Shopping Motives, Mall Attractiveness, and Visiting Patterns in Shopping Malls in the Middle East: A Segmentation Approach

Middle Eastern consumers change their shopping behaviors in line with developments in global markets. Large-scale Western-style malls with various wellknown stores, shops, and cafes and restaurants have become shopping and attraction spaces. The purpose of the study is to segment Lebanese customers based on mall shopping motives. The data in the study were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed in the main shopping malls of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. A total of 300 mall customers were interviewed at mall exits. Respondents were intercepted by employing simple random sampling. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor and cluster analyses. This study revealed three main shopping motives: hedonic, efficiency, and accomplishment. It also identified three mall shopper segments: hedonists, achievers, and efficient shoppers. Each segment was also profiled in terms of mall attributes, visiting patterns, and demographics. The study clearly indicated significant differences among those segments. The study findings further indicated that the characteristics of different mall customer segments in Lebanon are in line with the studies conducted in other countries, although there are significant differences among the clusters. Identifying mall shopping motives and segmenting customers on those motives enables mall managers to develop appropriate retailing strategies to satisfy each segment.