Introduction
Many researches are focusing on consumer behavior and preferences in Malaysia because of the increased shopping activities in the region. The shopping environment in Malaysia has changed significantly over the last couple of years because of the economic gains achieved by the country. Malaysia is one of the upcoming global economies in terms of growth and development.
The country which is found in South East Asia is ranked in the list of tiger nations since it is experiencing economic growth at a rate that is faster than many developed nations at the moment.
The global financial crisis and the looming European debt crisis have made western nations to experience economic difficulties while Asian countries such as China and the South Pacific region are experiencing increased economic activity. As these economies continue improving, the ability of Asian consumers to spend increases proportionately because of the acquired disposable income.
Background of the study
Consumer preference is about the desires that people have in regards to the shopping environment. The shopping environment plays a big role in determining consumer behavior in any region. In Klang Valley, the shopping environment is characterized by small and large scale shoppers. Large scale shoppers include organizations, wholesalers and retailers. Small scale shoppers include consumers and some retailers.
The shopping environment has however changed over the years because of adoption of technologies, increased purchasing power of consumers and increased investor confidence in Malaysia. Modern shopping techniques are now deployed in Malaysia as the country maintains its momentum to become a developed nation. There is increased use of online shopping and the use of electronic money to foster faster and safer shopping activities.
Problem statement
Marketers require information so that they can make decisions regarding strategies and advertising campaigns. This information comes from the internal and external environment in which organizations operate. The shopping environment thus does not only affect customers but also marketers as well.
The environment from which information is retrieved should be understood as this enables better collection and assessment of the data. In a market where there is no information regarding the effect of environmental factors on consumer preferences, marketers cannot effectively perform their functions of creating awareness and promoting products.
Research on environmental changes in dynamic regions such as Malaysia needs to be done on a regular basis so as to capture changes that emerge within a short period of time. If inadequate studies are carried out on environmental changes and how these affect consumer preferences, then marketing activities will lack relevance in the near future.
There is also concern that the shopping environment is changing too rapidly in Klang Valley. These fears arise because of the fast pace of economic growth that is experienced in Malaysia. If the relationship between the shopping environment and consumer preferences is not understood, marketers will not be able to develop effective marketing programs for their products.
The relationship between these two variables also determines the ideal policies which would be effective in different situations. The future of marketing activities in Klang Valley depends on the available information about consumer preferences towards the shopping environment. Furthermore, there have been changes in the shopping environment in Klang Valley.
The introduction of online shopping and electronic money transfer systems has had an impact on the preferences of consumers in regards to the places they shop and the routines they use. This is therefore the best time to study the relationship between consumer preferences and the shopping environment so as to evaluate the impact of environmental changes on consumer behavior and preferences.
Significance of the study
There is need to assess the shopping environment in Klang Valley because many studies focus on other aspects of consumer behavior such as the effects of culture on consumer preferences. There are very few studies that have focused on the shopping environment as opposed to other factors that affect consumer behavior. The shopping environment is an important factor in consumer behavior since this affects all the other aspects.
It is within the shopping environment that consumers carry out their purchasing activities. For instance, the shopping environment determines the medium of payment that is widely used and preferred by traders and consumers. Because of the many changes experienced in the shopping environment, the relationship between consumer preferences and the shopping environment needs to be understood.
This study of the consumer preferences towards the shopping environment in Klang Valley will provide a framework upon which future research can be conducted so as to ascertain the direct impact of environmental conditions and changes on consumer preferences.
Justification of the study
This study is required so as to provide information on the impact of environmental conditions on the shopping preferences of consumers in Klang Valley. The findings will assist marketers to understand how the shopping environment affects the preferences of consumers.
If marketers are able to obtain this information regarding consumer preferences, then they can direct their marketing activities towards the maximization of organizational and brand strengths that are possessed. Information regarding the impact of the shopping environment will enable marketers in Klang Valley to come up with their own environmental assessment.
This will be done using the SWOT Analysis which evaluates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and weaknesses of individual organizations or markets. This study will not conduct evaluation of specific markets for marketers but will generate information upon which marketers can develop their own analysis based on their individual needs.
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study will be to establish whether there is a relationship between consumer preferences and the shopping environment in Klang Valley. To assist this general objective, some specific objectives will be used to channel data collection activities in the desired direction. These specific objectives include:
- To assess whether stronger purchasing power of consumers has changed the shopping environment and affected consumer preferences
- To understand how technology has changed consumer preferences towards shopping
- To evaluate whether online marketing has had an impact on consumer shopping preferences in Klang Valley
- To understand how online marketing and shopping have changed consumer preferences in Klang Valley
Research Questions
- Has the rapid pace of economic growth given consumers in Klang Valley greater purchasing power?
- Have technological innovations been adapted in the shopping environment in Klang Valley?
- Do consumers in Klang Valley respond to online marketing activities by practicing online shopping?
- Has the introduction of online marketing and trading affected consumer preferences in Klang Valley?
Literature Review
Wel, Hussin and Omar (2012) brought out that there has been an influx of foreign investors in Malaysia over the last couple of years. Foreign retailers have entered the market and increased the range of products that consumers can buy. Consumers in Klang Valley hence have a wider selection of goods and services because of the large number of retailers in the market.
Wel, Hussin and Omar (2012) also point out that many expansion projects were resumed in 2010 after the global economy started recovering from the recession. In Malaysia, more retailers opened stores in response to the increased demand that was created by a more educated population.
The economic growth and development in Malaysia thus led to the entry of additional retailers into the market thereby providing consumers with a wider retailing choice. Retailing activities have changed from grocery stores in Klang Valley to departmental stores and now to shopping malls.
H 1. The rapid pace of economic growth in Malaysia has increased the purchasing power and discerning ability of consumers in Klang Valley.
According to Ting et al. (2011), there is increased use of smartphones in Malaysia. This is attributed to the increased awareness of how time as a resource is limited and scarce. There are many technologies that can be used to conduct online transactions; including computers at the work place and laptops at home.
The introduction of smartphones which are capable of performing computerization and communication purposes has enabled consumers to perform transactions at any location however far from home or the workplace.
Consumers in Klang Valley are therefore able to perform transactions while in traffic jams, entertainment spots or anywhere else as long as they own smartphones (Lu & Su 2009). There is reduced need to travel to shopping malls unless voluntarily or where a product cannot be bought online.
H 2. Technological innovations have led to reduced need to go to shopping malls.
Gor (2002) stated that the physical surroundings of retail stores affect the purchasing outcomes of consumers in Malaysia. He established that the physical display, lighting and locations of retailers attract consumers to physically go to make purchases in shopping malls.
The development of shopping malls in Klang Valley and the increased use of music, decorations and stimulus materials have led to the increase of physical shoppers (Turley & Milliman 2000). This implies that the exciting activities that are present in shopping malls have made shoppers more attracted to shopping malls as opposed to online shopping or making of telephone orders and home deliveries.
H 3. External stimuli in shopping malls have made physical shopping more exciting and attractive than online shopping.
Technological innovations in Malaysia have simplified shopping activities in Malaysia. According to Gor (2002) a major challenge that consumers have faced while conducting physical shopping is the issue of crowding. Due to the increase in demand for consumer goods and services in Malaysia, many shopping malls have experienced large crowds especially at certain times of the day or year.
Technological innovations have however changed the options that consumers have regarding shopping. Consumers in Klang Valley do not have to go to the overcrowded shopping malls where many consumers intend to carry out purchasing activities. Through the development of online shopping facilities, shoppers can now shop from anywhere and have goods delivered to their location of choice.
H 4. Technological innovations have been adopted by shoppers in Klang Valley
H 5. Online marketing options have led to lesser crowding in shopping malls
Methodology
A sample of 400 respondents will be targeted in the study. These will be approached in shopping malls across Klang Valley and asked to fill questionnaires. The researchers will be based in four shopping malls in Klang Valley and will set up booths where respondents will fill the questionnaires. Provision of information will be voluntary and no respondent will be coerced or paid in order to participate in the survey.
This will enable the study to avoid biasness as the information provided will be trustworthy and from independent respondents. The quantitative data collection technique is preferred for this study since the questions developed for data collection are closed ended. Qualitative data collection methods would have been ideal if the researchers desired to use open ended questions to obtain information from consumers.
Data collection will be conducted in shopping malls as these are the best locations to collect marketing information regarding consumers’ shopping preferences.
The probability sampling method will be used since the survey will target general shoppers who buy from the shopping malls and not specific consumers of one product. Respondents will be approached through the mall intercept method which is a random so as to get consumers from diversified markets.
The questionnaire that will be used in this survey will be self administered. The researcher decided to use self administered questionnaires since these are easy to fill and will save time for the respondents. Shoppers in a shopping mall are not always willing to spend a lot of time doing nothing and so the study will not be meant to consume much of their time.
An average of between 5 to 8 minutes is all that will be required to complete filling the questionnaire. The questionnaire will also be self administered because all the questions will be closed ended. Closed ended questions are easy to fill as they have multiple choices from which respondents can get answers.
Where closed ended questions are used, there is no need to use qualitative data collection techniques for data collection. The questionnaire will be filled in the booths where the researchers will be based within the shopping malls.
The only tool that will be used for data collection will be the questionnaire. The questionnaire will include closed ended questions that will guide respondents on the type of data that the researcher is interested in collecting. The questions will also include Likert scales that are effective in comparing variables amongst each other.
The Likert scale will include five points ranging from very strong, strong, neutral, weak and very weak; where 1 represents very weak and 5 very strongly. The purpose of the Likert scale will be to range the strength of variables based on the opinions of consumers.
Questionnaires have a high response rate as they guarantee anonymity of respondents unlike interviewing or focus group discussions. Questionnaires are also economical since they only involve the use of stationery of which pens can be recycled for use by multiple respondents.
Data Processing and Analysis
The statistical methods that will be used for data analysis include: frequency, correlation, factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha for reliability, regression, ANOVA, chi-square, one sample t-test, independent sample t-test and cross tabulation. Descriptive analysis will be of interest to the researcher as this method reduces the amount of data that is required for analysis.
To make this possible, mean and standard deviation will be used to reduce large sums of data that will be collected from the sample (Crawford & Lomas 1980). Since there can be dissimilarities in the population sampled, the difference analysis will also be used (Burns & Bush 2006).
An independent sample test will be used for this purpose while parameters will be determined using inferential analysis. On the other hand, the relationship between the proposed variables will be assessed using the chi square analysis. Cross tabulation enables assessment of methodological relationships between variables (Pappu & Quester 2006).
Limitations of the Study
The findings of the study will not be applicable to the whole of Malaysia since consumer preferences differ from one place to another. The study will only be carried out in Klang Valley which is just one area in the capital city. Consumer preferences are affected by factors such as culture, lifestyle and background and these differ depending on geographical location.
There are many cultures in Malaysia including Chinese, Indians, Muslims and foreigners. Only the opinion of the cultures represented in Klang Valley will be captured in the survey. It will not be possible to generalize the findings nationally since the sampling area that will be used will not be representative of the entire ethnic/ cultural divide.
References
Burns, C. A. & Bush, R. F. (2006). Marketing Research. New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Crawford, I. M. & Lomas, R. A. (1980). “Factor Analysis- a Tool for Data reduction.” European Journal of Marketing. 14(7): 414-421.
Gor, T. C. (2002). Exploring the Relationship among Situational Factors, Price Perceptions and Purchasing Outcomes in Klang Valley. Web.
Lu, H. P. & Su, P.Y. (2009). ‘‘Factors affecting purchase intention on mobile shopping web sites.’’ Internet Research. 19(4): 442-58.
Pappu, R. & Quester, P. (2006). “Does customer satisfaction lead to improved brand equity? An empirical examination of two categories of retail brands.” Journal of Products & Brand Management. 15(1): 4-14.
Ting, D. H., Lim, S. F., Patanmacia, T. S., Low, C. G. & Ker, C. G. (2011). “Dependency on smartphone and the impact on purchase behaviour.” Young Consumers. 12 (3): 193-203.
Turley, L. W. & Milliman, R. E. (2000). “Atmospheric Effects on Shopping Behavior.” Journal of Business Research, 49: 193-211.
Wel, C. A., Hussin, S. R. & Omar, N. A. (n.d.). Determinant of Retail Selection Decision in Malaysia. Web.