Eduved

ISSN 2348-6775 (Online)

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

2349-5480 (Print)

Understanding Consumer Behaviour towards

Shopping Malls in Chennai
KEKHRIETSHUNUO KIRE

Research Scholar, Department of Management Studies,

Saveetha University, Chennai

Abstract:
Today malls play a predominant role in the life style of people living in metro cities which has
massively change the patterns of shopping activities and malls are found almost everywhere.
Nowadays, people believe that the malls are the best place to shop or hang out. It is not only a
place to shop but also a place for social and recreational activities. The main aim of this paper is
to investigate the consumer behaviour towards these shopping malls, with special reference to
Chennai city and to find out the solution that makes their shopping experience more
comfortable and profitable for the companies that deal with retail industry especially in
shopping malls.
Keywords: Consumer, shopping behaviour, shopping Mall.
Introduction
The emergence of malls, as an important and significant destination for shopping, recreation
and socialization has turned the face of the retail industry in India. Today the word Mall has
become a part of people living in metro and big cities. Mall culture is mushrooming across the
countrys landscape at a faster pace. Few years before people felt that malls are for upper
middle class people but now mall mania is common among all people. Also that earlier people
had to make a choice among shopping stores or movies but today all that is available under one
stop shop with a good shopping experience. Today people believe that the malls are the best
place to shop or hang out. The spending capacity and willingness of customers has increased in
India. Keeping this in mind, marketers have come up with organized retail outlets to attract and
cater to the customers needs. A well-designed finely maintained store not only attracts more
footfalls but also increase the sales.
The future of organized retailing is largely in the hands of mall where the shoppers get quality,
quantity, aspirational appeal, recreation facilities and ambience. Under one roof, the flashy
malls promises just about everything under the sun, from foreign gizmos to the very desi,
virtually an airbus full of national and international brands, to say the least. Malls offer a
plethora of attractions- high profile shopping, impulse eating establishment, a glitzy and
glamorous environment to discerning shoppers of more refined tastes, who are more
concerned with quality and fashion and less concerned with budgets. Mall reveals six factors
namely comfort diversity, luxury, mall essence, entertainment, and convenience which are a
source of cynosure.
Need of the study
The study of consumer behaviour (CB) is very important to the Marketers because it enables
them to understand any predict buying behaviour of consumers in the marketplace; it is
concerned not only with what consumers buy, but also with why they buy it, when and where
and how they buy it, and how often they buy it, and also how they consume it and dispose it.
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Vol. 1 Issue 8 Nov. 2014

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ISSN 2348-6775 (Online)

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

2349-5480 (Print)

The study also helps management understand consumers needs so as to recognise the
potential for the trend of development of change in consumer requirements and new
technology. And also to articulate the new thing in terms of the consumers needs so that it will
be accepted in the market well.
Scope of the study
The scope of this study mainly focuses to understand how changes are coming in the mind of
customer regarding shopping malls and their behaviour towards these shopping malls. It is to
assess the overall customer satisfaction, response of customers with regard to the availability
and quality of products and services offered at shopping malls and the comfort level of the
respondents towards shopping in the shopping malls in Chennai.
Literature Review
Shopping centres with entertainment facilities has an increasing emphasis on customer visit to
the malls. The results suggest that the shoppers consider theatre as an added advantage to visit
the mall, whether or not they visit the theatre. Also, the customers mostly visit Apparel store,
followed by food services, leather stores, fashion stores, consumer service, professional
services, electronic stores, departmental stores, home ware and so on (Anuradha and
Manohar, 2011). Shopping moves beyond suitability, duty and operation preparing other uses
and satisfactions. Two dimensions of understood value of shopping include usability-oriented
and enjoy (welfare)-oriented shopping (Sadeghi and Bijandi, 2011). They also said that the
atmosphere or environment of the shopping mall may be a useful mean for making approach
behaviour.
(Khan and Zafar, 2011) Consumer purchasing power is the main factor, which determines their
buying behaviour and brand of shopping malls. Shopping Malls are the places for the fun &
entertainment, family outing, shopping and eatings. In shopping Malls age factor is the most
dominant factor in daily footfalls. In different shopping malls different age group consumers
come and they impact on the buying behavior. Hu and Jasper found five elements that are
important for mature consumers to form an impression of the shopping malls they visited most
often: convenience, choice, crowds, ambiance, parking, and hedonic shopping orientation.
History of Shopping Malls
A shopping mall, shopping Centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or
more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with inter connecting
walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area a modern,
indoor version of the traditional marketplace. Modern "car-friendly" strip malls developed from
the 1920s, and shopping malls corresponded with the rise of suburban living in many parts
of the Western World, especially the United States, after World War II. From early on, the
design tended to be inward-facing, with malls following theories of how customers could best
be enticed in a controlled environment. Similar, the concept of a mall having one or more
"anchor" or "big box" stores was pioneered early, with individual stores or smaller-scale chain
stores intended to benefit from the shoppers attracted by the big stores. The shopping mall is a
global phenomenon that has its roots in ancient outdoor bazaars where people would go to
buy goods from local artisans, farmers and craftsmen. The shopping malls that we know today
were birthed in the beginning of the 20th century and have since then grew to cover the major
cities of the world in a few different forms. Not only has the shopping mall become a place to
find and purchase goods, it is also known as a cultural hot spot where people of all ages can
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International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

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come to interact. In India, malls have transformed shopping from a need driven activity to a
leisure time entertainment.
Trends of Consumer Behaviour Era
For a variety of reasons, the study of consumer behaviour has developed as an important and
separate branch in marketing discipline. Scholars of marketing had observed that consumers
did not always behave as suggested by economic theory. The size of the consumer market in all
the developed and rapidly developing economics of the world was extensive. A huge
population of consumers was spending large sums of money on goods and services. Besides
this, consumer preference were shifting and becoming highly diversified. Even in case of
individual markets, where the need for goods and services is generally more homogenous,
buyers preferences were becoming diversified and they too were exhibiting less predictable
purchase behaviour.
Marketing research involved in studying the buying behaviour of consumers soon appreciated
the fact that though there were many similarities, consumers were not all alike. There were
those who used products currently in vogue while many consumers did not like using me too
types of product and showed a preference for highly differentiated products that they felt met
their special needs and reflects their personalities and lifestyle.
Mall Culture on Consumer Psychology
Consumersshopping behaviours and mall preferences will empower international retailers,
domestic retailers, and mall operators to market their products and services more effectively.
Research on retail patronage has been conducted in various cultural contexts, but limited
empirical studies have been conducted on Indian consumers and their preferences for retail
format specifically malls. A thorough understanding of Indian consumersmotivations and their
mall-patronage intentions would benefit mall managers in drawing practical and constructive
lessons on strategies to meet the needs of consumers in India. Consumers evaluation is
affected by design characteristics of mall as well as physical services. Mall design must be
consistent with the consumersexpectations and experience at other malls (Burke, 2005).
Howard (2007) described that music, colour, intricacy of the mall layout and products
arrangement are elements of mall environment that can be used by retailers to effect
consumer behaviour. He also discovered direct relationship of music and layout with consumer
desire to stay.
Conclusion
The study concludes that, the shoppers visit shopping malls with entertainment centres for
making use of all facilities under one roof. This indicates that shoppers visit the malls for social
and entertainment purpose, and they spend additional time at food court and stores in the
mall. Malls are fast becoming a place for socializing and recreation (apart from shopping), and
customers have set high expectations from the malls. They see malls as a one stop destination
for various purposes like dining, watching movies, hanging out, meeting new/ old friends and
shopping. Hence, mall managers should understand that malls have become something more
than a place to buy products and they should transform the malls that would offer energetic
and vibrant stores with attractive product merchandises, scores of entertainment bundled with
modern, more sophisticated atmospherics and facilities, necessary to lure the target
customers.

Vol. 1 Issue 8 Nov. 2014

Eduved

ISSN 2348-6775 (Online)

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

2349-5480 (Print)

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