How do window displays affect the behaviour and engagement of UK consumers?
Milena Jakubonyte, Trinity Kucerova, Ella Hodson
1 - INRODUCTION
Closed displays are retail window displays that are traditional and have solid backings. Whether the store is open or closed, they are visible. Open displays, which are frequently found in shopping centers, allow customers to look straight through the display into the store (Keiser and Tortora, 2022).
Window displays are a vital part of visual merchandising, because they play a main role in whether consumers will choose to shop with the brand and help them decide if the product they see fits their wants and needs (Clark, T. 2023). Present-day shop displays utilize modern technology to attract new customers (Schaefer, 2021).
The goal of a window display is to present products and ideas in the best possible light with the intention of completing a transaction Merchandisers persuade the audience of the value of what is displayed, the store promoting it, or the organization supporting the concept even though the item on display or the idea might not actually sell (Pegler and Kong, 2018).
3 - AIM OF RESEARCH
To discover what types of external stimuli influence the UK consumer’s decision making
To understand UK customers’ personal experience with visual merchandising.
To define which elements in shop displays positively captivate the UK consumer.
To explore factors in VM which increase positive consumer engagement with the brand.
To define general likes and dislikes of UK consumers in visual merchandising.
To provide open access to marketers needing insight
5 - DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES AND SAMPLING
Interview format would be the most effective in to gathering qualitative research. It allows for a more in-depth understanding of who you are interviewing and how they feel Question examples:
When out shopping, would a window display affect whether you go into a shop or not? What's an example of a shop that you think has a good window display? What in a window display would make you want to go in or not go in?
Gender and age data should be taken into consideration in interviews to get a variety of responses from different demographics of people, therefore making sure the answers given are not at risk of being too similar which helps with research.
2- RATIONALE
-Lack of public academic research on the relationship between the UK consumer and window displays.
-Lack of research can result in unreliability of existing data (Noble and Smith, 2021; CAAD360, 2020).
-Research conducted on the US consumer (Mower et al., 2021) might not reflect the UK consumer. This is due to lifestyle, cultural, and personal value differences (Reid, 2018; Still, 2018; Chahal, 2014).
-General marketing techniques vary based on culture (Kaynak and Herbig, 2014).
4 - LITERATURE REVIEW
Schaefer (2021) describes the fundamentals of effective visual merchandising, different elements that
play an important role in captivating theapproach designers adopt customer and successfully communicating the brand aesthetic.
Visuals keep evolving as technology advances and Schaefer discusses the power of interactive shop displays. She proves how use of technology in VM improves customer engagement and connects shoppers with retailers.
Bell (2022) talks about Divita et al. (2023) explores the the decision-making processsignificance of people’s reaction to behind creating a shop window and the systematic external stimuli in fashion, details the 5 senses and explains how visual marketers can utilize neuroaesthetics while designing a shop display.
whilst putting together a specific scene. Bell analyzesVision, touch, hearing, taste and different architectural window styles, functions of window merchandising, themes and inspiration designers source from and how to construct a display. smell create memorable experiences through basic human perception. The authors also describe people’s limits through defining the “absolute threshold” - i e level of intensity in external stimuli we should avoid.
Pegler and Kong (2018) propose strategies for effective consumer engagement, recommend what to do to keep a stable relationship between brands and their customers, explain why retailers use shop displays and discuss core factors in creating a window display: colour, texture, lighting, dressing mannequins, etc
6 - DATA ANALYSIS
Thematic analysis is a widely used and effective method of analyzing quantitative data (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
6 stages, starting with interview audio transcription (camera and phone recordings), to be completed in order to identify reoccurring key themes, which produces final data as a result of this research project.
Findings to be interpreted, discussed and linked to existing literature.
