CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Search context
With a population of 93.7 million people, the majority are young people
who have a high demand for individual shopping and international integration.
The retail market in Vietnam is considered one of the attractive emerging
markets for multinational retail investors in the world.
Retail revenue in 2017 experienced a good growth, estimated at VND
2,937.3 trillion and accounted for 74.7% of the total and experienced an
increase of 10.9% compared to 2016, according to General Statistics Office of
Vietnam. In addition, there has been a surge in the number of traditional retail
systems. The country has had 8539 traditional markets concentrated mainly in
rural areas (accounting for 75%) and the number of wholesale markets is 83
markets (accounting for 0.97%) by the end of December 2017. Regarding
modern retail channels, the whole country has 957 supermarkets at 62 out of 63
provinces and cities (Ha Giang is the only province which has not owned any
supermarkets) and 189 shopping centres at 51 out of 63 provinces and cities,
concentrating mainly at big cities such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi
Minh, Can Tho. The number of supermarkets and shopping centres in these big
cities constitutes 47% and 50% respectively of the total number of the country's
supermarkets and shopping centres.
1.2. The reason for choosing topic
Academically, the enjoyment of shopping in retail has been an enticing
subject for researchers around the world since the 1950s (Store, 1954;
Martineau, 1958). The enjoyment of shopping is approached in many
perspectives with different topics such as clarifying the opinion that shopping is
a form of entertainment (Moss, 2007); Customer segmentation based on their
feelings and perspectives on shopping (El-Aldy, 2007); Learning about the
factors influencing customer’s entertaining shopping experience (Ibrahim et al.,
2002; Mirela Mihić & Ivana Kursan Milaković, 2017); The studies on
entertaining customer experiences are chosen to conduct various types of
retailing around the world such as stores, supermarkets, online retail, shopping

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, etc. This is because they do not catch up with the demand
and new consumption trends of Vietnamese people, especially do not generate
the entertaining shopping experience for customers when they go shopping at
shopping centres. Therefore, in order to attract and build loyalty among this new
generation's customers, general managers of shopping centres need to base on
the foundation of the entertaining shopping experience, thereby building right
business strategies that align with changes in the retail model and Vietnamese
people's consumer trends today.
Derived from the theory and practices in Vietnam, that the topic “A study
on factors affecting customer’s entertaining shopping experiences in
shopping centres” is chosen is necessary and has academic and practical values
towards Vietnam retail market in particular and the world retail market in
general.


1.3. Research objectives and research questions of the dissertation
Research objectives
The overall objective is to determine the attributes that influence the
entertaining shopping experience of the customers who buy merchandise and
services at shopping centres in Vietnam.
Research questions
- How is the entertaining shopping experience understood and measured
under the perspective of customers about merchandise and services?
- What are the attributes influencing the customer’s' entertaining
shopping experiences at shopping centres in Vietnam?
- How does each attribute affect customers’ entertaining shopping
experiences at shopping centres in Vietnam?
1.4. Subject and scope of the study
Subject
- The customer's entertaining shopping experience at shopping centres in

These studies focus on numerous topics. Firstly, they focus on
understanding the factors of retailers (stores or shopping centres) and their
effects on shopping pleasure and customer behaviour. Secondly, customer
factors have an impact on shopping pleasure and customer behaviour (including
customer psychology such as shopping motivation, shopping orientation or
some other personal factors such as financial ability, attitude towards
advertisement, personal demand, price sensitivity, etc). Thirdly, these studies do
research and generalize the retailer factors and customer factors that have an
effect on shopping pleasure and customer behaviour. On the other hand, the
results of these studies also segment customers into groups, according to their
behaviours and feelings on the retailer's image when shopping.
General results of scientific researches related to Shopping Enjoyment
and Entertaining Shopping Experience published in other countries and in
Vietnam have reached the following conclusion:


(1) Customer satisfaction no longer plays as a decisive factor to keep
them, whilst customer experience does strengthen and retain the loyalty of a
new generation of customers.
(2) Shopping is a form of entertainment being chosen by more people,
compared to other entertaining activities.
(3) There exist many customer segments in retailing, however, amongst
them are two typical customer segments encompassing: first, those who go
shopping for entertainment (so called relaxed shoppers), second, those who
consider shopping as a compulsory or a responsibility (so called practical
shoppers)
(4) Researches about Shopping Enjoyment and the factors influencing
Entertainment Shopping Experience concentrate on 3 points: first, independent
research on retail-related issues (in grocery and Shopping centre), second,
independent research on customer-related issues, third, mixed research (on both

2.3.1. Expected Research Model
Due to the consumer trend of “n in 1”, Shopping Centres has become an
ideal destination for Vietnamese consumers, in which they and all members in
their family can buy from daily necessities to fashion items, and join services of
entertainment, food, education, etc. This illustrates that 7 initial attributes in
shopping centres of Sit et al. (2003) are relatively adequate and appropriate to
ones in Vietnam currently. Thus, researcher has learnt from the study of Sit et
al. (2003) in order to erect the initial research model of this dissertation.
Initial Research Method is depicted as follows:
Merchandise
Accessibility
Atmospherics
Services

Entertaining
Shopping
Experiences

Food
Entertainment
Security

Image 2.11: Initial Research Model
Source: Researcher’s proposal
2.3.2 Research Scale Draft 1
Table 2.1. An Overview of Concepts and Scales of Image attributes in
Shopping centres of Sit et al. (2003)
Attributes
Scale
Merchandising

restrooms within shopping centres.
Both services are considered
“augment products” which support
the merchandising (core products) of
shopping centres.

Scale
Good range of products

Close to home
Ease of access/navigation
Adequate parking space
Easily find the entrances and exits to the
centre
Easy to get around within the centre
Opening hours are appropriate for me
Pleasant background music
Fashionable colour scheme
Modern décor
Well-lit
Air-conditioned
Assistance at information desk
Courtesy at information desk
Prompt service at information desk
Knowledge of employees at information
desk
Neat uniform of employees at
information desk
Helpfulness of centre management
Positive attitude of centre management

parking lot, restrooms and the safety
of lift or escalator systems and the
presence of security guards.

Scale
Overall cleanliness of the centre
Food court

Specialty entertainment (movie theatres)
Many occasional or seasonal
entertainments (shows)

Safety of my vehicle in car park
Personal safety in car park
Personal safety within the centre
Safety of escalators
Safety of lifts
Security guards on duty
Safety in restrooms
Source: Sit et al. (2003)

Table 2.2: Scale on Entertainment Shopping Experiences
Scale
Author(s)/Year
Comfortable
Excited
Stressful
Le Van Huy (2011)
Relaxing
Entertained

Features of Shopping Centres Class II:
There are 6 shopping centres class II, encompassing 3 centres from
Vingroup (Ba Trieu Vincom, Nguyen Chi Thanh Vincom, Long Bien Plaza
Vincom) and 3 others namely Tay Son Mipec Centre, Long Bien Savio Mega
Mall, Lotte Shopping Centre.
Features of Shopping Centre class III:
There are 9 shopping centres such as Ruby Plaza, Artemis, Pham Ngoc
Thach Vincom centre, Long Bien Mipec Centre, Trang Tien Plaza Shopping
Centre, Thang Long Big C, Xuan Thuy IPH Shopping Centre, Bac Tu Liem

Vincom Plaza, and Me Tri The Garden Shopping Centre. Regarding the
location, these 9 centres are located in different districts and offer ease access
for customers.
3.2. Research design
3.2.1. Research procedure
The research procedure consists of 4 steps: first, document research
phase; second, quantitative research phase (in-depth individual interviewing and
group discussion); third, preliminary quantitative research phase; and fourth,
formal quantitative research phase.
3.2.2. Data collection methods and analysis tools
In this dissertation, Researcher uses two types of data: secondary and
primary data.
Secondary data is data from published scientific works related to the
focus of research in the dissertation and information on the research market.
Primary data is new data collected first-hand to serve the dissertation,
including the attributes in shopping centres, and the opinion of the research
subject on customers' entertaining shopping experiences in shopping centres.
Secondary data collection methodology:
Published scientific works: Researcher uses keywords to look up on
search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, Science Direct, ProQuest,

marketing specialists in the training field, 03 experts in the retail sector); 10
different subjects working in shopping centres (general managers of shopping
centres, store owners, and staff of shopping centres). Demographic
characteristics of the research subject are described in Appendix 1B.
Group discussion is conducted with 2 groups of regular customers of
shopping centres. The first group consists of 8 office workers, both male and
female, aged between 25 and 40, with high purchasing power and mutual
interest in shopping in shopping centres. The second group consists of 8
students.
3.3.2. Findings of qualitative research
Findings of observation in shopping centres
Shopping centres: Findings from observing 18 shopping centres show that they
all have essential attributes which satisfy "N in 1" customers' needs.
Customers: relatively diverse groups of customers, including students,
working people, and retirees. They go to shopping centres for shopping, for
supermarkets, for a stroll, for deal hunting, for events, for dining, and for
entertainment services such as movies or games, etc.
Findings from in-depth interviewing and group discussion on the
attributes in shopping centres have revealed that 8 attributes, namely
Merchandising, Atmospherics, Accessibility, Personal service, Amenity, Food,

Entertainment, and Security, are considered as having an impact on customers'
entertaining shopping experiences.
Findings from in-depth interviewing and group discussion show that the
concept of entertaining shopping experiences is properly understood.
Customers' entertaining shopping experiences must be viewed not only from the
emotional perspective but also from the behavioural perspective. Therefore,
Researcher adds the behavioural scale to the research model to measure
customers' entertaining shopping experiences in shopping centres.
Findings from group discussion show that there are 2 perspectives on



"Emotion" scale
influence on customers' emotion

"Behaviour" scale
influence on customers' behaviour

H2a: Atmospherics has positive
influence on customers' emotion

H2b: Atmospherics has positive
influence on customers' behaviour

H3a: Accessibility has positive
influence on customers' emotion

H3b: Accessibility has positive
influence on customers' behaviour

H4a: Personal service has positive
influence on customers' emotion

H4b: Personal service has positive
influence on customers' behaviour

H5a: Amenity has positive influence on
customers' emotion

H5b: Amenity has positive influence on


Define the
sample size

Determine
the sampling
method

Select the
sample

Figure 3.2: Sampling procedure in the quantitative research
Source: Researcher's self-design
Questionnaire design
The questionnaire is designed based on the findings from the qualitative
research. The main contents of the questionnaire in both preliminary and formal
phases are: (i) Customers' behaviour in shopping centres, (ii) Customers'
opinion on the attributes that influence customers' entertaining shopping
experiences; (iii) Customers' feelings towards entertaining shopping
experiences; (iv) Personal information.

The questionnaire is designed based on the Likert scale of 5 levels, Level 1Strongly disagree; Level 2- Disagree; Level 3– Neutral; Level 4- Agree; Level 5Strongly agree.
Data collection methodology in quantitative research
In this dissertation, Researcher uses two primary data collection methods
for the quantitative research in both preliminary and formal phases: direct data
collection in shopping centres via direct interviewing with questionnaires, and
indirect data collection via the Internet. The preliminary phase takes place on
April 2017. The formal phase takes place on May and June 2017.
Data analysis in quantitative research
The data in this research is analysed by SPSS Statistics. The sequence of

Table 4.1: Demographic characteristics of the research subject
Demographics
Frequency Rate (%)
Gender
Male
193
38.99%
Female
302
61.01%
Age
18-25 years old
171
34.55%
26-35 years old
139
28.08%
36-45 years old
97
19.60%
45-55 years old
75
15.15%
> 55 years old
13
2.63%
Marital
Single
210
42.42%

85
17.17%
Public official (administration)
81
16.36%
Business manager/owner
74
14.95%
House person/Retiree
33
6.67%
Others (freelancer)
19
3.84%
Income
Lower than 5 million VND
114
23.03%
5-10 million VND
165
33.33%
10-15 million VND
120
24.24%
15-20 million VND
57
11.52%
Higher than 20 million VND
39
7.88%

Therefore, factor 2 includes 7 observed variables reflecting the operation of
the shopping centres and is named “Operation”.
Factor 3: Appendix 8A shows that 8 observed variables attributing to
factor 3 are AM1, AM2, AM3, AM4, AM5, AM6, AM7, AM8 (AM9
converges on factor 7). In terms of contents, these 8 variables still describe
amenities that shopping centres provide for customers during their shopping
experience there. Thus, factor 3 includes 8 observed variables and remains on
the initial scale as “Amenity”.


Factor 4: 6 observed variables attributing to factor 4 are FO1, FO2, FO3,
EN1, EN2, EN3, in which 3 observed variables belonging to Food scale are
FO1, FO2, FO3 and the other three variables of Entertainment scale including
EN1, EN2, EN3 (EN4 converges on the seventh factor). Three observed
variables of initial Food scale converge on 3 observed variables of the activity
Entertainment, which can be interpreted from market perspective as that types
of food and entertainment all serve the needs of relaxation for customers.
Therefore, factor 4 comprises 6 observed variables and is named Food and
Entertainment.
Factor 5: Appendix 8A shows that 6 observed variables attributing to
factor 2 are AT1, AT2, AT3, AT4, AT5, AT6. Thus, the scale “Atmospherics”
do not undergo any changes.
Factor 6: Converged by 4 observed variables: AC1, AC2, AC3, AC4,
which are four observed variables of the scale “Accessibility”. Regarding
contents, all these 4 observed variables reflect shopping centres’ location;
therefore, factor 6 is composed of 4 observed variables and named “Location”.
Factor 7: Is the convergence of 4 observed variables: SE1, SE2, SE3,
SE4. In terms of content, these 4 variables still indicate the issue of customers’
security during their stay in shopping centres. Thus, factor 7 includes 4
observed variables and remains its name as Security.

Security
Operation
Image 4.1: Formal research model of the dissertation
(Source: Researcher’s proposal)

The research hypothesis proposed in Table 4.5 is as follows:
Table 4.2: Formal research hypothesis
“Emotion” scale
“Behaviour” scale
H1a: Merchandising has positive
H1b: Merchandising has positive
influence on customers’ emotion
influence on customers’ behaviour
H2a: Atmospherics has positive influence H2b: Atmospherics has positive
on customers’ emotion
influence on customers’ behaviour
H3a: Location has positive influence on
H3b: Location has positive influence on
customers’ emotion
customers’ behaviour
H4a: Amenity has positive influence on
H4b: Amenity has positive influence on
customers’ emotion
customers’ behaviour
H5a: Food and Entertainment has
H5b: Food and Entertainment has
positive influence on customers’ emotion positive influence on customers’
behaviour
H6a: Security has positive influence on
H6b: Security has positive influence on

The analysis results indicate that the correlation coefficients of attributes
of shopping centres (Merchandising, Atmospherics, Location, Amenity, Food
and Entertainment, Security and Operation) with customers’ emotions are all
greater than 0, which means that these attributes have linear relationships with
customers’ emotions. At the same time, the significance levels of testing are all
smaller than 0.05, demonstrating that the relationship between attributes of
shopping centres and emotions H1a; H2a; H3a; H4a; H5a; H6a; H7a are acceptable in
this research.
Analysing the influence level of shopping centres’ attributes and
customers’ emotions
To analyse the level of influence of shopping centres’ attributes on
customers’ entertaining shopping experiences from emotional perspective, the
researcher utilizes multiple linear regression model with 7 independent
variables (7 factors) influencing the dependent variable that is emotion (model
1). The analysis results are as follows:

The adjusted R2 of model 1 with the dependent variable “emotion” of
customers reaches 0.420, which proves that the independent variable can explain
42% of fluctuations of the dependent variable “emotion” of customers. The
significance level of testing F is smaller than 0.05, which means that the multiple
linear regression model is appropriate. The significance level t-, testing regression
coefficients and intercept coefficients are all smaller than 0.05, reflecting that the
model’s regression coefficients and intercept coefficients are of statistical
importance. The value VIF of independent variables, which are all smaller than 10,
show that independent variables witness multicollinearity but at an acceptable level.
On the other hand, customers’ emotion on their entertaining shopping
experiences is influenced by 7 factors: Merchandising, Atmospherics, Location,
Amenity, Food and Entertainment, Security and Operation. In particular, the
variable Merchandising has the most considerable influence on the Emotion of
customers due to its regression coefficient of 0.321. The other independent

significance level of testing F is smaller than 0.05, which means that the multiple
linear regression model is appropriate. The significance level t-, testing regression
coefficients and intercept coefficients are all smaller than 0.05, reflecting that the
model’s regression coefficients and intercept coefficients have statistical importance.
The value VIF of independent variables, which are all smaller than 10, show that
independent variables witness multicollinearity but at an acceptable level.
In addition, the results indicate that entertaining shopping experiences
from behavioural perspective are influenced by 7 independent variables:
Merchandising, Atmospherics, Location, Amenity, Food and Entertainment,
Security, and Operation. Specifically, Merchandising has the biggest influence
on behaviour with the regression coefficient of 0.297. It is respectively followed
by Location (regression coefficient is 0.281), Food and Entertainment
(regression coefficient is 0.244), Atmospherics (regression coefficient is 0.242),
Amenity (regression coefficient is 0.236), Operation (regression coefficient is
0.220), and Security (regression coefficient is 0.170), as the variable with the
least influence.
4.4. Customer segmentation
The findings of the quantitative research have proven the existence of two
customer segments, the first one is customers that consider shopping as a
relaxation (named as segment 1, or relaxed shopper segment) with n=296, the
second one is customers that consider shopping as a compulsory task (named as
segment 2, or practical shopper segment) with n=199.
4.4.1. Demographic characteristics
The demographic statistics of the two customer segments show the
differences in demographic characteristics between the two segments. In relaxed
shopper segment, females take up to 73.65%, the majority of whom are single
and under 35 years old, are students or office workers with a bachelor's degree
and salary ranging from 10 million VND to 15 million VND. Following them
are people with monthly income less than 5 million VND, most of whom are
students, making up 28.04% of this segment. The majority of practical shopper

4.4.3.1. Regression analysis results of attributes of shopping centres that
influence the emotions of the two customer segments (model 1).
ENTER method is applied for the analysis of multiple linear regression
model 1 of each segment.
Relaxed shopper segment: Attributes of shopping centres that influence
the emotions of customers in this segment, respectively from the one that has


the strongest influence, are: Merchandising; Food and Entertainment,
Atmospherics; Location; Amenity, Operation, Security.
Practical shopper segment: Attributes of shopping centres that influence
the emotions of customers in this segment, respectively from the one that has
the strongest influence, are: Merchandising; Location; Food and Entertainment;
Amenity, Atmospherics; Operation; Security.
4.4.3.2. Regression analysis results of attributes of shopping centres that
influence the behaviours of the two customer segments (model 2)
Relaxed shopper segment: Attributes of shopping centres that influence
the behaviours of customers in this segment, respectively from the one that has
the strongest influence, are: Merchandising; Atmospherics; Food and
Entertainment; Location; Operation; Amenity; Security.
Practical shopper segment: Attributes of shopping centres that influence
the behaviours of customers in this segment, respectively from the one that has
the strongest influence, are: Merchandising; Location; Amenity; Food and
Entertainment; Operation; Security; Atmospherics.
4.4.4. Verifying the differences related to image attributes of shopping
centres between the two customer segments
To verify the differences related to the attributes of shopping centres
between the two customer segments, the researcher uses the Independent
Samples T-test with the significance level sig. = 0.05 and hypothesis H0 without
a variance in the two segments. The sig. of Merchandising, Atmospherics, Food

Second, other implications include implementing e-commerce,
establishing flexible price policy, identifying target customer segment, building
entertaining business strategies.
5.3. Limitations of the dissertation and suggestions for future
research
Besides its pragmatic and theoretical contributions, the dissertation still
poses the following limitations:
First, this paper only focuses on scaling attributes of shopping centres
while, in fact, many others factors also affect customers’ entertaining shopping
experiences that are not mentioned in the dissertation. Those factors can be the
subject for future research into the market of Vietnam.
Second, the scope of this paper is limited to the market of Hanoi. Further
findings and research in other cities and provinces are crucial to gain more
comprehensive insights about retailing market in Vietnam.
Third, as the dissertation studies retail stores in shopping centres, retail
stores in other contexts can be the primary focus of further studies into the
customers’ entertaining shopping experiences.
Fourth, other non-entertaining aspect of shopping experiences can be
studied besides from entertaining shopping experiences as in this paper.


Fifth, to verify the hypothesis and assess the influences of attributes of
shopping centres on customers’ entertaining shopping experiences, multiple
linear regression model is employed while SEM model is also applicable to
similar future studies.
Sixth, non-probability sampling, or to be specific, convenience sampling,
was applied to choose the samples of this study. Calculating measurement
uncertainty when using this sampling is difficult; therefore, it is proposed that
future studies employ other sampling methods.
CONCLUSION