Visibility, Shopper Characteristics and Navigation: An Integrated Approach in Tenanting Decision Making

The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for understanding navigation behaviour in a shopping mall in terms of shopper characteristics and configurational factor (visibility). Navigation of customers within a shopping mall has been identified in retail management literature as a significant factor for achieving economic sustenance relying on the concept of urban spatial structure and explained through bid-rent analysis. Navigational behaviour, like other spatial behaviours, can be considered as a function of personal and environmental factors. Studies in the field of architecture identify the impact of higher visibility in generating higher accessibility for a particular space in a built environment. Visibility, therefore, has been selected as the environmental factor responsible for navigation in shopping malls along with signage as a significant navigational or marketing tool. Shopper characteristics have been studied in lieu of personal factors and consist of achievement orientation and shopping activities. Responses on those constructs are taken through a structured questionnaire employing mall intercept method of surveying. The influence of shopper characteristics on navigational preferences have been tested for respondents based on their pre and post signage predilection.