Architectural design and consumer experience: an investigation of shopping malls throughout the design process

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the design elements of environmental features that affect consumer experience in shopping malls and develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between architectural design and consumer experience.Design/methodology/approachThrough the systematic literature review, 13 design elements were obtained and then verified through interviews of 30 professional designers. The obtained elements were made into a questionnaire to collect data across China from 1,016 consumers of different groups. Data were analyzed using cluster analysis, principal component analysis and difference analysis.FindingsThe results show that design elements that influence consumer experience in shopping malls are a four-dimensional construct: visual atmosphere, physical environment comfort, space structure and business planning, among which space structure and business planning play a larger role in the consumer experience. In addition, the perception differences of consumers for those elements are significant due to the individual differences.Originality/valueThis paper comprehensively investigates the architectural design elements affecting consumer experience in the Chinese mall context. Moreover, it provides unique insights about the relationship between architectural design and consumer experience by exploring the categories, weights and perception differences of those elements.

Customer value, purchase intentions and willingness to pay: the moderating effects of cultural/economic distance

“…Third, our results, indicate that the experiential value is critical across different countries and can be applied to a wider scope, such as experiential values in AR (augmented reality) based display at shops (Xu et al, 2019) and omni-channel settings (Chen et al, 2020), shopping experience design and brand experience management (Mostafa and Kasamani, 2020;Yuan et al, 2021) or customer journey map (CJM) design (Kuehnl et al, 2019). These designs and experience management will lead to customer values which connect and lead to our framework as the consequences (i.e.…”

The effects of physical environment design on the dimensions of emotional well-being: a qualitative study from the perspective of design and retail managers

“…In the third sphere in the literature, the impact of PED based on different perceptions and other promotional methods, researchers (Jang et al, 2018;Blazquez et al, 2019;Yildirim et al, QMR 25,2 2020) have suggested that each medium is different and therefore has its own reputation, which results in different levels of perception regarding PED for each one. Yuan et al (2021) examined the effects of music, light, thermal settings, aroma and security on consumers' psychology. These results were also validated by Imschloss and Kuehnl (2017) and Yuan et al (2021), who established a difference between the PED and sensorium, behaviour and happiness and concluded that excitement and pleasure level was higher for the in-store consumers than for the virtual shoppers.…”

“…Yuan et al (2021) examined the effects of music, light, thermal settings, aroma and security on consumers' psychology. These results were also validated by Imschloss and Kuehnl (2017) and Yuan et al (2021), who established a difference between the PED and sensorium, behaviour and happiness and concluded that excitement and pleasure level was higher for the in-store consumers than for the virtual shoppers. Similar, findings were also found by Chatterjee (2018).…”

“…This study potentially contributes in terms of understanding PED’s relationship with consumers’ emotional well-being and aims to bridge the following gaps identified in the literature. To date, there is no systematic research study concerning consumers’ perceptions of PED (Singh, 2006; Loureiro et al , 2014; Moon et al , 2016; Yuan et al , 2021). Given the gap of knowledge on the relationship between PED and consumer’s experience in the retail store context and taking into account the role of emotional well-being (EWB) and its dimensions (sensorium, behaviour and happiness), this study develops a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between PED and consumers’ EWB.…”

“…Given the gap of knowledge on the relationship between PED and consumer’s experience in the retail store context and taking into account the role of emotional well-being (EWB) and its dimensions (sensorium, behaviour and happiness), this study develops a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between PED and consumers’ EWB. Moreover, this study is one of the first attempts to collect empirical evidence that PED influences consumers’ emotional well-being (Jeon and Kim, 2012; El Hedhli et al , 2013; Moon et al , 2016; Han et al , 2020; Yuan et al , 2021) and eventually leads to the enhancement of consumers’ perception towards store’s performance, which still needs to be tested and validated.…”