Shopping for well-being: The role of consumer decision-making styles

ABSTRACT Shopping well-being has become a topic of interest in retail defining the contribution of the shopping activity to life satisfaction. However, little is known about how it may benefit consumers or retailers. This paper examines shopping well-being by assessing the role of consumer decision-making (CDM) styles. Based on a large-scale survey of consumers, this study suggests that CDM styles have an important role to play in the relationship between the dimensions of the shopping centre experience (retail offer, centre-based activities, and centre atmosphere) and well-being. Findings indicate critical differences in the way utilitarian and hedonic aspects of the shopping centre experience impact on shopping well-being for different consumers. This study uncovers that shopping centres often play a critical role in promoting well-being and offers insights on how shopping centre operators can leverage this while considering CDM styles. Introduction Shopping is a significant consumption activity which affects many aspects of consumers' lives. Whether done online, in store or in a shopping centre, retail environments have become increasingly sophisticated, with shopping frequently blurring transactional, social and leisure boundaries. This is particularly evident in many shopping centres, complex consumer habitats that attract multiple individuals that spend a relatively long amount of time on site in the acquisition of goods, services and other experiential activities (Bloch, Ridgway, & Dawson, 1994). Such consumption activities often define the shopping centre experience, contributing to individual consumer well-being. The shopping well-being concept derives its roots from the broader research stream of subjective well-being, which has been defined as a relatively stable cognitive orientation towards life (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2012; George, 2010; Ryan & Deci, 2001). Shopping well-being is a more recent and unique domain of consumer experience within marketing literature (e.g. El Hedhli, Zourrig, & Chebat, 2016; Shafiee & Es-Haghi, 2017), resulting from exposure to various types of shopping encounters including activities (e.g. tasks) and resources (e.g. breadth and depth of alternatives). Shopping well-being is defined as the contribution of the shopping activity to life satisfaction domains including consumer, social, leisure and community (El Hedhli, Chebat, & Sirgy, 2013), leading to the perspective that shopping significantly contributes to a consumer's quality of life. Examples of this shift can be found in many shopping centres, where operators are revisiting their competitive strategy to extend beyond retail, introducing entertainment spaces and services, community and educational facilities, and organising wellness activities for customers, such as yoga, meditation and fitness sessions (Harilela, 2017; Savills & Ellandi, 2017). In this context, consumer-retailer interactions go beyond customer satisfaction and loyalty (Ekici, Sirgy, Lee, Yu, & Bosnjak, 2017; El Hedhli et al., 2013) and shopping experiences have the power to affect the well-being of individuals, employees, families and communities (Ekici et al., 2017; Sirgy & Lee, 2008). Retail environments have become highly sophisticated – they often blend utilitarian and hedonic aspects to deliver social, leisure and community outcomes. These outcomes provide a key competitive advantage for store-based retailers in an increasingly omni-channel world. The physical store is a competitive differentiator from pure-play online retailers, with many consumer segments preferring the store channel (Sands, Ferraro, Campbell, & Pallant, 2016). Thus, establishing stores within retail agglomerations (i.e. shopping centres) is one way of competing with pure-play online counterparts. Hence, the shopping centre context is a unique environment for the study of shopping well-being. Consumers constantly make choices that enhance or diminish their shopping well-being. Shopping decisions are often affected by consumers' mental orientations reflected in consumer-decision making (CDM) styles (Wesley, LeHew, & Woodside, 2006). Understanding the role of consumer-specific characteristics in shaping well-being is fundamental, as acknowledged in literature focused on personality factors and subjective well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001). These characteristics are also recognised as moderators that interact with the customer experience in relation to behavioural outcomes (Verhoef et al., 2009). However, few empirical studies have investigated the relationship between CDM styles and well-being, as well as their interaction with the dimensions of the shopping experience. This study puts forward a conceptual framework investigating the role of four CDM styles – recreational shopping consciousness, consumer innovativeness, time pressure, and price consciousness – in enhancing shopping well-being within a shopping centre context. The study advances the literature by investigating the way these CDM styles contribute to and shape shopping well-being generated through the shopping centre experience. The study also acknowledges the role of both utilitarian and hedonic dimensions of the shopping experience in influencing shopping well-being and provides insights on how to optimise well-being according to different consumer profiles defined by the four CDM styles. From a practical perspective, this research suggests that shopping centre managers should consider the development of initiatives that leverage shopping well-being to create competitive advantage. In the next section, an overview of shopping well-being is provided as a foundation for the current study. Next, a review of prior research on shopping centre dimensions and CDM styles is presented to develop a set of hypotheses. After outlining the methodology and presenting the findings from the cross-sectional study, the paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications and offers suggestions for future research. Section snippets Shopping well-being Consumers are confronted with multiple channel, format, store and experience alternatives. In maximising shopping utility, consumers increasingly consider well-being when they plan a shopping trip (El Hedhli et al., 2016). It is important for shopping centre managers to consider this, particularly as dissatisfaction with shopping experiences can cause negative outcomes including unhappiness and ultimately avoidance (Otieno, Harrow, & Lea-Greenwood, 2005). Well-being is a multidimensional Design and participants The sample consisted of 4442 respondents (50% female, Mage = 34-year-old Australian residents) sourced from a research panel provider, Survey Sample International (SSI), with minimal compensation (see Table 2 for sample profile). Data was collected via an online survey covering a diverse range of shopping centres in terms of location (metro, regional) and size (small, medium, large). Australian shopping centres are a valid context, as many have been transformed in recent years in response to Shopping centre experience dimensions and shopping well-being The hypotheses were tested by applying maximum likelihood estimation via the covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) software Mplus 7.4. To assess the impact of each shopping centre experience dimension on shopping well-being, the direct effects in the relevant hypotheses were tested via a structural equation model (baseline model), which showed acceptable fit to the data (CFI = 0.989, TLI = 0.985, RMSEA = 0.049, SRMR = 0.022). The possibility of rival models was also tested Discussion and conclusions Shopping centres are unique retail settings where experience components (retail mix, aesthetics and environment, and additional services and events) form larger Gestalt environments. Further, the resurgence of shopping centres in recent years (Pallant & Sands, 2017) indicates that predictions of the death of physical retail are exaggerated (Dutta, 2018). While recent media reports have focused on the demise of store chains and centre closings, the market appears to be telling a more optimistic Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the support of Monash University in assisting with data collection. Dr Isabella Maggioni is Assistant Professor in Marketing at ESCP Europe. Isabella's research interests cover the area of consumer behaviour and psychology, with a specific focus on consumer well-being, identity-based consumption, and ethical consumption behaviour in retail and tourism research settings. Isabella has published her research in journals such as Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and International Journal of Tourism Research