SHOPPING MALL PREFERENCES AMONG SHANGHAI UNDERGRADUATES: A CONJOINT ANALYSIS APPROACH

Abstract

This research aims to examine the essential attributes that identify the shopping preferences and the “ideal” mall configurations among Shanghai undergraduates. The scope of study includes the analysis on Raffles City Shopping mall and its targeted consumer group, as well as the undergraduates view on brands and types of stores. The data gathered from the surveys conducted around the universities in Shanghai were analysed using the Conjoint Analysis approach. This approach provides a model in which consumer utilities for various aspects of multifactor stimuli can be estimated from respondents" preference orderings of a set of factorially designed alternatives. Our study reveals that the variety of stores available is the most important criteria for undergraduates when visiting shopping malls. It also concludes that clothing stores are the most popular type of store for them. Foreign brands in general are more popular than the local brand in Shanghai. Also, we conclude that Raffles City has successfully attracted the crowd it targeted. The contribution of this research is two-fold: (a) it provides a framework for future detailed analysis on the shopping behaviour among the young consumer group; and (b) it generates research findings useful for retail brands targeting this particular consumer group, who are contemplating investment opportunity in Shanghai or in other second tier cities.