Role of experiential value on mall patronage intentions : an emerging economy perspective

Abstract

Shopping malls are part of the modern lifestyle as they provide a one-stop solution for consumers to buy a variety of products, as well as a significant channel for generating retail sales. Pakistan witnessed an accelerated growth of retail and malls in the last two decades. The question facing the mall developer and planners is whether the mall will be able to sustain the desired feet traffic as well as serving as a destination of choice for modern time-deficient customers? The purpose of this study is, therefore, to understand how consumers perceive the experiential value of malls, within the framework of experiential satisfaction, and its relationship to Mall Patronage Intentions. Data was collected from 363 mall intercepts at three different malls in Karachi at different times of the day. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used as the empirical paradigm. Hypotheses were tested based on results generated from path analysis. Tenant variety emerged as one of the most reliable indicators of experiential satisfaction followed by Amenities, Shoppertainment, and Atmospherics. However, Perceived Similarity of Customer was negatively related to experiential satisfaction and appeared to be an insignificant variable. The practical outcome of this study is that mall developers need to concentrate on providing recreational activities, together with the usual retailing elements of a mall, supported by amenities and tenant variety to sustain and grow their clientele. This study uncovers and investigates the critical indicators of experiential satisfaction that influence mall patronage intentions. In the local context, it is a new conceptual model based on the consumer’s perspective.

Keywords

• experiential value
• experiential satisfaction
• mall patronage intention
• tenant variety
• amenities
• shoppertainment
• atmospheric