A study of gender differences in mall shopping behavior in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is renowned for its tourism industry and is described as a “Shopping Paradise”. Hong Kong is the world’s mall-densest place. The form of Hong Kong’s shopping malls is unique too. Malls are usually integrated into residential buildings, office complexes and transportation hubs and seldom built in isolation. This special form makes shopping malls in Hong Kong became the most visited malls in the world. However, the persistent Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemics together with the rising popularity of e-commerce shopping have brought severe negative impacts to the shopping malls. There is a drastic drop in the number of foreign tourists. It is also observed that the number of shoppers visiting shopping malls is decreasing and more shoppers who were used to purchase at brick and mortar shops have shifted to the online platform. How to compete with the online shopping channel and to enhance its attractiveness to retain the loyal customers are the major challenges faced by the management of the shopping malls in the current difficult times. “Shopping” is usually perceived as a feminine activity. In general, it is believed that women have a more positive and favorable attitude toward shopping then men do. Women are described as “hedonic shoppers” while men are “utilitarian shoppers”. Indeed, a lot of previous studies have shown that men and women differ in their shopping behavior in terms of their attitude, orientation, sources of enjoyment and types of products interested. It is also suggested that men prefer online shopping whereas women like shopping in the malls more. This research aims to identify the shopping behavior in the physical venue and online platform in Hong Kong, and to investigate the differences between male and female shopping habits and preferences. The findings of this research will enable the shopping malls operators to have more thorough understandings of their customers and offer insights for them to establish relevant strategies and promotions attracting their target shoppers and to retain them as the loyal customers.