Mall Mania : A Study of Factors Influencing Consumers’ Preference Towards Shopping Malls in Coimbatore City

Mall shopping is a buzzword for Indian youth. Mall culture is viewed as a significant change in the life style of Indians, as shopping is no longer an activity of buying things but also viewed as a status symbol and a one-stop retail solution. Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have received greater economic and social contributions from malls and now it is the turn of the the Tier-2 cities like Coimbatore. The coimbatorians are in josh with the advent of two malls and a few more are to come up in the city as they attract them with comfort, entertainment, fashion, food court, window shopping, multibrand portfolio, quality, mall essence, convenience, attractiveness and luxury. This paper focuses on the factors influencing the consumer preference towards malls in Coimbatore. This city is important for its revenue growth, which is nearly twice as much as India's growth, and high frequency of shopping attitude after the advent of malls. The research design is descriptive and primary data were collected using a survey questionnaire. The sample consisted of 406 respondents and the sampling method was simple random sampling. The respondents were potential general public shopping in the malls. The data was analyzed using SPSS 17. Paired-t-test, factor analysis, ANOVA and frequencies tests were performed. The results give an insight into the frequency and hours of spending pattern of the shoppers in the malls. A model for mall-mania has also been derived through factor analysis