The Role of Prototypes and Novelty in the Aesthetic Perception of Store Environments

The aims of this paper are to (1) discuss the measurement of store design-architecture and (2) investigate the role of design-architecture in consumers’ perceptions of store environments. Building on the branding, consumer... [ view full abstract ]

The aims of this paper are to (1) discuss the measurement of store design-architecture and (2) investigate the role of design-architecture in consumers’ perceptions of store environments. Building on the branding, consumer psychology, design and architecture literatures as well as the environmental psychology approach, we develop a conceptual model that proposes an association between store prototypicality and store novelty (representing environmental stimuli), and store aesthetic preference as a response measure. To test the model, we investigated the perception of store design in a recently remodeled fashion store. The results show that store novelty has a very strong and significant negative impact on store prototypicality but a positive but weaker effect on store aesthetic preference. Prototypicality also affects aesthetic preference positively to a medium degree. This research thus reveals the significant role of design-architecture on the perception of store environment. The contribution of this paper is thus to advance the conceptual understanding and measurement of consumer objective-subjective processing of global-attribute information and cognitive-emotional involvement with the store environment.

Keywords: retail design, architecture, aesthetics, store prototype, store novelty, store aesthetic preference, consumer and environmental psychology