Anti-Clockwise Or Clockwise? the Impact of Store Layout on the Process of Orientation in a Discount Store

The object of this paper is to investigate the concept of mental maps as a basis for explaining the ease of orientation experienced by consumers at the point of sale. Useful hypotheses explaining the formation of mental maps can be derived from environmental psychology and neurophysiology. The empirical studies reported here–a pointing task and a simulated shopping task–were conducted in two discount grocery shops with identical assortments and prices, one guiding customers in a clockwise direction and the other in an anti-clockwise direction. Using a geographical information system (GIS), we found that the direction in which shoppers were guided, as well as the location of products (in peripheral aisles versus the interior section of the shop) influenced the formation of accurate mental maps, the ease of orientation, and the efficiency of the shopping process.

Citation:

Andrea Groeppel-Klein and Benedikt Bartmann (2007) ,"Anti-Clockwise Or Clockwise? the Impact of Store Layout on the Process of Orientation in a Discount Store", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Stefania Borghini, Mary Ann McGrath, and Cele Otnes, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 415-416.