Influence of mall attributes and demographics on Indian consumers’ mall involvement behavior: An exploratory study

Abstract

There has been a significant growth of malls in India in the past two decades. The current research studies predictors to Indian consumers’ mall involvement with respect to mall attributes and demographic factors. Kapferer and Laurent's CIP was adapted to study consumers’ mall involvement. The findings postulate that demographic factors (household income, age, gender) and mall factors (service and ambience) influence consumers’ mall involvement. The involvement predictors can help in planning mall ambience and assortment. This study attempts to fill the research gap on Indian consumers’ mall shopping behavior with respect to their involvement with mall attributes. The findings can be helpful to mall managers and developers in mall-planning strategies.

INTRODUCTION

Organized retailing and mall development is growing at an exponential pace in India. Recent years have witnessed major infrastructural developments coupled with demographic changes. Malls and supermarkets are no longer popular only in metropolitan cities. Increase in income levels in smaller cities has led to changes in consumers’ purchasing patterns. The low real estate prices, entry costs and availability of space have been responsible for mall development in Tiers II and III.¹ The Indian retail sector is estimated to grow by $200 billion, with organized retailing comprising 3 per cent or $6.4 billion of market share. The organized retail is growing at the rate of 25–30 per cent annually,² with significant importance being given to mall development. KPMG International³ states that retail sales in India are predicted to grow to $1000 by 2014.

Globalization has brought changes in the purchasing power and income levels in smaller towns. Projections suggest that India would be the world's fifth largest consumer market in 2025. Four million Indian households have an annual income of more than $4445, and 34 per cent of this segment resides in rural areas, with only 56 per cent residing in cities.⁴ Interestingly, a large section of the population with an annual income of more than $10 000 resides in non-metropolitan cities. The younger consumers comprise an attractive and large segment. In all, 56.9 per cent of Indian population is in the age group of 15–59 years^{5, 6} and is the major consumer of branded products. Changes in the demographics of the Indian consumer present immense opportunities to organized retailing and global brands. Gupta⁷ suggests that younger consumers in India are exhibiting materialistic tendencies. Materialistic behavior was more apparent among lower-income groups than among high-income groups. These tendencies influence Indian consumers’ buying behavior for luxury products that connote status. Global brands were preferred by consumers, as they depict successful lifestyle. Khare and Rakesh⁸ found that Indian youth was involved in fashion clothing brands. The foreign brands symbolize status and help the consumers in improving their self-identity. These studies provided motivation for the current study. Understanding Indian consumers’ involvement with malls would help mall developers, managers and branded stores/showrooms in malls to position their products and services according to Indian consumers’ preferences. Involvement in malls would influence consumers’ preference to spend time in the malls, which would lead to improved sales for malls.

Consumers’ store choice is influenced by different atmospheric cues present, as they generate positive emotions adding to hedonic experiences.^{9, 10} This study draws from previous research by Holbrook and Hirschman¹¹ that suggested the importance of environmental cues in eliciting positive behavioral responses. It was assumed that positive behavioral response would lead to involvement with malls. The atmospheric cues present in malls would play an important role in motivating people to spend time in malls. These atmospheric cues are categorized as: external, general internal, layout and design, point of purchase and human variables.⁹ Mall attributes such as interior design, layout, music, color, facilities, décor and store assortment would affect consumers’ involvement level with malls. Shopping environments add to emotional experience wherein interaction with product and services is intrinsically fulfilling.^{11, 12, 13, 14} The inclusion of entertainment facilities in malls encourages consumers to spend more time in malls.¹⁵ It would lead to positive evaluation about malls and influence their involvement with malls.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The current research adapted Laurent's and Kapferer¹⁶ consumer involvement profile (CIP) to study Indian consumers’ mall involvement behavior. The influence of mall attributes (such as design, ambience, service, entertainment, socialization and assortment) and demographic variables were studied with respect to mall involvement. The understanding of involvement factors could help mall managers in improving the mall attributes that facilitate involvement. Research on Indian malls have discussed location and financial feasibility of malls¹⁷ and store loyalty behavior.^{18, 19, 20} This research would add to the existing Indian mall literature with respect to different mall-related factors and consumer involvement with malls.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Mall attributes

The impact of shopping environment is strong on consumers’ buying and loyalty behavior. Retailers can facilitate favorable consumer responses through retail formats and store ambience. Turley and Milliman⁹ posit that different retail formats can elicit a variety of shopping behaviors. Environmental cues and mall atmospherics have been studied with respect to the influence they have on consumers’ shopping and mall patronage.^{9, 12, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28} Mehrabian and Russell²⁹ posit that consumers’ response to retail environment involves affective dimensions of pleasantness and arousal. The pleasant surroundings can motivate consumers to spend more time at the shopping center, whereas poor store atmosphere can lead to disinterest. Store environment can evoke emotional responses.^{30, 31, 32} The mall atmospherics comprise store layout, interiors, color, lighting, aisle, heating, store size, crowds, music and cleanliness.^{30, 33} Mattila and Wirtz³⁴ suggest that pleasant stimuli have positive influence on shoppers’ moods. It has an influence on shoppers’ attitude and impulse buying. The social and physical stimuli present in the malls influence consumers’ mental and emotional processes and affect their shopping behavior.^{29, 33, 35, 36, 37} Mall ambience is recognized to generate positive attitude among shoppers.^{33, 38} Baker et al²¹ state that environmental cues such as lighting, music, color and display and social cues such as other shoppers’ and employees’ behavior have an impact on consumers’ shopping and purchasing behavior.

Research suggests that store and merchandise arrangement can influence consumers’ perceptions about pricing and purchase intentions,²³ social motivations to stay in the malls³⁹ and elicit positive perceptions about merchandise³⁸ and merchandise quality.⁴⁰ Similarly, De Nisco and Napolitano⁴¹ studied the influence of ‘entertainment orientation’ on mall patronage in Italy. The entertainment attributes had an impact on market performance and mall image. Arslan et al⁴² found that retail environment, comfort, socializing in secure settings and leisure were important for Turkish consumers. Yavas⁴³ found that product displays according to shopper characteristics can influence patronage behavior. In another study, Summers and Herbert⁴⁴ suggest that mall lighting has an impact on consumers’ approach–avoidance behavior and influences their purchase intentions. Mall image was determined by attributes such as mall access, atmosphere, pricing, promotions, cross-category assortment, within-category assortment, mall patronage and word of mouth^{15, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49}

A study on UAE malls found six mall attractiveness factors – comfort, entertainment, diversity, mall essence, convenience and luxury – to be relevant to consumers.⁵⁰ The experiential attributes of the malls can improve consumers’ perceptions of quality, merchandise and store evaluations. Positive emotions enhance mall image and patronage behavior.²⁴ Some researchers have suggested social cues and service quality to have an impact on consumers’ mall evaluation.^{51, 52, 53, 54} Shopping is a social activity, and therefore the presence of social cues was important in generating positive emotions about the mall.^{55, 56, 57} The presence of other shoppers created a conducive environment for shopping. The social and recreational motives play a significant role in attracting consumers to malls.^{28, 31, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63}

Product involvement

Consumers’ involvement with products has been a much-researched topic. Zaichkowsky⁶⁴ defines involvement as ‘a person's perceived relevance of the object based on inherent needs, values, and interests’. Involvement is an internal variable affected by consumers’ motives and internal drives.^{65, 66, 67} Product involvement is an internal state and indicates the degree of consumers’ arousal and interest in the product class.⁶⁸ Houston and Rothschild's⁶⁵ conceptualized consumer involvement as ‘enduring’, ‘situational’ and ‘response-based’ by relating them with sources for involvement. ‘Enduring involvement’ is an ongoing interest consumers have in the product class, irrespective of the situation. It is based on the product's association with the consumers’ self-concept or identity, values and ego.⁶⁹ ‘Situational involvement’ is consumers’ temporary perception about the product value based on certain extrinsic goals.⁶⁶ Laurent and Kapferer (p. 52)¹⁶ state that ‘one cannot capture consumer's involvement through a single index’. Involvement varies according to the antecedent situations prompting it. The involvement levels cannot solely depend on product or individual conditions. O’Cass⁷⁰ posits that involvement is a higher-order construct and not just based on relevance and interest of consumers. Consumers would be involved with a product category if it fits with their self-concept and identity. The more the product relates with consumers’ ego and personality, the greater would be consumers’ involvement in purchase decisions. Research suggests that consumers spend more time in pursuit of finding about those products in which they have interest.^{71, 72} Consumers demonstrating high involvements with product category are able to differentiate between product attributes.^{64, 73, 74, 75} In low-involvement product decisions, there is a gradual change in the perception toward the product, governed by repeated purchase and motivated by behavioral-choice factors. Repetitive purchase and use of the product leads to positive evaluation of the product and attitude formation. In the high-involvement product decisions, a consumer actively seeks for stimuli and evaluates the various alternatives on both rational and emotional parameters.^{76, 77} Dholakia⁶⁹ posits that enduring involvement for a product class results in high motivation from situational aspects of the purchase. Psychological aspects of enduring involvement such as enjoyment, pleasure and product interest are important in harnessing motivation.

Research has examined consumers’ involvement with respect to different product categories.^{70, 75, 78, 79, 80} Kim et al⁸¹ studied the influence of consumers’ involvement with apparel with reference to their perceptions regarding apparel advertising. They suggest that apparel involvement dimensions such as fashion, individuality and comfort influenced consumers’ beliefs about apparel advertisements. Product attributes and advertisement attitude were important in influencing consumers’ involvement. People's life as consumers is interwoven with social, cultural and ideological beliefs. Their involvement with product is influenced by the roles they play in society and interpersonal relationships.^{82, 83}

Guthrie and Kim⁷⁵ adapted Kapferer and Laurent's CIP to study women's involvement in cosmetics. The results indicate that consumers’ personality predicted consumers’ attitude toward the brand. Segmenting consumers using their cosmetic involvement type can help marketers in understanding marketing dynamics. Quester and Smart⁸⁴ studied the combined effect of individual and situational factors on consumers’ decision making. Consumer behavior is influenced by product involvement and consumption situation. Therefore, segmenting consumers on the basis of their involvement levels may not be appropriate. The involvement levels and situational factors interact to affect consumers’ purchase decisions. Bloch et al⁸⁵ examined the origins of enduring product involvement. They posit that enduring involvement develops with socialization. Factors such as product tractability, switching costs, disposable variables and roles influence the development of enduring involvement. This leads to the research questions for the current study:

RQ1:

• Would mall attributes play an important role in consumers’ mall involvement?

RQ2:

• Would demographic factors influence consumers’ mall involvement?

Different consumer groups were attracted to malls for different reasons. The malls provide assortments that are relevant to younger consumer groups.^{86, 87} Moschis⁸⁸ suggests that consumers’ shopping behavior varies according to their age. Younger and older consumers have different attitudes toward retail formats and services.^{87, 89, 90, 91} The research attempted to understand the influence of demographic factors on Indian consumers’ mall shopping behavior and involvement. For planning appropriate mall ambience and assortment, determinants of consumers’ mall involvement could prove insightful.

METHODOLOGY

Instrument design

The total items in the questionnaire were 53. Five items measured the respondents’ age, income, gender, marital status and education factors. Thirty-two items were related to mall attributes and the remaining 16 items were adapted from Laurent and Kapferer's¹⁶ CIP scale. The mall attribute items were adapted from previous research on malls.^{24, 41, 47, 50, 53, 61, 92} The original items from these studies were re-phrased for Indian conditions. The mall items contained measures for assessing mall attributes such as lighting, music, design, layout, availability of products, variety in products, good prices, food courts, entertainment facilities, cinema halls, socializing opportunities and quality of service. The responses of the consumers were taken on a five-point Likert scale, with responses varying on the scale from 5 for strongly agree to 1 for strongly disagree.

Sample

A self-administered questionnaire was administered through mall intercept survey technique in five cities of India, viz. Delhi, Mysore, Kolkata, Ludhiana and Lucknow. The mall intercept method provides a complete in-depth response to the research objective.⁹³ Mall intercept technique has been used widely in research studies for data collection.^{27, 94, 95} Fifteen malls were selected (three in each city). The respondents were contacted on weekends and requested to participate in the survey. Different periods of time in a day were used to reduce the sampling bias and get a varied mix of respondents. Data collection was completed in 4 months and comprised a total of 500 respondents, of whom 42 per cent were women and 58 per cent were men. In the sample collected for the present study, 11.6 per cent respondents were between 18 and 21 years, 23.8 per cent were between 22 and 25 years, 30.8 per cent were between 26 and 30 years, 25.6 per cent were between 31 and 40 years and 8.2 per cent were above the age of 41–50 years (for details, see Table 1).

Table 1 Demographic description of respondents

Findings

Exploratory Factor Analysis was run on the 32 mall items to examine the dimensionality of the scale and to construct a measurement model. Table 2 shows the results of the Factor Analysis with Varimax rotation and the reliability scores for the scale on the data collected. The results revealed five attributes that covered 66.49 per cent of variability. Nine items were excluded, as they had factor loadings less than 0.6 and failed to meet Nunnally's⁹⁶ recommended level of internal consistency for scale development.

Table 2 Component matrix for mall attributes

The first factor was labeled ‘ambience’, as it related to mall attributes such as music, design, color, facilities and layout. It had three items, and the Cronbach's α value was 0.883. The second factor was labeled as ‘design’, as it contained three items related to color schemes, design and spaciousness. It related to a variety of products and services available in malls. The Cronbach's α value was 0.833. The third factor was labeled as ‘interiors’ and it consisted of three items related to music and lighting. The Cronbach's α value was 0.822. The fourth factor was labeled as ‘service’, which consisted of two items related to staff behavior and restrooms. The Cronbach's α value was 0.702. The fifth factor was labeled as ‘assortment’, as it contained items such as product variety, choice and discounts. The total items were three and the Cronbach's α value was 0.663. The sixth factor was termed ‘socialization’, and it contained factors conveying meeting friends in malls, watching other shoppers, window shopping and meeting people. It contained five items, and the Cronbach's α value was 0.739. The last factor was labeled as ‘entertainment’, and it contained items related to food court and cinema theaters. It contained four items, and the Cronbach's α value was 0.617.

The items for Kapferer and Laurent's¹⁶ CIP were modified to measure consumers’ involvement in Indian malls. Exploratory factor analysis was run on the 16 scale items. The scale fitted the Indian conditions; only two items were removed as they had a factor loading of 0.6 (Table 3). The items removed were: ‘When I choose to visit malls it does not matter if I make a mistake’ and ‘Malls is a topic that leaves me uninterested’. The Cronbach's α value of the remaining 14 items was 0.667.

Table 3 Component matrix for Kapferer and Laurent's CIP (1985)

Table 4 presents the results of the stepwise multiple regressions conducted to study the influence of mall attributes and demographic factors on consumers’ mall involvement. To understand whether the variables in the model had any collinearity, the Collinearity Diagnostic test was run. For the current regression models, the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values are below 10 and tolerance statistics are all above 0.2. It has been concluded that collinearity is not a concern for this set of regression analyses.⁹⁷

Table 4 Step-wise regression for mall attributes, demographics and involvement

For the first model, household income emerged as the predictor variable for ‘mall involvement’ (R²=0.126, P<0.01). It implies that the variance can be predicted because of household income. In the second model, household income and age emerge as predictors (R²=0.169, P<0.01), and both these variables account for 16.9 per cent of the variance. In the second model, there is an increase in the percentage of predictor variables for mall involvement. The results of the first and second regression suggest that demographic variables are important predictors to consumers’ mall involvement.

In the third model, service was introduced. Household income, age and service emerge as predictors to involvement and account for 20.0 per cent of the variance in the dependent variable (R²=0.200, P<0.01). In the fourth model, gender was introduced. Household income, age, service and gender emerge as predictors. These variables account for 23.0 per cent of the variance. The standardized β value for gender is negative, which suggests that there is a difference in mall involvement behavior between men and women. In the fifth model, ambience is introduced. Household income, age, service, gender and ambience are predictors to mall involvement (R²=0.258, P<0.01). In the last model, education was introduced. These factors account for 27.1 per cent of variance. Household income, age, service, gender, ambience and education emerge as predictor variables for mall involvement. The standardized β values in the model for household income, gender and ambience are higher than other factors. Thus, it was inferred that these three factors have more influence on mall involvement behavior. The results indicate that mall managers should target younger consumers, men and high-income groups, as they were found to be more involved with malls than other consumer groups. The stores and assortments in the malls should cater to the above-mentioned segments. The F-values are significant in all the models, which shows that the combination of factors in the model together influence the dependent variable. The other mall factors, design, interiors, assortment, socializing and entertainment, do not influence the model. The demographic data related to marital status and type of city had no effect on the model.

DISCUSSION

Mall attributes could be classified under factors such as service, ambience, interiors, design, entertainment, assortment and socializing. The results support other research on malls, which found that malls were seen as places for entertainment, socializing and spending time with family and friends.^{9, 21, 22, 24, 28, 41, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 63} This research tried to understand the factors that affect consumers’ mall involvement behavior with respect to mall attributes and demographic factors. Demographic and economic changes in the country have been found to play an important role in determining Indian consumers’ preferences and predisposition toward products and services. Understanding the role of demographic factors in predicting mall involvement can help mall managers in segmenting decisions. Classification of consumers according to household income, age, gender and education levels can help in planning the mall product and service assortments. Malls are viewed as places where people can spend time with their family and have access to entertainment and assortment of products. Income levels in India have been consistently rising in the past decade.⁹⁸ Coupled with rising income levels, there is a significant increase in the middle-class segment and youth population. The increase in purchasing power is visible in Tier-I and Tier-II cities. From the findings, household income is a significant predictor of mall involvement coupled with age and gender factors. Mall factors such as service and ambience were perceived as important, as consumers’ attitude toward malls is governed by the availability of good facilities and service in malls. They could spend time in malls with their family and friends. The ambience of the mall plays an important role in consumers’ involvement level. India has a humid and hot climate, and there is a major problem of poor electricity supply during summer months. The controlled temperature levels in malls are conducive for relaxation and socializing. For middle-class Indians, mall environment with a variety of shops and entertainment facilities are attractive places to spend time with family on holidays.

The findings support earlier research that age plays an important role in consumers’ attitude toward malls.^{19, 20, 90, 99} Mall involvement for the current research suggests that age was an important predictor. Younger consumers may be more inclined to spend time in malls, as malls offer products, brands and entertainment facilities that match their lifestyle. The findings support the study conducted by Massicotte et al,⁹¹ where they suggest that malls for young consumers connote entertainment that reflects their self-image of being independent, emotionally charged and restless. For older consumer segments, malls convey variety and quality that enables them to enjoy higher standards of living. Mall managers and developers can use the demographic factors in planning the assortment and recreational attributes important for mall patronage. Retail and mall development is growing in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Understanding the clientele's mall involvement behavior can help in improving mall-planning decisions.

FUTURE RESEARCH AND STUDY LIMITATIONS

Further research can be conducted to understand the relationship of mall loyalty and patronage behavior with respect to involvement. The current research does not examine the differences between income groups, age categories and mall involvement. High and low involvement levels can be studied with respect to their influence on mall shopping. Involvement levels can be examined with respect to emotional attributes of malls. The influence of mall size and availability of branded stores on consumer involvement can be studied. The current research has taken into account the shoppers’ opinions and their involvement with mall attributes. Future research may be directed to understand retailers’ and consumers’ actual involvement behavior.