Shopping malls attractiveness: a segmentation approach

Purpose The paper aims to determine the attractiveness factors of UAE shopping malls from the shoppers' perspective and then to segment shoppers according to these attractiveness factors. Design/methodology/approach A survey of university staff and principal component factor analysis were used to identify shopping mall attractiveness factors. Segmentation approach using K ‐means cluster analysis was also used to segment mall shoppers due to the identified factors. Findings This study revealed six mall attractiveness factors from the shoppers' perspective: comfort, entertainment, diversity, mall essence, convenience, and luxury. It also arrived at three mall shopper segments, specifically, relaxed shoppers, demanding shoppers, and pragmatic shoppers. Each segment was profiled in terms of mall attractiveness attributes, demographics and shopping behaviour. Research limitations/implications This study is limited in that it surveyed UAE University staff as shoppers. Thus, findings may not be representative of UAE shoppers in general. Practical implications Identifying mall attractiveness factors for a segmented market gives a better understanding about patronage motives than when it is applied to the market as a whole. This enables mall managers to develop the appropriate retailing strategies to satisfy each segment. Originality/value This is the first study to provide an insight of mall attractiveness factors as identified by different shopper segments in an Arabian environment without ignoring the special cultural differences in the UAE.