where to purchase; a brand may be available at multiple outlets. Our insights are, therefore, directed toward retailers. We conceptualize the total value of department store shopping as having three dimensions. Briefly, utilitarian value stems from monetary savings and convenience; hedonic value stems from exploration and entertainment; and social value is realized through status and self-esteem enhancement. These dimensions need not be orthogonal: a successful purchase of a product at a discount at the first store visited -- perhaps with assistance from a friend one met while shopping -- could yield multiple values ( Babin et al. , 1994 ). We propose that in the department store shopping domain social value merits treatment as a separate, third construct because: modeling social value as a separate construct will test its relevance in the shopping domain. If supporting evidence is realized, it would add conceptual clarity to what comprises the global construct, total customer value. Figure 1 shows the proposed model. A more detailed account of the three dimensions is summarized in Table II . Utilitarian value The utilitarian perspective is based on the assumption that consumers are rational problem-solvers ( Bettman, 1979 ). As a result, the utilitarian perspective stresses functional, product-centric thinking, and research has focused on consumer decision processes. Consumption is understood as a means to accomplish some predefined end. Therefore, the consumer is seen as a utility calculator, Homo Economicus . Shoppers experience utilitarian value when their task-related needs are fulfilled. Therefore, utilitarian value is characterized as instrumental