A STUDY ON INFLUENCING FACTORS OF SHOPPERS’ BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS MALLS WITH REFERENCE TO CHENNAI

Retail space in Chennai is growing vividly, in terms of shopping centres. Eventually, the both malls and retailers in malls are to draw more shoppers to their shopping mall and share their growth strategy, together. Malls must differentiate themselves by building strong patronage which helps for their survival among the competitors. By understanding better about the demographic segment, marketers and retailers can be capable to satisfy their desires and demands. In this context, the research has attempted to study the shoppers’ behaviour in malls in Chennai. This study provides significant insights about the nature and type of shopping motives that drive shoppers to shop in malls. In fact, understanding factors influencing shopper behaviour certainly helps marketers to design more effective and efficient strategies. MALLS IN INDIAN CONTEXT Malls first made their appearance in India in the 1990s. The first malls in India were Ansar Plaza in Delhi, Cross Roads in Mumbai and Spencer Plaza in Chennai (Gupta 2014). The ambience of air-conditioned interiors; car parking facilities, rich architecture and branded goods has entranced and engaged shoppers enough to keep coming back for more. From 2006 there has been a steady growth in malls in the major cities in India. The number of malls increased four times from 2005 to 2008. The momentum continued, and the number of malls doubled from 2008 to 2013. Mall areas have also increased phenomenally and the number of malls with square feet over 700,000 has risen significantly. Nevertheless, throwing a glamorous high-quality mall with high footfall does not guarantee profitability (Srivastava et al. 2015). This has been the challenge for mall managements. They have been attempting to understand the business. Shoppers in malls have become shape-shifting creatures and reading them has become a very complex procedure. To complicate this issue International Journal of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences Impact Factor: 7.065 Vol. 8 | No. 1 | January 2019 www.garph. co.uk IJARMSS | 57 further, mall construction and operationalizing them is a long-drawn process; during this period of five to seven years shopper tastes and perceptions can again shift and flex. Profitability and return on investment are a matter of concern for Mall investors. Over 90% of Indian malls are struggling to stay profitable owing to competition from other malls, apart from high real estate prices, and sluggish demand (NDTV 2013). Competition from new, better designed malls seems to get the crowd aside from existing shopping centres. Competition as well comes from online retailers such as Flipkart and Amazon. The extremely conducive climate for shopping malls has been the reason for undertaking this study on shoppers’ behaviour towards Malls. Mall owners, retailers and entertainment companies ought to study the minds of shoppers, their attitude and behaviour when it comes to malls. The factors that dictate the behavioural pattern of shoppers within malls need to be studied so the malls can respond in a way that helps attract more patronage and spending in their malls. Also, the factors that compel them to visit malls in the first place, need to be examined. Mall owners need to provide hedonic benefits such as a visually appealing environment, a fun and enjoyable atmosphere and attractive merchandising (Srinivasan and Srivastava 2010). Utilitarian benefits also cannot be denied to the shoppers. These are affordability, billing efficiency, convenience and variety. There are many studies that have analysed the relationships among value, satisfaction and patronage intentions (Babin et al. 2005; Carpenter and Fairhurst 2005; Cottet et al. 2006; Cronin et al. 2000 & Kumar et al. 2010). These studies show that mall success and continuous fulfilment and support is contingent on the value offered (Ghosh et al. 2010). The current study deciphers this value through the study of consumer satisfaction with store and non-store factors and the analysis of satisfaction with economic, social, marketing and re-patronage factors. NEED FOR THE STUDY The present study explores the effects of perceived values associated with Shoppers’ experience in Malls through the study of their satisfaction, patronage and intentions with various experiential factors. Further the study seeks to identify the difference in perceived values between Malls as compared to those that don’t. Using the perceived value as the underpinning notion, the satisfaction of the mall shopper has been captured. The theoretical and conceptual contribution of the present study lies in expanding and adapting International Journal of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences Impact Factor: 7.065 Vol. 8 | No. 1 | January 2019 www.garph. co.uk IJARMSS | 58 to the Indian context; Chennai city. Various research methods and statistical analysis techniques have been used to test the theoretical framework. The survey of literature demonstrates that no study has related shoppers’ motivation and gratification from the perspective of their experience. Therefore, the present study is one of the first studies that studies mall shopping motivation, satisfaction and re patronage from the perspective of the experience economy. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Understanding of consumer behaviour is the kernel for the endurance of any business system. In changing cultural, demographic, political and economic environment, the consumer taste, and preferences are changing drastically. It is felt that there is a need to understand shoppers’ behaviour in retail establishments within malls and extending the service to fulfil the needs and wants in a more effective and efficient way. This study contributes to the existing research in shoppers’ behaviour towards entertainment and nonentertainment malls and establishes the customer centric strategies of the malls based on the following factors  Motivation to shop in malls  Perception towards the mall attributes  Satisfaction towards mall and  Re-patronage to the mall. OBJECTIVES The main aim of the survey is to analyse the elements that influence Shoppers’ behaviour towards Malls in Chennai. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The scope of the study is limited to Chennai city only. The convenience sampling technique was adopted to select the simple respondents. Variables related to economic, social and psychological characteristics were drawn from the review of previous studies and the views of experts in the related area. MALL INTERCEPT SURVEY Mall Intercept Survey was adopted to investigate the shoppers’ behaviour in malls by intercepting the sample to cull out data. For this study, a period of three months was spent to intercept, screen and interview samples; 700 mall shoppers. Out of this, 97 samples were International Journal of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences Impact Factor: 7.065 Vol. 8 | No. 1 | January 2019 www.garph. co.uk IJARMSS | 59 rejected because of poor or incomplete response to questionnaire. 603 questionnaires were considered for further analysis; as complete in all aspects. Another 417 shoppers refused (nonrespondents) to participate in the study. SHOPPERS’ SATISFACTION IMPACTS THE MARKETING FACTORS OF MALLS Analysis of empirical data using SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) reveals that Satisfaction with the mall significantly influences satisfaction with marketing factors for the entertainment malls. This finding is aligned to the SOR framework of Fiore and Kim (2007). It is implied that perceived value being high in entertainment malls, the respondents display high satisfaction with the mall. This translates into satisfaction with the products, the price, the location and promotional aspects of the mall and its retail stores. The implication of this determination is that the combinations of operational and experiential values that influence satisfaction also influence satisfaction with other factors related to the mall and its retail funds. While a few studies have studied the impact of marketing mix variables on mall satisfaction (Ubeja and Veda 2012; Abuja 2013), no study has looked at mall satisfaction and its influence on the marketing mix of the stores in the mall. This study is unique in that respect and reveals that overall mall satisfaction significantly influences satisfaction with the retailers in the mall. SHOPPERS’ SATISFACTION INFLUENCE MOTIVATION AGAINST THE RE-PATRONAGE OF THE MALL. The analysis using SEM of Motivation on Re-patronage, mediated by Satisfaction, reveals that Motivation significantly influences Re-patronage by significantly mediating Satisfaction. The current study also shows that motivation influences satisfaction. The motivation, satisfaction and patronage variables show the role played by perceiving experience and functional value in influencing the process from motivation to re patronage. Previous research indicates that Indian youth seeks adventure in malls (Hemalatha and Ravichandran 2009). This escapist experience was stimulating, exciting and pleasurable. Studies have shown that both functional and experiential values have a strong impact on satisfaction (Cronin et al. 2000). The present study supports this finding that both values contribute to satisfaction with the mall and this results in a willingness to patronize the mall. SHOPPERS’ DEMOGRAPHIC VALUES DECIDES THE LEVEL OF THEIR SATISFACTION IN MALLS. The influence of annual income, how often they go shopping and money they spend, on satisfaction with the items available in the malls and its cost, the cost of parking, reasonable International Journal of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences Impact Factor: 7.065 Vol. 8 | No. 1 | January 2019 www.garph. co.uk IJARMSS | 60 price, were studied, using SEM analysis. It was found that Income, frequency of shopping and purchasing power of shoppers significantly influences satisfaction