Consumer experiences and values in Brazilian Northeast shopping centers

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This study aims to expand the knowledge on consumer experiences and values from an innovative marketing perspective in the context of shopping centers of inland towns in the Brazilian Northeast region. A qualitative approach was adopted using 50 in-depth interviews of shopping center visitors to collect data. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to evaluate the data. The results revealed two main categories: unpleasant and pleasant experiences. In terms of main results, 23 participants have a mix of pleasant and unpleasant experiences, while 24 report only pleasant, and 3 – unpleasant experiences. The unpleasant experiences are mostly related to the excess of people (n = 19). In what refers to pleasant experiences, functionality (n = 43), and sensory (n = 33) are the two most mentioned values, being functionality the top value to consumers regardless the purpose they have in going to the Shopping Centre. The results can be relevant inputs to design and manage Shopping Centers regarding cultural adjustment by considering consumers’ experiences and values and the importance of joining competing values behind pleasant and unpleasant experiences. The study contributes to the experiential marketing literature by highlighting the importance of cultural contexts in consumer experiences and behavior research.

Acknowledgment
Maria Raquel Lucas and Andreia Dionísio are pleased to acknowledge financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (grant UIDB/04007/2020).

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    • Figure 1. Research design
    • Table 1. Subcategories of Unpleasant Experience
    • Table 2. Subcategories of Pleasant Experience
    • Table 3. Pleasant and unpleasant experiences in each interview (number of words)
    • Table 4. Purpose of Shopping Centre visit and positive or negative experiences (number of participants)
    • Table 5. Hierarchy of customers’ perceived values and objectives of going to the SC (number of participants)
    • Table 6. Frequency and values (number of participants)
    • Conceptualization
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos
    • Funding acquisition
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, Andreia Dionísio
    • Investigation
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos
    • Methodology
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, Andreia Dionísio
    • Supervision
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, Andreia Dionísio
    • Validation
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, Andreia Dionísio
    • Writing – review & editing
      Maria Raquel Lucas, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, Andreia Dionísio
    • Data curation
      Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres
    • Formal Analysis
      Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos, Andreia Dionísio
    • Visualization
      Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres
    • Writing – original draft
      Simone Maia Pimenta Martins Ayres, Nuno Rebelo dos Santos