A study on factors affecting customer’s entertaining shopping experiences in shopping centres

ing Experiences of customers, thus erasing the inappropriate ones as well as adding ones that are appropriate to market data. Also, general results demonstrate that Entertaining Shopping Experiences of customers are based on the perspectives of feelings; however, according to the perspectives of results, customers who are pleased with the entertainment they gain during the process of shopping tend to stay much longer, to pay much more, and to be impulse buys. For that reason, via this research, the researcher expects to develop the scale of Entertaining Shopping Experiences based on the behaviours, with an aim to contribute to building new theories in practical research sources related to this field in the world. 2.3 Research Framework 2.3.1. Expected Research Model Due to the consumer trend of “n in 1”, Shopping Centres has become an ideal destination for Vietnamese consumers, in which they and all members in their family can buy from daily necessities to fashion items, and join services of entertainment, food, education, etc. This illustrates that 7 initial attributes in shopping centres of Sit et al. (2003) are relatively adequate and appropriate to ones in Vietnam currently. Thus, researcher has learnt from the study of Sit et al. (2003) in order to erect the initial research model of this dissertation. Initial Research Method is depicted as follows: Image 2.11: Initial Research Model Source: Researcher’s proposal 2.3.2 Research Scale Draft 1 Table 2.1. An Overview of Concepts and Scales of Image attributes in Shopping centres of Sit et al. (2003) Attributes Scale Merchandising Merchandising, a core attribute of Branded merchandise Stores stock my preferred brands Merchandise Security Accessibility Atmospherics Services Food Entertainment Entertaining Shopping Experiences Attributes Scale shopping centres, is illustrated via the diversity of merchandise, the presence of branded merchandise, and favourite one. Good range of products Accessibility Accessibility of shopping centres encompasses both micro-accessibility and macro-accessibility. Micro- accessibility concerns parking facilities and easy access within the shopping centre. Meanwhile, macro- accessibility indicates good condition of access roads to shopping centres. Close to home Ease of access/navigation Adequate parking space Easily find the entrances and exits to the centre Easy to get around within the centre Opening hours are appropriate for me Atmospherics Atmospherics of shopping centres involves the atmosphere quality such as music, light, temperature, décor, colour of shopping centres. Pleasant background music Fashionable colour scheme Modern décor Well-lit Air-conditioned Service Service of shopping centres is divided in personal service and communal one. Specifically, personal service is expressed through behaviours and knowledge of staff. Communal service provides customers with advantages related to ambulances or restrooms within shopping centres. Both services are considered “augment products” which support the merchandising (core products) of shopping centres. Assistance at information desk Courtesy at information desk Prompt service at information desk Knowledge of employees at information desk Neat uniform of employees at information desk Helpfulness of centre management Positive attitude of centre management Adequate escalators Adequate lifts Directory sign boards Centre brochures Clean restrooms Easy to find the restrooms Restrooms are conveniently located Attributes Scale Overall cleanliness of the centre Food Food is an entertainment attribute of shopping centres, it supplies a needed break for customers during or after the process of their shopping, it is represented via food courts. Food court Entertainment Entertainment is a distinct attribute of shopping centres in term of creating an entertaining environment within the centre, hence exciting shopping experiences. Entertainment attribute consists of special event entertainment and specialty entertainment. Specialty entertainment (movie theatres) Many occasional or seasonal entertainments (shows) Security Security is generalized via the security of customers when shopping in the centre such as the safety in parking lot, restrooms and the safety of lift or escalator systems and the presence of security guards. Safety of my vehicle in car park Personal safety in car park Personal safety within the centre Safety of escalators Safety of lifts Security guards on duty Safety in restrooms Source: Sit et al. (2003) Table 2.2: Scale on Entertainment Shopping Experiences Scale Author(s)/Year Comfortable Le Van Huy (2011) Excited Stressful Relaxing Entertained Source: Le Van Huy (2011) 2.3.3. Research hypothesis H1: Merchandising exerts positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customers H2: Accessibility exerts positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customers H3: Atmospheric exerts positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customers H4: Services exert positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customers H5: Food exerts positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customers H6: Entertainment exerts positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customers H7: Security exerts positive impacts on Entertainment Shopping Experiences of customer CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN 3.1. Introduction of Research Areas According to researcher’s synthesis, there have been 3 shopping centres (appendix 3A) being fit for the scale of Supermarket regulations in Hanoi by the end of December 2017. Shopping centres have also issued together with Decision No. 1371/2004 / QD-BTM by the Minister of Trade (the Ministry of Industry and Trade at present), including 3 centres meeting the standard of class I, 6 centres with class II and 9 ones with class III. Features of Shopping centres class I: Two of shopping centres class I belong to Vingroup (Vincom Mega Mall - Times City and Vincom Mega Mall - Royal City) and the other is Long Bien Aeon Mall of Japan’s Retailing Group Aeon. Features of Shopping Centres Class II: There are 6 shopping centres class II, encompassing 3 centres from Vingroup (Ba Trieu Vincom, Nguyen Chi Thanh Vincom, Long Bien Plaza Vincom) and 3 others namely Tay Son Mipec Centre, Long Bien Savio Mega Mall, Lotte Shopping Centre. Features of Shopping Centre class III: There are 9 shopping centres such as Ruby Plaza, Artemis, Pham Ngoc Thach Vincom centre, Long Bien Mipec Centre, Trang Tien Plaza Shopping Centre, Thang Long Big C, Xuan Thuy IPH Shopping Centre, Bac Tu Liem Vincom Plaza, and Me Tri The Garden Shopping Centre. Regarding the location, these 9 centres are located in different districts and offer ease access for customers. 3.2. Research design 3.2.1. Research procedure The research procedure consists of 4 steps: first, document research phase; second, quantitative research phase (in-depth individual interviewing and group discussion); third, preliminary quantitative research phase; and fourth, formal quantitative research phase. 3.2.2. Data collection methods and analysis tools In this dissertation, Researcher uses two types of data: secondary and primary data. Secondary data is data from published scientific works related to the focus of research in the dissertation and information on the research market. Primary data is new data collected first-hand to serve the dissertation, including the attributes in shopping centres, and the opinion of the research subject on customers' entertaining shopping experiences in shopping centres. Secondary data collection methodology: Published scientific works: Researcher uses keywords to look up on search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, Science Direct, ProQuest, Emerald, etc. Market data: Researcher acquires data from Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam, professional journals, market research firms, and internal reports of shopping centres. Primary data collection methodology: Primary data collection: observation technique is implemented for shopping centres; techniques of in-depth individual interviewing, group discussion, direct interviewing via questionnaires distributed in shopping centres, and online interviewing via Google+ are implemented in both qualitative and quantitative research to gather ideas and opinions of experts, managers, store owners, staff, and customers of shopping centres. Data analysis tools: Researcher uses SPSS Statistics V.22 to analyse primary data collected from questionnaires. 3.3. Qualitative research 3.3.1. Qualitative research design Qualitative research: the next important phase during the research process to detect the attributes in shopping centres which are appropriate for the research context of Vietnamese market. Researcher also adjusts and adds other attributes in line with Vietnamese market to the scale. Findings from the qualitative research serve to build the research model and to determine the second draft scale for the dissertation. Data collection and sampling methods in qualitative research In this research, observation technique, in-depth individual interviewing and group discussion techniques are implemented to gather data for the qualitative research. Research sample description In-depth individual interviewing is conducted with 06 experts (03 marketing specialists in the training field, 03 experts in the retail sector); 10 different subjects working in shopping centres (general managers of shopping centres, store owners, and staff of shopping centres). Demographic characteristics of the research subject are described in Appendix 1B. Group discussion is conducted with 2 groups of regular customers of shopping centres. The first group consists of 8 office workers, both male and female, aged between 25 and 40, with high purchasing power and mutual interest in shopping in shopping centres. The second group consists of 8 students. 3.3.2. Findings of qualitative research Findings of observation in shopping centres Shopping centres: Findings from observing 18 shopping centres show that they all have essential attributes which satisfy "N in 1" customers' needs. Customers: relatively diverse groups of customers, including students, working people, and retirees. They go to shopping centres for shopping, for supermarkets, for a stroll, for deal hunting, for events, for dining, and for entertainment services such as movies or games, etc. Findings from in-depth interviewing and group discussion on the attributes in shopping centres have revealed that 8 attributes, namely Merchandising, Atmospherics, Accessibility, Personal service, Amenity, Food, Entertainment, and Security, are considered as having an impact on customers' entertaining shopping experiences. Findings from in-depth interviewing and group discussion show that the concept of entertaining shopping experiences is properly understood. Customers' entertaining shopping experiences must be viewed not only from the emotional perspective but also from the behavioural perspective. Therefore, Researcher adds the behavioural scale to the research model to measure customers' entertaining shopping experiences in shopping centres. Findings from group discussion show that there are 2 perspectives on shopping. One regards shopping as a recreational activity while the other views it as a mandatory task. Formal research model and research hypothesis Based on findings from the qualitative research, the model of the attributes in shopping centres influencing customers' entertaining shopping experiences is demonstrated in figure 3.2. Figure 3.2: Formal research model of the dissertation (Source: Researcher's proposal) Accordingly, the research hypothesis is proposed as follows: Table 3.1: Formal research hypothesis "Emotion" scale "Behaviour" scale H1a: Merchandising has positive H1b: Merchandising has positive Merchandising Atmospherics Security Accessibility Personal service Amenity Food Entertainment Entertaining shopping experiences - Emotion - Behaviour "Emotion" scale "Behaviour" scale influence on customers' emotion influence on customers' behaviour H2a: Atmospherics has positive influence on customers' emotion H2b: Atmospherics has positive influence on customers' behaviour H3a: Accessibility has positive influence on customers' emotion H3b: Accessibility has positive influence on customers' behaviour H4a: Personal service has positive influence on customers' emotion H4b: Personal service has positive influence on customers' behaviour H5a: Amenity has positive influence on customers' emotion H5b: Amenity has positive influence on customers' behaviour H6a: Food has positive influence on customers' emotion H6b: Food has positive influence on customers' behaviour H7a: Entertainment has positive influence on customers' emotion H7b: Entertainment has positive influence on customers' behaviour H8a: Security has positive influence on customers' emotion H8b: Security has positive influence on customers' behaviour Source: Researcher's proposal 3.4. Quantitative Research 3.4.1. Quantitative research design Sampling procedure in quantitative research Figure 3.2: Sampling procedure in the quantitative research Source: Researcher's self-design Questionnaire design The questionnaire is designed based on the findings from the qualitative research. The main contents of the questionnaire in both preliminary and formal phases are: (i) Customers' behaviour in shopping centres, (ii) Customers' opinion on the attributes that influence customers' entertaining shopping experiences; (iii) Customers' feelings towards entertaining shopping experiences; (iv) Personal information. Determine the overall research Set the framework Define the sample size Determine the sampling method Select the sample The questionnaire is designed based on the Likert scale of 5 levels, Level 1- Strongly disagree; Level 2- Disagree; Level 3– Neutral; Level 4- Agree; Level 5- Strongly agree. Data collection methodology in quantitative research In this dissertation, Researcher uses two primary data collection methods for the quantitative research in both preliminary and formal phases: direct data collection in shopping centres via direct interviewing with questionnaires, and indirect data collection via the Internet. The preliminary phase takes place on April 2017. The formal phase takes place on May and June 2017. Data analysis in quantitative research The data in this research is analysed by SPSS Statistics. The sequence of data analysis is conducted corresponding to each research period: from the preliminary to the formal phase. The preliminary quantitative research phase only performs the Cronbach's alpha analysis to assess the reliability of the scale. The formal phase is conducted to test the model and the statistical hypothesis. The data is analysed in the following sequence: Descriptive statistics analysis; Reliability test of the scale with Cronbach's alpha; Exploratory factor analysis EFA; Statistical inference. The dissertation measures the difference and the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables and conducts multiple linear regression. 3.4.2. Results of preliminary quantitative research The adjusted scale after the qualitative research is applied in the questionnaire to serve the preliminary quantitative research. After running Cronbach's alpha test, the reliability of the scales will be tested. The results of the analysis show that all component variables of the independent variables (Merchandising, Atmospherics, Accessibility, Personal service, Amenity, Food, Entertainment, Security) have the item-total correlation > 0.3 and the Cronbach’s alpha if item deleted is > 0.6. Therefore, the scales all reach reliability. The results of the formal quantitative research are presented in Chapter 4. CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH RESULTS 4.1. Research sample characteristics To achieve the desired sample size of 500 subjects, Researcher performs the data collection in two ways: from direct investigation in 18 shopping centres in Hanoi, and from online questionnaires via the Internet. The official data is gathered from 495 subjects, with 381 direct respondents in shopping centres and 114 indirect respondents via the Internet. The demographic characteristics of the research subject (appendix 5) are described in Table 4.1: Table 4.1: Demographic characteristics of the research subject Demographics Frequency Rate (%) Gender Male 193 38.99% Female 302 61.01% Age 18-25 years old 171 34.55% 26-35 years old 139 28.08% 36-45 years old 97 19.60% 45-55 years old 75 15.15% > 55 years old 13 2.63% Marital status Single 210 42.42% Married 178 35.96% Others (Divorced/separated/widowed) 107 21.62% Education level Under high school 7 1.41% High school 92 18.59% College 133 26.87% University 188 37.98% Graduate school 75 15.15% Occupation Student 89 17.98% Office worker (in business enterprise) 114 23.03% Direct labourer (in business enterprise) 85 17.17% Public official (administration) 81 16.36% Business manager/owner 74 14.95% House person/Retiree 33 6.67% Others (freelancer) 19 3.84% Income Lower than 5 million VND 114 23.03% 5-10 million VND 165 33.33% 10-15 million VND 120 24.24% 15-20 million VND 57 11.52% Higher than 20 million VND 39 7.88% Source: Researcher's SPSS Statistics data analysis result 4.2. Official scale assessing results 4.2.1. Assessing reliability of the scale (Cronbach’s Alpha) The scale reliability assessment results of 7 independent variables: 2 observed variables excluded are AC5 and AC6 (belonging to the variable “Accessibility”) The scale reliability assessment results of dependent variables: 1 observed variable is excluded is EM5 (belonging to the variable “Emotion”) 4.2.3. Assessing the scale values (EFA analysis) Results of independent variables scale value assessment Results of EFA assessment of shopping centres’ attributes show that 7 factors extracted with total variance explained of 70.767, which reflects exploratory factor analysis of 70.767%. On the other hand, when it comes to rotation matrix, that observed variables have loadings smaller than 0.5 and converge on many factors; thus, according to EFA testing principles, these variables can be excluded; only the observed variables that converge on one factor and have loadings bigger than 0.5 are kept. Factor 1: According to EFA factor analysis (appendix 8A), there are 8 observed variables attributed to Factor 1 including ME1, ME2, ME3, ME4, ME5, ME6, ME8, ME9. The observed variable ME7 converges on the seventh factor. In terms of content, it is shown that these 8 variables still describe shopping centres’ merchandising; therefore, the first factor will include 8 observed variables and remain the name “Merchandising”. Factor 2: Appendix 8A shows that 7 observed variables all attribute to factor 2, including: 04 observed variables CS1, CS2, CS3, CS4 of the factor “Customer Services”; 01 observed variable ME7 of the factor “Merchandising”; 01 observed variable AM9 of the factor “Amenity” and 01 observed variable EN4 of the factor “Entertainment”. Regarding the content, these observed variables reflect the shopping centres’ operation. Therefore, factor 2 includes 7 observed variables reflecting the operation of the shopping centres and is named “Operation”. Factor 3: Appendix 8A shows that 8 observed variables attributing to factor 3 are AM1, AM2, AM3, AM4, AM5, AM6, AM7, AM8 (AM9 converges on factor 7). In terms of contents, these 8 variables still describe amenities that shopping centres provide for customers during their shopping experience there. Thus, factor 3 includes 8 observed variables and remains on the initial scale as “Amenity”. Factor 4: 6 observed variables attributing to factor 4 are FO1, FO2, FO3, EN1, EN2, EN3, in which 3 observed variables belonging to Food scale are FO1, FO2, FO3 and the other three variables of Entertainment scale including EN1, EN2, EN3 (EN4 converges on the seventh factor). Three observed variables of initial Food scale converge on 3 observed variables of the activity Entertainment, which can be interpreted from market perspective as that types of food and entertainment all serve the needs of relaxation for customers. Therefore, factor 4 comprises 6 observed variables and is named Food and Entertainment. Factor 5: Appendix 8A shows that 6 observed variables attributing to factor 2 are AT1, AT2, AT3, AT4, AT5, AT6. Thus, the scale “Atmospherics” do not undergo any changes. Factor 6: Converged by 4 observed variables: AC1, AC2, AC3, AC4, which are four observed variables of the scale “Accessibility”. Regarding contents, all these 4 observed variables reflect shopping centres’ location; therefore, factor 6 is composed of 4 observed variables and named “Location”. Factor 7: Is the convergence of 4 observed variables: SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4. In terms of content, these 4 variables still indicate the issue of customers’ security during their stay in shopping centres. Thus, factor 7 includes 4 observed variables and remains its name as Security. Results of dependent variables scale value assessment The EFA factor analysis results for customers’ entertainment shopping experiences show that 2 factors are extracted with total variance explained of 63.045, which reflects explained explanatory factor analysis of 63.045%. On the other hand, according to rotation matrix results (appendix 8B), all observed variables of these two factors have factor loadings that are greater than 0.5; therefore, observed variables are kept. Factor 1: The EFA factor analysis results indicate that 5 observed variables attributing to factor 1 are EM1, EM2, EM3, EM4, EM6. In terms of content, these 5 variables still reflect customers’ feelings when they go to shopping centres. Thus, the first factor will include 5 observed variables and still be known as “Emotion”. Factor 2: According to the EFA factor analysis results, there are 3 observed variables converging on factor 2 including BE1, BE2, BE3. Therefore, factor 2 will be composed of 3 observed variables of initial behaviour scale and keep being called “Behaviour”. From EFA analysis implications, the research model is modified as follows Image 4.1: Formal research model of the dissertation (Source: Researcher’s proposal) The research hypothesis proposed in Table 4.5 is as follows: Table 4.2: Formal research hypothesis “Emotion” scale “Behaviour” scale H1a: Merchandising has positive influence on customers’ emotion H1b: Merchandising has positive influence on customers’ behaviour H2a: Atmospherics has positive influence on customers’ emotion H2b: Atmospherics has positive influence on customers’ behaviour H3a: Location has positive influence on customers’ emotion H3b: Location has positive influence on customers’ behaviour H4a: Amenity has positive influence on customers’ emotion H4b: Amenity has positive influence on customers’ behaviour H5a: Food and Entertainment has positive influence on customers’ emotion H5b: Food and Entertainment has positive influence on customers’ behaviour H6a: Security has positive influence on customers’ emotion H6b: Security has positive influence on customers’ behaviour H7a: Operation has positive influence on customers’ emotion H7b: Operation has positive influence on customers’ behaviour (Source: Researcher’s proposal) 4.2.3. Assessing reliability of the scale after analysing EFA (Cronbach’s Alpha) Merchandising Atmospherics Location Amenity Food - Entertainment Security Operation Entertaining Shopping Experiences - Emotion - Behaviour After analysing EFA, 43 observed variables of 7 coded independent variable scales are included in Cronbach’s Alpha analysis. The results of reliability assessment of official independent variable scale (Appendix 9) are summarized as follows: component variables have corrected item-total correlation that are all < 0.3 and Cronbach’s alpha if item deleted that are