Interior Atmosphere: Does It Really Have an Impact on Consumer Purchasing Behavior at Self- Serving Convenience Stores?

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of interior store atmosphere on consumer purchasing behavior at self-serving convenience stores in Ampara District, Sri Lanka.  Today, retail industry became highly competitive with the increasing number of convenience and other types of retail stores in the area. Hence, the retailers need to be more customer focused and have to differentiate from their competitors by making their interior atmosphere more attractive to consumers and to encourage them to spend more time, money, to purchase more merchandises and to stimulate their repeat purchase intention. A survey research was employed to collect primary information from 292 customers from convenience stores in Ampara District. Interior atmospheric factors such as, music, scent, light and color were used to identify the impact of interior atmosphere on consumer purchasing behavior. Convenience sampling was employed for data collection using a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. SPSS 20.0 was used to analyze the data. Significant interior atmospheric factors that influence consumer purchasing behavior included music, scent, light and it is found out that color has no any impact on consumer purchasing behavior.

Keywords: Interior atmosphere, convenience stores, consumer behavior