Does "Retail-tainment" Draw More Shoppers?
Mall survey focuses on the role of tourist attractions
A seven-acre amusement park fills the center of the giant Mall of America
in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Superstition Springs Mall in Apache Junction,
Arizona has an arboretum, a playground and an amphitheater. The current
trend in mall design includes any combination of these venues plus movie
theaters, themed restaurants, museums, and other non-retail businesses.
Why? To draw more shoppers, of course.
But when people visit a mall's tourist attractions, do they really
come to shop in the surrounding stores as well? Or do they just leave
after the entertainment ends? Many individual stores already have begun
to feature entertainment right alongside their merchandise--teen shopping
departments play wide-screen music videos; housewares sections advertise
cooking tips on televisions placed next to the pots and pans. Taking
the entertainment full-scale and moving it outside the stores and into
the heart of the mall itself has been the next step, but does it work?
"Retailing is very competitive in this country, says Mary Ann Eastlick,
a professor in the Division of Retailing and Consumer Studies at The
University of Arizona. "There are too many stores and too many shopping
centers.
"It has been estimated that there is now between 18 and 19 feet of
retail space for each person in the United States," Eastlick says. "This
has created a lot of pressure in what they call 'B' and 'C' shopping
malls. These are malls that have lower sales volumes per square foot;
they are usually older and need more renovation. They need anchors or
don't have the location an 'A' mall has."
Eastlick, along with Professors Sherry Lotz and Soyeon Shim, and doctoral
student Patti Warrington, are conducting a survey of 350 shoppers at
each of four malls (a total of 1400 consumers) in cities across the
southern portion of the U.S. These include Orlando, Florida; Charlotte,
North Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; and San Diego, California. The International
Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), a trade association for shopping
centers, is sponsoring the research.
Mall owners are looking for ways to build traffic in their malls, even
in 'A' malls, and entertainment is one of their key ideas, according
to Eastlick. This combination of both retail and entertainment formats
under one roof is known as 'retail-tainment.' But is this enough incentive
for people to shop and be entertained during the same visit? And does
it encourage future mall patronage? Ask the customers.
"Our proposal is to conduct mall intercepts in cities that appeal
to winter tourists and that also have a large local clientele," Eastlick
says. Shoppers, who must be 18 or older, will be intercepted in at least
two places in the mall by mall survey personnel. (Typically, most malls
have their own data collection services on-site, and don't allow others
in.) The interviewers are using a questionnaire developed from focus
group interviews conducted by the Arizona research team, in conjunction
with advice from a research mentor from the ICSC.
The interviews, held in January 1998, are timed to ensure that winter
tourists will be included. The interviewers will vary their data collection
by time of day and day of the week to obtain a good cross-section of
visitors.
Three main objectives drive the research:
- To determine whether consumer-oriented factors impact cross-shopping
behavior through consumers' degree of involvement in entertainment
and/or shopping activities
- To assess the long-term impact of entertainment-based venues on
future patronage of a mall, and
- To develop profiles of consumers who shop and those who do not.
Eastlick notes that although many shopping centers are now looking
to incorporate entertainment into their strategy to maintain economic
advantages, there have not been any empirical studies done to find out
whether or not this works.
According to the researchers, this study can shed light on customer
attitudes toward shopping and entertainment. It can help identify benefits
of adding entertainment businesses to a mall's mix in terms of cross
shopping, increased expenditures, and future patronage intentions. In
addition, findings will contribute developing theories regarding patronage
behavior and cross shopping in malls that have a mix of entertainment-based
businesses.
"The main impact of our research will be on economic development,"
Eastlick says. "The area of influence is the strategic plan for retailing
in malls."
Because one of the malls under study is in Arizona, the results of
this study can directly impact decisions made regarding entertainment
in malls right here in the state.
Article written by Susan McGinley, ECAT, College of
Agriculture
This is part of the 1997 Arizona Experiment Station Research Report
This document is located at http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/general/resrpt1997/retail-tainment.html
Return to Index for 1997 report
Researchers:
Mary Ann Eastlick
School of Family and Consumer Resources, Division of Retailing and
Consumer Studies
(520) 621-3347
eastlick@aruba.ccit.arizona.edu
Sherry Lotz
School of Family and Consumer Resources, Division of Retailing and
Consumer Studies
(520) 621-3063
slotz@ag.arizona.edu
Soyeon Shim
School of Family and Consumer Resources, Division of Retailing and
Consumer Studies
(520) 621-8696
shim@ag.arizona.edu
|