Cross-cultural mall shopping values and habitats: A comparison between English- and French-speaking Canadians

Abstract

Immigrants gaining economic security tend to reinforce—not relinquish—their ethnic identification [Halter M. Shopping for identity: the marketing of ethnicity. New York: Schoken Books, 2000. p. 256.]. Shopping is one avenue where people affirm themselves. Mall shopping has become an expression of personal values. In this research, the authors investigate shopping values [J. Consum. Res. 20 (1994) 644.] and mall activities [J. Retailing 70 (1994) 20.] in a bicultural environment. The study focuses on English- and French Canadian mall shoppers. The two constructs are first subjected to invariant factorial analyses for measurement equivalence. Subsequently, English- and French Canadian shoppers are tested for invariant latent means on the shopping value and the mall habitat scales. As hypothesized, French Canadian mall shoppers are more hedonistic than English Canadians. In this specific setting, English- and French Canadians have similar shopping mall behaviors.