Biophilic leisure engagement in shopping mall: the roles of emotional pleasure, arousal and place dependence

Purpose Shopping mall are increasingly adopting biophilic design, transforming commercial centers into urban leisure servicescape where consumers come to shop and to experience natural scenes. This study aims to examine how biophilic mall characteristics foster Biophilic Leisure Engagement (BLE) through consumers’ emotional responses and place dependence. Design/methodology/approach This study uses survey data from consumers who had experienced biophilic shopping mall and applies partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed Biophilic Leisure Engagement Model. Findings The findings show that visual naturalness, spatial aesthetics and natural soundscape quality are important characteristics of biophilic malls that shape consumers’ emotional responses and BLE. Emotional arousal has a stronger association with place dependence and BLE than emotional pleasure, suggesting that curiosity, excitement and exploration are central to sustained engagement in biophilic mall environments. Place dependence also mediates the relationship between emotional responses and BLE, explaining how positive experiences can develop into sustained engagement with the servicescape. Originality/value This study defines and operationalizes BLE as a distinct form of consumer engagement in nature-integrated commercial servicescapes. It extends servicescape and biophilic design research by clarifying how natural scene characteristics, emotional responses and place dependence jointly explain consumers’ sustained leisure engagement in biophilic shopping mall.