (sight), self-imagery and distance explain retail customer selfie culture and the findings that its impact varies significantly across different age cohorts in the retail environment from both vision (sight) and self-imagery perspectives. Originality/value This study proposes the retail consumer selfie theory (RCST). RCST can revolutionise retail advertising and branding and design more effective retail selfie campaigns specific to the target audience (different age cohorts) according to different products in various industries, offering new ways of performing product trials, evaluations, implementing retail strategies and public policy.