EFFECTS OF PROMOTIONAL EVENTS IN RETAIL MALLS ON SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

With the completion of new shopping centres in the established retail precincts as well as in the suburbs, retail malls in Singapore are operating in an increasingly competitive environment. Promotional events that include temporary price reductions to boost store sales and retail traffic are often adopted by a mall to retain its competitiveness and attractiveness. However, every increase in human traffic comes with the consequence of retail crowding which could have an adverse impact on shoppers’ behaviour and satisfaction. A survey was conducted among 223 shoppers to understand how shopping behaviour was altered because of ongoing promotional events held within retail malls. This dissertation examines the impact of retail crowding and promotional event layouts on shoppers’ approach-avoidance behaviour, purchasing behaviour, satisfaction and emotional states. While the negative effects of promotional events such as noise had resulted in lowered shopper satisfaction, the findings suggest that a majority of shoppers nevertheless are not deterred from patronising the malls. Those who avoided malls with ongoing promotional events appear to have a lower threshold for retail crowding, thus corroborating the hypothesis that retail crowding do have some implications on approach-avoidance behaviour. The study also discovered that the type of promotional layout design had an impact on the shoppers’ purchasing behaviour and emotional states. When compared to the Grid Layout, the Freeform Layout was able to more positively stimulate the emotions of the shoppers which in turn led to higher instances of unplanned purchases. Although promotional events are able to boost retail traffic, mall owners should be mindful of proper event management to ensure that shoppers’ satisfactions are not compromised. The appropriate selection of promotional event layout is also crucial to ensure that event organisers achieve the desired behavioural outcome.