Shopping Mall Motivation: Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Approach

The purpose of this research is to investigate young consumer motivation in regards to shopping mall. Young adults are an emerging age group that has economic autonomy and power of making independent decisions. In addition, this young segment providing an interesting challenges and opportunities for marketing professionals. Therefore, it is pertinent to analyse their shopping motivations, so that the marketers can understand and influence the consumption behaviour of this specific group. A survey using self-administered questionnaire was conducted to assess the mall-directed shopping habits and shopping orientations. A total of 164 usable surveys were obtained. In addition of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was applied to prove the hypotheses. We have found that young Australian shoppers were motivated to visit malls primarily by the role enactment and exploration dimensions. They were the strongest motivators which explaining why young Australian consumers patronize malls. Young consumers of Australia enjoyed the mall environment, exploring new things, socializing with friends, comparing prices and the variety of products and services offered. The results of our study have several implications that should be of benefit to the retailing industry and mall management. Developers of malls must develop their mall more than simply a place for buying products. As such, mall management should make sure that their mall atmospherics offer a mall environment that is pleasing to multiple senses, to ensure it is conducive for shoppers to stay and spend more of their time and money. Mall management must execute strategies to maintain their attraction to younger consumers, perhaps by including stores that are futuristic and offer the most advanced styles or technologies, and appeal to somewhat older adults by offering the tenant, entertainment, and experience mix they will prefer. It is recommended that future research utilize random sampling methods to ensure the generalizability of results.