Darsini Manibalan
This study assessed the effectiveness of the retail strategy in retail stores in Malaysia. It attempts to explain the effect of retail store image on customer attitude towards the store, the effect of customer attitude towards the store on customer intention to purchase and the moderating effect of self-image on retail store image and attitude. This phenomenon was chosen as there is limited literature written in the past on the retail strategy of Malaysia. This study is framed by the Mehrabian–Russell’s Stimulus-Organism-Response theory with a moderator. The data was collected via an online survey throughout Malaysia to ease the collection process and avoid biases. It was collected from Generation Y because they have a very active social life and visit retail stores often. 252 usable responses were obtained from the distribution of 400 questionnaires. This study provides useful insights to retailers and managers. This study established that Generation Y prefers going to the retail store that fits their self-image. Therefore, their purchase intention was derived from the attitude. Furthermore, retail store image has a direct influence on the customer’s attitude towards the store. Findings from this research provide important insights for retailer’s strategic marketing planning and implication in Malaysia.
Darsini Manibalan
Research Framework
Contrary to western countries like the USA, Malaysia’s retail sector is still booming. However, even with many new retail stores and shopping centre emerging in the country, it is not confirmed that they are attracting the right target market that fits their retail image. For example Pavilion – a high-end shopping centre. Are the customers visiting the mall making any kind of transaction in there? Retail stores are constantly promoting their image but they keep failing to attract the right people. This is because people who visit a shopping centre or retail stores are no longer there for buying products or service (shopping experience) but merely for air-conditioning. It serves as more of a social gathering spot than a retail centre. With this, it can be seen that even with heavy competition, many retailers have failed to apply the correct retail strategy. Thus, this will affect them in long run becoming the reason why many retail stores are closing their business in Malaysia.
The purpose of this study is to identify whether the retail stores in Malaysia are applying the correct strategy from a customer perspective. More specifically the generation Y of Malaysia that born between 1983 and 1999 (Mahalingam, 2019) because this group of people are very active in social life and like to visit retail stores and shopping centres. Most of the people in this generation are currently working and those who are studying are not far behind from graduating and finding a job. Some are also married and have a young family.
Since retirement is not any time soon, this generation likes to spend their money lavishly. Generation Y is also known as the biggest spenders among the Malaysian population. This phenomenon was chosen as there is limited literature written in the past on the retail strategy of Malaysia. Moreover, new retail stores are opening in massive numbers while there is a number of retail stores which are closing down and facing low sales even though the number of visitations is high.
Inspiration and motivation are crucial for the success of an undertaking. It was a great pleasure for me to participate in this Global Lancaster – Undergraduate Research Conference March 2021, in which I was able to share my research project with everyone. I am grateful to God for giving me the strength to conduct my research, making it a success due to my preservance.
I am deeply indebted to my lecturer and research supervisor, Dr Evelyn Toh Bee Hwa, for her valuable guidance and supervision since day one. Without her constructive feedback and willingness to allocate time in her busy schedule to help, this research or participation in this conference would not be a success. Her valuable advice and suggestion enhanced this enhance this research as it gave me the opportunity to make correction, modification and improvements.
Last but not least, my parents, whose encouragement gave me the strength to complete this research. I also would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who participated in this research. Thank you.
