The Influence of Shopping Dimensions on Consumers’ Motivation to Shop at Malls: A Study on Supermal Karawaci Shopping Center

Abstract

This purpose of this research is to determine the effect of the seven Shopping Dimensions identified by Bloch et al (1994) on consumers’ motives for visiting and shopping at malls, specifically in Supermal Karawaci, while simultaneously studying the strategies needed for Supermal Karawaci to compete with its competitors in terms of consumer behavior and how it gives them a competitive advantage over other malls. The multiple regression statistical technique is used for the data analysis in this research to determine the significance of: (1) Aesthetics dimension; (2) convenience dimension; (3) escape dimension; (4) exploration dimension; (5) role enactment dimension; (6) flow dimension; and (7) social dimension towards the consumers’ motivation for shopping at malls specifically at Supermal Karawaci. A structured questionnaire was distributed to the consumers of Supermal Karawaci, with a total of 200 respondents based on the sample size calculated through nonprobability purposive sampling. This research found all of the seven dimensions are positively related to consumers’ motivation to shop at malls, indicating that all hypotheses were accepted, with escape dimension being the strongest motivator amongst the others. A cluster analysis showed that the respondents could generally be clustered into three groups; 1) Moderately motivated respondents, 2) Highly motivated respondents and 3) Lowly motivated respondents. This research, however, was limited to Supermal Karawaci and its consumers only, with a non-probability sampling method that may predispose the results to selection bias. In addition, the sample frame of 200 respondents does not sufficiently represent the consumers of shopping malls in general.