Sustainability ambassadorship - the role of the store manager in development of in-store sustainability communication

ABSTRACT The food industry, in general, and the retail grocery sector, in particular, have gone through an extensive transformation regarding sustainability communication. The retail grocery store is the stage on which in-store sustainability communication is triggered and incentivized. This paper focuses on the role of the store manager and is guided by the purpose to explore what roles and functions a store manager may perform as sustainability ambassador, and in what ways the dynamics between the central and store level may influence how sustainability is reflected and communicated in the retail store. The study draws on a qualitative and interpretative approach. The empirics are based on interviews with retail store managers in three Swedish grocery retailers. Through our empirical investigation, six different actions have been identified that both separately and in combination contribute to the field by giving a more nuanced view of what role and functions a store manager may perform as sustainability ambassador.


Introduction
The increased importance of sustainability communication in grocery retailing has been well documented in previous research (e.g.Bartels et al. 2015;Bernard et al. 2015;Edinger-Schons et al. 2019;Giesen van and Leenher 2018;Souza-Monteiro and Hooker 2017;Vadakkepatt et al. 2021;Wiese et al. 2012).Wiese et al. (2012) argued that sustainability has received more attention in retail management in the supply chain than it has in retail practice at the store level.Arguing along the same lines, recent studies (e.g.Saber and Weber 2019) have shown that retail chains differ in sustainability communication performance qualities with regard to how sustainability is translated at the store level (e.g.Reczek, Trudel, and White 2018) and that in-store sustainability communication is perceived to be both complex and indistinct (e.g.Elg and Hultman 2016).In the present paper, with a specific focus on the role of the store manager, and because individual store managers are sometimes referred to as retailers, we make a distinction between the two terms by not using them interchangeably.We do, however, use retail, retailer, and retail chain interchangeably when discussing retail at a central level.(2018) showed that an internal as well as external focus on retailer sustainability communication can create trust that enhances store managers' engagement in sustainability.Jung et al. (2021) suggested that taking an integrative perspective on creating a relationship between the store manager and store personnel influences retail employees' performance and customer loyalty.Furthermore, Suhartanto and Brien (2017) stressed the importance of organizational commitment for store managers' engagement.However, it has been suggested that retail chains must invest in communicating sustainability at the store level and, more importantly, empower store managers (e.g.Arnold et al. 2019).Several scholars have called for further studies (e.g.Bãlan 2021;Fuentes and Fredriksson 2016;Jung, Yoo, and Arnold 2021) aimed at understanding how retail store managers approach their role in encouraging in-store sustainability communication.Despite the seemingly relevant context of, and extensive interest in, retail store operations, Mou et al. (2018) argued that the existing research in this field is not substantial.
In the present study, we aim to contribute to the retail management literature exploring the role of the retail store manager in in-store sustainability communication.The purpose of the study is to explore what roles and functions a store manager may perform as sustainability ambassador, and in what ways the dynamics between the central and store level may influence the store manager's role.

Literature review
The retail landscape is undergoing a significant structural transformation.In recent years, digitalization, internationalization, and an increased focus on sustainability have changed the customer journey and the core offering of retail in relation to the service portfolio and product range (e.g.Dodds, Palakshappa, and Stangl 2022).Moreover, for about a decade, society has witnessed the closure of many physical stores (e.g.Grewal, Roggeveen, and Nordfält 2017;Helm, Kim, and Van Riper 2018).Although the future role and significance of the physical store have been challenged, and although e-retail grocery shopping is developing rapidly (e.g.Olsson 2021), the physical store remains the essential foundation of grocery retailing (Johansson 2018).However, in the context of the current structural transformation of retailing, the way in which a retail chain makes use of the physical store will most likely change.For example, Bãlan (2021) argued that an increase in societal expectations for grocery retail in-store sustainability marketing will continue to put pressure on retail store performance.Furthermore, as highlighted by Fuentes and Fredriksson (2016), communication for sustainable consumption is not as simple as including sustainable products in the store assortment and instructing store personnel to promote them.Rather, previous research has shown that sustainable consumption is dependent on human competence and a correspondence between consumers' views and the in-store communication version of sustainability.Research (e.g.Lehner 2015) has addressed the fact that most retail chains struggle with dividing responsibilities between the corporate and store level.Consistent with this, current research has shown that, despite retailer power in the distribution channels, in-store communication of sustainable products is still scarce.Previous research (e.g.Saber and Weber 2019) has identified the importance of understanding retail in-store communication of sustainable products for increased sustainable consumption to occur.

The transformative nature of retail
Retailers have a unique position in the market system given that their role is positioned in between upstream suppliers and downstream consumers (e.g.Vadakkepatt et al. 2021).Major consumer shifts around digitalization and smartphone diffusion -as well as lifestyle values concerning environment, food, and health -have influenced the grocery retail sector during the past two decades (e.g.Hultman and Elg 2013).Studying the transformative nature of sustainably run retail fashion organizations, Dodds et al. (2022) observed that, to enact change, a re-orientation on the demand side was needed.Moreover, they argued that for this transformation to be 'real', sustainability needed to be embedded in the core of the retail service ecosystem and in how sustainable practices can inspire a multi-level transformation.Hence, at the micro-level of sustainability, where employee and consumer wellbeing are fundamental, an organizationally nuanced view that generates an understanding of the wellbeing of key actors must be considered.Products and brands, however, were more often viewed as a tool that could be used to proactively drive change (Dodds, Palakshappa, and Stangl 2022).This aligns with the findings of White et al. (2019), who stressed that in-store communication of products in relation to macro-factors -such as the climate, local working conditions and the region or equivalent -can lead to consumer actions.
It could therefore be argued that retailers must understand what sustainability is and how it can be translated into in-store communication on sustainability in the store assortment (e.g.Wanat and Stefanska 2015).But authors (e.g.Bartels, Reinders, and Van Haaster-DeWinter 2015) go on to claim that, despite an increasing demand for sustainable products and a societal focus on sustainability, there are few sustainable products in the store assortment at grocery stores.
Another direct implication argued for in previous research is that there is a need for retailers to understand the value of transparency and clarity for in-store communication (e.g.Giesen van and Leenher 2018) and that consumers have difficulties assessing information about grocery products' environmental effects (Bernard et al. 2015).Giesen van and Leenher (2018) argued that there is a need for a more interactive retail grocery store in the future that can meet these increasing consumer demands.Therefore, the role of the store manager will become even more important in the future.
The fragmented and sometimes contradictory research results (e.g.Zwart and Wertheim-Heck 2021) imply that in-store sustainability communication requires more attention.Interpretations of the term sustainable and/or local food products seem to differ not only across different retail stores but also between employees in the same retail organization.This diversity in interpretations has been addressed by previous research (Chkanikova and Mont 2015;Lehner 2015).Examining how this can change, Souza-Monteiro and Hooker (2017) problematized the importance of internal communication of sustainability as well as the importance of information coordination, especially transferring useful information from the central level to the retail store.
The role of the store manager Grewal and Levy (2007) problematized the role of retail store managers, especially their role in affecting retail store performance and the importance of understanding the leadership role a store manager plays.Consistent with this, Edinger-Schons et al.
(2019) highlighted the role of store managers, stressing the manager's key role in affecting how consumers view in-store sustainability communication.They argued that engagement with store managers' role as sustainability ambassadors may enhance sustainability agents and future leaders working for change at the store level.But as also discussed by Edinger-Schons et al. (2019), there will be challenges, and grocery retail chains must therefore understand how to manage and balance store managers' education and training to achieve successful sustainability communication at the store level.Arnold et al. (2019), in line with Edinger-Schons et al. (2019), stressed the importance of understanding the store manager's role.Furthermore, Arnold et al. (2019) underscored how retailers must invest in relationship-building between the central and store level if they are to empower and motivate store managers to commit to in-store communication for promoting sustainability.
Zwart and Wertheim-Heck (2021) demonstrated the tension between the central and store level, a tension they argued may well challenge performance in local retailing practices.At the same time, flexibility at the store level and among store management affects local sourcing practices.Moreover, the key competencies of store managers and store personnel appear to influence how local sourcing practices develop (Zwart and Wertheim-Heck 2021).Local sourcing has been argued to be important for local landscape development, considering how ethical stances that support local producers, such as 'thinking locally, acting locally', can motivate consumers to buy locally produced food products at the Farmer's Market (McEachern, Carrigan, and Szmigin 2010).
In their review of the existing literature on retail store operations, Mou et al. ( 2018) identified customers, employees, and products as the critical entities for retail store operations.Given that the interaction between the customer and store personnel may influence customer satisfaction and store loyalty, Mou et al. (2018) argued that this is likely to influence not only customer satisfaction, but also employee job satisfaction and productivity.According to Mou et al. (2018), especially human resource uncertainty related to customers, products and the multiple store operations of store employees is important to operational execution, which most likely requires the participation of store personnel in the retail store context.
Previous research has emphasized the importance of understanding how store managers as a resource could facilitate retail store contexts that can empower store personnel to take the lead in sustainable incentives at the store level (e.g.Bartels et al. 2019;Edinger-Schons et al. 2019).Jung et al. (2021) stressed the importance of understanding the relationship between the store manager's ability to empower the store personnel and improve the store personnel efficiency in enabling customer satisfaction.Furthermore, they argued that quality leadership plays a critical role because the type of leader being followed will be a key player in creating change (Jung, Yoo, and Arnold 2021).In line with previous studies (e.g.Arnold et al. 2019;Edinger-Schons et al. 2019), recent research (Alm 2022) has shown that, if the retail store is considered the most important channel toward the market, store managers must be trained in key competencies for in-store sustainability communication.As suggested by Alm (2022), this may in time influence the consumer's view and purchasing behaviour as well as promote and advance sustainable consumption.

Method
The grocery retailing sector plays an important role in our economy because it connects the production side and the consumption side of the food system.According to The Swedish Food Retailers Federation (www.svenskdagligvaruhandel.se), there are over 3000 grocery retail stores in operation in Sweden.The Swedish grocery retail market is highly concentrated.The single largest actor on the Swedish market is ICA, with more than 50% of the market share, making it by far the largest retailer in terms of domestic volume, more than double the size of its nearest competitor.The high concentration of market shares is not unique to Sweden, but typical of the Nordic grocery retail market (e.g.Einarsson 2008).
Guided by the purpose to explore what roles and functions a store manager may perform as sustainability ambassador, and in what ways the dynamics between the central and store level may influence how sustainability is reflected and staged in the retail store, the present study draws on a qualitative and interpretative approach.The study focuses on the Swedish retail grocery sector, where three grocery retailers -ICA, Axfood and Coop -have long been dominant.In the present study, in addition to the two large and nationwide retail brands ICA and Axfood, the significantly smaller retail grocery brand City Gross was included.City Gross is owned by Bergendahls Food, operating mainly in southern Sweden.In our study of Axfood, we included the two retail store chains Hemköp and Willys, and within ICA, the retail store chain format ICA Supermarket was studied.The stores that were included in the present study had to give their consent for an interview and their permission for us to visit the store and observe how, at that point in time, sustainability was being communicated at the store level.The motivation not to include Coop is that when the study began there were problems with gaining access to the company due to a reorganization during the time of the initial data collection.However, we believe our choice not to include Coop does not affect the credibility of the study, as Coop's federative decentralized structure was represented by the choice of the retailer ICA.
The empirical study started with initial walkalongs with the store manager at the included stores, the aim being to explore how the retail store marketed and worked with communicating different aspects of sustainability in the store's assortment.The motivation for these walkalongs at the store was to gain a pre-understanding, through direct observations, of how each store communicated sustainability before the interviews were conducted.The underlying idea was to gather as much information as possible about the problem area.Eisenhardt (1989) emphasized that the key to taking useful fieldnotes lies in writing down everything that sparks one's interest, rather than just selecting what seems important at the time.Eisenhardt (1989) called this controlled opportunism, stressing that it can sometimes be difficult for the researcher to know in advance what will or will not be useful in the analysis work.
The empirical materials are based on a total of eight semi-structured interviews with retail store managers working for the three retail chains chosen; the interviews were conducted within a project on the role of in-store sustainability communication (Alm 2022).The respondents were chosen using snowball sampling (Bryman and Bell 2011).
The interviews with the store managers (Table 1) took place in their office in the retail store, which we believe created an optimal interview situation by ensuring a familiar environment for the interviewee.The interviews ranged in duration from one hour to one and a half hours.The interview questions were divided into four themes (Table 2).The questions aimed at understanding how sustainability was translated and communicated between the central and store level.Moreover, the goal of posing these questions was to gain insights into how and why sustainability was reflected in the store's assortment.The questions concerned how the retail store managers perceived the feedback they received from the central level, as well as how they perceived the responsibility they had been given in relation to in-store communication of sustainability in the store assortment.Prior to the interviews, we asked for permission to record the interview; all interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.
After the interviews had been transcribed, and the analysis of our empirical material was carried out using a systematic and overlapped combination of theory and empirics (e.g.Miles and Huberman 1994).According to Miles and Huberman (1994), it is the researcher who constructs these contexts through the process of selecting, abstracting, and processing the data in the transcripts.This created a gradual understanding and emergence of the various roles we identified as well as of how they could influence various events.In the analysis, this is a matter of creating a theoretical context through interpretation.Our interpretation of the empirical material provided us with comprehensive empirical insights into the complex role of the store manager, and six different functions have been identified from our analysis.In order to create transparency in how the empirical data are linked to our findings, we have aimed to make the respondents' voices present in our analysis of the six different identified functions.We believe the study design -characterized by a relaxed interview situation, Second, questions were asked about how the store manager perceived the communication, decisionmaking, information generation, dissemination and response between the central and store level.3 Third, questions were asked about the dynamics, i.e. involving dimensions such as trust, commitment, response to emails, etc., regarding how activities related to store assortment and sustainability were communicated, between the central and store level but also support for communicating sustainability at the store level 4 Finally, questions were asked about how the store managers' view on sustainability was linked to product attributes, for example, origin, organic and locally produced products in relation to environmental and climate issues, and how products' sustainability attributes were translated into the store assortment and communicated to consumers.
taking place in the store managers' office on site -enabled open-hearted conversations to take place.This, we believe, contributed to the interpretative methods aimed for, and also enabled us to visualise the empirical material through quotes used for the analysis.
Although most grocery retail chains have their own specific unique market positioning statements, it is evident that the grocery retailing market has a big middle (Levy et al. 2005) in terms of assortment, services, and location strategies.We suggest that a strategic focus on sustainability -including food waste reduction, promotion of a healthy lifestyle and reduction of disposable plastics -can be found in the Swedish big middle.Specific to the grocery sector in general is also the breadth of the range, and the width and depth of the supply base, where an increase in private labels in the range is an additional component of the big middle.However, in the present study, the focus is on exploring and understanding store managers' role as ambassadors in in-store sustainability communication.
Sustainability in the grocery sector is multifaceted and complex, and the grocery store presents and communicates a broad range of aspects and interpretations of sustainability, in terms of the range.From a consumer perspective, the messages created are often both complex and indistinct, if not contradictory (e.g.Reczek, Trudel, and White 2018).According to Bartels et al. (2015), the store manager is an important player in in-store communication of sustainable products in the store assortment.Hence, if the store plays a key role (e.g.Korschun, Bhattacharya, and Swain 2011), then the store manager can be seen as an important resource (e.g.Edinger-Schons et al. 2019).In Swedish grocery retailing, the store is often described as the engine of operations, but what is the role of the store manager?

Empirical insights and findings
In this section, we will analyse and discuss the empirical insights based on our study of three Swedish retail grocery stores and our interviews with store managers.Through our empirical study, six different actions have been identified that, we argue, contribute to the field by giving a more nuanced view of what functions a store manager can perform in the role as a sustainability ambassador.
First, the store manager's actions include interpreting sustainability in everyday store activities by both absorbing and analysing sustainability.The store manager's role of absorbing involves a bottom-up approach, listening carefully to market demands as well as understanding what is important to the consumer and what the consumer believes is a sustainable product.Here, we argue that the store manager's role must include not only listening, but also showing an interest in having a dialogue with customers.Moreover, this role embraces an engagement in future thinking.In the quotes, this is illustrated by the idea of being local world champions, which is only possible if the store manager feels empowered by the central level to bring locally produced products to the store.McEachern et al. (2010) explained this as 'thinking locally, acting locally' and argued that store managers could support local farmers and, in that way, motivate store customers.It is argued here that the store manager's job satisfaction may foster motivation that will influence how local sourcing practices develop at the store level (e.g.Mou, Robb, and DeHoratius 2018; Zwart and Wertheim-Heck 2021).The next quote relates to the above, but also shows the importance of absorbing what the market wants, and of understanding how to translate a societal demand into in-store communication for sustainability.
Well, it involves a lot of talking and telling them [central level] and I listen a lot to the customers what they have to say and stuff like that.Because that's why we're here and they're the ones who will buy the products.Then I write everything down and I share it at our next meeting and with the regional manager.(Store manager, Willys) Analysing sustainability is closely related to absorbing what the market demands.In this action, the store manager is expected to interpret what the store can do for the customer and how sustainability can, and should, be used in the store context.Based on absorbing what the market wants, the manager can interpret what is important and what can be done.Here, both an interpretation of the absorbed understanding and opportunities for implementation are important and will require approval from the central level.The interviewees described how consumers, as future generations, are moving toward increased and active participation in and understanding of sustainability (White, Habib, and Hardisty 2019).The question the store manager must ask is: Are we doing the right things?This is illustrated in the quote below from one of the store managers.Second, store managers need to make decisions concerning sustainability in everyday store activities by both balancing and filtering sustainability.For the store manager, balancing involves balancing out actions and decision-making between central-level strategies regarding the basic assortment that must be on the shelves and creating room for action to include local products in the store's assortment.Balancing also involves making decisions about how much sustainability to pursue and striking a balance in the share of sustainable products in the store assortment.Here, the role of the store manager is to weigh things against each other, to choose a path.At times, a manager may end up at a crossroads, having to choose between a personal wish list to satisfy store consumers and central-level decisions.In the quotes below, the dilemma encountered at the crossroads is illustrated by store managers from two different retail chains.
We are certain that consumers want to buy Swedish meat.But on the other hand, there is nothing that prevents me from selling Danish meat.We have Danish pork fillets, for example.And our [. ..] pork is Danish.And I think that's the only Danish meat product left.It has become a bit sensitive but still, the Danish pork tenderloin sells twice as well as the Swedish one.(Store manager, ICA) But also well, the candy is so close to the checkout.That, it's not just to entice the customer to buy candy.Mostly it has to do with theft and stuff like that.It's very disappointing [. ..] that customers think this means we have been bad at KRAV [Note: KRAV is a Swedish sustainability label that comply with EU regulation for organic production]and organic.(Store manager, Hemköp) Through filtering, the store manager needs to interpret and take responsibility for understanding how to adapt to market demands for sustainability, absorbing versus analysing, but also compensating, i.e. balancing, in cases where consumer expectations could not be met.One of the interviewees described this as occurring when 'the chain centrally [. . . centralization] washed away the local'.Hence, the store manager must not only be sensitive to, but also understand, decide on, and take actions involving the chain's strategy in relation to local conditions (e.g.Mou, Robb, and DeHoratius 2018;Zwart and Wertheim-Heck 2021).This challenge is expressed by the store manager in the quote below.
In other words, someone must make an actual decision.Like that we now only sell KRAVlabelled milk [Note: KRAV is a Swedish sustainability label that comply with EU regulation for organic production].End of discussion.Like us or dislike us.What we can do is follow strategic decisions.This is what we stand for.(Store manager, City Gross) Between the central and store level, internal communication is important if sustainability ambassadorship at the store level is to develop.The next quote illustrates well the importance of the central office understanding the value of investing in building relationships with the store (e.g.Arnold et al. 2019) to empowering actions and decisions in store management.The next quote is an example of the opposite and what may happen.
It was always no, no, no.So, can I say, can you remove that product and then bring that product in instead?No, unfortunately that's not possible.And then you're tired of being run over by the central office.(Store manager, Hemköp) In the quote below, it is explained how the store manager must cope with balancing and filtering.The quote suggests that store managers do not initially, at least for the moment, get what they asked for, but also that things are changing and that this might involve being careful in filtering which local products are needed and which are not.
But it has changed and today we get to choose much more ourselves.[. ..] you can call the head office in Stockholm, to get store support.So, if I now say, we have customers who want this product, let's say.The answer is no, it's not open to being in the store assortment.No, but now you have to open it up.Then we now can order it and put it on the shelf, just like that.So, it's improved over the past two years.(Store manager, Hemköp) Third, the store manager's actions involve leading sustainability efforts in everyday store activities by both engaging in and inspiring sustainability.Engaging was observed to succeed through collaborations, both internally between the central and store level as well as at the store level.Here the store manager's role is suggested to be coaching and acting as a team manager to encourage store personnel actions that promote in-store sustainability communication.Hence, the store manager was expected to act as a leader for change, engaging the store personnel in their daily activities and retail store performance.This, we argue, will revolve around an understanding of how the manager thinks about the store (Grewal and Levy 2007).In our view, the following quote from a store manager illustrates well how store managers' engagement may serve to nurture as well as educate store personnel.
I try to develop my employees so that they not only, they're not just selling goods and stuff like that.Think a little, so that they come up with ideas, that is, what should we do here and what should we do here so that customers will be satisfied and leave the store satisfied and so However, we also found examples of the opposite, as in the quote below, which reveals the dualism between the opinion that sustainability does seem to be important and the feeling of wondering what the point is really.The story told in this quote, about how the store manager seems to have been caught up in what is referred to as the 'double whammy', contradicts the argument made by Cicatiello et al. (2020) concerning how actions and choices may empower the store management.
Yes, we [Sweden] are too small.And we are, after all, a small country that cares too little.It's a double whammy, I call it the double whammy.So, there are two ideas in conflict with something that seems to be important to us.(Store manager, City Gross) Furthermore, the role of inspiring entails that managers must be empowered top-down to practice leadership at the store level.Following this, the managers' role will be to inspire store personnel to be enthusiastic and interested in seeing opportunities and new ideas for sustainability communication at the store level.If this works, it may turn the top-down approach around, thus allowing a bottom-up approach to take place, and the store may become a leader in highlighting sustainability in the right way.Then the store manager, as a kind of 'store manager Zlatan', may provide for the consumer to engage in sustainable consumption.In our view, the quotes presented below illustrate how this could come into play: first, the turn-around bottom-up idea and, second, the hope that the next generation will drive change to promote in-store sustainability communication.I hope and believe that the next generation will be a little better consumer than we are, and demand more ethical thinking, important, so important, non-additive products.I believe that, in the future, we will get there.[. ..]I think that we've made a great journey so far.And now we're making a great journey with the range of organic and KRAV-labelled products.(Store manager, City Gross) Clearly, as previous research (e.g.Grunert, Hiebke, and Wills 2014;Reczek, Trudel, and White 2018) has also initially proposed, consumers may demand significantly more locally produced food in the future.From a socioeconomic perspective, we suggest that this will continue to challenge retail store managers' role as sustainability ambassadors.

Analysis and discussion
The food industry, in general, and the retail grocery sector, in particular, have gone through an extensive transformation regarding sustainability communication (Souza-Monteiro and Hooker 2017).In the present study, we have focused on the role of the store, and specifically store managers, in grocery retailing.Regarding our empirical findings, we identified six different actions that store managers must consider.In the analysis, we group these into three functions: interpreting (absorbing and analysing sustainability), decision-making (balancing and filtering sustainability) and leadership (engaging in and inspiring sustainability) (see Table 3).The functions we arrived at could promote insights into the associations between the different actions and functions store managers, in their role as sustainability ambassadors, need to recognize.Furthermore, these three functions could assist in understanding the dynamics between the central and store level, and how these dynamics might come into play and influence how sustainability is communicated in the retail store.
Our findings point to the challenges store managers face when balancing store-level decisions with both central-level direction and local market insights, evaluating these challenges in comparisons with the role of ambassador.Here, the questions that may need to be addressed are how the retail chain's central strategies for sustainability are communicated internally and how this is translated and reflected in the store's assortment, as determined by the store manager's decision-making.
In line with Mou et al. (2018), the present study has shown that store managers may end up at a crossroads, having to choose between sustainability as a seemingly important goal and a feeling of wondering what the point of communicating sustainability actually is.We suggest that great care is required in translating sustainability in in-store communication to avoid aggregation of dualism and that, to do so, goals and activities need to be carefully planned and conducted to integrate sustainability practices at the store level.Our study has also added nuance to the complex and challenging dynamics of internal communication between the central level and the store level in retailing, where the store manager plays a pivotal role.Wanat and Stefanska (2015) suggested that in-store communication becomes possible only when store managers know what sustainability is.This argument is in line with Sen and Bhattacharya (2001), who claimed that, before retail chain sustainability strategies can be transferred to the customer, the store manager needs to know through what channels and how sustainability will be communicated as well as what it means.
As the present study has shown, a bottom-up approach may promote future thinking that will encourage retail store managers' engagement in a local world championship, thus affecting local sourcing at the store level.On the contrary, our findings show that if store managers lack empowerment, this seems to reduce the quality leadership needed at the store level and decrease the manager's role identification as a sustainability ambassador (e.g.Jung, Yoo, and Arnold 2021;Zwart and Wertheim-Heck 2021).In our view, this shows that the retail store can be seen to play an important role in communicating sustainable products inside the store and in the store's assortment.Souza-Monteiro and Hooker (2017) argued that stores can do better at coordinating the chain's strategic corporate social responsibility in relation to store assortment and at developing sustainability in internal communication inside the company.Their study showed that the retail chains focused more on competition than on potential collaborations to work together toward common goals.Clearly, the retail grocery store is the stage on which sustainable consumption is triggered and incentivized, not least because consumers many times make their decisions at point-of-purchase.Giesen van and Leenher (2018) suggested that grocery retailers can play a key role in sustainable development by translating sustainability into in-store marketing communication.A more interactive and sustainable grocery store -'the grocery store of the future' -could be one that understands how to use interactive marketing displays in the store to promote sustainable development and health (Giesen van and Leenher 2018).

Conclusions
Through our empirical study, six different actions were identified: Absorbing, Analysing, Balancing, Filtering, Engaging, and Inspiring.These actions demonstrate the complexity of the role of the store manager as a sustainability ambassador.Furthermore, our findings show the importance of understanding the dynamics in communication between the central and the store level, and how it may influence the way in which sustainability is reflected on and translated by the retail store manager.Unclear communication between the central and the local level could lead to a drift that separates sustainability strategies at the central level from store managers' interest and initiative with regard to in-store communication of sustainable products in the store assortment.
The present study contributes to an improved understanding of store managers' role in how discrepancies between the central and local level affect actual actions for sustainability communication in the retail store.We argue that training retail store managers could prevent discursive paradoxes and, thus, enhance in-store communication of the sustainable store assortment.
In contrast to previous research that has focused on store personnel as sustainability ambassadors (e.g.Edinger-Schons et al. 2019), and building on studies that have specifically addressed what motivates store managers to promote in-store sustainability marketing (e.g.Bartels, Reinders, and Van Haaster-DeWinter 2015), we conclude that the store manager, as a key person and internal ambassador, can promote sustainability in the retail store's assortment, but that this presupposes transparency in communication between the central and the store level.First, if sustainability is to motivate the individual to feel enthusiastic, take responsibility and act like a leader, it must be well-defined, so that what is being communicated and why are made clear.Second, we agree that sustainability communication through quality leadership could be a fruitful way forward, so as to not miss incentives for successfully translating societal demands for sustainability, aiming for sustainable in-store communication to prosper (e.g.Jung, Yoo, and Arnold 2021).
Third, the present study shows that being a store ambassador does not only challenge the store manager's everyday actions in relation to listening to what the market wants.We argue that, in their capacity as ambassadors, store managers must also assume a role that embraces engagement in future thinking, aiming for a local store world championship.In relation to previous research (e.g.Jung, Yoo, and Arnold 2021;Mou, Robb, and DeHoratius 2018;Wiese et al. 2012), the findings demonstrate insights by connecting in-store sustainability communication with the roles of the store manager, and the different stages of management functions and actions positioned and occurring in between everyday store life and central-level direction.The study shows that store managers do not only need to gain confidence in their own perception of what sustainability entails, but also need to take responsibility as ambassadors for sustainable change in their future professional role.The grocery retail store manager must manage several different roles, which we suggest will continuously constitute challenges in their function, as well as actions envisioned as those of sustainability ambassadors.
In the present paper, we have aimed at understanding how retail store managers approach their role in encouraging in-store sustainability communication.Although the small sample size might be a limitation in some respects, our qualitative approach -with no intention to generalize -has nonetheless enabled us to provide a more nuanced view of what role and functions a store manager may perform as sustainability ambassador.Our decision to study the grocery retail sector is motivated by the relative importance of, and frequency of visits to, grocery retail stores in comparison to other retail sectors (i.e.durable goods).The limitation of only focusing on grocery stores, however, could be seen as an opening to future research, extrapolating our approach to other retail sectors.
You shouldn't, they (central level) usually say, think outside the box.But, well, you have to follow [. ..].But you can still think outside the box.(Store manager, Hemköp) on.And get what they want.So, I talk to them a lot and coach them all the time about what I think and what we should do, what do they have, what ideas do we have and how should we act.(Store manager, Willys) It is the store that owns ICA central, not the other way around, as ICA central washed away local farmers' products, [. ..] ongoing changes start locally -[. ..] and end up at the central level.(Store manager, ICA)

Table 1 .
Interviews conducted in the study.

Table 2 .
Interview guide with four themes.Themes 1First, the store manager was asked to talk about his/her own experience and perception of his/her role in decision-making regarding the store assortment, freedom of choice related to sustainability, local versus non-local products 2 THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF RETAIL, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMER RESEARCH But we often say that we should be local world champions for our local markets.That's what I usually say, you can never be this without local goods.You can't be local world champions without local goods, so to speak.(Store manager, ICA)

Table 3 .
Functions and actions of the store manager in the role as sustainability ambassador.