How can shopping mall management best capture mall image?

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Abstract

One way to generate more traffic in a mall is to build a strong mall image perceived by shoppers as delivering a unique bundle of benefits. Such effort has to be guided by a performance metric, namely a comprehensive measure of mall image. We hypothesize that mall image can best be conceptualized in terms of five major dimensions a la Ailawadi and Keller [Ailawadi K.L., Keller K.L. Understanding Retail Branding: Conceptual Insights and Research Priorities. J Retail 2004; 80 (Winter):331–342.] retail branding dimensions: access, store atmosphere, price and promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment. The predictive (nomological) validity of the mall image measure was tested in relation to mall attitude, mall patronage, and word-of-mouth communications. We validated the mall image measure using data generated with mall-intercept surveys in two different malls in a large city in Canada (N = 861). The data provided support for the predictive validity of the mall image measure. Managerial implications of the mall image measure are also discussed.

Introduction

Shopping mall management has long struggled to identify factors affecting mall patronage (e.g., Burns, 1992, Kenney, 2000, Kirkup and Rafiq, 1994). From the perspective of shopping mall management, a mall that can generate more traffic is one that can demand higher lease price from its store tenants because more mall traffic usually translates into more store traffic and sales. Retailing scholars have addressed the question of increased mall traffic by recommending many strategies such as:

  • Shopping mall promotion of social, leisure, and entertainment events taking place at the mall (e.g., Kim et al., 2004, Parsons, 2003, Talpade and Haynes, 1997),

  • Shopping mall promotion of shopping mall-wide sale and other price discounts (e.g., Jin and Suh, 2005, Blair and Landon, 1981),

  • Recruiting and retaining large anchor stores such as department stores or large discount stores (e.g., Pashigian and Gould, 1998), and

  • Targeting shoppers having specific demographic, socio-economic, cultural, or psychographic characteristics (e.g., Laroche et al., 2005, Dholakia et al., 1995).

Another strategy that has not received adequate attention in the retailing literature is attracting tenants that perceive a mall to be positive on five major dimensions, first proposed by Ailawadi and Keller (2004) in relation to stores: access, atmosphere, price and promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment. We argue that these store-image dimensions are also applicable to malls and therefore can be used similarly to capture mall image. A mall successful in positioning itself in the minds of target shoppers as favorable in terms of access, atmosphere, price and promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment is one that most likely can contribute to a favorable attitude toward the mall, thus enhancing mall patronage, and increasing positive word-of-mouth communication about the mall.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development and validation of a mall-image measure conceptualized a la Ailawadi and Keller's concept of store image. Such a measure has significant strategic implications for shopping mall management. The measure should be used to capture shoppers' perceptions of the mall in terms of access, atmosphere, price and promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment. Perceptions that show the mall lacking in one or more of the aforementioned “mall benefits” should motivate management to take corrective action by developing marketing programs designed to address the deficits. Remedial action, thus, should enhance mall attitude, increase mall patronage, and generate positive word-of-mouth communications about the mall.

Section snippets

Conceptual development

Much of the research to date on mall image in retailing is predicated on the research involving store image. Store image is a concept that reflects shoppers' perception of a store in terms of functional and psychological attributes (e.g., Martineau, 1958, Mazursky and Jacoby, 1986). Functional attributes are store characteristics regarded as concrete, tangible, and observable (e.g., assortment of the store's merchandising, the hours of operation, the location of the store in proximity to

Method

The development of the mall-image measure shown in Table 1 was guided by the theoretical notion that a comprehensive mall image measure is one that is comprised of five dimensions (mall access, mall atmosphere, price and promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment).

Results

As shown in Fig. 1, the research model captures the formative relationship between each mall image dimension (mall access, mall atmosphere, price/promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment) and the higher-order mall image construct. As hypothesized, mall-image is modeled to predict the three endogenous variables: mall attitude, mall patronage, and word-of-mouth communication.

Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics and correlation matrix for the research variables. The

Discussion

The data have demonstrated an acceptable fit with the conceptual model at large. The study results also show that mall image had a significant positive influence on mall attitude, mall patronage, and word-of-mouth communications supporting the predictive (nomological) validity of the mall image measure.

The managerial implications of the mall-image measure are important. First, mall management is urged to make this new measure part of a more comprehensive marketing research program. To do this,

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