The impact of airport retail environment on passenger emotions and behaviour = A repülőtéri kiskereskedelem környezet hatása az utasok érzelmei és magatartásaira

Past studies in environmental psychology (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974) and retailing (Donovan & Rossiter, 1982) have suggested a causal relationship between the physical and social characteristics of retail environments and the behaviour and evaluation of consumers. Environmental cues emitted by elements of the servicescape (“the objective physical factors that can be controlled by the firm to enhance (or constrain) employee and customer actions” Bitner, 1992, p. 65) influence emotional states which, in turn, can lead to changes in the behaviour. More pleasant emotions make people “approach” the environment (e.g., stay for longer, interact with others), less pleasant emotions lead to “avoidance” (e.g., stay for a shorter time, less likely to interact with others, etc.). This dissertation investigates if this relationship applies to airport retail environments. First, the author conducted a very detailed review of the relevant literature followed by a qualitative study involving semi structured interviews with senior managers representing ten of the largest 50 European airports. Grounded in the gained scientific as well as managerial insight, a conceptual model is proposed which assumes that physical elements of an airport store (eg., lighting, design, architecture, temperature), the behaviour and appearance of staff, as well as perceived time pressure influence the emotions of passengers as they are browsing in the shop. Focusing on emotions pleasure and stress, the author hypothises that both determine the likelihood that customers ‘approach’ or ‘avoid’ the store, and their opinion of the shopping experience and the shop itself on exit. In order to test the model, hypotheses were developed and data obtained by conducting a large scale survey near the main duty free store of Budapest airport in 2013. Using the quota sampling method, a convenient sample (N=948) was taken by intercepting departing passengers when entering the airport, and then conducting face-to-face interviews at store exit. Emotions were measured using a relatively recent instrument, which employs hold-out pictures showing facial expressions of natural basic emotional states (happiness, fear, surprise, anger) instead of verbal scales, in order to reduce an expected bias due to language and cultural differences