The Logical Justification of People Time Out at Shopping Malls in Lebanon
Abstract
The main purpose of any new business is to enhance the financial status of its owner, therefore adding a plus to the national economy of the country. Lebanese people are known for their love for life, seeking for self-satisfaction and best services. Shopping Malls become a predominant part of modern lifestyles, offering entertainments and fulfilling the needs of all generations. With the existing competition and new challenges, the impact of Interior Design on shopping malls regarding consumer behavior is a paramount concern to every up to date mall, which cares about the well being of its customers. Interior Design operates as a bridge between consumer’s behavior, and the mall itself, facilitating the systematic integration of economical, social, psychological and environmental parameters.
Article
As of the second half of the 20th century, a new lifestyle invaded people’s way of living. The needs are not only the vital needs of old days such as water or food, but new products and different interests are now fundamental for almost each and every one of us. Moreover, with the development of technology, materials, and designs, consumers are becoming more and more demanding on all levels. Nowadays, one of the greatest places to be with family and friends, for teenagers and elderly is the shopping mall. This habitat has become centers of life built on large square meter, with many different functions inside, where consumers can meet their needs like clothing, food and where people have the opportunity to socialize.
However, with the diversity of malls, mainly with the existing competition and competitive advantage, customers’ mind became more complex, and more challenging. People are opened to the rest of the world, they seek for perfection, quest for a well-displayed environment with a functional circulation, esthetically attractive surrounding with a fascinating combination of new elements, materials, and colors. All those features, well considered and genuinely applied, enhance the mood of a place and turn it into a welcoming environment. Malls’ aim is to offer distinctive interior design and exceptional outdoor landscape in order to charm their customers.
Integrating design principles and practices is creative and rewarding, thus opening doors to lots of possibilities for consumers’ expression and growth. When a shopping mall offers comfort to its customers, the behavior of those persons is certainly more positive and psychologically open to any behavioral change. This has lead Interior Design to look for different way to stand out from the competition and to be different from others, especially to investigate in consumers references, shopping habits, and purchasing motivations. The only way to build a successful Interior Design strategy in terms of shopping malls is the accurate and detailed analysis of psychological, sociocultural and economical factors affecting consumer behavior.
Based on Hofstede’s cultural model that compares individuals by cultural aspects, we can classify people into different groups, offering distinct cultural values, and therefore, be able to depict the behavior of a group of individuals, measuring the dissimilarities in culture. It is good to mention that in his book Values Survey Module, in 2008, the most important and popular five dimensions according to Hofstede are: Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Power Distance and Long versus Short Term Orientation.
The relationship between consumer behaviors at shopping malls is mainly concerned with the development and implementation of general and specific Interior Design details of the shops, the supermarkets and the mall as a whole. Those two features, when applied properly allow customers to buy more and more products or services in a more convenient and pleasant way. “Increasing attention is being paid not only to pricing and the merchandise itself but also to the provision of a pleasant and possibly exciting shopping atmosphere” (Baker, 1986; Sherman et al., 1997).
Lately, interior of malls has changed from confortable yet average spaces; to convert to a rich architectural place with attractive sophisticated design elements, such as escalators and other elements with exquisite materials. “Malls have also become important meeting places, especially for young people and seniors” (Graham 1988, Feinberg Mioli and Sheffler 1989). As noticed, many articles already mentioned design and its importance, therefore the impact of Interior Design in a public environment, and the effect of the surrounding ambiance are not new. However, with the latest technologies, innovative materials and the needs that changed with people new lifestyle, it is interesting and maybe a must to look at this same matter from a different perspective.
Habitat defines an organization that fascinates a large number of people, like malls, and market places where individuals are tempted to spend long time on site. In a Habitat, individuals can be grouped in many categories each having its own pattern of comportments and behaviors mainly shopping, buying and browsing. Some other activities under the name of experiential consumption, may be detected too, mainly the food court and the various available services. “Ecological research showed that individual will be most abundant were habitat conditions most closely meet the ideal and less numerous were conditions are less favorable” (Nebel, 1990).
Decorating a mall with the goal of making limited space feel more spacious can be easy when designer considers the impact of color and light to user advantage. They are many mirror tricks too that can improve the real interior proportions and modify a place in terms of spaciousness. Despite the significance of malls in our culture, Feinberg and Meoli (1991, p426) note that one would be “ hard pressed to find a scholarly treatment of malls” in the academic journals. Conventionally, inventors’ main promise to mall consumers is the wide assortment of stores and merchandise, available in a definite single place. Some Interior Design new ideas and tricks can change the perception of a visual space. The visual perception of an interior space can be changed by the simple use of optical illusions, leaving any room looks enlarged, broadened, heightened, narrowed and even lowered.
An interior space’s size, proportion and even mood can be significantly affected by effects of colors and lighting, by interior elements placement, integrated horizontal or vertical lines, and also by shapes and even style of interior equipment and finishing materials. Great effects can be achieved by merging knowledge of perception with knowledge of design. Furthermore, optical illusion, is defined by all the changes in visual perception of a room size and proportion that occur under the influence of psychological phenomenon space, and all supplementary visuals phenomenon like visual memory, contrast, brightness and others. Therefore, Designers can shape and modify the visual experience of a shopping mall. Designers can also control the psychological role of lighting to help creating a sense of intimacy, privacy, and cheerfulness in the mall. A good designer knows that the accurate use of light structure is vital in fulfilling some space activity condition, such as reinforcing attraction or attention, emphasizing impression of visual clarity and spaciousness. Designers can shape and modify the visual experience of a room or a mall, by using optical illusion for visual connection of the space, a major effect is reached by the connect use of light stresses. Moreover, designers can achieve this effect with the use of 3D structure of suspended ceiling, mirror glass illuminating in the part of a mall or by creating a reflective shinny area. Color combination is an important and effective tool available for designers.
Acting as a bridge between consumer’s behavior, and shopping malls; Interior Design can facilitate the systematic integration of economical, social, and environmental parameters of shopping malls. Design can become a powerful engine for shopping malls and it can help businesses in generating solutions that enable to stimulate new social behaviors and this way, it complies with the change of the complex world that is required from design culture, and moving from the important role of tradition and monotonous to a much more important role for shopping centers. Architects and Interior Architects have a great responsibility to help creating the receptiveness for the emergence of a new kind of Architectural Design.
Worldwide and also in Lebanon, shopping malls offer nowadays, fast food courts, art exhibit, restaurants, movie theatre, kids entertainment playgrounds near the food court to facilitate the access to the kids and let the parents feel safer being near their children and at the same time enjoy their stay. Lebanese people are known for their love for fashion mixed with luxury and comfort. They are a type of population that pampers itself whatever is the financial situation. Lebanese are known to be fighters, they surpassed all the wars and civil wars, and always finding a way to enjoy and fill up their daily life with new activities, nice evenings. All the night clubs and restaurants were full even when explosions tried to stop this thrill for life. Lebanese people are open to the outside world, always looking for new inventions and technologies, and managing to adapt those new inventions in their countries. Beirut Downtown is almost “awake” all night long. The best evenings a tourist can get are in the city of Beirut despite the bad economical situation of the country. There is a diversity of cuisines, of music and mood that fits all tastes. Shopping centers in Lebanon offers continuous new programs for its customers, all year long, especially in the festive seasons. Special booths and decorations are fulfilling the space. It s a time where potential customers that just pass by to enjoy the designs and distractions, turn to be real and maybe long term consumers. Malls have become a predominant part of modern lifestyles, where great entertainment is organized and where exclusive and costly variety of attractions is offered.
“Shopping centers have often been criticized for their oligarchical design and management styles” (Flint, 2002; Voyce, 2006). However, weather due to increase awareness of issues related to sustainability of the global economic crisis or a growing field of national and individual safety, values of consumers are changing. Increasingly, this includes a greater connection to a sense of community and a form of consumerism that is more human centered. The value of customers consuming experience is not solely based on the product or service but the value of the personal engagement and sense of community they gain from the experience. These interactions and exchanges are occurring face to face in physical environments, such as traditional places of consumption, or less traditional places such as malls.
It s estimated that the world’s population will almost double from the present 6.2 billions to around 8 to 10 billions by end of 2025 and as a consequence, will increase both the demand on resources as well as the Interior Design impact resulting from consumers’ behavior activities. Worldwide and in Lebanon, we cannot have a healthy economical status, without sound and effective well-designed shopping malls. The impact of Interior Design on shopping malls regarding consumer behavior is a paramount concern to every up to date mall, which cares about the well being of its customers. In the present scenario of shopping mall progress, major economic and other changes are undergoing a financial revolution through the new technology of Interior Design. Especially in the economic sector, it has a significant role for an overall development of Interior Design toward consumers’ behavior.
The methodology used in this article is somehow descriptive describing a variety of elements as illusion in interior design to provide a better impression on a mall. It gives a detailed description on how lights, color and mirror can provide a significant interior elements and finishing materials.
A survey study conducted includes the Lebanese shopping malls. The survey was conducted with 100 participants. Careful attention has been paid to select the consumers participating in the survey study from different occupational groups, different age groups and different socio-economical levels. In addition, the questionnaire was conducted on weekdays and weekends, at different times of the day, and was sensitive about the homogeneity of the study. Participation in the study; shopping habits, reasons for visiting shopping centers, preferences for shopping centers, and the effects of interior and exterior architectural designs.
An analysis of the relationship between shopping center architectural design elements on the shopping center preference effect and the consumption effect score was analyzed by the Lebanese tourism ministry which unfortunately is interpreted focusing on the impact of malls to the sound economical situation of Lebanon and as result there has been a quiet demand for new malls. As in the past couple of years, more than seven new malls in different Lebanese geographical areas had been established.
In conclusion, all of the above statements confirm that the economical situation of the country is directly related to the behavior of its malls. When everything is beautifully done, when a place is easily accessible, with a functional circulation and a diversity of shops, when a customer is surrounded with various activities and finds whatever he seeks for effortlessly, he will for sure come over again and again. This satisfied customer will drag with him many others and the mall by itself will attract more people and more tourists from outside the country. Harrods the symbol of London; la Fayette in Paris; and the American Walmart are all emblems in the world of Department Stores. Malls like The Forum of Istanbul, Dubai City Center and many other shopping centers, affect the economy of their countries. Therefore, the expansion of malls, with elaborated design and satisfied customers enhance the economical situation of a country and open many new opportunities to its citizens.
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