Saudi Arabia Shopping Centers Market

Shopping Centers Attraction: Saudi Customers Perspective

Saleh Saad Alqahtani

Abstract

Purpose: The research examined attractiveness factors and shopping behavior of Saudi customers within the context of a shopping center. These attractiveness attributes covered eight factors. Design/methodology/approach: questionnaires were distributed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using center intercept interviews approach with a systematic sampling. Three hypotheses were examined. Findings: The most important finding shows that all eight domains has a positive effect for choosing a shopping center in the Saudi market. Research Limitations/implications: the study was limited to the capital city Riyadh. Practical implications: the shopping malls should get a better understanding of attractiveness factors especially for a sensitive market and culturally constrained market. Originality/value: It provides guidelines for shopping malls owners to improve their marketing strategies, and competiveness. In addition, it is one of very little research that addresses this issue in the area.

Keywords: Shopping Malls, Attractiveness, Customers, Saudi Arabia Paper type: Marketing Research paper

1. Introduction

Saudi Arabia underwent so many dramatic changes and reforms during the last ten years that affected the average consumer’s behavior, everything from its unique ethnic mix to its shifting life style. One critical change was the increase of economic wealth which translated to a change in consumer shopping patterns from traditional shopping markets to the more modern onestop shopping centers. Currently, Saudi Arabia is witnessing an accelerated increase in retail business and shopping centers especially in main cities. The capital city Riyadh has around 150 shopping centers.

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Department of Marketing, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, P.O. Box 2459, Riyadh 11451, E-mail: qahtanis@ksu.edu.sa

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The increasing number of modern...