Measuring the perceived value of malls in a non-Western context: the case of the UAE

The purpose of this paper is to identify the dimensions of a shopper consumption experience at the mall level, in relation to previous research on customer-perceived value. It aims to identify the customer-perceived value constructs of shopping malls (MALLVAL) and develop items for measuring these constructs, empirically validate the scale, carry out an initial investigation of the relationship, if any, among the MALLVAL dimensions, and discuss useful managerial implications based on the exploratory analysis of the statistical relationships between the various MALLVAL dimensions.

The constructs were tested and validated by means of a multidimensional procedure on a sample of 368 mall shoppers in the UAE. Amos 19 was used for this purpose.

The study revealed eight dimensions of MALLVAL: first, hedonic value; second, self-gratification value; third, utilitarian value; fourth, epistemic value; fifth, social interaction value; sixth, spatial convenience value; seventh, transaction value; and eighth, time convenience value.

Although the current sample is big and diverse enough and the findings may be representative, the authors urge other researchers to replicate the study and get replies from different countries and in particular to use the measures developed in this study to test their robustness.

Recognition of the importance of the different dimensions of MALLVAL should encourage mall developers and managers to develop mall attributes and shopping environments that provide the different values that compose MALLVAL.

This study makes a number of contributions to the research on customer-perceived value in the mall context in an Arabian environment by developing and validating a multidimensional scale that consists of more different constructs than hedonic and utilitarian values alone.