Mall Shopping Motives and Activities: A Multimethod Approach

ABSTRACT Using ethnographic methods, this study first develops an understanding of the “mall experience” as perceived by Egyptian consumers. An interpretive model of shopper experiences is deduced from the findings and related to shopping activities performed at the mall. The result is 10 different clusters of shopping activities. Based on these qualitative findings, a structured questionnaire was generated in order to test and generalize these findings and the resulting typology of mall shoppers. Seven main shopping motives were identified in subsequent survey research: three functional motives—safety, bargain hunting, and convenience—and four hedonic motives—entertainment, freedom, appreciation of modernity, and self-identity. Measures of the 10 different shopping activities derived in the “mall experience model” were then correlated with the shopping motives derived in the survey. A two-step cluster analysis produced three main clusters of shoppers: family-focused, hedonists, and strivers. These three types of shoppers are further described in terms of their motives, mall activities, and demographic characteristics. The largest number of Egyptian shoppers belonged to the Strivers category.