Marketing images and consumers' experiences in selling environments

In a well-functioning market, consumers exert choices not just in purchases of products but also inselections of locations to enjoy shopping. Scholarly research has demonstrated that retailatmospheres impact on shoppers’ pleasurable shopping experiences. Demonstrating the marketingconcept in action, shoppers consistently respond to this empowerment by for example, spendingmore time shopping and spending more money in retail facilities that are perceived to offer apleasanter atmosphere and experience. This research pivots round an in-depth qualitative study thatevaluated the impact of a plasma screens and specific informational content on shopping centreuser behaviour. A phenomenological study of the effects of the medium, and the way in whichthese systems influence behaviour, permitted a far deeper investigation of our sample group vis-àvisincreased browsing time and the propensity to spend. A series of eight focus discussions wereconducted with local user groups of varying age and gender. Key themes drawn from the groupdiscussions using axial coding indicated that the influence created by the images varied withsubjects and settings. The general consensus was that such ‘screens’ created a certain ambience thatinfluenced the way our subjects felt about the selling environment under study. Moreover, for oursample groups, there was clearly a link between the screened images and modern expectations of aselling environment. The plasma screens provided added enjoyment to shoppers’ experiences,providing them with more information enabling more informed shopping choices. The researchconcludes with implications for strategic marketing, theory and practice.