The Effects of Shopping Mall Attributes on Experience Quality and Engagement Behaviour: Does Gender Matter?

Abstract

Over the last decade, the mushrooming of new shopping malls in Klang Valley has compelled mall management to develop strategies that aim to elevate themselves above their competitors. As a result, shopping malls developers and management have deliberately introduced distinctive and unique attributes to act as a magnet to entice and fascinate the shoppers. Comprehensive insights into the customer demographics, trends, and lifestyles will enable mall managers to develop marketing strategies that appeal to potential customers within the catchment area. Despite the emphasis, little research has addressed which attributes are significantly vital in influencing the mall's patrons Experience Quality and Engagement Behaviour. The objective of this study is to unravel the predictors of Experience Quality and, in turn, determine its effect on Engagement Behaviour. Subsequently, this research attempt to investigate empirically whether the shopping mall patron's profile, in this case, gender, will moderate the hypothesized relationships between constructs in the research model. The research model was developed based on the SOR (Stimulus-Organism Response) Model. The research hypotheses were tested and validated with 181 shopping mall visitors obtained through shopping mall interception at five shopping malls in Klang Valley, Malaysia, in 2018. The multi-group analysis using SmartPLS software was conducted to determine the moderating effect of gender on hypothesized links among constructs in the research model. The results imply that mall Atmospherics and Entertainment and Event are predictors of Experience Quality for the male patrons. Whilst the mall Atmospherics is the only significant predictor of Experience Quality for female patrons. Additionally, the result exemplifies a significant positive effect of Experience Quality on Engagement Behaviour for male and female mall patrons. Research implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed and advocated.