Mark J. Arnold and Kristy E. Reynolds

Over the past decade, retailers have experienced significant changes in the marketplace. The spread of mass discounters, the emergence of alternative retail formats, and the growing use of the Internet have challenged traditional wisdom and strategy in retailing. Many retailers are responding to these changes by focusing on the hedonic aspects of shopping – the fun, excitement, and stimulation that shoppers can experience in the store. This is evident in today's retail marketplace, which is increasingly characterized by the abundance of entertaining experiences available for shoppers. However, relatively few studies have appeared recently that explore the hedonic aspects of shopping.

This study investigates the hedonic reasons people go shopping. Six major categories of shopping motivations are uncovered from a series of depth interviews with shoppers, labeled "adventure shopping," "social shopping," "gratification shopping," "idea shopping," "role shopping," and "value shopping." Two additional field studies are conducted to develop, purify, and validate an 18-item scale to represent each of the six shopping motives. The scale is then subjected to a number of procedures that show the scale to be reliable, stable across independent samples, and valid in measuring the proposed hedonic motivations. Finally, the practical utility of the scale is assessed by segmenting shoppers based on their hedonic motivations. Using the scale, a cluster analysis of adult consumers reveals five shopper segments that exhibit distinct motivational profiles and shopping behaviors, called here the Minimalists, the Gatherers, the Providers, the Enthusiasts, and the Traditionalists.

The hedonic shopping motivation scale captures a wide variety of hedonic reasons people go shopping, and has a broad variety of applications for retail research and practice. For retailers, knowledge of distinct shopper segments can be useful in constructing marketing communication strategy and designing appealing store environments. Advertising may need to be designed to attract shoppers who are motivated for different hedonic reasons. Focusing on the experiential aspects of the store environment, and tailoring the message to appeal to different shopper segments could accomplish this. Store atmospherics can be tailored to certain shopper segments as well. For example, if a store finds a large segment of Gatherers among its target market, it may consider providing more informative, "hands-on" displays that are increasingly popular in some specialty formats (e.g., the Discovery Store).

Retailers could use the scale to investigate the overall direction and strength of hedonic motivations among their current customers. A hedonic motivational profile could be constructed of a store's current customer base, thereby providing the retailer with additional knowledge of the dominant types of hedonic motivations influencing its customers. Retailers can also employ the scale to assess the overall intensity of hedonic motivations among its current or prospective customers. Research suggests that intense shopping motives may magnify the shopping experience in the mind of the shopper, having the effect of making in-store evaluations more intense and memorable, either positive or negative. Finally, retailers could assess the motivational strength across customer groups based on age, gender, race/ethnicity, and even profitability.

The scale could be useful in future investigations of shopper satisfaction and decision-making, and specific shopping behaviors such as impulse buying. Past studies suggest that shopping motive strength is directly and positively associated with aspects of preference and satisfaction. Additionally, shoppers driven by a larger set of hedonic motivations may pay attention to a larger set of retail attributes (e.g., merchandise displays, in-store promotions), and thereby have a larger number of inputs in the decision-making process. Finally, further research could relate the type and intensity of hedonic motivations to specific shopping behaviors, such as impulse purchasing and compulsive consumption, both of which have been linked to hedonic consumption.