THE IMPACT OF MEGACHURCHES ON SUNTEC CITY MALL : A CONSUMER'S AND RETAILER'S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

There has in recent years arisen a new occurrence in Singapore – the move of megachurches into the central region. This dissertation seeks to investigate the impact of these megachurches on the retail spaces in Suntec City Mall. In so doing, it aims to serve as a guide to mall managers if and when faced with the decision of including a megachurch in the tenant mix of their shopping centres. This is done through qualitative analysis of interviews with industry experts and the tenants of Suntec City Mall. In addition, quantitative analysis is utilized in assessing the survey responses of shoppers. To highlight the differences in shopping behaviours, responses from church shoppers and public shoppers are separated and compared. The findings showed that certain types of shops benefited more from the megachurches. Although the findings also revealed that the megachurches have a localized impact on the shopping centre, in that shops closer to the church locations experienced more extreme effects, this was of secondary importance compared to the shop type. While the megachurch shoppers tend to be biased towards the positive impact of their churches on Suntec City Mall, the public shoppers were in fact generally neutral about the presence of these megachurches. Overall, Suntec City was observed to have improved business and traffic with the megachurches there, particularly on weekends. As such, it can be seen that the megachurches positively impact the shopping centre, apart from some inconveniences such as increased maintenance and a few shops that suffered negative externalities.