Page 158 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Unit 7: Retail Design and Circulation Plan

Notes
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Case Study Anti-Clockwise or Clockwise? The Impact of Store
Layout on the Process of Orientation in a Discount Store

ore and more consumers are not making their buying decisions until they are
at the Point-of-Sale (POS). There, they are inspired by the store design and
Mpresentation of products on the shelves. One of the key factors influencing
buying behaviour at the POS is consumer orientation, since they can only buy those items
they are able to find. In this article we examine the process of customer orientation in
retail stores and focus on the impact of the store layout (anti-clockwise or clockwise) on
their ability to find products and orientate themselves at the POS. Several empirical studies
of store environments (Groeppel-Klein, 2001; Groeppel-Klein and Germelmann, 2003;
Grossbart and Rammohan, 1981; Sommer and Aitkens, 1982) show evidence of a significant
correlation between the existence of maps of shops (knowledge of product location,
assortments, service points, escalators, etc.) and sentiments regarding the convenience of
shopping.

Research into consumer behaviour has paid little attention in the past to product location
in consumers’ mental maps as a success factor in retailing. One notable exception is a study
by Sommer and Aitkens (1982) in which participants had to locate eleven different products
on a store map (as a measure of how detailed shoppers’ mental maps were). To extend the
results of Sommer and Aitkens’s study, we used a geographical information system (which
analyses the location of products as indicated on a store map by test participants using a
computer program) and integrated moderating variables (guidance direction, right- or
left-handedness of the shoppers) and tested the relationship between the accuracy of the
mental maps and perceived ease of orientation.
Most shops guide customers through the store in an anticlockwise direction. This is generally
justified by the fact that costumers are for the most part right-handed (Underhill 2000, 76).
However, neurophysiological research suggests a different explanation for this turning
preference–the hormone dopamine, which is responsible for locomotion in space. The
higher the dopamine concentration on the left side of the brain, the more consumers’
attention (and consequently their locomotion) is focused on the right side (Mead and
Hampson, 1996; Mohr et al. 2004). In a clockwise-orientated shop, customers will therefore
frequently glance at the shop’s interior. It has further been suggested that shoppers also
have a general orientation towards the walls because of security reasons of the shops as
this makes them feel secure (Appleton 1986); this leads them to notice products on the left-
hand side of aisles. Taken together, these two tendencies enable customers to remember
more products in a shop with a clockwise layout, which in turn gives them a more positive
attitude toward the shop.
By contrast, in a store with an anti-clockwise layout, both tendencies concentrate on the
right-hand side. This leads us to our first hypothesis (H1): If shoppers are guided in a
clockwise direction, they will have a more detailed mental map, evaluate the shop more
positively, and be willing to spend more money than if they are guided in an anti-clockwise
direction. The first part of our second hypothesis (H2a) re-investigates the central result of
Sommer and Aitkens (1982): Irrespective of the guiding direction (clockwise or
anticlockwise), customers will recall products located in peripheral aisles better than
those in central aisles. The second part of the second hypothesis (H2b) tests, as discussed
Contd...

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