Abstract
Marketing and business communication researchers have neglected the wayfinding capabilities of digital out-of-home communication in the retailing landscape. The current study focuses on digital wayfinding screens in the South African shopping mall environment. The aim is understanding users’ experience of digital wayfinding screens, guided by the uses and gratification theory. Shoppers were interviewed about their views and actions while engaging in the wayfinding process in large upmarket shopping malls. The in-depth semistructured interviews were recorded and then the content was analysed. The findings provide a rich and comprehensive understanding of shoppers’ content gratifications and process gratifications when utilising this contemporary medium. The current study identifies four uses and gratifications for digital wayfinding screens: convenient process gratifications, interactive process gratifications, informational content gratification, and entertaining content gratifications. Understanding the gratification dimensions of digital wayfinding screens contributes to contemporary media research and forms the basis of valuable guidelines for practitioners in retail media and design.
Highlights
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) communication remains underresearched [1], notwithstanding novel digital technologies that offer engaging and interactive opportunities to revolutionise the traditional “outdoor” medium [2]. e global DOOH market is predicted to reach 11 380 million USD in 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% between 2019 and 2024 [3]
E DOOH media market comprises billboards, transits, street furniture, and place-based media [7]. e focus of this paper is on a specific type of place-based media, namely, digital wayfinding screens in the South African shopping mall environment
The current study focuses on digital wayfinding screens as one of the latest developments in screen evolution
Summary
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) communication remains underresearched [1], notwithstanding novel digital technologies that offer engaging and interactive opportunities to revolutionise the traditional “outdoor” medium [2]. e global DOOH market is predicted to reach 11 380 million USD in 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% between 2019 and 2024 [3]. E focus of this paper is on a specific type of place-based media, namely, digital wayfinding screens in the South African shopping mall environment. American retail spaces recommends that wayfinding strategies should be based on how consumer decisions are made and what kind of moods deters consumption This critique focused on printed mall maps and directories and did not collect empirical primary data on digital interactive media. Ese studies accentuate the potential role of digital signage when used by retailers and shopping mall managements in enhancing the overall shopping experience None of these studies consider digital wayfinding screens inside the shopping mall environment in an emerging country context. Is research contributes to the limited theory on DOOH communication media and offers a rich and vibrant understanding of how real shoppers in the actual mall environment interact with digital wayfinding screens. The U&G theory and past research on major media displays and wayfinding functions and types are discussed, followed by the research methodology and results. e article is concluded by providing recommendations and directives for future research
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