Uncovering retail shopping motives of

Indian youth
Pavleen Kaur and Raghbir Singh

Pavleen Kaur is Lecturer Abstract

and Raghbir Singh is Purpose – The retail boom in India brings tremendous opportunities for foreign as well as domestic
Professor, both at Guru players. The changing lifestyle of the Indian consumer makes it imperative for the retailers to understand
Nanak Dev University, the patterns of consumption. The changing consumption patterns trigger changes in shopping styles of
Amritsar, India. consumers and also the factors that drive people into stores. Hence, the key objective of this paper is to
uncover the motives that drive young people to shop in departmental stores or malls.
Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 115 students has been taken and their responses have
been gauged through a personally administered, structured questionnaire.
Findings – The results reveal that the Indian youth primarily shop from a hedonic perspective. They
importantly serve as new product information seekers, and the retailing firms can directly frame and
communicate the requisite product information to them.
Originality/value – As not much work in India has been done in this context, the paper seeks to provide
fruitful insights into the motives of Indian youth that can benefit academics as well as marketers.
Keywords Youth, Consumer behaviour, India
Paper type Research paper

he retail market in India offers tremendous potential and is growing fast. India’s total

T retail market estimated at US$202.6 billion, in 2004, is expected to grow at a

compounded 30 per cent over the next five years. (A.T. Kearny, 2004; Kaushik, 2005).
The share taken by organised retailing is expected to increase to 9 per cent by 2008, or $23
billion, implying an annual growth rate of 25-30 per cent (KSA, Technopak Report, cited in
TMCnet, 2006). Despite restrictive foreign direct investment rules and regulations preventing
foreign ownership of retailers, India rose to the first place on the Global Retail Development
Index, 2006. According to the KPMG (2005) report, the annual growth of department stores has
been estimated at 24 per cent, which is faster than the overall retail; and supermarkets have
taken an increased share of the general food and grocery trade over the last two decades.
Specialised retailers are developing rapidly in segments such as consumer durables and white
goods, books, music, lifestyle goods, household furnishings, healthcare and beauty. Western
retail models do not really suit the Indian situation and consumer behaviour. For example, the
strong relationship shared by the small nearby shop owner with his/her customers enables
him/her to understand their needs very well. More so, he or she takes up the additional
responsibility of delivering the products to the customer’s doorsteps on a simple telephone call.
The Indian consumers generally do not buy a monthly stock of groceries, indulge in purchasing
frequently and are extremely value/economy conscious. Moreover, the consumers may not be
willing to travel long distances, or prefer a larger retail store simply for its ambience. As against
the western consumers, who readily accept pre-cooked meals, Indians prefer freshly cooked
meals and would opt to eat in a restaurant than buy/try ‘‘ready to eat’’ meals. Such and more
factors suggest that the Western models need to be adapted to suit the conditions of the Indian
markets. The Indian retailers have experimented with several formats. Most of them prefer the
hypermarket format and now they are in the phase of building across India. The lack of

PAGE 128 j YOUNG CONSUMERS j VOL. 8 NO. 2 2007, pp. 128-138, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-3616 DOI 10.1108/17473610710757491
consolidation, as of now, and a dearth of modern retail concepts still present great
opportunities for global retailers. Though the turnaround in the retail sector is largely
acknowledged, it is important to note that the unorganised sector still accounts for 96 per cent of
the total retail market and in time the organised sector is not expected to displace it; rather, both
are expected to co-exist.
Organised retailers from within and around the globe are on a spree to set up shop in the
Indian market. This has intensified the level of competition amongst the players and the
Indian consumer has had the opportunity to experience a rapid exposure to brands. The
number of working women is increasing in India and it accounts for the considerable
increase in disposable income plus rising personal consumption for the dual-income family.
Private consumption accounts for a large portion of the Indian economy at 64 per cent which
is more than Europe (58 per cent), Japan (55 per cent) and, especially, China (42 per cent)
(India Brand Equity Foundation, n.d.). India’s transition to a high-growth path is very much an
outgrowth of the emerging consumerism of one of the world’s youngest populations. On the
other hand, the consequent time poverty necessitates changes in shopping basket
composition and patterns. The ever mounting customers’ needs and expectations can be
largely catered for by the new and emerging organised retailers who offer a wide array of
goods at affordable prices more conveniently to the customer. In other words, growth in
incomes makes it essential for the retailing firms to modify their existing ways of doing
business according to the changing requirements of the customer. The present environment
exposes consumers to a plethora of purchase options and in return they may even be
compelled, in certain situations, to redefine their shopping styles according to the available
options. Understanding the customer is therefore central to tap the market successfully.
Apart from shopping patterns undergoing a change owing to time-pressures and higher
disposable incomes, the motives for people to shop are also expected to change. Therefore,
the concept of economic/utilitarian shopping, that is, seeking the best buy, may be coupled
with other hedonic motives. Interestingly, the shopping activities ostensibly undertaken to
maximise value obtained may be highly enjoyable. Researchers have therefore explored the
role of emotions in shopping (Ray and Walker, 2004; Spears, 2005). Given the intense nature
of retail environment, businesses need to identify the motives shaping the purpose and
direction of consumer purchase decisions. Hence, the objective of this paper is to
understand the key motives behind shopping activities of the youth.

Review of literature
A brief review of work done related to the motives that propel people to shop is now
presented.
People’s motives for shopping are a function of numerous variables, many of which are
unrelated to the actual buying of products. Shopping experience is a utilitarian effort aimed
at obtaining needed goods and services as well as hedonic rewards. Literature in marketing
and related behavioural sciences suggests a breadth of consumer motives for shopping.
The idea that consumers are motivated by more than simply the utilitarian motive to obtain
desired items has been acknowledged at least as far back as the 1960s by Howard and
Sheth (1969). Their consumer behaviour model, in addition to considering traditional
explanatory variables such as needs, brand attitudes, and the impact of shopping behaviour
on promotions, also examined less explicitly utilitarian consumer motives such as arousal
seeking and symbolic communication. Skinner (1969) identified the basic consumer motives
in selecting a supermarket for the retail food industry. His study revealed that six variables:
friendliness, selection/assortment, cleanliness, parking, fast checkout service, and ease of
shopping to increase the probability of the shopping trip being pleasant.
Tauber (1972) advanced the idea that shoppers were often motivated by a number of
personal and social factors unrelated to the actual need to buy products. He proposed that
people shop not just to purchase goods, but to learn about new trends, to make themselves
feel better, to gain acceptance with their peers, and simply to divert themselves from life’s
daily routine. He identified 11 hidden motives that drive people to the stores and often lead to
‘‘impulse buys’’ among consumers who initially were not planning on buying anything at all.

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 This included social interaction which consists of a variety of social motives, such as, social
interaction, reference group affiliation and communicating with others having similar
interests. The information-seeking motive, as proposed by Tauber, included information
seeking, comparison, and accessing in a retail context. Hirschman and Holbrook (1982)
suggested that a traditional emphasis on information processing related to specific product
attributes, and resultant focus on what may be termed utilitarian shopping considerations,
does not completely explain purchase and consumption behavior. Researchers have
identified a segment of consumer ‘‘market mavens’’ who are particularly likely to provide
other people with information on obtaining the best values for particular purchases.
Individuals scoring highest on the maven scale were found not only to engage in more
information search and provide others with more information, but also to enjoy shopping
more (Feick and Price, 1987; Slama and Williams, 1990; Belch et al., 2005).
Thompson et al. (1990) similarly observed hedonic and utilitarian shopping motives
coexisting among consumers, although one mode tended to dominate some consumers.
Schindler (1989) suggested that while some consumers may be strongly influenced by the
utilitarian benefits of obtaining a valued product at a good price, ‘‘ego-expressive’’ desires
to bolster one’s self-concept as a smart shopper may be a stronger motivator. He did not
formally test this hypothesis. Numerous researchers (e.g., Feick and Price, 1987;
Lichtenstein et al., 1990; Schindler, 1989; Slama and Williams, 1990) have focused on the
feelings of mastery experienced by consumers who feel responsible for being able to obtain
good deals. It is evident that consumers often experience an involvement in the shopping
process which far exceeds a detached effort to obtain desired products in an efficient and
cost-effective manner. This experience may be primarily recreational in nature, or may be
motivated more in terms of ego-involvement in one’s shopping skills. In the retail shopping
experience, a recreational shopper is seen to be one who enjoys shopping and appreciates
the process and enjoyment of shopping. From the work of Tauber (1972), Rohm and
Swaminathan (2004) identified two concepts of retail shopping motives. On one hand, retail
shopping experience refers to the enjoyment of shopping as a leisure-based activity and
second, it taps into aspects of the enjoyment of shopping for its own sake.
It is argued as well that, in many instances, consumers may desire to obtain a higher level of
experiential consumption relative to utilitarian consumption (Kim, 2001). Shopping
enjoyment is an enduring individual trait that influences enduring shopping style and has
previously been associated with transient emotional responses (Dawson et al., 1990;
Koufaris et al., 2002). That is the underlying and enduring shopping enjoyment trait impacts
transient emotions that may arise during particular shopping episodes.
Positive emotions such as excitement, pleasure, and satisfaction have also been identified
as significant determinants of consumer shopping behaviour (patronage, amount of time
and money spent in the store). The importance of the emotional element for successful
retailing has been evidenced in the emphasis on emotional retailing (Kim et al. 2002).
Regarding the emotional responses of consumers to the textile/apparel product offerings at
stores, Kim et al. (2002) found that consumers in Shanghai gave higher ratings to utilitarian
responses, i.e. efficient, timesaving, convenient (4 on the five-point semantic differential
scale) than to hedonic responses, i.e. excited, surprised, interested (3.5). Korean
consumers rated utilitarian and hedonic responses approximately equally (3.6 and 3.5
respectively). This result reflects how consumers at discount stores in the two country
markets responded to their present textile/apparel offerings at the stores. It was also
suggested that satisfying shoppers in the discount store format with utilitarian attributes
(quality, price, variety of products) of textile/apparel products is critically important to
eliciting positive hedonic emotions (e.g., surprised, interested) as well as utilitarian emotions
(e.g., efficient, convenient). Consumers in China who generally believe that shopping is very
important to their life rated high in both utilitarian and hedonic responses. Also, Chinese
consumers who go shopping for the purpose of getting away from daily routines (i.e.
diversion) exhibited stronger utilitarian responses. In other words, shopping at a discount
store is an important leisure activity to the Chinese consumer. However, Korean consumers’
responses to textile/apparel products were not affected by either individual consumers’

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shopping involvement or shopping motives. In China, the shopping excitement consumers
experienced at discount stores was positively affected by store ambiance, facility
convenience, brand/fashion, consumer shopping involvement, and socialisation shopping
motives. Haanpa (2005) made a comparison of different motives and shopping styles. Her
study revealed that Finnish consumers were very functionally oriented; they valued ease and
convenience and very tangible elements of shopping, such as having the possibility to buy
alimentary concurrently when going shopping for other purposes than daily consumer
goods. The factor dimensions produced with principal component analysis formed two
experiential and gratification type factors, labelled as Hedonistic and Recreational motives.
The other two factors were named as Economic and Convenience motive. The analysis of
variance revealed that there were, to a certain extent, differences among different consumer
groups. Consumers that were demanding enjoyable experiences in their shopping trips
were typically young females especially when it came to shopping’s hedonic and escapist
elements. Young consumers looked for interesting shopping experiences that were a
mixture of social and emotional needs and wants and related to interaction and
communication with other people.
Parsons (2002) in a follow-up study reported that many of the hidden motivations uncovered
by Tauber 30 years prior are relevant to internet shopping today. His findings revealed that
online shoppers are commonly driven by personal motives such as diversion,
self-gratification, and learning about new trends; and social motives, including social
experiences outside the home, communications with others having a similar interest, peer
group attraction, and status and authority.
Eastlick and Feinberg (1999) and Lennon et al. (2003) found that motive scores were often
higher among women than among men. Eastlick and Feinberg (1999) found a negative
relationship between education and shopping motivations. Additionally, the researchers
found that the motive scores were often higher among women than among men shoppers.
Research by Lennon et al. (2003) sought to assess consumers’ motivations for shopping
from television shopping channels; to determine if motivations differed as a function of
clothing purchase frequency when controlling for personal characteristics. Respondents
were motivated to shop from television due to convenience, the amount of information
available on the shopping channels, and the return policies. Regular apparel shoppers
agreed that they were somewhat motivated by the prices offered on television. Ray and
Walker (2004) reported that college students’ motivation to purchase from non-store based
retailers was not related to personal characteristics (age, gender, employment, etc.).
The foregoing review illustrates that shopping motives for people vary from being utilitarian
to purely hedonic. They are also expected to operate simultaneously in a particular shopping
situation. The foregoing discussion also brings forth the fact that the rate of growth in the
retail sector in India creates a requirement for greater research from the consumers’
perspective. More specifically, research is required to answer simple yet pertinent questions
related to ‘‘Why do people shop?’’. The present paper, therefore, seeks to bridge gaps in the
existing literature and yield fruitful insights into the shopping motives of Indian youth.

Research methodology
In order to study the shopping motives while purchasing from a departmental store/mall, a
sample of 115 students were selected from Amritsar district of Punjab. The bulk of
departmental store consumers is commonly in the 25-45 years age group from middle-class
urban SEC A (Joshi, 2004). In time poor families, children are commonly delegated the task
of making purchases for the family who are more competent consumers owing to high
knowledge of the marketplace including products, prices and brands (Kaur and Singh,
2006). In addition to this, they are also found to have developed adequate skills to act as
competent consumers (John, 1999).
To select students, non-probability a convenience sampling technique was adopted as it
well suits exploratory studies like this (Tull and Hawkins, 1996). The information was
collected personally from the respondents by using a pre-tested, structured and
non-disguised questionnaire. The respondents were asked to specify if they purchased

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 from a departmental store/mall. If they answered in the affirmative, they were further asked to
respond on a five-point scale, 1 ¼ strongly disagree to 5 ¼ strongly agree, about the level of
agreement/disagreement regarding why they shopped. For doing so, they were given a list
of 28 statements compiled from the study of Skinner (1969) and Tauber (1972) and modified
to suit Indian conditions. The statements were related to shopping motives such as –
personal motives, social motives, etc. A list of the statements and the related motives is
presented in Table I. Weighted average scores were found for the statements and factor
analysis was applied to these statements to uncover the dimensions of motives involved
while shopping.

Table I Statements presented to student sample

No. Statements Shopping motives Shopping motive category

s1 I go out to shop as I always do the shopping for Role playing Personal

the family
s2 I enjoy shopping as it gives me an opportunity to Diversion Personal
escape from daily routine
s3 I prefer to spend my leisure time browsing Diversion Personal
through the outlets
s4 I enjoy shopping as it is also a meeting place for Social Social
my friends
s5 When I am depressed, I go out to shop and it Diversion/self-gratification Personal
helps in reducing the tension in my mind
s6 Visiting stores to shop helps me in learning about Learning about new trends/information search Personal
new trends, styles, and fashions
s7 My friends/relatives/colleagues seek my advice Maven Personal
and so I keep myself updated with shopping
knowledge
s8 Walking while shopping is a great physical Physical activity Personal
exercise that I enjoy
s9 I enjoy to shop as it exposes me to new products Learning about new trends/information search Personal
and ideas
s10 While visiting the store, I enjoy to handle the Sensory stimulation Personal
products myself irrespective of whether I buy or
don’t
s11 I like the soft background music in the store I Sensory stimulation Personal
shop
s12 I select a particular store to shop if my Peer group association Social
friends/colleagues are also doing the same
s13 I choose a store that offers products which Status and authority Social
people in my status category buy
s14 I select a store where I do not need to bargain Attitude towards bargaining Social
s15 I compare prices at several fixed price stores to Ego-expressive/bargaining/wise-buying Social
select the best deal
s16 On visiting the store, I buy a product as soon as I Impulse buying Impulse buying
like it on display
s17 It is inconvenient for me to shop if the place is too Sensory stimulation Personal
noisy
s18 I shop for products simply because I have been Impulse buying Impulse buying
to the market
s19 My shopping plan is based on ads I see and Wise buying Social
discount offers available
s20 I make purchases as quickly as possible Wise buying and no bargaining Social
s21 I like to shop in a store that has a pleasant odour Sensory stimulation Personal
s22 I purchase only the planned products Wise buying Social
s23 I go out to shop to get ideas for future purchases Learning about new trends/information search Personal
s24 I go out shopping for fun Diversion Personal
s25 I go out on a shopping trip with my family Social Social
s26 I combine visits to friends/relatives with shopping Social Social
trips
s27 I combine recreations/hobbies with shopping Social Social
trips
s28 I go out on a shopping trip with my friends Peer group association Social

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An explanation of the motive statements listed in Table I is as follows. The motives have been
broadly categorised by Tauber (1972) as Personal motives, Social motives and Impulse
buying. The personal motives included role-playing, diversion, the maven role/information
search criteria to shop, self-gratification, physical activity, and sensory stimulation. The
social motives include general social motives, peer group association, status and authority,
attitude towards bargaining, and wise buying/ego-expressive motives. For data analysis,
weighted average scores, and factor analysis has been applied to the statements devised to
identify the motives underlying purchase decisions.

Analysis and discussion

For the present sample, all respondents were youth with 53.9 per cent of the respondents
being males and 46.1 per cent respondents being females. A majority of them (93.0 per
cent) were 20-30 years of age. The respondents were divided into four income categories
with monthly family income: less than Rs20,000 (47.8 per cent), between Rs20,000 and
Rs30,000 (15.7 per cent), between Rs30,000 and Rs40,00 (16.5 per cent) and more then
Rs40,000 (20.0 per cent).
In order to gauge the extent of agreement/disagreement regarding why the respondents
shopped, weighted average scores (WAS) were calculated. Table II depicts information
about weighted average scores of shopping motives. The respondents showed a greater
pro-statement agreement with statements s11 (I like the soft background music in the store I
shop, WAS ¼ 4:18), s9 (I enjoy to shop as it exposes me to new products and ideas,
WAS ¼ 4:17), s6 (Visiting stores to shop helps me in learning about new trends, styles, and
fashions, WAS ¼ 4:09), s21 (I like to shop in a store that has a pleasant odour, WAS ¼ 3:86),
s17 (It is inconvenient for me to shop if the place is too noisy, WAS ¼ 3:74)and s14 (I select a
store where I do not need to bargain, WAS ¼ 3:60). The weighted average scores depict that
the prime motives for the respondents to shop are gathering information and from the
sensory stimulation received in the store.
To summarise the key motives underlying retail purchase decisions, factor analysis has been
applied to the 28 statements to identify the structure within a set of variables. Measures of
sample adequacy (MSA) such as correlation matrix, Anti-image correlations, Bartlett’s test of
Sphericity and KMO value (0.735) showed that data were fit for factor analysis. Principal
Component Analysis was used for extracting factors and the number of factors to be
retained was based on latent root criterion, variance explained and scree plot analysis. The
results were obtained through orthogonal rotations with Varimax. Motives with eigenvalues
greater than one were extracted and all factor loadings greater than 0.5 (ignoring the sign)
were retained. The analysis gave an eight-factor solution. The names of the factors, the
statement labels and factor loadings are summarised in Table III.

Factor 1: hedonic shopping motive

This is the first factor that accounts for 9.745 per cent of the total variance. Four statements
load on to this factor. The statements include S23 (I go out to shop to get ideas for future
purchases), S4 (I enjoy shopping as it is also a meeting place for my friends), S27 (I combine
recreations/hobbies with shopping trips), and S5 (Going out to alleviate depression). The
factor structure suggests that young consumers tend to shop for personal as well as social
reasons unrelated to the actual consumption criteria including rational/convenience motives.
Their prime motives include getting product ideas, meeting friends, etc. which shows their
reliance on outside sources particularly friends as a source of information/diversion.

Factor 2: market maven

The second factor that includes statements S2 (Escape from daily routine), S3 (Browsing
through the outlets), S6 (Learning about new trends, styles, and fashions), S7 (My
friends/relatives/colleagues seek my advice and so I keep myself updated with shopping
knowledge), and S9 (Exposure to new products and ideas) explains 9.295 per cent of total
variance. The factor suggests that respondents prefer to visit the shopping place to escape
from daily routines, may be to reduce fatigue. More so, this age category is seen to possess
updated information by various sources such as parents, friends, etc. Because of this

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 Table II Weighted average scores for shopping motives
No. Statements WAS Std deviation

s1 I go out to shop as I always do the shopping for

the family 3.13 1.09
s2 I enjoy shopping as it gives me an opportunity to
escape from daily routine 2.67 1.36
s3 I prefer to spend my leisure time browsing
through the outlets 2.97 1.26
s4 I enjoy shopping as it is also a meeting place for
my friends 2.82 1.25
s5 When I am depressed, I go out to shop and it
helps in reducing the tension in my mind 2.66 1.28
s6 Visiting stores to shop helps me in learning about
new trends, styles, and fashions 4.09 0.99
s7 My friends/relatives/colleagues seek my advice
and so I keep myself updated with shopping
knowledge 2.96 1.04
s8 Walking while shopping is a great physical
exercise that I enjoy 2.99 1.08
s9 I enjoy shopping as it exposes me to new
products and ideas 4.17 0.81
s10 While visiting the store, I enjoy handling the
products myself irrespective of whether I buy or
don’t 3.34 1.17
s11 I like the soft background music in the store I
shop 4.18 0.82
s12 I select a particular store to shop if my
friends/colleagues are also doing the same 2.86 1.09
s13 I choose a store that offers products which
people in my status category buy 3.33 1.07
s14 I select a store where I do not need to bargain 3.60 1.15
s15 I compare prices at several fixed price stores to
select the best deal 3.24 1.16
s16 On visiting the store, I buy a product as soon as I
like it on display 3.23 1.22
s17 It is inconvenient for me to shop if the place is too
noisy 3.74 1.32
s18 I shop for products simply because I have been
to the market 2.54 1.04
s19 My shopping plan is based on ads I see and
discount offers available 3.24 1.08
s20 I make purchases as quickly as possible 3.24 1.10
s21 I like to shop in a store that has a pleasant odour 3.86 0.84
s22 I purchase only the planned products 3.33 1.09
s23 I go out to shop to get ideas for future purchases 3.10 1.11
s24 I go out shopping for fun 3.25 1.09
s25 I go out on a shopping trip with my family 3.13 1.20
s26 I combine visits to friends/relatives with shopping
trips 3.17 1.04
s27 I combine recreations/hobbies with shopping
trips 2.99 1.05
s28 I go out on a shopping trip with my friends 3.23 1.13

Note: Higher mean scores indicate greater pro statement agreement

reason, they are called ‘‘Mavens’’ who keep themselves aware of the latest products, trends
and fashions as people look upon them for information and advice.

Factor 3: peer group association

Statements S12 (Selection of a particular store to shop if friends/colleagues are also doing
the same), S26 (Combining visits to friends/relatives with shopping trips), and S28 (Going
out on a shopping trip with friends) is the third factor that reflects the instinct in these
consumers to stay associated with friends while going on a shopping trip or selecting a

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Table III Factor analysis (shopping motives)
Factors
F3 F5
F1 F2 Peer group F4 Status conscious F6 F7 F8
Statements Hedonic Maven association Utilitarian personal shopper Recreational Impulse Economic Communalities

s23 0.785 0.730

s4 0.767 0.727
s27 0.633 0.732
s5 0.590 0.444
s6 0.828 0.737
s9 0.678 0.693
s3 0.585 0.682
s2 0.536 0.610
s7 0.466 0.464
s12 0.778 0.737
s26 0.771 0.638
s28 0.655 0.534
s17 0.840 0.717
s22 0.710 0.676
s24 0.563 0.773
s13 0.807 0.760
s1 20.701 0.585
s25 20.467 0.648
s14 0.407 0.400
s19 0.400 0.660
s8 20.764 0.619
s24 0.518 0.773
s18 0.471 0.497
s2 0.447 0.610
s3 0.413 0.682
s21 0.741 0.682
s19 20.553 0.660
s16 0.476 0.721
s20 0.428 0.509
s15 0.734 0.664
s10 20.601 0.647
s11 20.511 0.575
Eigen value 3.582 2.775 2.668 2.073 1.972 1.683 1.667 1.442
Explained % 9.745 9.295 8.836 8.276 7.552 7.388 6.562 6.135 S 63.789

particular shop or meeting them (to discuss the purchase or otherwise) while on a shopping
trip.

Factor 4: utilitarian shopping motive

Factor four includes statements S17 (Inconvenience caused by noisy surroundings), S22
(Purchasing only the planned products), and S23 (getting ideas for future purchases). The
factor structure suggests that people who tend to go out shopping only with a exact intention
of buying specific product(s), at the same time generate plans for future purchases and their
shopping activity is affected by noisy surroundings.

Factor 5: status conscious personal shopper

Statements S13 (Selection of stores according to status category), S1 (playing the role of
buyer for the family), S25 (Shopping trip with the family), S14 (Dislike bargaining), S19
(Shopping plan based on ads and discount offers available) constitute factor 5. Status
conscious students prefer to select stores that conform to their status. They look for
discounts available there in but dislike bargaining directly. They do not like to shop with the
family members or play the role of a shopper for the family.

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 Factor 6: recreational shopping motive
Factor 6 includes statements S8 (Physical exercise during shopping), S24 (shopping for
fun), S18 (Shopping simply because one has been to the market), S2 (Seeking escape from
daily routine), and S3 (Browsing through the outlets). The statements loading on this factor
reveal that young consumers like to shop simply because they have been to the market, for
fun, seek escape from daily routine, just browse through the outlets, and dislike the physical
activity involved in shopping. To sum up, they tend to act as recreational shoppers.

Factor 7: impulse shopping motive

Statements S21 (I like to shop in a store that has a pleasant odour), S19 (Shopping plan
based on ads and discount offers), S16 (On visiting the store, I buy a product as soon as I
like it on display), and S20 (Making purchases as quickly as possible). The statements
emphasise shopping based on sensory stimulation such as a pleasant odour, making quick/
impulse purchases or buying for the reason that one has been to the market.

Factor 8: economic shopper

Statements S15 (Comparing prices before selecting the best offer), S10 (Handling the
products irrespective of whether they are bought or not), and S11 (Being affected by the soft
background music in the store). The factor structure suggests that the shoppers tend to act
as wise shoppers who make a purchase only after comparing prices and not getting
affected the environmental cues or sensory stimulants such as the background music or feel
of the products.

Conclusion
Youth are an important consuming class owing to time pressures in dual career families with
high disposable incomes. With the retailers eyeing their presence in the market, it is
pertinent for them to identify the target shoppers as well as to identify the prime reasons as to
why they shop. Therefore, this paper brings forth the important dimensions of motivators for
the youth when they shop. The results reveal that young consumers, interestingly, tend to
shop not from a utilitarian perspective, but from a hedonic perspective. Their key interests
include getting product ideas or meeting friends. They also view shopping as a means of
diversion to alleviate depression or break the monotony of daily routine. In addition to this,
they also go shopping to have fun or just browse through the outlets. This age group is
particularly found to be considerably involved in the role of information seeker from the
market and disseminator of the same to the peer group or to the family. Similar findings have
been reported in India (Kaur and Singh, 2004) and the USA (Belch et al., 2005) and are also
supported in the present study from the second factor. Sensory stimulants such as the
background music, odour, or feel of the products play an important role in shaping the
shopping exercise of these individuals and could set off impulse buying activity in them.
Also, this age category indulges in economic shopping and then the sensory stimulants are
not able to sway them away. This is due to the fact that cognitive processes are completely
developed for this age category such that they are capable to act as competent shoppers
(John, 1999). Marketers can hence tap this important target segment by framing the
promotion strategies appropriately. This requires a focus on the economic criteria used at
the time of shopping. As they are highly information seeking, price discounts or other
schemes can be framed accordingly and communicated to them such that they are liked
and accepted by them. This in one way would lead to greater profits for the marketers as also
it would double the benefits by leading to increased satisfaction of the customers.

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Consumer Research, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 132-40.

Corresponding author
Pavleen Kaur can be contacted at: topavleen@yahoo.co.in

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