Shopping Mall as a Leisure Destnation
SHOPPING MALL AS A LEISURE DESTINATION SUFIAN HAMAT SCHOOL OF HOUSING, BUILDING AND PLANNING UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA, PENANG SUPERVISOR: DR. NURWATI BADARUZZAMAN ASSOC. PROF. DR ABDUL GHAFAR e-mail: Sufian@iiu.edu.my
Shopping mall has become part of a ‘way of life’. The place is a destination frequented by many levels and age groups of people during leisure time and weekends. The intentions of going to the mall now are no longer confined to shopping for necessities in terms of foods and clothes but have expanded to the act of seeking for leisure satisfaction. The reason being that leisure in form of shopping can be achieved rather easily as it can be done casually and quite frequently without much planning and collective agreement among a group of people. In addition to that, the experience at the mall is always a surprise in a sense that there is always new activities and highlights to fulfill consumers’ expectation on every visit to the place. There is constant effort to elevate customers’ level of satisfaction by implementing plans that are meant to respond to changing consumers’ aspiration. Such efforts may include continuous infusion of new concepts and activities which resulted with programmed activities to generate festival like environments or even going to the extend of doing phases of re-modification to the soft environment of both interior and exterior of the mall involving lighting, landscaping and sound. Consumers’ needs have expanded whereby shopping mall is not just about fulfilling their basic needs but has come a long way to become a platform or environment for social exchange and entertainment.
‘ A synergy exists between socializing and shopping….. To address this social aspect of shopping., …….. aims to provide the common ground – a social hub or a place for people to meet after a day at home or at work.’ (NST press, Nov. 26, 04)
Consumers now are even more demanding and
Shopping mall has become part of a ‘way of life’. The place is a destination frequented by many levels and age groups of people during leisure time and weekends. The intentions of going to the mall now are no longer confined to shopping for necessities in terms of foods and clothes but have expanded to the act of seeking for leisure satisfaction. The reason being that leisure in form of shopping can be achieved rather easily as it can be done casually and quite frequently without much planning and collective agreement among a group of people. In addition to that, the experience at the mall is always a surprise in a sense that there is always new activities and highlights to fulfill consumers’ expectation on every visit to the place. There is constant effort to elevate customers’ level of satisfaction by implementing plans that are meant to respond to changing consumers’ aspiration. Such efforts may include continuous infusion of new concepts and activities which resulted with programmed activities to generate festival like environments or even going to the extend of doing phases of re-modification to the soft environment of both interior and exterior of the mall involving lighting, landscaping and sound. Consumers’ needs have expanded whereby shopping mall is not just about fulfilling their basic needs but has come a long way to become a platform or environment for social exchange and entertainment.
‘ A synergy exists between socializing and shopping….. To address this social aspect of shopping., …….. aims to provide the common ground – a social hub or a place for people to meet after a day at home or at work.’ (NST press, Nov. 26, 04)
Consumers now are even more demanding and
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