Emerging Mall Culture and Shopping Behavior of Young Consumers

Abstract

Malls are attracting the young shoppers and mall culture is new to the society. Mall retailers are making efforts to satisfy the young consumers. However, the younger segment is growing in terms of population and wealth. It has become increasingly important and necessary to understand and meet their demands. The study employed 160 in-depth interviews to understand the young consumers' mall experiences. Overall, the respondents in the study have favourable perception of the mall in terms of convenience, variety offered by malls, awareness of brands, aesthetics and hedonic factors. The researcher found eight elements that are important for young consumers to form impression of the shopping malls: convenience, choice, awareness, crowded/congested, ambience, parking, hedonic shopping and mall culture. Further the respondent studied the total number of hours on shopping, preference of shopping day and shopping time by young consumers. It was found that maximum number that respondents spend is up to 3 hrs on shopping, however weekends were preferred in comparison to weekdays. Maximum respondents preferred shopping at any suitable timing. The researcher also investigated specific mall attributes. Respondents also suggested that various attributes are considered important by the respondents. They highlighted various attributes-sitting arrangement, water dispensers, E-mapping, plain ramps, book browsing section and further expressed their concern regarding parking, security and customer service. The results can help mall retailers in capitalizing the consumers by meeting their needs.

Polish shopping malls attractiveness in the opinion of young consumers: Structural modelling (SEM)

“…The explanation here may be that consumers mainly value convenience, comfort and an attractive and wide assortment. This is also confirmed by the research of other authors (Borusiak et al, 2018;Bawa et al, 2019;Klapilová Krbová, 2016;Kunc et al, 2012). On the other hand, the surveyed consumers are not emotionally attached to the shopping center they visit, perceiving it only as a place to perform necessary duties, not a pleasure.…”

Attributes of young adults’ favorite retail shops: a qualitative study

“…A qualitative study of young consumers’ perception of the shopping mall found that participants preferred shopping in the mall because of its convenience, variety of choices, brands consciousness, as well as esthetics and hedonic reasons. The eight factors that were important to form an impression of the shopping malls included convenience, choice, reputation, crowdedness, ambiance, parking, hedonic shopping and mall culture (Bawa et al , 2019). Another study found that the traffic and locality of the mall, parking facilities, as well as inclusive facilities for the disabled had the largest impact on mall preference among young consumers (Can et al , 2016).…”

“…The young consumer market segment is growing in terms of size and market value (Bawa et al , 2019). Previous studies indicated that young consumers had unique characteristics in their shopping decision-making styles, including perfectionism, being confused by over-choice, recreational-hedonism, brand consciousness and brand loyalty (Bakewell and Mitchell, 2003; Lysonski et al , 1996).…”

A simple speed bump energy harvester

“…According to Parking Network [9], the available parking bays in Sunway Pyramid is more than 10,000 and the average daily traffic volume is 50,000 vehicles. The average time spent by shoppers in the mall is from 2 to 3 hours [10], [11], [12]. With greater traffic volume and a higher parking turnover rate, greater energy harvesting can be expected.…”