The impact of social influence and role expectations on shopping center patronage intentions

Shopping is generally a socially visible behavior, frequently done while accompanied by friends or family. The importance of the social interaction achieved through shopping would suggest that social referents may affect the patronage behavior of consumers. However, the ability of social referents to influence patronage may depend on how important the role of shopper is to the individual. Historically, females were expected to assume the role of shopper. But there is evidence that currently the role of shopper has increased in importance for males while decreasing for females who do not occupy the role of housewives. This study used a behavioral intentions modeling approach to investigate the strength and significance of social referent influence on three shopper segments with differing types of role expectations. The shopping orientations and retail feature preferences of the three segments were also measured. The findings suggest there are important differences among the three groups. His primary research interests are in the areas of sales, sales management, and marketing management. His work has appeared in a variety of publications such as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, and a number of conference proceedings. In addition to his research interests, he has worked in a consulting capacity addressing sales and sales management issues in the insurance and banking industries. in the consumer science and retailing department. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Arizona State University. His primary research interests are in the areas of retail management and marketing strategy. He has coauthored articles in theJournal of Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior andJournal of Customer Service in Marketing and Management and has presented a number of papers at various conferences. James D. Gill is vice president of Intersearch Corporation, where he is responsible for the design, implementation, and management of customer satisfaction measurement programs. Prior to joining Intersearch, he was vice president of client services for Walker: Customer Satisfaction Measurements for 5 years. He was also a marketing professor at Arizona State University for 7 years. He has published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Public Opinion Quarterly, andCurrent Issues and Research in Advertising, among others. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, where he received a Ph.D. in business, an M.A. in marketing, and a B.S. in business administration.