Shopping Villages and Leisure Buying: Evolution and Current Trends

This report examines the development of luxury shopping in shopping villages and how it is changing the retail industry. It analyzes the impact of shopping villages on consumer behavior and explores the factors influencing consumer preferences. The report also discusses the research design, key variables, and sampling options. Ethical issues related to the research are also addressed.

Running head: SHOPPING VILLAGES AND LEISURE BUYING
Research and decision making for business
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Topic: Evolution and the current trends towards leisure buying in shopping villages
I. Analysing the Business Decision or Problem
The goal of the report is to scrutinise the development of luxury shopping in various
villages. The term villages refer to the concept of outlet designer shops which revolutionised
the way people approach luxury shopping. The consumers looking for exquisite designer
boutiques, high street chains and quirky vintage products stylish outlet shopping villages is an
excellent way of acquiring luxury products at reasonable prices (Meeroona, 2018). This is
one of the significant options for consumers looking for leisure shopping, and these shopping
villages are brilliant alternatives to bland and big malls, despicably costly fashion houses and
flea markets that are crowded. These village shops provide relaxing, and stylish ambience
along with incredible discounts and unparalleled facilities makes them more intriguing than
before.
The modern consumers have modern needs, and it would be wrong to think that the
concept of shopping malls are dying. Instead, it can be said that these malls are evolving
based on the desires of these premium consumers. Modern consumers are looking for an
experience which is not available on ecommerce websites (Fearon, 2017). Malls have always
been considered destinations, but these malls now offer additional amenities, entertainment
and experiences which enhances the experience in shopping. Retail villages in Europe, the
United Kingdom and China have changed the landscape in the retail luxury industry
(Meeroona, 2018).
Moreover, it is incredible to see that Chinese belong to the majority of the shoppers
visiting these places and constitute of the 40% of the shoppers. The addictive nature of outlet
shopping should not be taken lightly as various consumers are found hooked this concept.
The analysis of the tax-refunded sales in Florentia and Value retail shows that Chinese
consumers are hooked onto these retail outlets (Fearon, 2017).
Bicester Village attracts more than 66% of the Chinese population in the United
Kingdom. Moreover, there has been a significant increase in Chinese visitors from Hong
Kong in the past few years and have jumped up to 42 per cent (Fearon, 2017). The analysis of
recent data shows that these destination retail outlets have become one of the most exciting
and attractive experience for consumers. This has increased the expansion of these concepts
and opening of new destinations in China. The changes in this trend are due to the increase in
popularity of the famous luxury shopping destinations such as Bicester Village, Fidenza

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Village, La Vallee and Kildare Village (Fearon, 2017). These destinations offer an all-round
experience of a luxurious hotel and are significantly affecting the purchasing behaviour of the
consumers. These shopping destinations could be the future of shopping for consumers, and
the study aims to examine the ways these shopping destinations have impacted the perception
of consumers from all around the world.
II. The Overall Research Design – Evaluating Options
Research design determines the overall plan of gathering and analysing data in the
research. This research will choose a single research design focusing on collecting
quantitative data for performing statistical analysis. The study will choose a pragmatic
philosophical position. This philosophical stance will take up a flexible approach resulting in
flexible research design (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). Pragmatism states that multiple
ways and methods can be used to interpret an issue and believes in the existence of multiple
realities. Therefore, as long as there are means to prove a theory it can be accepted as per the
given philosophical assumption. The deductive approach will be implemented to test the
formulated hypothesis, and it will also facilitate the quantification of information gathered.
Deductive approach as the name suggests is responsible for following a logical process of
defining the existing theory, gathering information and comparing it to understand the
difference between the actual and expected (Nardi, 2018).
The study will use a highly structured methodology as data quantification is best
possible through highly formal methods. In light of this context, explanatory research design
will be chosen for information gathering and evaluation. Explanatory research design is also
known as causal design of research (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). The purpose of this
design is to evaluate the degree and nature of the association between two variables. This
study will focus on analysing the given issue to elucidate the causation and patterns of
relationship amid these two variables. However, there are three aspects of measuring
causation in research. These factors are concommit variation, temporal sequence and
nonspurious association (Cleary, Horsfall & Hayter, 2014). As per the temporal sequence, the
cause needs to occur before the effect, which means that change in consumer behaviour
cannot commence before the development of these shopping villages. The next factor is the
variation which should be systematic, and finally, the nonspurious association states that the
relationship between the two variables should not be affected by a third variable. Therefore,
covariance amid two variables should be true (Nardi, 2018).

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The research will choose a survey method as the research strategy and a survey
questionnaire as the research instrument as it will facilitate in gathering information for
statistical analysis of data (Cleary, Horsfall & Hayter, 2014). Therefore, primary data will be
collected by personal survey with the consumers. The survey questionnaire will include
close-ended questions and will use a easy language for improving understandability. The
survey questionnaire will consist of 15 questions developed on different measurement scales.
These measurement scales are ordinal, nominal, interval and ratio. The nominal scale will be
used to develop problems of gender and education where an interval scale will be used to
formulate questions on age and income.
Similarly, the ordinal scale will be used to check the satisfaction level of the
consumers and finally, the ratio scale will used to develop questions on 5 point Likert scale.
The question of Likert scale is the most appropriate to understand the opinion of the
consumers and is the best scale to formulate simple statement for understanding the purchase
behaviour of the consumers (Cleary, Horsfall & Hayter, 2014). Moreover, the reproducibility
of the Likert scale is higher when compared to the others. On the other hand, measuring the
relationship will require extensive use of statistical tool and techniques. The close-ended
questionnaire will need 25-35 minutes to answer.
III. Key Variables and Measurement Technique -
The analysis of the past literature has shown that there is limited discussion of the
current topic of investigation. This is the reason that the study aims to perform an overall
exploration of the concept of these shopping villages and how they impact the perception of
modern consumers. In light of this context, the following objectives have been developed:
To examine the different aspects influencing the preferences of shoppers in choosing
shopping villages
To investigate the influence of shopping villages on the purchase behaviour of the
buyers
Research Questions
What are the different factors affecting the preferences of consumers in choosing shopping
villages?
What is the influence of shopping villages on the purchase behaviour of the consumers?

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Research Hypothesis
H01: There is no substantial influence of shopping villages on the procurement behaviour of
modern consumers
H11: There is a considerable influence of shopping villages on the procurement behaviour of
modern consumers
H02: There is no substantial influence of income on the procurement behaviour of modern
consumers concerning village shopping
H12: There is a considerable influence of income on the procurement behaviour of modern
consumers concerning village shopping
H03: There is no noteworthy influence of ethnicity on the procurement behaviour of modern
consumers concerning village shopping
H13: There is a substantial influence of ethnicity on the procurement behaviour of modern
consumers concerning village shopping
The critical variables in the research include the different attributes of shopping
villages and purchase behaviour of the consumers. The characteristics of shopping villages
are the independent variable, and the purchase behaviour of the consumer is the dependent
variables. It implies that the relationship between the shopping villages and its impact on the
buying behaviour of the customers will be evaluated (Palinkas et al., 2015). However, to
examine the relationship between these variables, the statistical analysis of the gathered
information will be performed. This will include Pearson’s correlation method that will
measure the relationship between two continuous variables. It is based on the process of
covariance and will determine the key elements having a noteworthy effect on the
procurement behaviour of the consumers. However, to prove the formulated hypothesis, the
research will perform a regression analysis. Regression analysis is similar to correlation, but
it not only identifies the association between the variables but helps in developing a model
for further trend analysis in the future. The statistical model will facilitate in understanding
the future growth of this segment of retail and how it can be effectively used to influence the
buying decisions of the consumers. It will also evaluate the impact of demographic variables
on the purchase decision of the consumers in choosing village shopping.

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IV. Sample Requirements & Sampling Options
Sampling is the process of choosing elements from the overall population for reducing
the complexity in analysis, time and the total cost of the inquiry. The sampling process is
divided into various steps, and these steps determine the sample size and the sampling frame
of the study. The first step is choosing the target population and will consist of the people in
Australia (Jiang, Wang & Weiss, 2016). The next step is selecting the sampling frame which
will include the consumers with high disposable income. Finally, the sample size of the study
will be examined based on the total target population, the margin of error and confidence
interval. The population of Australia is 26 million, and with a margin of error of 5 per cent
and a confidence level of 95%, the ideal sample size is 385.
The most critical aspect of the sampling is choosing the sampling technique
appropriate for the research. The process of sampling is divided into non-probabilistic and
probabilistic sampling methods. The fundamental difference between probabilistic and non-
probabilistic sampling is the use of randomisation. Probabilistic sampling can be classified
into random cluster sampling, systematic random sampling, stratified random sampling and
simple random sampling (de Bekker-Grob et al., 2015). On the other hand, the non-
probabilistic sampling methods are divided into purposive sampling, haphazard sampling,
snowball sampling and convenience sampling. However, this study will focus on the use of
probabilistic sampling methods. Simple random sampling selects elements samples randomly
from the total population.
On the other hand, systematic random sampling will choose the kth element from the
population n where k is the interval of randomisation. In the case of stratified random
sampling, the population is initially divided into different strata, and then elements are
selected from each of the levels using randomisation. Cluster random sampling is similar to
stratified random sampling, but in this scenario, the population is formed in various groups
randomly, and elements are then selected from each of the clusters (McNeish & Stapleton,
2016). However, this study will choose stratified sampling to select details from different
demographic backgrounds to understand the influence on a wide area of population. It
implies that consumers can be distinguished based on their ethnic background and income
which are two of the significant criteria in understanding the change in consumer behaviour.
The use of randomisation will assist in omitting bias in the research and will provide better
results in the study.

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Furthermore, to understand the efficiency and validity of the sampling technique, the
research will use the Bartlett test of sphericity and Kaiser Meyer Olkin Test of sampling
adequacy. This test is useful to understand the appropriateness of the sampling technique.
The Bartlett test measures the proportion of variance in the data collected, and the Kaiser
Meyer Olkin Test examines whether the data collected are related or not. These analyses help
in understanding whether factor analysis can be used or not.
V. Ethical Issues
This research will adhere to all the ethical guidelines prescribed by the university. The
most important part of ethics is making the consumers aware of the objective and scope of the
research. It will help them to convince in participating in the examination. However, the
research will not force any of the participants to take part. In respect to this content, the study
will develop a consent form containing all the relevant information regarding the
investigation (Roberts, 2015). The respondents will go through the overall consent form and
take part in the research voluntarily. The three cardinal sins in research, fabrication,
falsification and plagiarism will be avoided. The final paper will consist of citations to
acknowledge the contribution of various authors in the study. The personal information of the
respondents will be withheld and will not be shared throughout the course of the
investigation.
The paper will not falsify any of the collected data or will manipulate data to attain
the goal of the investigation. Moreover, none of the data collected will be omitted in case if,
desired results are not obtained. On the other hand, anonymity and privacy of the respondents
will be preserved by keeping the confidentiality of the collected data. The research will also
avoid using the gathered information for any other purpose (Roberts & Allen, 2015). The data
gathered will be kept safely in a hard drive, and the data will be deleted once the purpose of
the investigation is fulfilled. It will also be made sure that the gathered information will be
not be used in another research context. The questionnaires will not consist of any
discriminatory or offensive languages, which may hurt the sentiment of the participants. The
research participants will not be subjected to harm and dignity of the participants will be
prioritised. The research will maintain transparency and honesty in communicating any
conflict of interest. The study will also maintain the highest level of objectivity in analysing
and discussing the results.

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