Non-participant observation of the Mall of America

Non-Participant Observation

The MoA (Mall of America) is the largest shopping mall in the United States located at the Bloomington, Minnesota. The Mall is opened in 1992 and receives more than 40 million visitors annually, which is the largest number of visitors that any Mall has ever received globally. However, 80% of the visitors are from the Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Dakota, and Canada.

Objective of this paper is to carry out the non-participant observation of the Mall of America. The paper uses several variables such as layout space, decor arrangement of furniture as well as the feel of the Mall to carry out the non-participant observation.

As a research, I employ overt non-participant observation to collect data for the research purpose. The strategy used is that I visit the Mall of American with the goal of observing the activities, events and interactions of the people in the Mall to gain a direct understanding of the phenomenon in the natural context. As a non-participant, I do not directly participate in the activities, however, I only watch and record the activities and events as they happen in their natural environment. (Liu, & Maitlis, 2010).

Results

Description of the Setting of the Mall of America

Based on my direct observation of the Mall, its layout consists of the 4.2 million square feet of entertainment and retail space making the MOA the biggest attraction in the world. I also saw the fountain of pool used to attract the visitors; however, the huge aquatic zoo is the most fascinating views of the MOA containing more than 3,000 living sea creatures. The Mall also uses the skylights and various form of ingenuous light to illuminate the space.

From the results of my observation, the Mall has approximately 452,000 m2 (4,870,000 sq ft). Moreover, the retail space is approximately 230,000 m2 (2,500,000 sq ft), and the local visitors contain the 60% of the visitors coming to the MOA. Essentially, the Mall has a rectangular floor plan and contains more than 530 stores arranged along the pedestrian walkways. From the feeling of the stores, the individual store has the heating system that makes the visitors to be comfortable during the winter. In the summer, the management put on the air-conditioner to enhance shopping experience of the visitors. Essentially, the Mall has over 520 specialty stores and the management uses the IKEA furniture to arrange the place. However, the Mall consists of four different zones and each of the zones has different decorative styles to enhance the visitors' shopping experience.

People Behaviors

People's behavior is another issue that I observe during my research, I observe that many people visiting the Mall are from the diverse ethnicities, age group and denominations. However, 80% of the visitors are the local visitors, and the ethnicity of the visitors includes Whites, Hispanic-American, African-Americans, Canadian American, Korean-Americans and Chinese-Americans. (Kang, Kim, & Tuan, 2005). I also observe that the Mall receives the Non-American visitors who come to the United States for the holiday. Some of the major factors motivating people from visiting the MOA include convenience of shopping, social experience, good meal and snack, browsing and diversion. Moreover, the MOA serves as a convenient point where different ethnicities and age group converse with their peers. Traditionally, people are attracted to the MOA because of the convenience of finding wide sort of merchandises and assortments at a single location. (Tiwari, & Abraham, 2010).

I also saw the group visitors who consist of the family group and age group. Other group visiting the Mall includes the church group and college undergraduate group. The behaviors of the group visiting Mall show that they are fascinating with assortment items in the Mall. I saw that the family group and age group like eating together. However, the teenagers like to use the opportunity to attract the attention of the opposite sexes. I also observe that out of all the visitors visiting the Mall, only 60% come to the Mall to purchase items, and 40% come for the sightseeing and fascinating with the decoration and beauty of the MOA.

The Action (What was Happening)

From my observation, what happens is that the relationships of the people and groups are different when inside the MOA because I observe that many people try to socialize themselves with the age groups. Tiwari, & Abraham, (2010) argue that the many people use the Mall shopping for the opportunity to meet and socialize with the old friends, and peer group. Thus, I notice that many people try to socialize themselves when they meet the old friends in the Mall.

Reference

Kang, J. Kim, Y. & Tuan, W. (2005). Motivation Factors of Mall Shoppers: Effect of Ethnicity and Age, Journal of Shopping Research. 7-25.

Liu, F. & Maitlis, S.(2010). Non-participant Observation. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research.

Tiwari, R.K. & Abraham, A. (2010). Understanding the Consumer Behavior towards Shopping Mall in Raipur City. International Journal of Management & Strategy.1(1).