Impact of Visual Merchandising on Customer Behavioral Intentions: The Mediating Role of Perceived Acquisition Value Towards Upscale Furniture Outlets in Twin Cities

Abstract

Visual merchandising has always been used since the advent of marketing. But due to globalization, consumers are getting amazed by the new way’s companies are trying to excite them. Constantly looking for creating better experience, as we are living in era of experience, marketers are trying to understand consumers through novel techniques. This is a challenge in today’s world as consumer are getting smart with time. Consumer behavior has always been a point of debate for the retail store owners. Partly the reason behind is the fact that marketers are thinking of how to excite the consumer next time the he visits the store. This struggle is never-ending for every store owner, as consumers get exposed to new things every day. The power of social media in undeniable in this context. When we talk about upscale furniture (Interwood, Enza Home, Koncept Furniture) we usually talk about perceived acquisition value. In Pakistan when consumer goes for furniture shopping, he gives weight to different things. These things include quality, transactional value, social value and the fact that we take pride in owning things. Hence the consumer is looking for more value in different dimensions. This concept has given rise to the question as how human brain decides what is valuable and why it is valuable. This study is, accordingly, based on millennial and older individuals of Islamabad with a sample size of 217 respondents. The study has estimated series of regression models. It is found that Visual Merchandising has a positive impact on the Consumer Behavioral Intention in upscale furniture stores in twin cities of Pakistan i.e. Islamabad & Rawalpindi. The Perceived Acquisitions Value also have a positive impact on Customer Behavior as well as on the Visual Merchandising. However, the mediating influences of Perceived Acquisition Value are partial on the relationship of Visual Merchandising and Customer Behavioral Intension. Future researchers must use a bigger sample as the sample size used in this research is limited to hold greater generalization due to limitation of time and costs. The main focus of the research was on furniture industry. Future research can be carried out in other industries and in a different geographical setting. Sample size can be increased and both qualitative and quantitative datasets can be used to develop a comprehensive perspective using longitudinal data.