Lighting and Its Impact in the Dressing Room towards the Consumers Perception - Research Paper Example

Lighting and Its Impact in the Dressing Room towards the Consumers’ Perception Abstract Dressing rooms have an impact on the perceptions of customers which is likely to influence their decision of purchasing clothes. This report is based on an investigation on the lighting of dressing rooms as a basis for determining its implication on the emotions of the customers and their general perception on the lighting system within the dressing room. In addition, this report gives a critical evaluation of the level into which lighting in dressing rooms influence self assessment of customers in addition which leads to decision making on whether to buy the cloth or not. The investigation is motivated by the importance of the dressing rooms in determining the sales of a retail business despite the fact that many shop designs focus more on the sales section and forget the dressing rooms. The hypothesis and the questions of the research acts a guideline in assessing the impact which dressing rooms have on the perception of the customer through the influence of lighting designs on the emotions of the buyer. Introduction The lighting systems used by retail firms, which deal in clothing, lead to variations in the direction and characteristics of the lighting, which have an effect on the perception of the customers. To enhance sales, business people enhance lighting on the dressing rooms because they determine the buying behavior of the customers. This research paper provides a detailed analysis of the investigation on the impact of dressing room lighting on the perception of customers with a special focus on the effect of the lighting within the two gender groups. The methodology of the research is presented through a conceptual replication model in addition to the proposal for the analysis of data which collected during the investigation. Literature review The aim of cloth stores like any other business is to promote their designs and thus attract and maintain buyers. The general design of cloth stores starts from the entrance, the display area, the shopping and dressing space. All these aspects influence the perception and thus the mood of a customer which determines whether he or she will buy clothes or not. Proper designing of the business premises thus plays a leading role in attracting customers and gaining their loyalty to the business (Burns & Neisner, 2006). This is an important aspect of business operations because if customers are satisfied it means that the business has a competitive advantage over its rivals and therefore is able to favorably survive in the business (Rea, 2000). In clothing stores, the dressing room is the most important section because if well designed and lit, it will have a positive impact on the mood of the customers and as a result enhance their decision to purchase clothes. It is apparent that the design of dressing room lights in terms of direction, intensity and color has an impact on the perceptions of customers and their decisions but research on this area is important in order to determine the most appropriate lighting designs (Donovan et al., 1994). The investigation of lighting within dressing rooms aims at finding out how the retail environment influences the perception of the buyer on the self outlook and that of the retail store. Appropriate lighting arouses feelings within the customer and since it is in the fitting room that a buyer makes the last decision, this section must be given due consideration for a good design of the lighting system (Donovan et al., 1994). It is notable that many retailers concentrate on displays and discounts as a method of increasing sales but emphasis has not sufficiently focused on the dressing room and its lighting system. Therefore attention should be drawn into the dressing room so that proper lighting is installed to increase the sales of the retail business. There are specific aspects of dressing room lighting which may seem simple but have a great impact on the decision of the customer. The direction of the dressing room lights which is determined by the positioning of the light source contributes to the overall effect on the customer. Additionally, the intensity of the dressing room lighting and the color of the light determine the personal perception on outlook by the customer which acts as a basis for reaching a decision to buy an outfit or decline it (Rea, 2000). It is therefore true to say that a poor design of the lighting system within dressing rooms has a negative implication on the retail business. Good lighting systems include elimination of shadows and facilitating positive moods within customers by ensuring that the view of the outfit is maximized (Burns & Neisner, 2006). It is necessary that the lighting system should be illuminated at the core of the fitting rooms because failure to emphasize on the lighting characteristics would lead to the loss of valuable customers (Rea, 2000). Customers are sensitive to the general arrangement of a retail shop including the lighting systems and therefore it is important that their assessment or comments on the premises is taken seriously by retailers. This is because sales are lost as a result of not including the tastes and preferences of customers into the design of the retail shops especially the lighting system within dressing rooms. Research Purpose It is unclear how lighting direction affects consumers in the dressing room despite the assumptions of lighting authorities, retailers, and designers. The designing effects can be detrimental to the business’ failure of growth. The vital aspects being atmosphere of the dressing area and lighting directions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts and acknowledge the lighting system, position and design in the dressing room. This is towards the perception of the room, the emotional state of mind of the consumer and further evaluation made while in the room and towards the rooms view and the experience gained there from. Research Questions We have number of research questions that should be analyzed here 1. How do the dressing room design and the lighting affect the consumer’s emotional state of mind i.e. the mood and behavior? 2. How does the dressing room light affect the perception of the consumer? 3. How does lighting direction affect shoppers’ self-evaluations of body appearance in the dressing room? Hypothesis of the study In this paper, we assume two important hypotheses to be tested through the different study. 1. The dressing room lighting and design have a positive impact on business and it help in increasing sale. 2. The dressing room scenario change the emotional mind set of the consumer and it motivates them for shopping. Methodology This research will be a conceptual replication of Anne Baumstarck’s thesis; a study whose major objective was to understand the impact of the direction of lighting on the experiences of customers within the dressing rooms of retail stores (Baumstarck, 2008). The study was limited by the fact that it did not consider the impact of dressing room lighting in relation to gender. The variables examined by Baumstarck when studying the impact of light include customer preferences and perception on lighting, self evaluation of the customers, emotional states, and evaluation of the dressing room and the general experience of the customers within the lit dressing rooms (Baumstarck, 2008). Unlike Baumstarck’s thesis, this study will examine the variables affected by the dressing room lighting in relation to the possible disparities between the gender groups. The hypothesis that lighting in the dressing rooms have a positive impact on shops by increasing sales will be used in this research with special focus on the implication of the lighting systems on both genders. The goal of the experiment will thus be to find out if there are any differences in the effect of dressing room lighting between male and female customers. The objectives of this study were met through a field experiment. Convenient sampling technique was used to sample a local clothing retail store where the experiment was done within its dressing rooms. Unlike Baumstarck’s study which used convenience sampling technique in the selection of the participants of the experiment, this study uses random sampling in selection of the participants (Baumstarck, 2008). A random sample was selected from the customers of the clothing store who formed part of the study population. The random sample was aimed at ensuring that there was no bias in the selection of the participants hence both gender groups had an equal chance of being selected for the study. The study conducted by Anne Baumstarck’s involved only female respondents because they are considered to be the most unique customers of the cloth store. This study did not include men who also form part of the many customers of clothing stores hence in this study both men and women were selected for the study. Ethical considerations were adhered to by this study through seeking the consent of the selected participants before they were involved in the study (Vrabel, 2003, p. 29). It is within a local boutique that the study is conducted which stocks both male and female clothing to ensure that both genders are represented in the study so that accurate inferences can be made from the field experiment. The considerations of this study include the size of the boutique, wall painting and ceiling height (Baumstarck, 2008). The positioning of the mirrors within the store and its dressing rooms are also important consideration of the study which affect the quality of lighting and thus the implication on the customers. Furthermore, the location of the dressing rooms within the store in relation to other sections is determined in order to find out how it implicates on the perceptions of the customers. The lighting conditions within the store are the most important aspects of the study and hence they are analyzed in terms of the light sources. This will help the research determine the implication of lighting on the business performance in consideration of all aspects of light sources such as lamps and natural light which flood to the store through the windows. The study done by Anne Baumstarck used only two lighting directions to study their implication on the perception of the consumers (Baumstarck, 2008). This study used three lighting directions which included the lighting sources from the sides of the dressing rooms. This is because the use of only two light sources would cause creation of shadows within the dressing rooms (Wilson, 2003, p. 98) and as a result, a wrong impression of the effect of lighting would result. During the field investigation, the management of the store were consulted to enable the researcher obtain their permission in setting the lighting sources at the appropriate directions to ensure that the results of the experiment were as accurate as possible. Self-administered questionnaires were used for the study as the most appropriate data collection instrument. The questionnaire which was used in this study was designed to investigate how lighting affected the perceptions of customers. This was through the use of word pairs such as bright/dim, warm/cool and glaring/not glaring in the questionnaire as a guide for the respondents in answering the questions (Vrabel, 2003, p. 29). Like Anne Baumstarck’s study, this research involved a pilot study but both male and female responded were involved in the identification of possible flaws in the questionnaire design. The investigations in this study were done in one-month period unlike the previous research, which was done in three weeks. Analysis of results In the analysis of the research findings takes into consideration of all variables of the experiment in addition to the impact of lighting on the perception of the two gender groups. Descriptive analysis of the research findings is done using the statistical data obtained from the demographic information of the participants. The content of the qualitative data, which was collected through the questionnaires, was analyzed. This was aimed at determining how this was related to each gender and the variables tested during the field experiments. The characteristics of the participants are to be analyzed so allow presentation of percentages and frequency of distribution of the variables between the male and female participants. The number of participants for both gender groups and their ages are analyzed to give a critical evaluation of how proper lighting impacts positively on the perception of customers. Furthermore, the analysis of data is made to allow the determination whether there are differences in the impact of lighting between the two gender groups. The attributes of the research results such as facial appearance, state of pleasure, body appearance and the evaluation of the dressing room by the customers are to be assessed in order to determine the gender disparities in these attributes if any (Vrabel, 2003, p. 29). moreover, the response variables among the participants on the impact of the lighting directions is analyzed to find out whether there are differences in response between the male and female candidates of the study. The analysis of the qualitative data from the research is analyzed through the determination of the frequency of the comments on various lighting conditions (Wilson, 2003, p. 98). This analysis allows the establishment of both negative and positive phrases of the participants on the lighting conditions such as direction and intensity of light. Conclusion The research found out that there are no differences between female and male candidates in the perception of lighting conditions in dressing rooms. However, both gender groups were substantially affected by the lighting conditions because their perceptions on the various conditions of lighting were found to elicit different responses. A good design of the dressing room with proper lighting promotes the emotional state of mind and thus more sales result from the positive behavior and mood of the consumers. The perception of shoppers on their body appearance and the clothing is highly affected by the direction of lighting within the dressing room. Therefore, it is recommended that retailers in the clothing business take the research findings and analysis to enable them provide proper lighting design in their dressing rooms. This is because of the positive impact of proper lighting in the dressing rooms in increasing the sales of cloths of the retail business. References Baumstarck A. (2008). Effects of Dressing Room Lighting Direction on Consumers’ Perceptions of Self and Environment. University of Florida, 34-52 Burns, D.J. & Neisner, L. (2006). Customer satisfaction in a retail setting: the contribution of emotion. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 34(1), 49-66. Donovan, R.J., Rossiter, J.R., Marcoolyn, G., Nesdale, A. (1994). Store atmosphere and purchasing behavior. Journal of Retailing, 70 (3) 291. Rea, M.S. 2000. IESNA Lighting handbook: reference and application, 9th Ed. New York: IESNA Publications Department. Vrabel, P. (2003). Design focus report: Retail lighting. Architectural Lighting, 18(2), 29 Wilson, M. (2003). Shedding light on fitting rooms. Chain Store Age, 79(7) 98. Read More