Hedonism and culture: Impact on shopping behaviour a research agenda

Abstract

Increasingly consumer shopping behaviour is being seen from the holistic perspective of the entire shopping experience. The holistic view requires a retailer to focus on the shopper experience with the store. Thus the retailer focus is not on the store itself but what the store means to the shoppers. This implies that a retailer needs to understand the 憌ay in which' different shoppers perceive the same store. This paper refers to three key dimensions that influence the 憌ay in which' consumers look at a retail store: ? Shopping environment ? Socio-cultural context ?Individual roles, motivations, and behaviour. These dimensions take into account not just the differences between shoppers in terms of their individual motivations, but also try to model the variations caused in shoppers due to cultural influences. One key theme of this paper is the variation caused in the perceived hedonic value of shoppers. Hedonic value refers to the 憇ense of pleasure' associated with shopping. In the Indian context especially, several retailers have referred to cultural differences and the resultant differences in shopper hedonic orientations. However, there are a few existing frameworks available that enable assessing the association between hedonism and culture in the Indian shopping behavioural context. This paper provides a theoretical framework and a robust research agenda that will help researchers and retailers alike address this need. � 2007, SAGE Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.