Consumer Buying Behavior at Selected Durban Shopping Malls - Research Paper Example

Consumer Buying Behaviour at selected Durban Shopping Malls: Does Gender Matter?

Abstract

Background: In the current business environment, there is a gap in understanding the disparities of men’s and women’s shopping behaviour and outlining the capacities of shopping malls to meet needs of diverse shoppers.

Aim: The aim of his paper was to explore the gender differences in consumer buying behaviour at selected Durban shopping malls.

Setting: This study took place at seven selected shopping malls in Durban.

Methodology: An exploratory study quantitative was adopted for this study with 100 respondents selected randomly from each of the seven shopping malls.

Results: The study revealed that there are notable gender differences which shape shopping behaviour among men and women such as; their reaction, interaction and communication with sales associates, image and popularity of mall, atmosphere and their perception towards the whole notion of the shopping experience. Time and money spent at mall was also differed significantly between male and female consumers. Concisely, the results attributed that personal attributes and shopping mall attractiveness factors played a crucial role in influencing customer shopping behaviour amongst the mall shoppers.

Conclusion: Findings from the study are significant in implicating gender differences from a large population with shoppers fitting different customer segments. The study recommends a narrower representative sample population in terms of age groups, education status, proximity to the malls, and frequency of shopping. Additionally, conducting a cross-sectional study can help deduce rich findings that can inform mall managers on different aspects and preferences of their shoppers and not based on generalizations and assumptions.

Keywords: Gender differences, Customer buying behaviour, Shopping mall attractiveness, Ambiance, Personal attributes.

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the retailing sector in South Africa has witnessed tremendous growth with the country’s GNI (gross national income) per capita hitting US$ 6,100 (Piotrowicz & Cuthbertson, 2015). The entry of the country into the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) coupled with a population of over 50 million has provided a platform for the rise and flourishing of economic mercantile activities ranging from multinational corporations to shopping malls in its major cities (Ushakov, 2017). South Africa’s retailing sector context is characterised with the escalation in the number of shopping malls to meet the needs of the population segmented with high disposable income, high rates of urbanization, and trends of rapid economic growth patterns (Human Sciences Research Council., 2003).

In the current business environment, shopping malls in the retail sector play a key role, as they expose consumers to a variety of products mostly under one roof (Gomez, Isakov, & Semansky, 2015). According to Ozturk (2014), the business environment is continuously becoming more competitive, an aspect that is forcing shopping malls to adopt strategies to meet the diverse needs of their respective consumers. Despite the adoption of these strategies, many shopping malls have failed to understand the implication of consumers’ buying behaviour, personal variables, and the overall gender differences on the shopping experience (Ismail, 2017; Sohail, 2015)

In this study, the focus is placed on seven shopping malls in Durban City. The seven selected malls for this study include the following; La Lucia Mall, the Workshop Shopping Centre’, Westwood Mall, City View Mall, Windermere Shopping Centre, Chatsworth Centre, and the Atrium Shopping Mall’. Characterized by over twenty shopping malls, Durban City provides consumers with the exciting experience of shopping with diverse products ranging from domestic appliances, foodstuffs, and other variety of services (Turner, 2017). Given the diverse implications attributed to gender differences, it is inexorable to disregard the significance of shopping malls in retail research. Therefore, the increase in the number of shopping malls has aggravated competition in respective contexts purposely to retain and attract new consumers (Ozturk, 2014).Evidence from existing research studies reveals the correlation of customer behaviour and different shopping experiences amongst men and women from different age categories.

Valentine and Powers (2013) in a case example of their study identify the characteristics of the millennial generation that marks them as an important market segment that needs understanding from the marketers and mall managers. In addition to this youthful market segment from both genders, many study studies place their focus on mature men and women who might be attracted to the mall based on their innovative design ideas, for example, furnished waiting areas, parking lots, and children playing areas (Giampino, Picone, & Schilleci, 2017; Rao, Dovey & Pafka, 2017). Moreover, as an area of interest, malls appeal to consumers and this aspect elicits the motives that influence buying behaviour from the consumers. Hami, Fazle, and Emami (2016) attribute the implication of socio-demographic factors on the case of interior landscape design in shopping malls as an influence to shopping behaviours manifested amongst female and male mall shoppers. Similarly, the studies of Miremadi and Faghanie (2012) revealed the influence of mall factors such as ambiance, services, and assortment amongst consumers’ mall shopping behaviour.

Existing research attributes the disparity between men’s and women’s shopping behaviour that is elicited with diverse factors. For example, Kushwaha, Rao, and Ahmad (2015) posit that the advancement in technology, diverse cultural and social factors are some of the factors harnessing and impacting the shopping behavior of men and women. Within this context, researchers continue to pursue the causal links between gender difference, customer shopping behaviour, personal variables, and their respective capacities in shopping malls. This study, therefore, aims to explore the gender differences in shopping experience through an empirical investigation of the shopping malls in Durban City.

Theoretical Review

Shopping behaviour

In his study, Sohail (2015) explored the differences in the shopping behaviour of men and women in malls located across Saudi Arabia. The sample consisted of 513 shoppers who were recruited using a non-probability convenience sampling method. The results of the study revealed differences in shopping behaviour between gender and variables such as price and service quality (Sohail, 2015). In this case, it is imperative to note that consumers are exposed to diverse products and social amenities that not only define their shopping behaviour but also influence their shopping habits. Therefore, mall managers must ensure that their respective malls match the right pricing policies, significant lifestyle trends, socio-economic levels, to the shoppers’ needs and attitude.

Similarly, Kraljevic and Filipovic (2017) conducted a study amongst the millennials who are posing a challenge for shopping malls. Shopping malls are striving to strategise to match millennials shopping. Their study adopted an empirical analysis with the objectives of the study centred on the gender differences manifested in purchase behaviour, loyalty, pricing sensitivity, and unique shopping habits. Findings from the study revealed that women are more sensitive to pricing and preferred loyalty programmes when compared to the men. Similarly, Sohail (2015) accounts for the relationship manifested between women and shopping, for example, women having a high likelihood of shopping for a gift when compared to the men.

Men living with their spouses tend to leave shopping such as household groceries to their spouses (Anne, Bisakha, Kilgore, and Locher, 2014). However, Smith (2016) found that men’s behaviour towards shopping has changed significantly. Trends that were earlier reserved for women, for example, buying clothes that involve careful comparison of prices and time taken to a make a purchase have now been adopted by the men. The implication of such shopping trends augers well with the role of the sociodemographic factors and their influence on shopping behaviour noted through studies carried out by Bai, Yao, and Dou (2015), and Miremadi and Faghanie (2012).

Thomas and Carraher (2014) examined the shopping behaviours, cultures, and personalities of consumers from diverse contexts such as China, Belgium, and Germany and correlated the findings to the American shopping behaviour. Findings from their study revealed compelling implications of the consumers’ behaviour with cultural and personality differences as reported from the consumers’ responses and experiences. The findings drawn from this study by Thomas and Carraher (2014) are vital to this study in order to gain insight into the various research strategies and their impacts on consumers’ experiences from different cultural settings. Given that the Durban shopping targets local, national and international consumers, relevant business strategies can be recommended that can be useful in assessing personal variables that enhance consumers’ attraction to shopping malls.

Personal attributes

The ever-growing competition in the business environment has led marketers to research on strategies for identifying various personal attributes that influence consumer purchasing behaviour (Ford, 2002). Dobre and Milovan-Ciuta (2015) note that personality is often linked to instances where consumers are influenced to purchase and consume products. Shopping mall managers and marketers are aware of the personality linked characteristics and their role in forming patterns of life manifested through lifestyles, identify, and social relations amongst different customer segments. The relevance of communication with women is likely to require attention and mall attendants should be ready to offer them assistance on the assortment of items available at their disposal (van Eeden, 2006).

Gohary and Hanzaee (2014) conducted a study to understand the influence of personality traits with shopping motivation amongst a group of college students. The study reported existing significant differences amongst males and females on openness, hedonic shopping behaviour, and neuroticism. Maximising on personal characteristics as manifested amongst men and women differently is an implication of the resulting shopping experience amongst the shoppers. Moreover, men are guided with one purpose; shop for the intended items and leave a store while women take time to scan the store as they maximize their shopping experience.

Similarly, the findings of a study by Rehman, Yusoff, Zabri, and Ismail (2017) revealed the implication of personal factors as evidenced on shoppers’ buying behaviour in the fashion industry. As an integral component in the shopping experience, malls have adopted marketing techniques that enable them to match the personal characteristics of shoppers – for example, interactions with sales attendants in a shopping mall elicits different reactions from men and women. Men view sales attendants to be there to help get their shopping done in a timely manner, while women prefer to get help on different products and in the case of fashion, trying on clothes. Given that shopping malls in Durban city offer a range of products and services, consumers are likely to be influenced differently and their shopping experience shaped differently. Furthermore, the evolving nature of the mall shopping experience characterised by new innovative ideas and technological advances plays a critical role in motivating and shaping individual shopping behaviour attributes (Prasad, 2012).

Shopping mall experiences

The increase of shopping malls in major cities is a significant improvement away from the traditional markets that did not offer such a range of diverse products in a sophisticated manner. Nevertheless, competition amongst shopping malls continues to impact consumers’ behaviour and respective shopping experiences amongst male and female shoppers. Whereas women enjoy the shopping experience, men understand shopping differently as they take it as a task that needs to be completed (Sohail, 2015).

Numerous studies have been conducted regarding the development of malls with attention drawn on their design, inside and outside ambiance and other pleasant stimuli, for example, the use of videos, refreshments, promotional activities, and their relevance in enhancing shopping experience amongst the shoppers (Mittal and Jhamb, 2016). Khare (2012) found that these strategies not only enhance positive buying decisions but also shape and influence different customer buying behaviour amongst male and female shoppers. Shukla and Babin (2013) investigated the impact of psychographic variables and store characteristics in motivating and influencing consumer shopping behaviour. Their study that the context of shopping stores’ characteristics manifested through assortment, after sales services, sales associates, and ambiance generates better consumer experience. The study also dealt with the differences of consumer buying behaviour between gender and their respective holistic assessments regarding the characteristics of the shopping malls.

The evaluation of shopping mall consumers indicates that most of consumers with strong shopping motives inevitably make decisions based on what appeals to them and this fostered by the mall environment that elicits and perpetuates their shopping behaviour and experience (Tandon, Gupta, and Tripathi, 2016). For example, sales persons observe that men seldom ask where items they need are and where they cannot find them, whereas women will readily approach the sales person for help (Tifferet, S., and Herstein, 2012). Existing studies revealed the influence of shopping mall attractiveness in attracting consumers from different social classes (Khare, 2012; Mittal and Jhamb, 2016; Tandon et al., 2016). Findings from a study conducted by ElAdly (2007) that explored attractiveness factors of shopping malls in the United Arab Emirates and their implication on shoppers’ perspective revealed that comfort, diversity, convenience, luxury, and entertainment shaped their buying behaviour.

Mittal and Jhamb (2016), and Makgopa (2016) echo similar thoughts in their studies with additional factors such as; mall location, parking spaces, and entertainment as traits shaping shopping experience and different customer buying behavior amongst the men and women. Shopping malls that provide designated areas for children to play tend to attract more female consumers with those with parking lots also venturing into diverse customer segment. For example, men are likely to be appealed to a certain shopping mall because they have a parking, for the case of women, they simply love shopping. The ever-changing consumers’ habits and attitudes account for the embrace of these insights by shopping malls through a change in strategies.

Research Methodology

Present research is an observational cross-sectional study. All consumers of shopping malls in Durban city formed the study population for this research work.

Objectives:

The objectives of this study were as follows:

• • To study role of gender on consumers' buying behaviour in shopping malls at Durban
  • To compare buying capacity of male and female consumers at selected shopping malls
  • To study gender differences in shopping experience at selected malls.

Null Hypotheses:

To make study more scientific and to achieve the above objectives, the following proposed null hypothesis has been tested using appropriate statistical techniques.

H01 : There is no role of gender on consumers’ buying behaviour in shopping malls.

H02 : Buying capacity of male and female consumers is not significantly different.

H03 : There is no gender difference in Shopping experience at shopping malls.

Target population

The target population in this study comprised of mall shoppers visiting identified shopping malls in Durban.

Sample

100 shoppers were selected randomly from each of the seven shopping malls identified for the study. The criteria for the shoppers involved male and females aged 18 years and above.

Questionnaire

Data was collected by administering a questionnaire to 100 respondents at seven different malls in Durban. The questionnaire consisted of close ended questions that included a 5 point likert scale. Questions related to consumer buying behaviour, social factors, cultural factors, psychological factors and shopping experience at malls

Data Collection

The study was undertaken on 700 consumers of seven shopping malls in Durban city, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. From seven selected malls 100 consumers were randomly selected.

Data Analysis

Once the questionnaires were completed, it was coded and data captured in Microsoft Excel. Once this was complete, the data was cleaned by cross verification before transferring it STATA/MP version 13 analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated using frequency and percentages and subsequently summarised using mean, SD and CI. Mean scores of various factors were compared between male and female consumers using Independent t-test. Qualitative data were compared using Pearson’s Chi-Square test. Discriminant Function Analysis was carried out to predict gender from set of variables. Statistical significance was set at 5% level.

Data quality control

Internal reliability of the scores was checked using the Cronbach’s Alpha. To validate the questionnaire, it was sent to four subject experts. Their opinion / suggestions were incorporated to finalised the tool. Thus, the questionnaire had “Content Validity” and “Reliability”.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

This section presents the findings and discussion of the findings. The first section presents the demophraphics of the respondents. The second section .

Demograph Profile of Respondents

Table 1 presents the demographic details of the respondents

.

Table 1: Profile of Respondents

Characteristics

Frequency

(N=700)

Percentage (%)

Cumulative percentage

Gender:

Females

Males

336

334

48

52

48

100

Age:

15 – 25 years

26 – 35 years

36 – 45 years

46 – 55 years

Above 56 years

144

202

150

116

88

20.6

28.9

21.4

16.6

12.5

20.6

49.5

70.9

87.5

100

Race:

African

Indian

Mixed race “coloured”

White

Educational Qualification

Below Matric

Matric

Diploma

Graduate

Post Graduate

55

256

188

96

105

7.9

36.6

26.9

13.6

15.0

7.9

44.5

71.4

85.0

100

Sector in which employed

Private sector

Public sector

Self employed

Other

317

228

126

29

45.3

32.6

18.0

4.1

45.3

77.9

95.9

100

Monthly Income

<R 5000

R 5000 to R 10000

R 11000 to R 20000

R 21000 to R 30000

>R 30000

153

210

184

87

66

21.9

30.0

26.3

12.4

9.4

21.9

51.9

78.2

90.6

It is clear from Table 1, that 53% of the respondents are female. The mean age of the respondents was 37.17±13.05 years, ranges from 15 years to 65 years. The majority of the respondents’s education, 36.6% had a matric and 26.9% a diploma. Of the respondents, 45.3% were employed in the private sector and 32.6% in the public sector. With regard to respondents’ income level, 21.9% had monthly income less than R 5000, 30% earned between R 5000 to R 10000, 26.3% earned between R 11000 to R 20000, 12.4 of the respondents earned between R21000 to R30000, whereas remaining 8.4% earned above R30000.

Frequency of visits

Table 2 Association of frequency of visit and time spent at mall with Gender

Variables

Male (n=336)

Female (n=364)

Total (n=700)

Frequency of visit mall

Everyday

Once in a week

Once in a fortnight

Once in a month

Rarely

47

174

50

40

25

14%

51.8%

14.9%

11.9%

7.4%

39

183

52

70

20

10.7%

50.3%

14.3%

19.2%

5.5%

86

357

102

110

45

12.3%

51%

14.6%

15.7%

6.4%

Time Spent at Mall

<1 hr

1-2 hrs

2-4 hrs

48

150

79

14.3%

44.6%

23.5%

16

145

121

4.4%

39.8%

33.2%

64

295

200

9.1%

42.1%

28.6%

>4 hrs

59

17.6%

82

22.5%

141

20.1%

It is clear from Table 2, that 12.3% of the respondents visited the mall daily whereas 51% visited it once a week. Proportion of male respondents who were visiting malls daily is high as compared to female respondents. There is no statistically significant association between frequency of visiting mall and gender of respondents (chi-square value = 8.641, p-value = 0.071).

There were 14.3% male and 4.4% female respondents who were spent less than one hour in a mall whereas 22.5% female and 17.6% respondents spent more than four hours. Time spent at mall by respondents and their gender are significantly associated (Chi-Square value = 27.581, p-value <0.001).

Gender Difference in factors affecting buying decisions

Table – 3: Gender difference in factors affecting buying decision in shopping malls

Sr. No.

Factors

Male

Female

p-value

1

Mall Image and popularity

1.13±0.374

1.26±0.595

0.001*

2

Spacious shop floor

1.16±0.371

1.21±0.485

0.124

3

Billing and checkout time

1.26±0.445

1.24±0.441

0.609

4

Employee/Staff Behaviour and service

1.49±0.512

1.42±0.5

0.055

5

Amenities

1.5±0.513

1.46±0.51

0.225

6

Customer service quality

1.49±0.535

1.46±0.505

0.596

7

Safety and Security

1.38±0.556

1.42±0.526

0.411

8

Atmosphere

1.37±0.559

1.42±0.562

0.283

9

Parking

1.38±0.572

1.4±0.559

0.688

10

Play area for children

1.46±0.64

1.51±0.686

0.349

11

Temperature control

1.48±0.593

1.43±0.578

0.282

12

Attractive interior dacor

1.49±0.66

1.48±0.614

0.834

13

Elevators and escalators

1.49±0.655

1.52±0.632

0.449

14

Marketing communications/Promotions

1.49±0.665

1.57±0.687

0.117

15

Cleanliness

1.44±0.616

1.48±0.577

0.408

16

Operating time

1.45±0.621

1.48±0.572

0.490

17

Flexibility in payment mode

1.47±0.622

1.45±0.575

0.534

18

Product return and exchange services

1.48±0.66

1.47±0.627

0.799

19

Brand reputation of products

1.52±0.673

1.52±0.661

0.892

20

Toilet/Washroom/ Baby room facility

1.62±0.681

1.64±0.757

0.697

21

Information booth

1.88±0.788

2.06±0.801

0.002*

22

Evacuation path

2.21±0.839

2.4±0.809

0.002*

To know the important factors which influence the buying decision of consumers, twenty two factors were finalized which are given in Table - 7. These are closed ended questions with options in four categories 1: “Highly Affected”, 2 : “Moderately Affected”, 3 : “Little Affected” and 4 : “Not at all Affected”. It means that lesser the mean value, more importance of that factor on buying decision making. The difference in factors affecting buying decisions between male and female respondents is shown in this table. Using independent t-test the difference of mean score of each factor was compared between male and female respondents. Results shows that mean scores of factors...“Mall Image and Popularity”, “Evacuation Path” and “Information Booth” are significantly high among female as compared to male respondents (p-value <0.05). It indicates that these factors are more important for females compared to males.

Table – 4 : Ranks given to factors on the basis of their importance on buying decision

Sr. No.

Factors

Rank by Males

Rank by Females

Rank by Total Sample

1

Mall Image and popularity

1

3

2

2

Spacious shop floor

2

1

1

3

Billing and checkout time

3

2

3

4

Employee/Staff Behaviour and service

13

7

8

5

Amenities

18

11

14

6

Customer service quality

14

10

12

7

Safety and Security

6

6

6

8

Atmosphere

4

5

5

9

Parking

5

4

4

10

Play area for children

9

16

16

11

Temperature control

11

8

7

12

Attractive interior dacor

15

15

15

13

Elevators and escalators

16

17

17

14

Marketing communications/Promotions

17

19

19

15

Cleanliness

7

13

10

16

Operating time

8

14

11

17

Flexibility in payment mode

10

9

9

18

Product return and exchange services

12

12

13

19

Brand reputation of products

19

18

18

20

Toilet/Washroom/ Baby room facility

20

20

20

21

Information booth

21

21

21

22

Evacuation path

22

22

22

Table – 8 gives ranks allotted to factors on the basis of mean scor given by respondents. As per the table, top five important factors for decision making are “Spacious Shop Floor”, “Mall Image and Popularity”, “Billing and Checkout Time”, “Parking” and “Atmosphere” whereas bottom five (least important) factors are “Evacuation path”, “Information Booth”, “Toilet/Washroom/Baby room facility”, “Marketing communication / Promotion” and “Brand Reputation of Products”. There are few factors in which females were more concern than males, like... “Employee/Staff befaviour and service”, “Amenities”, “Customer Service Quality” whereas in factors like ... “Play Area for children”, “Cleanliness” and “Operating time”, males are more concern than females.

Cronbach’s Alpha was obtained as a measure of internal consistency of scales related to factors influencing consumers’ buying decision at shopping malls. The value of Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.752 which infers that the scale had high internal consistency.

Above factors were grouped in three broad categories as follows. Factor number 1-4, 12,16-17 and 22 were grouped as “Phycological Factors” whereas number 5-8, 11,15, 20-21 were grouped as “Cultural Factors” and remaining factors were grouped as “Social Factors”. Overall responses for all groups were obtained by calculating mode value of factors under them. After getting mode values, final data were converted in binary answer as “High Influence” and “Moderate/Low Influence”. Further analysis was carried out to check association of gender with these three groups as follows.

Table – 9 : Association of gender with Phychological, Cultural and Social factors

Male (n=336)

Female (n=364)

Total (n=700)

Chi-square (p-value)

Psychological Factor

High Influence

Moderate / Low Influence

227(82.4%)

59(17.6%)

295(81%)

69(19%)

572(81.7%)

128(18.3%)

0.228 (0.633)

Cultural Factor

High Influence

Moderate / Low Influence

209(62.2%)

127(37.8%)

222(61.6%)

142(39%)

431(61.6%)

269(38.4%)

0.109 (0.742)

Social Factor

High Influence

Moderate / Low Influence

237(70.5%)

99(29.5%)

245(67.3%)

119(32.7%)

482(68.9%)

218(31.1%)

0.849 (0.357)

Overall Experience at Mall

Good

221(65.8%)

243(6.8%)

464(66.3%)

0.076 (0.783)

Neutral / Bad

115(34.2%)

121(33.2%)

236(33.7%)

Table – 9 infers that there is no significant association between gender and view regarding influence of Psychological, Cultural and Social factors on buying decision of selected respondents (p-value > 0.05). Among these three factor groups, respondents mean that compared to Cultural and Social, Psychological factors are more influencing on decision making. When they asked for their overall experience in shopping malls, male and female showed almost equal view (65.8% male and 66.8% female said it was Good). Thus no significant difference was found in views regarding overall experience at mall between male and female respondents (p-value = 0.783).

Table – 10 : Money and Time spent at shopping mall by male and female respondents

Male (n=336)

Female (n=364)

Total (n=700)

Chi-Square (p-value)

Time spent

<2 hrs

>2 hrs

198(58.9%)

138(41.1%)

161(44.2%)

203(55.8%)

359(51.3%)

341(48.7%)

15.108 (<0.001)

Money spent

< R 200

92(27.4%)

63(17.3%)

155(22.1%)

10.284 (0.001)

> R 200

244(72.6%)

301(82.7%)

545(77.9%)

One of the aims of present study was to know buying capacity of male and female at shopping malls. Proportion of female respondents spent more money at malls is significantly high compared to males (82.7% v/s 72.6%) (p-value = 0.001). Time spent at mall is an important parameter to know the shopping behaviour of consumers. In present study 138 (41.1%) male and 203 (55.8%) female respondents had spent more than two hours at mall. It concludes that females spent significantly more time at shopping malls compared to males (p-value <0.001) (Table – 10). Gohary and Hanzaee (2014) and Rehman et al. (2017) attributed factors that differentiate men’s shopping habits to those manifested by women.

It is further reported that mall attractiveness also plays a key role in influencing gender differences amongst the mall shoppers. According to Kraljevic and Filipovic (2017), (Sohail, 2015), and Smith (2016), malls characteristics, for example, design, ambiance, parking area, loyalty programs, and pricing policy influence different perspectives among men and women in their shopping experience. The malls under study could utilize such information to inform their strategic decisions of attracting consumers from different customer segments.

Conclusion

This study evidences the existence of significant gender differences of customer shopping behaviours amongst the mall shoppers. Understanding the aspect of the gender differences from the shopping experience of mall shoppers provides mall managers with rich information of approaching different customer segment with appropriate strategies. Average time spent by female is high as compared to male which also affect their average money spent at shopping mall.

The implication of the study indicates that understanding how personal attributes manifested through shopping experience reveals how mall managers can utilize men’s and women’s approach towards shopping to enhance their sales. Key components rising from personal attributes include; preference, communication, reaction, interaction as far as the shopping malls are concerned.

Therefore, it is recommended that a narrower representative sample population in terms of age groups, education status, proximity to the malls, and frequency of shopping. The ever-changing consumers’ habits coupled with strategies embraced to influence shoppers can overwhelm findings derived from this study. Therefore, conducting a cross-sectional study can help deduce rich findings that can inform mall managers on different aspects and preferences of their shoppers and not based on generalizations and assumptions.