Role of Ambience Marketing on Purchase Intention towards Fashion Brands: Investigating the Mediating Effect of Store Brand Love among Gen Z in Western Province Sri Lanka

Abstract

The fashion retail industry is a significant and evolving industry that is heavily reliant on store ambience for in-store sales. Therefore, store ambience is often a mechanism for fashion retailers to offer unique experiences to their consumers and thereby craft a competitive advantage. However, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding how ambience marketing impacts purchase intention towards fashion brands while considering the mediating effect of store brand love among Gen Z customers in Western Province, Sri Lanka.

The present study examines the role of ambience marketing on purchase intention towards fashion brands while investigating the mediating effect of store brand love among Gen Z customers in Western Province, Sri Lanka. This study addressed the discrepancies by examining the key elements of store ambience such as lightning, music, scent, and store layout selected as the independent variables, and store brand love was identified as the mediator to purchase intention. A quantitative study was conducted, and 398 responses were gathered from Gen Z customers in Western Province using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression tools within the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) software to explore the relationship between independent, dependent, and mediating variables. The present study findings indicate that ambience marketing elements such as lightning, scent, and store layout are statistically significant to the purchase intention. Furthermore, the mediator was also significant to ambience marketing and purchase intention. However, music does not significantly impact the purchase intention. When comparing the beta values of independent variables scent and store layout had a relatively stronger causality to purchase intention than lighting. These findings indicate the significance of ambience marketing elements in enhancing the purchase intention while fostering store brand love. The present study findings align with the previous findings on ambience marketing and purchase intention but offer new insights related to Gen Z customers concerning store brand love Western Province in Sri Lanka.

The present study is geographically limited to the Western Province of Sri Lanka and concentrates solely on Gen Z customers. Therefore, it limits the generalizability of its findings to other countries and demographics. Furthermore, the study examines four ambience marketing elements such as music, lighting, store layout and scent. The present research was conducted as a cross-sectional study, so its findings are limited to a specific period. The present study includes theoretical and practical implications in the fashion retail sector recognizing Gen Z customers in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Stimulus organism response (S-O-R) framework and theory of planned behavior theoretically indicate how ambience marketing elements impact purchase intention while triggering emotional attachment like store brand love. These findings indicate how cognitive and emotional aspects impact ambience marketing and consumer behavior. Furthermore, the study offers feasible strategies and findings to broaden the existing knowledge regarding ambience marketing and provide valuable insight for fashion retailers to enhance customer experience while creating store brand love which affects purchase intention. Therefore, the study recommended improving store layouts with better navigations, visually appealing designs, and technological improvements aligned with seasons when utilizing scents spreading fresh, natural, and thematic aromas that incorporate their brand image, through lighting strategies improving lighting with diverse designs, fashion retailers can use cool and warm tones relevant to special seasons to offer a welcoming store environment, which reflects the preferences of Gen Z customers. As music does not significantly impact purchase intention fashion retailers need to understand regional preferences of music which resonate with Gen Z customers. The present study can expand into further studies by exploring additional ambience marketing elements such as temperature, color and service quality, exploring new demographics such as baby boomers and millennials. Future research also needs to explore the impact of digitalization such as augmented reality and virtual reality experiences in store ambience. Furthermore, the present examines other industries such as hotels, restaurants, and cafeterias. Present research can explore different regions and to get better findings this research can be conducted as a qualitative and longitudinal study.