رفتار بازار خرید مصرف کنندگان شهر کوچک هند

Rapid development of retailing in India has led to expansion of malls in smaller cities. The current research was directed towards small city consumers (n=276) to understand their mall shopping behaviour. Most people in small cities are unfamiliar with the concept of malls and their exposure to the organized retail has been limited in the past. Malls bring functional and experiential benefits to them and affect their shopping behaviour. The perceived benefits, however, may differ among consumer groups. This study specifically focuses on exploring the differences across age and gender groups. ANOVA test was used for the analyses. The results show that consumers’ gender and age play an important role in determining their attitude towards shopping in malls. The influence of mall attributes such as décor, layout, services, variety of stores, and entertainment facilities must be considered while planning malls in smaller cities as they have an effect on consumers’ buying behaviour. The mall shopping behaviour of metropolitan city shoppers should not be generalized with that of shoppers in smaller cities.

The liberalization policy pursued by Indian government in retail sector has fueled the growth of malls in different regions of the country. Private companies are investing large amounts of money to design and create malls to provide tangential benefits of shopping and provide consumers’ access to global brands. Gershman (1988) states that malls are attractive locations which facilitate social interactions and entertainment. The fascination towards malls is driven by convenience, entertainment, and assortment. Saturation in the growth and number of malls in the metropolitan cities has forced mall operators to explore options in Tier II and III cities. The smaller cities are attractive due to low rental and operating costs (KPMG, 2009). The slowdown experienced by Indian economy in the last few years has affected the retail industry. The malls in bigger cities experienced decrease in consumer footfall and diminishing sales. This led to surge of mall investment activity in the Tier II cities of the country. The cheaper real estate prices, low entry costs and availability of space in Tier II and III cities offer excellent investment opportunities compared to bigger cities (Dwivedi, 2010). In the last decade, the smaller cities have witnessed a change in consumption preferences of the consumers (KPMG, 2009 and Dwivedi, 2010). Ernst and Young state that in the last two years growth in the number of malls in smaller cities has been 55 percent compared to 26 percent in the metropolitan cities (Sinha, 2010). The arrival of malls in smaller cities of India promises to transform shopping and recreation in these cities. The assortment of services and products, spatial ambience and amusement facilities target the ‘shopper-tourist’ (Robertson, 1995). Shopping malls have become a part of a contemporary consumer shopping culture (Van Eden, 2006) where the diverse shopping behavioural needs are addressed (Ahmed et al., 2007). Malls presage more than stores and selling (Gottdiener, 1995) and promote a different lifestyle and buying phenomenon. The metropolitan cities in India boast of tremendous development in infrastructure and services. The upsurge in mall activity is at its pinnacle, and recently there is increase in mall activity in the smaller cities where consumers have limited exposure to global brands. The consumers attitude and behaviour in the smaller cities, thus becomes an important determinant in planning the layout and ambience of these malls. This paper analyses the behaviour of the Indian consumer in a mall in a Tier II city in India. The objective of this research was to understand consumers’ perception of mall attributes and its impact across gender and age groups. Consequently, it is believed that by attending to these mall attributes, mall managers could influence the buying behaviour of various target age groups of consumers in the small city malls.

The research was conducted only on the consumers of one city. A future research may be undertaken to make a comparison between the mall shopping behaviour in Tier II and III cities. Research can be also directed on the older consumers to understand their reasons for visiting the malls. The preference of consumers for malls can be compared with their preferences for local retailers. This would help the stores in the malls to offer services and assortment according to the consumer preferences. The income, occupation, and education of the consumers has not been included in data collection. These variables can be taken up in future research for analyzing their effect on mall shopping behaviour.