Effects of Consumer Purchasing Power on Buying Preferences in Shopping Malls in Kenya: A Case Study of Nakuru County

Abstract

Many internal and external factors influence consumer decision-making when it comes to the purchase and use of various products and services. The attributes of the product itself, the brand, and the container in which it is encased is the most important and critical external variables. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey involving hotels, beauty parlours, electronics dealers, boutiques as well as entertainment outlets. The researcher targeted 305 business premises operating in 30 shopping malls from which a sample of 62 premises and 310 customers were sampled using stratification, Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and convenient sampling. The data was collected through the use of questionnaires. Descriptive statistics was employed and results were presented in tables and charts with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis purposes. The influence of consumer purchasing power on the preference of shopping malls was tested using regression, correlation and Chi-square methods at 5% levels of effect. From the study findings, the researcher establish that purchasing power, personal preference has been found to play an important role in influencing consumer’s preferences and bias towards shopping malls. An overwhelming number of the consumers recognized the importance of group influence on their choice of the shopping mall. This helped the researcher draw a conclusion and formulate recommendations informing policies and marketing strategies that are essential to marketers in the shopping malls and other related business facilities in line with consumer purchasing power.