Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

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Anatomy of shopping experience for malls in Mumbai:

A conrmatory factor analysis approach
Harvinder Singh a,n, Sanjeev Prashar b,1
a
Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad 201001, Uttar Pradesh, India
b
Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The city of Mumbai has not yet exhausted its potential in terms of availability of mall space. Yet shoppers
Received 5 August 2013 of Mumbai seem to prefer high-street locations even if the product or format is operating from inside a
Accepted 5 August 2013 shopping mall also. It means that shoppers look beyond the basic chore of shopping and experience plays
Available online 22 August 2013
a vital role. This study was undertaken to understand the composition of shopping experience so that
Keywords: mall developers and managers succeed in generating exciting among shoppers by orchestration of
Shopping malls shopping experience using components as identied at the end of this research. It is based on empirical
Shopping experience investigation of 400 respondents selected from four shopping malls in Mumbai. The study identies
Mall management ambience, convenience, marketing focus, safety & security and physical infrastructure as factors vital in
Conrmatory factor analysis
dening shopping experience. Results were conrmed using conrmatory factor analysis.
Customer preference
& 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Retail

1. Introduction
Mumbai, the nancial capital of India, is one of the seven
metropolitan cities of India. The city accommodates 18.4 million
people and has per capita income of Rs. 1, 41,000 which is nearly
thrice the per capita income of India (Department of Economics
and Statistic, Government of Maharashtra, 2012). Due to its rened
demographics the city was expected to be a fertile ground for
development of modern retail and shopping malls. In fact Indias
rst shopping mall Crossroads did come up in Mumbai in the year
1998. However the potential seems to have zzled out in recent
years. Taking per capita mall space (PCMS) for Indias big cities to
be 1.2 square feet per person, Mumbai can easily and protable
accommodate 22 million square feet of mall space (ASIPAC, 2011).
Total available mall space in Mumbai was about 13 million square
feet as on 2011 (ASIPAC, 2011). Even then malls in Mumbai are
facing reduced footfalls, spiralling vacancy rates and reducing mall
rentals. When compared with traditional, high-street markets like
Linking Road, picture is rather gloomy. Real estate rentals at place
like Linking Road are pegged at somewhere close to Rs. 850 per
square feet where highest mall rentals in Mumbai are constrained
at Rs. 480 per square feet (Cushman and Wakeeld, 2012).
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 120 3004369, Mob.: +919810280586;
fax: +91 120 2827895.
E-mail addresses: hsingh@imt.edu, singhharvinder1974@gmail.com,
hsingh@imt.edu (H. Singh), dr.sanjeev.prashar@gmail.com (S. Prashar).
1
Tel.: +91 9039039499.
It means that the city is not saturated in terms of mall potential
but the shoppers are showing preference for high-street locations,
maybe because they nd them more appealing. However with
the rapid expansion of Indian middle class having rising income
levels and mounting brand consciousness, demand for a superior
shopping experience is evident in the metropolitan cities (Mayank
et al., 2010).
In recent past it has been observed that Indian retailers are
showing a preference for high-street locations over mall locations.
Apart from reasons relating to operational and nancial efciency,
it is often said that high-street locations offer better footfalls (Nair,
2010; Kamath, 2012). If retailers that operate the same format
from both these locations say so it mean that reason for customer
s preference to high-street goes much beyond the merchandise or
price that remain the same in both the cases. This search leads the
researcher towards experiential aspects of shopping.
2. Literature review
Shopping malls are of very recent origin in India and hence
there is a shortage of India-specic studies in this eld. Most of the
studies available on management aspects of shopping malls have
been conducted in the US and Europe where the phenomenon
called shopping mall has matured.
Looking at the Indian studies the most popular theme of
research on shopping malls provides a descriptive analysis of the
status at present. It includes studies done by Kuruvilla and Ganguli
(2008) in which they discussed development and operations of

0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2013.08.002
 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228
shopping malls in Indian context; a study by Singh and Bose
(2008) on comparison of Indian and the US shopping malls and
another study by Swaminathan and Vani (2008) checking custo-
mer attitude towards shopping malls. A study that comes closer to
exploring experiential aspects of shopping is the one carried out
by Tripathi and Sidddiqui (2008) in which the authors study the
relationship between service environment and patronage inten-
tions. However in this work authors stopped at establishing
relationship between an already existing theoretical construct
and customer behaviour. Study that comes closest to the present
work is the one by Singh and Sahay (2012) in which the authors
explored the composition of shopping experience for shoppers of
Delhi NCR. However the researchers did not validate the results
using an established statistical procedure.
These studies indicate towards the huge gap in terms of studies
exploring the psychology of shoppers and extracting the signi-
cance of experiential aspects of mall shopping. Outcome of the
research should not only be distinct but should also stand the test
of statistical prowess and validity.
2.1. Shopping experience
Numerous studies have been conducted in past highlighting
the signicance of shopping experience albeit most of these are in
context of retail stores and not shopping malls. Explaining shop-
ping as a pursuit for product acquisition explanation does not
reect its total value as consumers shop not only for goods and
services but also for experiential and emotional reasons. This
aspect of shopping has been explored by many researchers
(Jones, 1999). Signicance of experiential aspects of shopping
was rst highlighted by Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) when
they enriched traditional information processing approach with an
admixture of symbolic, hedonic, and aesthetic nature of consump-
tion. It was also found that perceived store shopping experience is
relatively more important than merchandise price or quality
perceptions in explaining consumers value perceptions of a retail
store (Kerin et al., 1992). In an experimental study carried out by
Swinyard (1993), shopping experience emerged as a relevant force
along with customer mood and involvement level as he studies
their impact on shopping intentions. The same point was estab-
lished by Bellenger and Korgaonkar (1980) with the help of
shopper proling. Worked on proling of people who enjoyed
shopping as leisure-time activity, they found that 69% of respon-
dents fell in recreational shopper category supporting the idea that
recreational shoppers are a signicant force in retail shopping and
recreation or entertainment is a major deliverable in shopping.
Mall-specic discussion of shopping experience was carried out
by Csaba and Askergaard (1999) in an article covering historical
development of shopping malls in the US. They emphasized that
shopping experience in a mall is the outcome of interplay between
two different sets of forces/factors. One set of factors operate at the
front stage whereas the second set operated at the backstage.
Shopping experience in a mall is interplay of both these sets.
An extension of the same concept is total shopping experience.
It is an overall assessment of subjective worth considering all
relevant evaluative criterions. Here value is all factors, quantita-
tive and qualitative, subjective and objective, that make up the
complete (total) shopping experience. Babin et al. (1994) gave it
more signicance by mentioning that value is provided by the
complete (total) shopping experience; not simply by product
acquisition. Entertaining shopping experience is supposed to
increase the likelihood of store patronage by the shoppers.
Baker and Haytko (2000) made a signicant comment on the
composition of shopping experience when they empirically explored
the emotional content of shopping experience in context of teen girls.
In recent years Kim et al. (2005) used graphical modelling approach
221
for studying entertainment in context of shopping malls. The study
revealed that mall developers and managers have indeed been using
entertainment component of a mall as a signicant method to
differentiate the mall and increase their market share. Research
developed an instrument to tap into multiple dimensions of what
makes for an entertaining mall visit.
2.2. Mall attributes and customer expectations
Many researchers tried to explore the attributes and features that
would make a mall more entertaining or enjoyable for shoppers and
each came up with a different set of attributes as answer. It conrms
the notion that mall shopping and retail patronage is a relative choice
phenomenon (LeHew and Fairhurst, 2000; Lowry, 1997).
Relationship between retail patronage and physical attributes
like size and distance was studied by Huff and Rust (1984). Their
study explored all aspects like denition, estimation and measure-
ment of congruence of retail trading area and propounded retail
gravity model which helped in predicting mall patronage based on
the principle of cost (accessibility) versus utility (size). The model
tried to predict and explain retail patronage as a function of store
size and distance from the consumer. Square footage of selling
space was used as a surrogate measure for the attraction of
shopping area. Craig et al. (1984) used central place theory and
viewed shopping areas as commerce centres to which consumer
households must travel to obtain needed goods and services.
Research based on central place theory employed economic utility
models that incorporated factors such as distance/travel time and
the size of a centre to express the relationship between costs and
benets of shopping area choice.
Other spatial aspects like proportion of shopping area indoors,
proportion of shopping area reserved for pedestrians and com-
pactness were used by Oppewal and Timmermans (1999) in their
experimental study consumer perception of public spaces using
conjoint analysis.
Tenant-mix is another area that holds relevance for shopping
malls. In a study based in UK, Kirkup and Raq (1994) studied
management of tenant-mix in new shopping centre. They
explored major occupancy problems faced by owners/managers
of shopping centres in handling tenants and found that develop-
ment of strong, distinctive and consistent tenant-mix is crucial for
the success of a shopping centre. Malls with more and larger
anchors were posited as better locations for specialty chains of
small stores. In a study relating to new shopping malls during rst
few months of their launch, Brito (2009) established that it is the
store selection and retail-mix that holds the key to making image
inuence patronage effective.
A numbers of studies have examined the effect of physical
environment on consumers emotions and patronage intentions
(Ward et al., 1992). Mattila and Wirtz (2001) studied impact of
scent and music with the help of an experimentation study. They
manipulated scent and music in a three by three factorial design in
a eld setting and results indicated a denitive impact. Donovan
and Rossiter (1982) worked on impact of store atmospherics. Apart
from these softer elements physical and tangible elements like
decorations and furnishing and greenery in and around a mall also
affect consumer perception of shopping centres (Oppewal and
Timmermans, 1999).
Developing a relationship between mall attributes (tenant variety,
mall environment and shopping environment) and shoppers excite-
ment and desire to stay at the mall, Wakeeld and Baker (1998)
tested a number of variables. In their validated research instrument,
important attributes like music, lighting, temperature, design, archi-
tecture, stores, restrooms and entertainment were accommodated.
These attributed were clubbed into four constructs: ambient factors,
design factors, layout and variety. Apart from other variables,
222 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228
researches could establish denite relationship between specic
environmental elements and excitement and desire to stay in
the mall.
Convenience as a vital attribute has been studied by Reimers
and Clulow (2009) in an Australian setting. The study established
the eminence of convenience irrespective of the format (shopping
mall or shopping strip). Elements of convenience taken up in the
study were: Spatial convenience, temporal convenience, car con-
venience, hedonic attributes and shopping services.
Collating the work on mall attributes done by previous
researchers, Kim et al. (2005) summarized vital mall attributes
into a comprehensive list of 51 items. It was later pruned to 38.
These 38 items were falling in following nine groups: layout,
design & architecture, extra facilities, mood, courtesy, getting out,
exhibition, music & food and hanging around. Output of this
research was an instrument to tap into multiple dimensions of
what makes for an entertaining mall visit. A similar list of
attributes was used by Venkateswarulu and Uniyal (2007) with
reference to shopping malls in the city of Mumbai. El-Adly (2007)
identied six factors dening attractiveness of a shopping mall.
These were: Comfort, entertainment, diversity, mall essence,
convenience and luxury.
Safety and security issue also emerge as a relevant theme
affecting shopping. Frasquet et al., 2001) included personal security
as a variable while studying perceived value of shopping malls.
In a study focussed on safety and security concerns of shopping
centre customers Overstreet and Clodfelter (1995). El-Adly (2007)
also considered security as a mall attribute though he has men-
tioned it as a constituent of dimension Comfort. Jackson et al.
(2011) also used safety of mall as an attribute in their study on
impact of gender and generational cohorts on mall attribute
importance and shopping value.
Frasquet et al. (2001) used attractive sales and promotion as a
variable affecting perceived value of a shopping mall. Signicance of
marketing activities was also highlighted by a study done on malls in
Kolkata by Chattopadhyaya and Sengupta (2006). They posited that
shopping centres which could achieve distinctive positioning by
developing appropriate marketing strategies enjoyed increased cus-
tomer patronage. Warnaby and Yip (2005) did a similar study on
promotional planning for shopping centres in UK.
3. Research objectives
Research conducted during last few decades presents a long list
of attributes and factors shaping shopping experience in different
contexts. Indian shopping malls in general and shopping malls of
Mumbai in particular score very well in terms of these factors
(Singh and Bose, 2008; Kuruvilla and Joshi, 2010). But customer
response to shopping malls has been luke-warm despite tremen-
dous untapped potential as discussed in the introduction section.
Since high-street markets still manage to attract decent footfalls,
does it mean that high-street markets offer something more
relevant to shoppers in terms of shopping experience? Since
Indian malls are more or less a replica of western malls (in some
case a more ornate version) does it mean that Indian shoppers
denes dene shopping in a different manner as compared to its
western counterparts? It would be wrong to say that shoppers of
Mumbai are unenthusiastic towards the concept of shopping mall
since malls like Inorbit Mall and Oberoi Mall consistently attract
footfalls. Maybe given a choice, shoppers decide in favour of one
offering superior shopping experience. Such an experience can be
ensured by carefully aligning management philosophy and prac-
tices of the mall with the expectations of shoppers. However,
a determined action on this front requires estimation of what
includes shopping experience. This research was conceived to
address this issue. It aims at identifying the factors dening
shopping experience of an Indian shopper. It explores the follow-
ing issues:
1. Which factors dene shopping experience in a mall?
2. Are all the factors equally relevant for the mall shoppers in
Mumbai?
3. How shopping experience can be improved in light of the
ndings of this research?
4. Research methodology
The study included both exploratory as well as conclusive
phases. Whereas exploratory phase was used primarily for back-
ground study and questionnaire development, conclusive study
dealt with data collection from actual respondents through a
structured questionnaire.
4.1. Designing of research instrument
Background of the study included exploration into what consti-
tutes shopping experience. Review of literature as discussed pre-
viously resulted in generation of a list of 34 attributes that were
possible candidates for inclusion in intended model for shopping
experience. This checklist was then consulted with an expert panel
comprising of two mall managers of the level of General Manager,
tow professors who teach and publish on this theme and one
research scholar pursuing doctoral research of mall management.
Panel recommended deletion as well as addition of attributes to the
initial list. For instance statements related to entertainment as
suggested by El-Adly (2007) were deleted as entertainment options
were considered a part of tenant-mix by many researchers like
Wakeeld and baker (1998). On the other hand security was
expanded to four statements each representing a different source
of potential threat. These were: safety from acts of terror, safety from
accidents (like re), safety from crimes and safety while shopping
(like slippery oor). The panel rened the list to twenty-two mall
attributes that could possibly dene shopping experience for malls in
the city of Mumbai. Initial draft of questionnaire was test-checked by
administering to a sample of 20 respondents to checks appropriate-
ness in terms of wording and sentence structure. Final outcome of
this phase was the research instrument containing 22 statements
worded carefully to check a shoppers response (agreement/disagree-
ment) on vital attributes of a shopping mall. Responses to these
statements were to be recorded on a 5-point Likerts scale in which a
score of 1 indicated strong disagreement whereas score of 5 indicated
strong level of agreement with the given statement. All the state-
ments were positively worded with no reverse coding.
4.2. Sampling and mode of contact
A sample of 400 respondents was used for this study. Population
for this research was dened as people who visit malls for the
purpose of shopping and actually carry out shopping. Sampling
element was individual shopper visiting the malls. To ensure data
collection only from genuine shoppers it was decided to contact
persons carrying minimum of one shopping bag while coming out of
a mall. Quota sampling was used for this study. Four malls from the
city of Mumbai were selected for data collection. One mall was taken
from South Mumbai, One from Malad and two malls were from
Mulund. Hundred respondents were selected from each mall. Malls
selected for this research were similar in terms of size, age and
tenant-mix. Mall intercept method was chosen to contact the
 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228 223

Table 1
Tabulated factor output.

Factor no. Factor title Variables included Average Factor

F1 20.324% Ambience Temperature control (3.19) 3.14 .874

Background music (2.82) .874
Landscaping (3.14) .860
Ambient odor (3.02) .856
General hygiene (3.55) .853
Illumination (3.11) .846
F2 14.504% Convenience to shoppers Floor plan (3.72) 3.35 .883
Utilities (3.27) .878
Distance of mall from home (3.31) .853
Lifts & escalators (3.11) .851
F3 12.895% Marketing focus Promotional events (2.64) 3.08 .853
Promotional schemes (2.96) .830
Mall faade (3.16) .825
Tenant-mix (3.56) .816
F4 11.163% Safety & security Security against acts of terror (2.560) 2.35 .827
Safety from accidents (2.35) .811
Safety from crimes (2.21) .758
Safety while shopping (2.28) .676
F5 9.811% Physical infrastructure Size of the mall (2.85) 2.82 .783
Size of the atrium (2.66) .740
Open space (2.79) .714
Parking space (2.97) .649

Table 2 Table 3
Cronbachs alpha values for factors. Variance extracted by each factor.

S. no Factor no. and label Cronbachs alpha S. no Factor no. and label Variance

1 F1 (Ambience) 0.931 1 F1 (Ambience) 0.741

2 F2 (Convenience to shoppers) 0.901 2 F2 (Convenience to shoppers) 0.751
3 F3 (Marketing focus) 0.858 3 F3 (Marketing focus) 0.691
4 F4 (Safety & security) 0.780 4 F4 (Safety & security) 0.593
5 F5 (Physical infrastructure) 0.705 5 F5 (Physical infrastructure) 0.523

shoppers. Second stage involved selecting respondents on the basis
of convenience and judgment.
5. Data analysis and extraction of factors
Data collected from 400 respondents was subjected to data
reduction using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with the help of
statistical package for social science (SPSS). This research used
principal component analysis. Data was checked and found
suitable for factor analysis in terms of vital parameters. Initial
unrotated solution was received and subjected to Varimax rotation
for further renement.
5.2. Examining the initial output
Data was subjected to data reduction using principal compo-
nent analysis. Initial output was received along with communality
values (Annexure A2). All the communality values were greater
than 0.5 except for one (parking space; 0.488). Since variable-wise
MSA for the same was reasonable hence the variable was not
deleted. Data was subsequently subjected to Varimax rotation.
Rotated solution explains 68.697% of the variance associated
with the problem (Annexure A3) and comprised of ve factors
(Annexure A4).
5.3. Listing and labelling of factors

Exploratory factor analysis condensed 22 statements into a ve

5.1. Checking suitability of data for factor analysis
Data set was checked for suitability by examining the output of
correlation analysis, variable-wise measure of sampling adequacy,
KMO test of sampling adequacy and Bartletts test of sphericity
(Boyd et al., 2002; Malhotra, 2004). Presence of an underlying
structure in the data-set was indicated by signicant correlation
between a large numbers of variables. The observation was corro-
borated by Anti-image correlation matrix showing adequate variable-
wise measure sampling adequacy (diagonal values greater than
0.5; Annexure A1)). KMO test of sampling adequacy gave a value of
0.845 which is higher than bench-mark value of 0.5. Calculated
value of 4451.756 at 231 degrees of freedom and 5% level of
signicance in Bartletts test of sphericity also indicated the same
(Annexure A1). All these results indicated that it was a t case for
factor analysis.
distinct bunch of statements. Statements within a single bunch
had something in common as indicated by signicantly higher
factor loadings whereas, statements placed in different bunches
were dissimilar to each other in terms of shoppers response. Each
bunch or bundle represented a factor. For assigning a label (name)
to each factor, nature and wording of all the statements com-
prising that factor were examined and considered. The exercise
resulted in ve distinct names (Table 1).
5.3.1. Factor 1
First factor extracted out of this research explained 20.324% of
total variance. It comprised of six mall attributes (variables)
namely temperature control, cleanliness, pleasant odour, back-
ground music, illumination and landscaping. Each of these vari-
ables was strongly correlated with the extracted factor 1 as factor
224 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228

ambience to be a potent factor as its average score was above 3

(3.14) indicating agreement with the statements constituting this
factor. Variable-wise average score ranged between 2.82 and 3.55.
Background music was the only exception with score below 3
(2.82) whereas general hygiene was considered most signicant
(average score 3.55).

5.3.2. Factor 2
Second factor extracted in this analysis explained 14.504% of
the total variance and comprised of four variables or mall
attributes. These were: oor-plan, utilities, distance of mall from
home and lifts & escalators. These variables were highly correlated
with the extracted factor and the factor loadings ranged between
0.883 and 0.851. Each of these variables was a source of conve-
nience or ease for the shoppers. Hence it was labelled as Conveni-
ence to shoppers. It emerged as the most signicant factor in
customers opinion with highest average score i.e. 3.35. Another
feature of this factor was that each attribute (variable) constituting
this factor was individually considered important by the respon-
dents since average score for each variable was above 3.

5.3.3. Factor 3
Third factor comprising of four variables (attributes) explained
12.895% of the total variance. Attributes comprising this factor
were: promotional events, promotional schemes, mall facade and
tenant-mix. Factor loadings of these four variables on factor 3 were
healthy and ranged from 0.853 to 0.816. Labelling this factor
was quite problematical. Events and promotional schemes are an
attempt by the mall to induce shoppers and may be classied as
marketing activity. Facade of a mall also attracts people from over
a distance. However, nature of impact made by tenant-mix is
different. Diversity of tenant-mix extends a rational benet to
the shoppers to induce them for a mall visit. Though impact of

Table A1
KMO and Bartletts test.

KaiserMeyerOlkin measure of sampling adequacy .845

Bartletts test of sphericity Approx. Chi-square 4451.756
Df 231
Sig. .000

Table A2
Communalities for 22 variable problem.

Initial Extraction

Distance of mall from home 1.000 .747

Mall faade 1.000 .709
Temperature control 1.000 .765
General hygiene 1.000 .735
Fig. 1. Proposed model for mall shopping experience. Size of the atrium 1.000 .586
Floor plan 1.000 .807
Tenant-mix 1.000 .673
Table 4 Parking space 1.000 .488
Model summary. Ambient odor 1.000 .740
Promotional events 1.000 .739
Weights Covariances Variances Means Intercepts Total Utilities 1.000 .800
Security against acts of terror 1.000 .714
Fixed 27 0 0 0 0 27 Background music 1.000 .772
Labeled 0 0 0 0 0 0 Illumination 1.000 .724
Unlabeled 17 10 27 0 0 54 Safety from accidents 1.000 .670
Total 44 10 27 0 0 81 Size of the mall 1.000 .632
Promotional schemes 1.000 .702
Safety while shopping 1.000 .528
loadings for each of these were signicantly high (range from Lifts & escalators 1.000 .732
0.874 to 0.846). Each of these variables represented an element Open space 1.000 .514
Landscaping 1.000 .749
that adds to aesthetics and magnicence offered by the mall. This Safety from crimes 1.000 .587
factor was labelled as ambience. Respondents considered
 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228 225

Table A3
Total variance explained for the given problem.

Comp Initial Eigen values Extraction sums of squared loadings Rotation sums of squared loadings

Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative Total % Of Cumulative

1 4.691 21.324 21.324 4.691 21.324 21.324 4.471 20.324 20.324

2 3.741 17.007 38.330 3.741 17.007 38.330 3.191 14.504 34.828
3 2.689 12.221 50.551 2.689 12.221 50.551 2.837 12.895 47.723
4 2.072 9.420 59.971 2.072 9.420 59.971 2.456 11.163 58.886
5 1.920 8.726 68.697 1.920 8.726 68.697 2.158 9.811 68.697

Table A4
Rotated component matrix for 20 variable problem.

Component

1 2 3 4 5

Temperature control .874 .021 .005  .043 .005

Background music .874  .075 .061 1.628E-5 .006
Landscaping .860  .003 .082  .037 .032
Ambient odor .856 .056 .048  .041  .016
General hygiene .853  .002 .040  .065  .044
Illumination .846 .020 .033  .037 .076
Floor plan .003 .883  .051 .118 .105
Utilities .044 .878  .072 .121 .089
Distance of mall from home  .021 .853 .054 .029 .124
Lifts & escalators  .001 .851  .072 .040  .017
Promotional events .057  .067 .853  .011  .056
Promotional schemes .013  .057 .830  .076  .065
Mall faade .096  .010 .825  .132 .033
Tenant-mix .056 .003 .816  .059 .037
Security against acts of terror  .069 .072  .140 .827 .006
Safety from accidents  .043 .073  .076 .811  .011
Safety from crimes  .001  .056  .093 .758  .021
Safety while shopping  .073 .227 .043 .676 .107
Size of the mall .005  .098 .050  .078 .783
Size of the atrium .000 .182  .017 .069 .740
Open space .036  .017  .025 .043 .714
Parking space .000 .251  .055 .031 .649

Table A5
List of labels used in Fig. 1.

Label Description Label Description

F1 Ambience V9 Ambient odor

F2 Convenience to shoppers V10 Promotional events
F3 Marketing focus V11 Utilities
F4 Safety & security V12 Security against acts of terror
F5 Physical infrastructure V13 Background music
V14 Illumination
V1 Distance of mall from home V15 Safety from accidents
V2 Mall faade V16 Size of the mall
V3 Temperature control V17 Promotional schemes
V4 General hygiene V18 Safety while shopping
V5 Size of the atrium V19 Lifts & escalators
V6 Floor plan V20 Open space
V7 Tenant-mix V21 Landscaping
V8 Parking space V22 Safety from crimes

tenant-mix is not as obvious as other three variables, it does
include the basic marketing functions of need assessment and
fullment. Collating these four variables, the most appropriate
label seemed to be marketing focus. Overall average score for
this factor was 3.08. However all the variables (attributes) were
not equally important as promotional events and schemes had
variable-wise average scores below 3 (2.64 and 2.96, respectively).
On the contrary tenant-mix turned out to be the most relevant
variable with the highest variable-wise score in the entire research
(3.56).
5.3.4. Factor 4
Factor number four comprised of four variables (attributes) and
explained 11.163% of total variance. Factor loading for all four
variables was high (ranging between 0.827 and 0.676) indication a
226 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228

high level of correlation between these variables and the factor signicant with factor loadings ranging from 0.783 to 0.649.
concerned. Variables included in this factor were: security against However this factor was not very signicant as indicated by its
acts of terror, safety from accidents, safety from crimes and safety average score (2.82). Average score of each of the constituent
while shopping. Since all these variables pointed at shoppers need variables was also less than 3.
to feel immune from mishaps, it was labelled as safety &
security. It was found to be the least signicant with average
score of 2.35. Individually, each of these variables commanded a 5.4. Validity and reliability of factor output
luke-warm response from shoppers as average score for each of
these variables was less than 3. Validity and reliability of the factor output was checked
statistically. Reliability was established by estimating Cronbachs
5.3.5. Factor 5 alpha for each of the factors, as given in Table 2. Alpha value for all
This factor also comprised of four variables and explained the factors was above 0.7 indicating that the output is reliable.
9.811% of total variance. Variables included were: size of the mall, Convergent validity for a factor indicates that all variables
size of the atrium, open space in the mall and parking space. constituting a single factor are actually coherent. i.e. they share
Extent of correlation between the factor and the variables was a high proportion of variance in common. Convergent validity
was checked with the help of variance extracted (VE). VE was
Table A6 calculated by adding squared factor loadings for all variables
Factor loadings for proposed model. constituting a factor and dividing total sum by the number of
variables (Table 3).
Estimate
Variance extracted for all ve factors was greater than 0.5.
PARK INFR .596 Discriminant validity establishes that the factors extracted are
OPSP INFR .547 truly distinct from each other. It was established by observing
ATRM INFR .706 factor loading for each variable under all factors. Final factor
SIZE INFR .594
output showed absence of any cross loadings as there was only
SSHP SAFT .573
CRIM SAFT .636 one signicant factor loading per variable.
ACCD SAFT .741
TERR SAFT .815
TNTX MKTG .738
FCDE MKTG .774
6. Conrmation of factor structure
SCHM MKTG .783
EVNT MKTG .809
LIFT CONV .776 Factor structure as indicated by exploratory factor analysis is
DIST CONV .806 represented by Fig. 1. It represents the measurement model for
UTIL CONV .866 shopping experience in malls in the city of Mumbai. The model
FLRP CONV .882
comprises of ve factors (F1, F2, F3, F4 and F5). It depicts bunch of
ODOR AMB .825
LAND AMB .834 variables associated with respective factors, error variance asso-
MUSC AMB .848 ciated with each variable and co-variance between the factors. List
TEMP AMB .848 of labels used in Fig. 1 is given in Table A5. This model was
HYGN AMB .823
subjected to a conrmatory test in the form of conrmatory factor
ILLU AMB .815
analysis (CFA).

Table A7
Parameter estimatesregression weights.

Estimate S.E. C.R. P Label

PARK INFR 1.000

nnn
OPSP INFR .852 .110 7.713
nnn
ATRM INFR 1.137 .133 8.568
nnn
SIZE INFR .993 .123 8.099
SSHP SAFT 1.000
nnn
CRIM SAFT 1.234 .132 9.330
nnn
ACCD SAFT 1.235 .121 10.177
nnn
TERR SAFT 1.424 .136 10.451
TNTX MKTG 1.000
nnn
FCDE MKTG .984 .068 14.373
nnn
SCHM MKTG 1.050 .072 14.520
nnn
EVNT MKTG 1.069 .072 14.925
LIFT CONV 1.000
nnn
DIST CONV 1.112 .065 17.009
nnn
UTIL CONV 1.223 .066 18.483
nnn
FLRP CONV 1.207 .064 18.828
ODOR AMB 1.000
nnn
LAND AMB 1.002 .050 19.902
nnn
MUSC AMB 1.038 .051 20.425
nnn
TEMP AMB .995 .049 20.417
nnn
HYGN AMB .923 .047 19.520
nnn
ILLU AMB .891 .046 19.218
 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228 227

6.1. CFA results and model t
Proposed model was evaluated with the help of CFA. Evaluation
was done to check adequacy of parameter estimates as well as the
model as a whole (Table 4).
Model given in Fig. 1 had 49 variables out of which 27 were
exogenous and 22 were endogenous. Data was subjected to
conrmatory factor analysis using AMOS. It resulted in achieve-
ment of a minimum. There were 253 distinct sample moments and
54 distinct parameters to be estimated resulting in 199 degrees of
freedom. All the parameters were feasible and standard errors
reasonable. Statistical signicance of parameter estimates was
established as test-statistic in each case was greater than 1.96
(Annexure A6A8).
The proposed model was found adequate as indicated by
goodness-of-t statistics. Minimum discrepancy/degree of free-
dom (CMIN/DF) ratio was 1.651 which indicated adequate t.
Goodness-of-t indices like goodness-of-t Index (GFI), adjusted
goodness-of-t Index (AGFI) and incremental t index (IFI) had
values closer to 1.000 (GFI 0.931, AGFI 0.912, IFI 0.970). com-
parative t index (CFI), relative t index (RFI) and TuckerLewis
index (TLI) had values close to 0.95 (CFI0.970, RFI 0.916,
TLI 0.965). Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)
value was less than 0.04 (0.040). Both.05 and.01 values of
Hoelters Critical N for the hypothesized model exceeded 200
(.05 283, .01 301). All these indicators were a sign of good t
and the model stood validated.
ambient issues? The questions remain unanswered and point
towards a series of researches to be conducted in future. Despite
acts of terrorist violence in Mumbai in the year 2011 and repeated
bomb-blasts in Pune, safety & security has drawn the least
attention of shoppers. It is understandable since no act of terrorist
violence has happened in any of the shopping malls in India. Same
holds true for accidents and crimes in Indian and Mumbai malls.
Mall developers and managers should take an integrated view of
the situations and work on multi-pronged strategies to improve
shopping experience. It is evident that all the constituent factors do
not contribute equally to shopping experience. It is imperative for
decision makers to identify the key factors and decision areas where
suitable changes can yield more than proportionate dividends.
Observations and suggestions presented above come with
a note of caution. These are derived from responses given by
a sample of respondents from Mumbai over a certain period of
time. These results need to be supplemented by follow up
researches on similar pattern before arriving at a rm hypothesis
about composition of shopping experience. These results are
applicable for Mumbai and can be extrapolated to the whole of
India only after validation by further researches. Future studies
may focus on collecting similar data from shopping malls across
different cities, at different points of time and from different
Table A8
Parameter estimatescovariances.
Estimate S.E. C.R. P Label

6.2. Modication indices (MIs) INFR 2 AMB .014 .036 .389 .697
nnn
INFR 2 CONV .143 .036 3.956
The evaluation process got over since all goodness-of-t para- INFR 2 MKTG  .025 .031  .793 .428
INFR 2 SAFT .027 .024 1.105 .269
meters conrmed the adequacy of the. However modication indices
SAFT 2 AMB  .087 .041  2.125 .034
were checked for the sake of completeness. It was found that no MI SAFT 2 CONV .139 .039 3.533 nnn

value was signicantly large to indicate scope for renement SAFT 2 MKTG  .132 .037  3.555 nnn

(Annexure A9). It meant there is no substantial evidence of model MKTG 2 AMB .124 .053 2.348 .019
mist. These observations further validated the hypothesized model. MKTG 2 CONV  .091 .048  1.884 .060
CONV 2 AMB .006 .055 .109 .913

7. Conclusion
Table A9
Shopping malls are capital intensive Goliaths who are unfortu- Modication indices.
nately getting beaten by the Davids of high-street. It is happening
M.I. Par change M.I. Par change
because shopping malls in Mumbai are more competition centric
than customer-centric. Malls developers are investing heavily in ILLU INFR 4.189 .157 SSHP INFR 7.071 .278
making them more ornate, ignoring the real expectations of ILLU PARK 4.800 .085 SSHP FLRP 13.551 .138
customers. For the similar merchandise Mumbai shoppers seem MUSC CONV 6.620  .106 SSHP UTIL 12.081 .126
MUSC FLRP 6.729  .075 SSHP DIST 10.101 .118
to prefer high-street as it offers the appropriate experience. Since MUSC DIST 4.855  .063 SSHP LIFT 6.703 .103
shopping experience is an orchestration of a number of factors, it MUSC LIFT 8.560  .089 SSHP TNTX 9.054 .124
is important to identify and understand the factors before taking MUSC EVNT 4.022 .065 SSHP ATRM 6.922 .145
any decision. A higher average score assigned to Ambience UTIL PARK 4.249 .088 SIZE CONV 17.814  .186
DIST MKTG 9.277 .161 SIZE SAFT 9.551  .211
indicates a higher preference for this among shoppers in the city
DIST SAFT 4.064  .147 SIZE FLRP 11.795  .106
of Mumbai. It seems to belie the notion that shopping malls offer DIST SCHM 7.272 .099 SIZE UTIL 21.758  .139
better ambience. It is pointer for future research into India-specic DIST FCDE 11.663 .132 SIZE DIST 6.026  .075
variables that would make ambience more appealing. The other DIST TNTX 4.608 .078 SIZE LIFT 17.317  .136
point to ponder is dominance convenience over factors like DIST TERR 5.186  .086 SIZE FCDE 7.842 .101
DIST CRIM 4.135  .069 SIZE TERR 11.236  .118
marketing focus and physical infrastructure. It would be interest- DIST OPSP 4.363 .105 SIZE ACCD 4.154  .076
ing to nd what makes a retail store more convenient to a shopper. LIFT INFR 5.139  .203 SIZE SSHP 4.185  .072
Convenience needs to be looked from the perspective that as most LIFT SIZE 6.041  .112 SIZE OPSP 5.623 .111
of the malls in Mumbai (and in India) and already situated close to LIFT OPSP 7.124  .131 ATRM SSHP 4.631 .070
EVNT ACCD 8.835 .108 OPSP LIFT 5.467  .073
the residential clusters, at a very convenient distance. Dimensions
FCDE ACCD 5.888  .088 OPSP SIZE 5.002 .093
of convenience associated with Indian malls could be radically FCDE SIZE 7.145 .115 PARK CONV 11.101 .147
different from what it is in case of shopping malls in the developed TNTX SSHP 5.965 .094 PARK FLRP 8.004 .087
world. Interestingly physical infrastructure seems least important CRIM CONV 5.207  .131 PARK UTIL 14.858 .115
for the Mumbai shoppers. Does it mean that malls developers CRIM DIST 5.795  .095 PARK DIST 4.511 .065
CRIM LIFT 5.231  .097 PARK LIFT 7.164 .088
need to emphasise less on physical infrastructure and should focus SSHP CONV 14.215 .202
on small, neighbourhood malls that take care of convenience and
228 H. Singh, S. Prashar / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 220228
segments of shoppers. It would be interesting to nd out whether
composition of shopping experience varies with place, time and
shopper demographics.
Appendix A
See Tables A1A9.
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