Understanding the experiential consumption of special event entertainment (SEE) at shopping centres: an exploratory study

Abstract

Entertainment seeking is an experiential activity occurring within the shopping centre environment. Few studies (e.g. Sit, Merrilees, and Birch, 2003) have examined the consumption of special event entertainment (SEE). SEE is offered on an occasional, temporary and discrete basis and includes events such as fashion shows and school holiday programs. SEE plays a role in creating an exciting or entertaining atmosphere at a shopping environment. An understanding of consumer and environmental variables impacting on consumer response to SEE is valuable to shopping centre management. An exploratory study involving two separate focus group discussions was conducted. In particular of consumer variable, four key motives were found applicable to SEE consumption, namely self gratification, affiliation, stimulation and community support. Self gratification and affiliation motives were applicable to both young and middle-aged participants. However, the stimulation motive was primarily relevant to young participants, and the community support motive was mainly applicable to their middle-aged counterparts. Two environmental variables, perceived crowding and accessibility, were consistently identified as issues by both young and middle-aged participants. These two environmental variables were identified to induce or hinder shopper response to SEE. Managerial implications and directions for future research are addressed.