Newswise — Attention shoppers: A new University of Florida study finds that buyers want stores to be turn-ons when they browse for fun but prefer sedate environments when seeking mundane merchandise for everyday life.

Unfortunately, some store managers get it wrong by making their establishments too flashy for customers who only want to get their trip for groceries, toiletries or household goods over with, said Barton Weitz, a UF marketing professor.

"While research on store environments is mixed, with some saying an arousing, exciting environment is good and others saying it is bad, we came up with a theory that says, 'It depends on what people go shopping for,'" he said. "It might be good for department stores but bad for supermarkets and discount stores."

Weitz and Velitchka Kaltcheva, a University of Miami marketing professor, also found that certain design elements make the difference.

Mall browsers may be turned on by bright colors, pulsating music and video screens, while grocery store customers are put at ease by streamlined aisles, pastel greens or blues and soft melodies in the background, Weitz said.

Some retailers devote considerable attention to design, Weitz said. When Toys "R" Us opened its Times Square location in 2001, it spent $35 million to make it the ultimate toy store, with a five-story Ferris wheel, a replica of a large T-Rex and a full-sized Barbie dollhouse.

"There are stores where you walk through a portal to get in " sort of a Greek row of columns " and the idea is to transport you into a different world so that you lose your worldly concerns for spending money," he said.

In contrast, other retail chains, such as Costco and The Home Depot, succeed with minimalist warehouse-style shopping environments, he said.

In the study, which is published in the January issue of the Journal of Marketing, 166 UF undergraduate students in an introductory marketing class viewed hypothetical retail environments on computer screens, which manipulated arousal levels by varying three visual elements: design complexity, color warmth and color saturation. The students were assigned one of two scenarios for their supposed shopping experience: needing to buy a T-shirt quickly for a weekend camping trip or visiting stores on a rainy Saturday afternoon to relieve boredom.

The participants with the task of buying the T-shirt found the low-key environment much pleasanter than more stimulating surroundings, while those with the recreational mission preferred the jazzed-up version. The challenge for retailers is determining which decorating scheme best fits their customers' motivations, Weitz said.

"You can't look at shoppers when they walk in and ask, 'Are you here because you're bored or because you're on a task,' and depending on their answer change the store," he said.

You can, though, if the shopping is being done online.

In the virtual world, the "store" can be adjusted by asking people when they click on to a company's computer Web site whether they are browsing or want to find something in particular, Weitz said. Browsers might be served a Web site with rich complex media, including music and pop-ups, while others would see a much simpler layout, he said.

In the brick-and-mortar world, retail stores may need to resort to satisfying their customers' competing demands by tailoring design schemes by department, Weitz said. In Circuit City or Best Buy, for example, the section of the store carrying cables and connectors, where shoppers are not likely to want to spend much time, might be quite starkly decorated, while the home entertainment department could be more elaborate, he said.

Or stores could change digital signage to suit customers' needs at different times of the day, using full motion videos in the morning if early shoppers like to be entertained and simpler messages in the evening if the priority is on saving time, Weitz said.

Unfortunately, many retailers hire interior decorators who are more interested in winning architectural awards than making stores useful to consumers, Weitz said. "I think these people lose sight of the fact that the reason for designing a store is to sell more stuff," he said. "Sometimes making it more exciting and beautiful doesn't help."

Michael Levy, a marketing professor at Babson College, said Weitz's research has significant implications for retail managers. "Past research has lumped all theories about how store environments impact the shopping experience into one bucket," he said. "Professor Weitz's research prescribes specific actions for retailers depending on the type of shopping trip they expect their customers to take or what types of products they are selling."

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CITATIONS

Journal of Marketing (Jan-2006)