When art meets mall: impact on shopper responses

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the role of artistic elements in a shopping mall’s experiential marketing strategy and the effects of artistic elements on customer shopping value (e.g. utilitarian, hedonic and symbolic) and shopper response (e.g. satisfaction, behavioural intention).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 300 shoppers in a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. A partial least square-structural equation model was used to examine the impact of the artistic elements along with other elements in the shopping mall on shopper response through perceived shopping value.FindingsEmpirical evidence shows that artistic elements in an artified mall have a positive effect on customer hedonic and symbolic value, which in turn leads to positive shopper response. Artistic elements perform better than other elements in predicting symbolic value.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that artistic elements should be considered a new source of mall differentiation and customer experience enhancement. Unique artistic elements add emotional and symbolic appeal to the mall, and mall managers should carefully choose artistic content that matches the position and target shoppers of their mall.Originality/valueThis paper proposed and empirically examined the effect of artistic elements as the new fourth atmospheric element. It extends the art infusion theory by applying it to the “non-luxury” shopping mall context to demonstrate the spillover effect of art on shopping value, which further influence shopper response.