Children as actors of tomorrow's hypermarket experience

摘要

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to see how children aged 711 years can become the actors of tomorrows hypermarket experience by providing a review of past research on children as retail consumers, with a specific reference to their customer experience.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review will be organised by presenting a child hypermarket customer experience model. Finally, a conceptual and methodological critique of past research will be presented followed by the revised model and conclusions.FindingsThe literature review finds six independent variables presented in the model: customer satisfaction, in-store conflicts, buying intention, purchase basket value, loyalty and average time spent in store measure a positive hypermarket shopping experience for children. There are then six types of mediators presented in the updated model: type of product, product offering, pocket money amount, environment, technology (games, tablets) and experiential marketing that mediate the impact of these independent variables on children as the actors of tomorrows hypermarket experience.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is conceptual in nature. Future research should empirically validate the conceptual model developed in the paper for children 711 years of age.Practical implicationsThe conceptual discussion shows that hypermarket managers can use technology such as games and tablets not only to reduce the conflicts between parents and children in hypermarkets but also positively impact on the average time spent in the store. Further, the discussion shows that hypermarket managers can offer children the experience they expect with the use of specific experiential stimuli adapted to children in childrens aisles such as toys, childrens clothing, childrens hi-tech and childrens books. They can also theme the experience for children using memorabilia and the engagement of senses. Managerial research should empirically validate this for children 711 years of age.Originality/valueThis is the first study that conceptually creates a model of children as the actors of tomorrows hypermarket experience. This is something that empirically researched will enhance the understanding of young consumers behaviour in the retail process in this advanced age of retailing.