Iris Vilnai-Yavetz, Shaked Gilboa and Vincent Mitchell
This study aims to identify the irritating aspects in the mall environment that impact shoppers with disability and explore the opportunities to design inclusive mall environments.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the irritating aspects in the mall environment that impact shoppers with disability and explore the opportunities to design inclusive mall environments.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods design was used in which data collected using a survey (n = 1,434 shoppers with and without disability) were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) and repeated-measures two-way ANOVA. In addition, qualitative data were obtained from critical incident technique (CIT) stories (n = 521) from shoppers with and without disability.
Findings
Mall environmental irritants evoke feelings of irritation that mediate the impacts of “inconvenient ambient conditions,” “the annoying socialscape” and “overwhelming design and atmospherics” on decreased mall-visit frequency. Compared with shoppers without disability, shoppers with disability suffer more from these irritating aspects of the mall environment, as evidenced by significantly greater high-activation unpleasant emotions. The “poor access and accessibility” category of irritants mainly affects the mall experiences of shoppers with disability.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, this study offers spatial-, temporal-, social-, material- and virtual-oriented recommendations for the design of inclusive retail spaces. The authors suggest that people with disability have a unique “lived experience” perspective on retail environments and that solutions should be co-created based on ongoing consultations with shoppers and employees with disability.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study offers the first systematic, comprehensive comparison of the impact of environmental irritants on shoppers with and without disability and extends the literature on irritating aspects of retail environments from individual stores to malls.
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Iris Vilnai-Yavetz, Shaked Gilboa and Vincent Mitchell
How can the situation of shoppers staying at home and being unable to experience malls prepare retailers for the new marketplace? The COVID-19 lockdown provides a unique…
Abstract
Purpose
How can the situation of shoppers staying at home and being unable to experience malls prepare retailers for the new marketplace? The COVID-19 lockdown provides a unique opportunity to examine the value of mall experiences to shoppers. This study aims to suggest a new mall experiences loss (MEXLOSS) model for assessing the importance of mall experiences as the foundation of any future strategy for attracting shoppers back to the mall.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 498 British shoppers completed an online survey during the May 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Findings
When the exchanges of resources manifested in mall experiences are absent, the perceived difficulty of substituting an experience increases shoppers’ longing for the experience, which in turn increases both willingness to pay and mall loyalty but decreases well-being. Using a conceptualization of four types of mall experiences, i.e. functional, seductive, recreational and social, the functional and recreational experiences are shown to be the most valuable.
Practical implications
In the new more careful service marketplace, shoppers’ preferences are increasingly oriented toward health, safety, sustainability, collaboration and digitalization. To improve their resilience and attractiveness, malls need to adjust their layout, retail mix, digitalization, activities and connectivity according to these trends and to the characteristics of each mall experience.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to place a financial value on mall experiences and to use the absence of those experiences to assess their general and relative importance. The findings challenge previous assumptions about the superiority of online shopping and the decreasing attractiveness of malls.
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Shaked Gilboa and Iris Vilnai‐Yavetz
The present exploratory study aims to link various fields of inquiry dealing with the consumer experience so as to conceptualise the mall experience and delineate its components.
Abstract
Purpose
The present exploratory study aims to link various fields of inquiry dealing with the consumer experience so as to conceptualise the mall experience and delineate its components.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 119 informants wrote narratives about their mall experience. Of these stories, 100 underwent narrative and content analysis in order to identify key components of the mall experience.
Findings
The findings show that the mall experience can be conceptualised as a holistic subjective phenomenon, encompassing a behavioural core accompanied by cognitive and emotional reactions. Four different mall experiences were identified: seductive, interactive museum, social arena, and functional.
Research limitations/implications
This exploratory study offers a theoretical conceptualisation of the mall experience.
Originality/value
The paper offers a new conceptualisation of the mall experience, based on a behavioural core with associated cognitive and emotional reactions. The paper identifies four types of mall experience. It redefines the impact of the physical environment on customers' reactions; expands the theory regarding hedonic and utilitarian consumption; and stresses the social role of the mall.
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Shaked Gilboa and Iris Vilnai‐Yavetz
The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: first, to identify segments of mall visitors based on the way they perceive mall attributes, their activities and their visiting patterns;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is two‐fold: first, to identify segments of mall visitors based on the way they perceive mall attributes, their activities and their visiting patterns; second, to examine whether different social groups are characterized by different mall consumption habits. In addition, the Israeli segmentation will be compared with segmentations of mall visitors in other countries, previously described in the literature.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a phone intercept survey of 725 respondents comprising a representative sample of Israeli mall visitors.
Findings
In total, three mall visitor segments were found – enthusiasts, recreationals, and utilitarians – validating findings of previous studies conducted in other countries. The three segments differed in perceived mall attributes, mall activities and visiting patterns, and in their consumption behavior (planned versus impulse buying and money spent), as well as in their demographics.
Practical implications
The results suggest activities and visiting patterns as the best foundations for the preparation of plans to attract mall visitors. Enthusiasts are attracted primarily by the mall's entertainment activities; recreationals look for places to hang out with others; and utilitarians prefer a functional retail mix. Retailers should address each segment separately and make separate plans accordingly.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the consumer behavior literature by validating previous findings of three groups of mall visitors; and to the cross‐cultural literature on mall visitors by shedding light on mall visitors in a multicultural society. In addition, the study offers practical insights for mall managements.
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Jochen Wirtz, Robert Johnston and Christopher Khoe Sin Seow
Sigal Tifferet, Niv Rosenblit and Maya Shalev
People engage in green consumption for many reasons, both conscious and unconscious. This paper aims to draw on evolutionary psychology to propose that hard-wired mating…
Abstract
Purpose
People engage in green consumption for many reasons, both conscious and unconscious. This paper aims to draw on evolutionary psychology to propose that hard-wired mating strategies encourage both men and women to increase their green consumption in the presence of members of the opposite sex.
Design/methodology/approach
Observations were conducted on 324 students who purchased cold drinks in disposable cups from a college café. The students were offered the choice of adding 20 cents to their purchase for a bio-degradable cup.
Findings
Overall, 160 students agreed to pay the premium for a bio-degradable cup, with green purchases 46 per cent higher among women and 61 per cent higher among men when facing a cashier of the opposite sex.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that the activation of mating cues prompts students to display prosocial, altruistic behavior and/or to engage in conspicuous consumption (i.e. agreeing to pay more for the sustainable product). The study was conducted in the field using naïve participants and demonstrates the application of evolutionary psychology to green marketing. It also adds to what is a surprisingly small literature on the effect of employee–customer gender mismatch.
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Keyoor Purani and Deepak S. Kumar
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the biophilic stimuli present in the servicescape and restorative effects on psychological states among consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the biophilic stimuli present in the servicescape and restorative effects on psychological states among consumers. The research also examines moderating role of service contexts in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This empirical study applied a laboratory-like experimental design with one-shot treatment. About 566 usable responses were collected using six photographic images – three were biophilic environments and three were non-biophilic environments – for four a priori service contexts: hospital lobby, upscale restaurants, spa and bank lobby.
Findings
The tests of hypotheses confirm restorative effects of biophilic servicescapes on consumer’s psychological states, attention and mood, which, in turn, positively influence service preference. Further, the restorative effects of natural elements are found to vary across hedonic – utilitarian and experience – credence type service contexts.
Originality/value
Because of higher levels of natural stressors, consumers today likely have attention fatigue and depleted mood states, which, in turn, may have adverse effects on their service consumption behaviour. In this context, building upon theories from environmental psychology, findings of this study contribute by establishing restorative potential of biophilic servicescape. The study also establishes that natural elements in biophilic servicescapes influence service preference, which is mediated by consumers’ psychological states – attention and mood. Further, it demonstrates that consumers are more responsive with regards to such restorative effects of biophilic elements in contexts where they seek emotional, experiential value compared to rational, functional value.
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Ana Cuic Tankovic and Dragan Benazic
The popularity of online shopping has grown in the recent years, enhancing the interest in identifying the factors that influence shoppers’ loyalty. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
The popularity of online shopping has grown in the recent years, enhancing the interest in identifying the factors that influence shoppers’ loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, and financial security, the impact of customers’ perceptions of the e-servicescape in online shopping on perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty defined as a two-component construct (attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty), following the sequence of the S–O–R framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered using an Internet survey in which 221 active online shoppers participated who had at least one online purchase in the past six months. The research model was analysed using the partial least squares approach to analyse structural equations (SEM).
Findings
Based upon empirical evidence of a web-based survey of online shoppers, this study shows that consumers’ interpretation of e-servicescape exerts a positive influence over perceived e-shopping value and loyalty. Specifically, the study finds that layout and functionality and financial security, as the salient attributes of the e-servicescape dimension, set the point of perceived e-shopping value which affects attitudinal loyalty.
Practical implications
The authors expose several practical implications how marketing management could use the dimensions of e-servicescape perceived e-shopping value. Managers are advised to incorporate the dimensions of the e-servicescape to build perceived e-shopping value and loyalty. Online shops need to invest in particular in layout and functionality and financial security, dimensions that had a stronger effect on perceived e-shopping value in order to achieve costumers’ loyalty in a fashion product context.
Originality/value
The transition from physical service locations to virtual service processes has increased the research interest of e-servicescape. This study analyses it through its aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, and financial security connecting them with the constructs of perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty in the application for fashion products. This work emphasises the connection between servicescape attributes in creating perceived value which affects attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. In this way, the e-servicescape is seen as stimuli, the perceived e-shopping value represents the organism and the loyalty the response of the sequence of the S–O–R framework. This research provides insight into the new effects of each dimension of e-servicescape on perceived e-shopping value and the two dimensions of loyalty, thus improving the existing knowledge in the field of servicescape and online shopping customer behaviour.