Going to the Mall: Understanding the Environmental Assemble in Consumers’ Experience

Resumo

Trilha Acadêmica: comportamento do consumidor

Mall environment and consumer experience are two key concepts to understand the contemporary retail consumption. However, despite the importance and solidity of both topics, researchers rarely consider investigating empirically environmental elements and consumer experience as one. Evoking the idea of assemblage, which environmental elements are incorporated in the experience, we develop the concept of mall trip experience to describe the environmental assimilation that produces experience. In doing it, our objective is to explore environmental triggers and their consequences on experiential assemblage. We develop an empirical analysis of consumers experience in a department store, from two different Brazilian states. Data collection involves 30 in-depth interviews and filmed shopping experience using camera glasses. Results highlight the role of the shopping trip experience in connecting consumers and the environment throughout three main triggers: environmental convenience; miscellaneous materiality; atmospheric sense. These triggers assemble experiences in physical and sensory level and stimulating auto-reflexive consumer attention with the material and esthetical elements producing experience. Findings contribute with understanding environmental assemblage in consumers’ experience in a holist manner.

Key words: consumers’ experience, mall environment, experiential assemblage.