Hedonic shopping motivations

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Abstract

Given the increasing importance of entertainment as a retailing strategy, this study identifies a comprehensive inventory of consumers’ hedonic shopping motivations. Based on exploratory qualitative and quantitative studies, a six-factor scale is developed that consists of adventure, gratification, role, value, social, and idea shopping motivations. Using the six-factor hedonic shopping motivation profiles, a cluster analysis of adult consumers reveals five shopper segments, called here the Minimalists, the Gatherers, the Providers, the Enthusiasts, and the Traditionalists. The utility of the proposed scale is discussed both for future research and retail strategy.

Section snippets

Background and review of literature

Shopping research has long focused on the utilitarian aspects of the shopping experience, which has often been characterized as task-related and rational (Batra & Ahtola, 1991) and related closely to whether or not a product acquisition “mission” was accomplished (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994). However, traditional product acquisition explanations may not fully reflect the totality of the shopping experience (Bloch & Richins, 1983). Because of this, the last several years have seen resurgent

Qualitative inquiry and initial scale development

We rely on the accepted paradigm for scale development provided by (Churchill, 1979) and augmented by others (e.g., Anderson & Gerbing, 1982, Bagozzi, 1980, Bentler & Bonnet, 1980, Churchill, 1979, Gerbing & Anderson, 1988, Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994, Peter, 1981). Fig. 1 summarizes the scale development procedures employed here, and the procedures are discussed in detail in subsequent sections.

Scale purification

Substantive (e.g., breadth of theoretical content coverage by an item) as well as empirical considerations were employed throughout the scale purification process (cf., Chin & Todd, 1995). Scale purification is concerned with detailed item analyses, exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and an initial assessment of scale reliability, unidimensionality, and convergent and discriminant validity. Here, standard (e.g., Anderson & Gerbing, 1988, Churchill, 1979, Gerbing &

Scale validation

The purpose of scale validation activities is fourfold. First, it is desirable to replicate the confirmatory factor structure on an independent sample, thereby reducing error due to capitalization on chance (Chin & Todd, 1995; MacCallum, Roznowski, & Necowitz, 1992). Not only should the model replicate, but we must also show the extent to which our measurement model is stable across independent samples. Second, the hedonic constructs are then correlated with theoretically related constructs,

Implications for research

The hedonic shopping motivation scale captures a wide variety of hedonic reasons people go shopping, and has a broad variety of applications to retail research. First, the scale can be employed in research investigating the interrelationships between hedonic motivations, in-store experiences, and shopping outcomes (e.g., satisfaction). Prior research suggests that shopping motives drive the behavior that brings shoppers into the marketplace, but the emotions experienced in the store affect

Limitations and directions for future research

As with any scale development research, one must use caution with the application of the scale to other shopping contexts. Specifically, while we have provided evidence that the scale replicates well across independent samples, further evidence of generalizability is needed. Second, as with any factor analysis, a certain amount of subjectivity is necessary in identifying and labeling factors. Third, the scale was developed only to address hedonic, or non-product reasons people shop. Westbrook

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