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Much has been said about visual merchandising displays and the effect it has on consumer behaviour. The primary research question that pended from the preliminary literature was to determine the effect of visual merchandising displays on consumer behaviour. Explorative research was performed and qualitative data were collected by means of focus groups and naïve sketches. The main conclusions that could be drawn from the research is that the visual merchandising displays guide consumers in the direction of the products they are seeking and that it guides their product choice. The participants agreed that their buying behaviour is influenced on a subliminal level based on the quality of the visual merchandising displays and their personal preferences, including gender.
Keywords: Apparel; visual merchandising display; consumer behaviour; retailers; marketing stimuli; retail industiy
A question that apparel retailers often ask is whether the visual merchandising displays used in store are beneficial to their customers. Retailers want their stores' appearance to attract consumers into their stores, assist them to find the merchandise they desire and to motivate them to make planned, unplanned and impulse purchases and ultimately provide them with an enjoyable shopping experience (Levi & Weitz, 2009: 509). If these displays do not have this desired effect the question arises if it has any value to spend time and money on these displays.
The visual merchandising displays and the type of environmental stimuli these visual merchandising displays create in apparel retail stores could have an effect on the way consumers spend their money. It is therefore important that visual merchandising displays created in apparel retail stores influence a consumer to approach that store and to make a purchase. Apparel retailers have to ascertain how their visual merchandising displays are perceived by consumers with the intention to identify whether the visual displays influences consumers to spend their money in that particular store.
This study proceeds from a consumer response centred approach to visual merchandising stimuli, in an attempt to holistically consider this area of the retail industiy. The study could benefit apparel retailers in South Africa as the impact visual merchandising displays has on consumer behaviour was uncovered.
Visual merchandising displays
Visual merchandising displays are regarded as visual features that create attention or pleasure in a store (Mathew, 2008:...