MAJCAFE

Azila Azmi, Noor Amy Halida Zolkopli, Saiful Bahri Mohd Kamal, Dahlan Abdullah
Universiti Teknologi MARA

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Abstract

The number of development projects made to promote Malaysia as a shopping tourism destination has increased abruptly, so as the research made on shopping tourism. However, studies which focused on the out-shopping experiences are still at its scarcity especially in Asian countries. Therefore, to fulfil this gap, the main purpose of this study is to examine the out-shoppers shopping experiences in several shopping malls in Johor Bahru and to identify the factors influence the tourists to choose this city. Johor Bahru, the southern state in Malaysia, is one of the cities recognised by Tourism Malaysia as one of the top shopping destinations within Malaysia in 2016. Qualitative research strategy was employed as an attempt to understand the out-shopping experiences of international tourists visiting Johor Bahru. Thirty respondents were interviewed using mall-intercept survey with in-depth semi-structured interview questions. The transcribed interview data were analysed using qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS.ti for coding, themes, and visualisation. The findings disclosed that the out-shoppers perceived shopping malls in Johor Bahru to be identical like other shopping malls and considered as convenient malls. In addition, they are motivated to shop in shopping malls in Johor Bahru due to its product and service availability, price affordability, and the mall ambience. Apart from that, to confirm the validity and reliability of this study, a prolonged engagement in the research site, as well as the disconfirming evidence procedure was conducted by the researcher. This study can be beneficial for the shopping tourism sector and mall retailers as it provides a dense factor on the experience and perception, along with the factors influencing out-shopper to shop in a mall.

Keywords: Shopping experience, Shopping tourism, Shopping landscape, Retailing, Out-shopper’s mall experience