This research paper strives to understand the various attractive aesthetical elements of shopping mall. Shopping mall faces hard competition with other shopping mall in terms of attracting customers and engaging them. Thus it is very crucial to understand the attractiveness factors such as aesthetical elements which majorly attract the customers retain and engage them in shopping mall. The main purpose of this research paper is to examine and theorize the customer perceptions regarding aesthetic elements of shopping mall.
Majorly in metro cities shopping mall play a very important and predominant role in the life style of people in result it changed the shopping pattern and activities. Most of the customer believes that the malls are the best place to shop and hang out it gives one stop solution. It is the only place for social and recreational activities. The shopping mall is the place where various commercial service providers and are systematically arranged in a well defined geometric pattern.
Aesthetical elements are the most attractive factors which majorly attract the customers and engage them in the shopping mall for long time period. These aesthetical elements of the shopping mall can be consider as the binding agents which holds the customers in the mall it includes various elements like color, scent, interior, lighting etc. and they also impact the consumer behavior while shopping at shopping mall. Mainly shopping mall gives more importance to aesthetical elements of shopping mall because these are the main attractiveness factor of the mall. Shopping motivation reveals the general predisposition consumers towards the act of shopping.
Here this predisposition clearly reflects in buyer decision making process which describes and includes the five stages of buyer decision making process which starts with problem recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and end with post purchase behavior. Atmospheric aesthetical elements includes Scent, Music, decoration, layout and temperature all these stimuli can be actively and passively used by mall management to attract the consumer and engage them in the mall. These all atmospheric aesthetical elements have strong impact on consumer perception and mainly their buying behavior. Not only atmospheric aesthetical elements but also physical environmental elements such as elevation, lighting, air conditioning, washrooms, architecture also impact the consumer behavior all together these aesthetical elements have significant impact on the minds of mall consumers. Literature Review According to Lotz, Eastlick and shim (2000), explained majorly the similarity and dissimilarity between mall shoppers and mall pleasure seekers they also explained various motivational factors for consumers who visit mall mainly for entertainment activities verses who visit for shopping purpose.
In 2000 Truly and Milliman discussed mainly five categories of atmospheric cues like external cues (Surrounding store, architectural style), general interior cues (Flooring, lighting, color schemes, music and ceiling), Layout and design cues (Space design, allocation grouping, traffic flows, racks and cases) and point of purchase and decoration displays (Sings, cards, wall decoration, price displays). White and sultan (2001), focused on the mall space and its characteristics which majorly consists of social and physical environment of shopping mall which specifically point on sense of order, safety and security that majority of people need. They also discussed about social environment of mall space according to them it includes elements such as number of salesperson and their friendliness, managers and other supporting staff and especially the users of the mall. Gehvt et.al. in 1992 revels in their study that predisposition of consumers may be clearly visible in consumer buying behavior. According to Michan et.al, in 2005, discussed the atmospheric stimuli which include smell, decoration, music, layout and temperature which are actively and passively used by retail and mall managers they also added that these also have strong impact on consumer behavior Tendai and Crispan in 2009, in their study explained about the in store environment and its influence on buying behavior of customers. They found that at 5% test of significance in store factors like price, discounts and offers are more likely influence the buying behavior of consumers than the atmospheric engagement factors like background music and scent. Khraimetet.al. in 2011 focused on understanding retail store attributes, religiously and demographic characteristics of respondents. Turley and Milliman in 2001, Zeithml et.al. in 2006 primarily studied the influence of service scape on consumer behavior, decision making and service evaluation majorly in retail environment . Bell in 1999, Frasquel et.al. Measured five major atmospheric items and that are ambience, color, décor, music and layout. Smith and burns in 1996 quoted that atmospheric are critical because they act as a environmental cues which consumers use to evaluate quality of shopping mall.
Wakefield and baker in 1998 in their study found out that atmospheric are the major stimulator which stimulate the customer engagement and excitement at shopping mall. Baket et.al. in (2002) and Bither (1992) suggested predominant aesthetical factors as design, exterior , general interior, store layout, interior displays, space allocation, signs, symbols and artifacts variables. According to Bodking and Lord (1997) concluded that the most important reason for shopping mall were convenience , preference of a specific store in the mall, service and prices.
Theoretical background History of Shopping Mall The concept of the shopping mall first appeared in 1950’s. The credit towards invention of this goes to Australian born architect and American immigrant Victor green. The first generation of mall was set up in North Gate Mall US, 1950. North land Shopping center was constructed by victor green in US, 1950.
Gulf Gate mall in Houston was opened air shopping center for customers. Concept of Shopping Mall Malls, Open air centers and hybrid centers are the three main shopping centers. Open air centers are a row of stores managed as a unit, with parking in front of the stores. The common areas are not enclosed.
A hybrid centre combines two or more shopping centre types. A mall is defined by ICSC as a shopping centre which is typically enclosed, climate controlled and lighted, flanked on one or both sides by storefronts and entrances. On-site parking, either surface or structured is usually provided around the perimeter of the shopping centre. As the organized retail is a global phenomenon, with adoption of similar practices of development, design and retail mix, the definition of shopping centers in U. S. has Commonalities with those in other countries across the globe (Omar and Baker 2009). The U. S. definition of shopping malls may be moderated in different countries because of the difference in consumer behavior and economic environment in each country. The comparison of the definitions of malls in some of the Asian countries and their comparison with those of the U. S. and Australia (Super centre) in Malaysia is the area from which you can reach the mall in 30 minutes, where as in Australia the distance is 20 k. m. and in U. S. the distance is around 20-25 miles. Cineplex is part of a mall in Thailand where as in Australia and U. S. there is no Cineplex within the mall. The size of a shopping centre in India can be much smaller than the ones in North America or Europe. Here, any shopping centre of 80,000 square feet is considered a mall. A centre of such small size is called as a mini mall in the west. The reasons for the smaller sized malls in India are because of the small size of the Anchor store in India and also the smaller number of stores in the malls. Aesthetical elements of Shopping Mall Color (Jacobs and Suess 1975, Wexnor in 1954) focused in their research regarding the effect of color on human cognition.
Color is that aesthetic element of shopping mall which majorly affect both consumers evaluation and their behavior therefore we can say color is such a factor of aesthetics which affect the consumer purchasing patterns and their evaluation of certain environment . Color is an important factor in shopping mall especially in terms of its usage on the shopping mall wall. Bellizi et.al. (1983) focused in their study that most of the shopping mall use cool color over warm color therefore we can make conclusion that shopping mall with cool color impact on consumer behavior and they feel good in such shopping environment on the other hand we can say minimum standard where the poor color pass the evaluation where as poorly designed ones attracts consumer negative attention. In store experience In store experience is the very complex issue from the service providers point of view it is because of the nature of the service that its simultaneous procedure and consumption also majorly because of its intangibility customers needs to relay on some surrogate cues such as aesthetical elements in order to evaluate the shopping mall.
Consumer behavior is mostly affected by physical environment, employee, customers and systematic procedure of shopping mall and mostly the surrogate cues. Light, music, cleanliness have an effect on their mood and especially on their behavior. Music (Alpart and Alpart in 1990, yalch and spargenbeg in 1990) focused in their study that music affects the moods and purchasing behavior. Some of the research also point out that music is employed both on regular occasions and some special occasions like Dashehara, Diwali, Christmas. Silent and pleasant music keep customers mood happy and impact on their mood hence they feel joy and free when they listen the music in mall. (Chebat et.al.
in 1993) explained in their research about the association of music and consumer behavior in the research he stated that for some consumer music is normal part of shopping generally most of the time they are not aware of background music while shopping but in some cases distinguishable music sometimes recall a memory and they buy the particular item. Lighting There are various research on the illumination of light on consumer behavior and they discussed about the impact of lightning arrangement on the consumer buying behavior. ( Mchrabien 1976, Kumari and Venkatramiaan 1974 and Gifford in 1988) focused on the effect of light illumination on consumer behavior. (Birren 1969, Rook 1987, Malan et.al. in 1976) suggested that bright light facilitate arousal where soft light reduces stimulation.
In their research they emphasizes that light is a very important factors for their shopping experience and it becomes the one of the major determining factor for the choice of the store they also added that consumers shopping experience also depends on the lighting. Pleasant and good lightning leads to spend more time on shopping in shopping mall and bad lightning keep shopping very short because it become uncomfortable for consumers. Controlled temperature According to (Lam in 2001), temperature in the shopping which is controlled and is among these atmospheric variable that greatly impact the consumer behavior. Extreme temperature very low or very high creates negative feeling among consumers in result leads to dissatisfaction among the customer and consequently customer spend less time in shopping mall and also spread negative word of mouth. The Design in Line with Product (Display/ Layout) Products in shopping mall are displayed and the stacking is displayed in such way that it attracts the consumers. According to Abratt, Russel, Goodey and Stephen 1990 pointed out that product displays or design in shopping mall is a stimulus to attracts the consumers to make impulse buying which show the impact on consumer buying behavior.
(Ward Bithner and Barnes in 1992), in their study commented that product displays has a strong impact on the consumer purchase intention and consumer perception about the product. Fresh Air and scent (Yalch, Richard, Eric and Spanerbag in 2000) in their study focused on the impact of air and scent in the mall, according to them consumer spend more time in shopping when the air is fresh and scent is ambient as compared to when shopping mall environment contain bad air and pungent smell. (Morrin and Ratneshwar 2001) claimed in their study that right use of scent and fresh air improves the evaluation among customer and it impacts positively on consumer behavior. (Spangenberg et.al. in 2006), in their study discussed about the selection of the scent and spending pattern among the consumers.
They observed that selection of scent which make consumer happy spends more time and money at shopping mall. Overall arrangement and flow (Turley and Milliman in 2000), describe the five broad categories of atmospheric cues in which the design cues includes space design allocation, grouping, traffic flow, racks and cases these are the critical factors which influence the consumer behavior. Flooring and Artistic ceiling According to (Lusch and Vergo in 2004), flooring artistic ceiling, architectural design are the surrogated cues which consumer consider very important when they are shopping mall. Mostly these cues impact on their buying behavior and tend them to spend more time in shopping mall.
(Backstran and Johansson in 2006), in their study explained that store design generally reflects to tangible aspects applied in the interior store environment like flooring and artistic ceiling. Relational Model- Aesthetic elements and consumer behavior Aesthetics of Shopping Mall Other Service elements of Shopping Mall Decision Making Process Post Purchase Behaviour Marketing Mix elements of Shopping Mall Demographic elements of consumer, their personal traits and peer influence Consumer Behaviour Dissatisfaction and search for new destination Satisfaction and Repeat purchase Fig. No.1. Relational Model Aesthetic elements and consumer behavior Conclusion The present study points that for shopping mall mainly operational aspects concerns in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in the supply chain, store design, inventory management which generally overweight the marketing concerns in terms of retaining the customers. If we consider that aesthetic first arose as a marketing tool in the marketing field within the scope of commerce but in case of shopping mall aesthetic elements these are the most attractive factors which engage and retain customers in the shopping mall. Most of the aesthetic elements are “Stylized” as it is also called as fashion theories, which are the measurable and quantifiable format which turns these aesthetic elements into the agreeable (enjoyable), attractive and customer retaining factors rather than beautiful design only.
Therefore this present study contribute in the addition and development of the knowledge of the aesthetic elements which are used in the shopping mall but mainly from the customers point of view by understanding how customer perceive these aesthetic elements which are considered majorly the arractiveness factors in the shopping mall.
