INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, developers attracted consumers to malls through the promise of a wide assortment
of stores and merchandise available in a single location. Over the years malls have grown larger
and their one-stop convenience has expanded to include service outlets and entertainment
providers. Even relatively small shopping malls today offer fast-food courts, art exhibits,
restaurants, video arcades, movie theaters, hair salons, and dental offices. Not only can visitors
consume products and services in a variety of ways within the mall, the mail itself offers
experiences that are consumable. From their inception, enclosed malls have offered patrons the
advantage of climatic comfort and freedom from the noise and traffic which characterizes other
shopping venues. More recently, mall interiors have evolved from comfortable, yet mediocre
spaces, to become architecturally rich with lavish materials and sophisticated design elements
such as multi-level atriums and curved escalators. Malls have also become important meeting
places, especially for young people and seniors. Mall managers have built on this trend by
instituting many special events such as home improvement expos, walking clubs, art exhibits,
health screening, auto shows, The Shopping Mall as Consumer Habitat 25 and live music. The
West Edmonton Mall in Alberta has given the ultimate expression to the mall as a consumable
experience with its 800 stores, 110 restaurants, and 400,000 square foot theme park. In fact,
this mall has become Canadas top tourist attraction.
Marketing communication is a fundamental and complex part of a companys marketing efforts.
Loosely defined, Marketing Communication can be described as all the messages and media
one deploys to communicate with the market. Marketing communication includes advertising,
direct marketing, branding, packaging, online presence, printed materials, PR activities, sales
presentations, sponsorships, trade show appearances and more.
Marketing communication has two objectives. One is to create and sustain demand and
preference for the product. The other is to shorten the sales cycle.
Creating preference is often a longer-term effort that aims at using communication tools to help
position a product or company in the minds of the target customer. Shortening the sales cycle
means assisting the sales and channel partners in their efforts to identify, engage and deliver a
customer. Understanding the customers buying process brings critical insight into how one can
shorten the sales cycle.
Broadly the topics that will be covered in our report are:

Positioning
Advertisements
ATL, BTL, TTL
Store Layout and Planogram
Brand Recall
Consumer behavior

In our report we have tried to gauge how the communication offered by the retailers and the
brand have an effect on the consumers mind. Also, how a retailer perceives that a
communication offered by him will bring in more footfall to the store.

LITERATURE REVIEW

A few studies have begun to examine retail patronage at the mall level. For example, Bloch,
Ridgway and Dawson (1994) found that malls are viewed by consumers as a place not only for
shopping, but also for other activities, such as entertainment. A number of studies have
described the demographic and psychographic characteristics of mall patrons (e.g., Bloch et al.,
1994; Jarboe and McDaniel, 1987; Roy, 1994). Other studies have pointed toward the
importance of the effect that shopping center image (Finn and Louviere, 1996) and the level of
liking for a shopping area (Nevin and Houston. 1980) may have on patronage.
Researchers have discovered that people typically shop for both hedonic, and recreational
outcomes, and for utilitarian outcomes, and that positive mood can result from consumers
pursuing either type of shopping value (Babin, Darden, and Griffin, 1994; Martineau, 1957;
Pessemier, 1980). Hedonic shopping motives are based on the quality of the shopping
experience itself rather than towards information gathering or on purchasing products
(Boedeker, 1995; Jarboe and McDaniel. 1987). The quality of the shopping experience has
been found to have a significant effect on shopping intentions (Swinyard. 1993). Similarly, Roy
(1994) reported that mall visit frequency was positively associated with the degree of
consumers' recreational shopping motivations.
A number of studies suggest that excitement, a positive emotional state that consists of high
levels of pleasure and arousal (Russell. 1980), is a key part of the shopping experience for
consumers. Dawson, Bloch, and Ridgway (1990) discovered that emotions influenced retailrelated outcomes. Lesser and Kamal (1991) found that heightened positive arousal was the key
mediating variable in consumers' motivations to shop. Visual excitement has been shown to be
a predictor of frequency of mall shopping (Stoltman, Gentry, and Anglin, 1991). Bloch et al.
(1994) identified escape, which they defined as relief from boredom and seeking of high levels
of sensory stimulation, as a motivating benefit relevant to malls. Significant positive relationships
between positive moo d states and purchase behavior have also been reported (Babin and
Darden, 1996; Isen. 1987) in the literature. Articles in trade joumals also suggest that the mail
experience needs to be exciting (e.g. Cockerham, 1995; Graham, 1988) in order to attract and
keep customers.
The physical environment includes elements such as layout, interior architecture and decor,
lighting, music, aromas and cleanliness (Baker, 1986). Previous research has suggested that
the physical environment of malls is an important determinant of patronage behavior (e.g.
Bellenger et al., McGoidrick, and Thompson, 1992). However, these studies have not examined
the role that emotion plays in the decision process. The physical environment of the mall may
infiuence consumers' emotional states (Bloch et al., 1994; Jacobs. 1984; Kowinski, 1985) and
thereby have important effects on their behavioral responses. Store-level research supports the
linkage between the physical environment and emotional responses. Baker et.al. (1992)
established the links between store environment, the affective states of pleasure and arousal,
and behavioral intentions. Darden and Babin (1994) found that affect associated with retail
environments is strongly related to a store's tangible characteristics. Store-induced affect also
infiuences resource expenditures and shopping value (Babin and Darden, 1995).

STORE LAYOUT AND PLANOGRAM

Store layout and visual merchandising are factors that contribute to the uniqueness of a store.
The exterior and interior of a store convey several messages about the store to the consumers.
Managing space is the first and foremost concern of almost every retailer, when it comes to
designing the store's interior. Space is always an expensive and scarce resource. Retailers
always try to maximize the return on sales per square foot. Planning a layout for the store's
interior is the first step in designing the store's interior. The interior of a store influences the
purchasing behavior of the customers to a great extent. Designing the interior of a store in such
a way as to influence customer behavior is referred to as visual merchandising. It includes
optimum and appropriate use of fixtures, displays, color, lighting, music, scent, ceilings and
floor, and designing all of these properly. Merchandise presentation is the most significant
aspect of store design, because it helps attract customers' attention. A retailer can resort to
many forms of presentation such as idea-oriented presentation, item-oriented presentation,
price lining, color presentation, vertical merchandising, tonnage merchandising and frontal
presentation.
A planogram is a diagram that shows how and where specific retail products should be placed
on retail shelves or displays in order to increase customer purchases.
By analyzing past and current sales patterns, a planogrammer can make successful
recommendations about the number of "facings" a certain product should have on a retail
display. The diagram will document how high or low on a shelf the product should display, as
well as which products should surround it. The resulting planogram is printed out as a visual to
be followed by the part-time help that is often hired to restock retail shelves and displays. This
gives executive management of a retail store or chain more control over how products are
displayed and allows them to track and improve on the success of their planograms.