Defining and Measuring RecreationaiShopper Identity

Michael GuiryState University of New York, New Paltz

Anne W. MägiRichard J. LutzUniversity of Florida

The concept of recreational shopper identity, a dimensionof the consumer's self-concept, is contrasted with simpleshopping enjoyment, which has characterized most pastresearch on recreational shopping. Two survey studies in-vestigate recreational shopper identity in a clothing shop-ping context. In Study J, the Recreational Shopper Identity(RSI) Scale is validated with a sample of 561 adult con-sumers, demonstrating that recreational shopping is expe-rienced as a true leisure activity. In Study 2, involving 354adult consumers, the RSI Scale is used to identify threegroups of shoppers who differ in the degree to which theyincorporate recreational shopping into their self-concepts.Recreational shopping enthusiasts are found to engagemore extensively in a range of retail shopping behaviors,to spend more money shopping (i.e., they are not justbrowsers), andaré more "multi-channel" than other shop-pers, reporting higher levels of Internet, catalog, and TVhome shopping as well as traditional "brick-and-mortar"shopping.

Keywords: shopping; recreation; leisure; self-concept;identity

Shopping is a way of life in contemporary consumersociety. Its importance is evidenced by the considerabletime and energy consumers devote to the endeavor, notonly to procure desired products but also to participate in a

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.Volume 34, No. 1, pages 74-83.DOI: 10.1177/0092070305282042Copyright © 2006 by Academy of Marketing Science.

wide range of experiential activities to satisfy various per-sonal and social motives (Bloch, Ridgway, and Dawson1994).

Many consumers truly enjoy being in the marketplaceto make a product purchase and/or engage in experientialconsumption (Arnold and Reynolds 2003). For these con-sumers, shopping is a form of recreation that may evenhe one of their favorite pastimes. Our language is filledwith aphorisms, such as "Bom to shop" and "1 Shop,Therefore I Am," that reflect the prominent position shop-ping plays in consumer culture, as well as its potential self-significance. The purpose of this research is to clarify thenature of recreational shopping, in particular its status as atrue leisure activity for some consumers. Because shop-ping can he recreational for some consumers, and an activ-ity to be avoided for others, we develop a scale that isdesigned to capture the degree to which the consumerincorporates the role of recreational shopper into his or herself-concept.

RECREATIONAL SHOPPING

Bellenger and Korgaonkar (1980) defined recreationalshoppers as "those who enjoy shopping as a leisure-timeactivity," contrasting them with "economic shoppers" whoexperienced no pleasure from the shopping process per se(p. 78). Much of the subsequent research on recreationalshopping has tended to adhere to this general idea, focus-ing primarily on shopping enjoyment. Westbrook andBlack (1985) performed a cluster analysis based on shop-ping motivations and identified a "shopping process-involved" cluster that they concluded corresponded to

Bellenger and Korgaonkar's recreational shoppers. In aqualitative study, Prus and Dawson (1991) identified rec-reational shopping orientations as embracing "notions ofshopping as interesting, enjoyable, entertaining and lei-surely activity" (p. 149). Lunt and Livingstone (1992)identified five shopping groups, one of which was leisureshoppers, who found shopping "pleasurable" (p. 90).Batiin, Darden, and Griffin ( 1994) developed a scale mea-suring hedonic and utilitarian shopping value, where theformer dimension captures pleasure, enjoyment, andexcitement. More recently, Mathwick, Malhotra, andRigldon (2001) developed a multidimensional measure ofretail "experiential value," with one of the dimensionsbeing "playfulness," which is related to the concept of rec-reational shopping. Arnold and Reynolds (2003) devel-oped a six-dimensional measure of hedonic shoppingmotives including dimensions such as adventure,gratification, and value.

Enjoyment is a major component of recreational shop-ping. However, the notion of shopping as leisure or recre-ation invokes gratifications beyond simple enjoyment. Forexample, Prus and Dawson (1991) noted that "shoppingtakes on recreational or valued quality because it is takenas means of acknowledging, entertaining, or expressingone's self (p. 160). Campbell (1997a) has suggested thatrecjreational shopping is valued because it is a form of self-determination. On the basis of these observations, we pro-pose a broader definition of recreational shopping as shop-ping activity that is characterized by the shopper experi-encing intrinsic rewards from the shopping process per se,either in conjunction with, or independent of, the acquisi-tion of goods and services.

Shopping and Identity

For some consumers, intense involvement with a prod-uct or activity reaches a heightened state of attachment inwhich the product and/or activity is incorporated into theirself-concept (Belk 1988; Bloch 1986). At this highestlevel of involvement, sometimes referred to in the con-sumer behavior literature as the extended self (Belk 1988)or. product enthusiasm (Bloch 1986), and in leisureresearch as a leisure identity (Haggard and Williams 1992;Shamir 1992), a consumer defines himself or herself interms of a product or activity, recognizing the products' oractivity's function as a means of self-definition.

Fischer and Gainer (1991) found that three forms ofshopping—wedding planning, Christmas gift shopping,and home shopping parties—were valued by women as ameans of expressing their individuality, femininity, andcompetence in socially prescribed roles. Falk and Camp-bell (1997) viewed postmodern consumers as "identity-shoppers" seeking consumption experiences that allowthem to alter their identities at will (p. 7). Likewise, Camp-bell (1997b) observed strong gender differences in the

Guiry et al. / RECREATIONAL SHOPPER IDENTITY 75

"meaning" of shopping, with women attaching far moresignificance to the shopping role than did men (pp. 167-168). Miller, Jackson, Thrift, Holbrook, and Rowlands( 1998: 144) found that women shoppers developed a senseof identity with the shopping center they patronized mostoften.

In the context of recreational shopping, this type of spe-cial consumer-object bond is exhibited when consumersexplicitly think of themselves as being recreational shop-pers, reflected in such statements as "I shop, therefore Iam" that affirm a unique recreational shopper identity.Bloch (1986) proposed that the high end of the productinvolvement continuum is anchored by a group of con-sumers, referred to as product enthusiasts, for whom theconsumption and possession of highly involving productsplay an important role in life, satisfying enthusiasts' needsfor uniqueness, mastery, and/or affiliation. Later, Blochet al. (1994) extended these notions into the shoppingarena, profiling the mall enthusiast, who is deeplyinvolved with all aspects of mall-related activities. Theconcept of a recreational shopper identity is also congenialwith Belk's (1988) conceptualization of the extended self,in which consumers incorporate their most meaningfuland treasured possessions, including experiences (e.g.,shopping) and places (e.g., retail marketplace), into theself.

In the leisure literature, when an individual defineshimself or herself in terms of a leisure pursuit, he or she issaid to possess a "leisure identity" (Shamir 1992). A lei-sure identity may become salient and incorporated into theself-concept for three reasons: " 1 ) It expresses and affirmsthe individual's talents or capabilities, 2) it endows theperson with social recognition, and/or 3) it affirms theindividual's central values" (Shamir 1992: 302). Thisproposition is consistent with research by Haggard andWilliams (1992), who found that individuals affirmed thenature of their identities through participation in leisureactivities that symbolized desirable character traits andidentity images.

In the present context, we propose the existence of arecreational shopper identity, which is a dimension of anindividual's self-concept whereby the consumer defineshimself or herself in terms of shopping for recreational orleisure purposes. Thus, the individual strongly identifieswith recreational shopping and is committed to it as a per-sonally rewarding activity. Transcending mere enjoyment,recreational shopping is experienced as self-defining andeven self-enhancing. Obviously, not all consumers experi-ence shopping in this manner. Some consumers view shop-ping from a strictly utilitarian perspective, seeing it as noth-ing more than a means to product acquisition. It is viewedas a chore, a necessary evil (Campbell 1997a). For them,shopping is an unpleasant task filled with frustration andanxiety (Tatzel 1991). Thus, some consumers are shop-ping-aversive (e.g., Campbell, 1997b), while many others

76 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE WINTER 2006

enjoy shopping but not to the same degree as those whoincorporate recreational shopping into their self-concepts.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

In this research, we develop a scale to measure thedegree to which consumers adopt a recreational shopperidentity. The Recreational Shopper Identity (RSI) Scale isdeveloped and validated and used to identify a group ofconsumers, termed recreational shopping enthusiasts(following Bloch et al. 1994), who are highly involved inshopping as a leisure activity and view shopping as a cen-tral part of their lives. Furthermore, we compare the self-reported shopping opinions and behaviors of recreationalshopping enthusiasts with those of "normal" shoppers andaversive shoppers.

Two studies were conducted, both of which used cloth-ing shopping as the context. Campbell (1997a) found thatclothing shopping is a common focus of recreational shop-ping activity (p. 83). The purpose of Study 1 was todevelop and validate the RSI Scale, using standard scaledevelopment procedures (e.g., Gerbing and Anderson1988). The major goals of Study 2 were to further investi-gate the validity of the RSI Scale and to explore the rela-tionships between recreational shopping identity and arange of retail consumer behaviors.

STUDY 1

The first study was conducted at a large eastern univer-sity. Survey questionnaires were distributed to a quotasample of consumers by undergraduate and MBA studentsin the first author's classes. In return for extra course creditand the opportunity to participate in a cash raffle, each stu-dent was asked to secure up to 10 respondents. Firm guide-lines on respondent eligibility were established to try toensure a reasonable diversity of individuals and back-ground. The first author verified the identity of approxi-mately 10 percent of each interviewer's respondentsthrough follow-up telephone calls. A total of 561responses were obtained. The sample was split randomly,with one half being used for scale development andpurification, and the other half for validation.

RSI Item Generation and Additional Measures

In the first stage of scale development, a pool of itemswas generated and pretested. Items were in part drawnfrom the literature, for example, Shamir's (1992) LeisureIdentity Scale, as well as author intuition. The pretestincluded a list of 29 items that were evaluated by a panel offive expert judges, who were asked to rate each item on thedegree to which it reflected recreational shopper identity.

This was defined explicitly for the judges as a dimensionof an individual's self-concept whereby the consumerdefines himself or herself in terms of shopping for recre-ational or leisure purposes. Based on the judges' evalua-tions, 17 potential RSI items were included in the mainsurvey questionnaire.

The questionnaire also contained variables for assess-ing convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Toassess convergent validity, Unger and Kernan's (1983)Leisure Dimensions Scale was used. To the extent that theRSI Scale reflects identification with shopping as a leisurebehavior, then RSI scores should be positively related torespondents' perceptions of shopping as possessing thevarious dimensions of leisure, such as arousal, mastery,and involvement. Materialism and compulsive buyingwere judged to be associated individual-difference vari-ables that may be useful for establishing the discriminantvalidity of the RSI Scale. Because recreational shoppingdoes not necessarily entail the actual acquisition of goods,the RSI Scale should measure something different frommaterialism and compulsive buying. Materialism wasmeasured by Richins and Dawson's ( 1992) 18-item scale,while compulsive buying was assessed by Faber andO'Guinn's (1992) 7-item scale.

Various shopping-related activities were included inthe questionnaire to assess nomological validity since itwas expected that recreational shopping identity would bepositively related to such behaviors. Measures of the fre-quency of consumer participation in various mall activitieswere drawn primarily from Bloch et al. (1994) and weremodified and augmented to capture a range of product andservice purchase activities, experiential activities, andconsumption of the mall itself. The final inventory com-prised 20 items measured on 5-point scales anchored byvery often and never. These items were subjected to anexploratory factor analysis that yielded four dimensions ofmall-related activities. See Table 1 for details. Respon-dents were also asked to indicate their frequency and dura-tion of shopping for clothing for themselves in a retailstore.

Scale Purification and Validation

The initial analysis of the calibration sample showedthat all of the 17 candidate RSI items had item-to-total cor-relations above .50; however, the 17-item scale did notexhibit unidimensionality. An exploratory factor analysisyielded two somewhat overlapping dimensions, with oneof the factors more clearly capturing the importance ofshopping for self-definition, while the other dimensionhad a stronger focus on affective responses to shoppingand shopping involvement. Examples of items on the sec-ond dimension were the following: "I get so involved inshopping that I forget everything else," "I get a real highfrom shopping," "I find that a lot of my life is organized

TABLE 1Study 1—Convergent, Discriminant, and

Nomoiogicai Vaiidity of the RSI Scaie

Mati

Number of

rialismCompulsive buyingLeisIntri

are dimensionslsic satisfaction

Percsived freedomArousalMasteryInvolvementSpontaneityMall activitiesEatiLg''Passmg time'̂Socializing"Enlertain/service""^Time spent shoppingFrequency of shopping

Items

187

353455

344411

a

.82

.80

.80

.54

.75

.75

.80

.86

.79

.75

.67

.60—

—

Developmental

Sample

.46"

.38"

.67"

.30"

.70"

.63"

.68"

.37"

.08"

.34"

.23"

.17"

.28"

.24"

Validation

Sample

.38"

.48"

.66"

.24"

.68"

.67"

.70"

.48"

.17"

.23"

.18"

.18"

.20"

.34"

NOTE: RSI = recreational shopper identity.a. Correlation with RSI significant atp < .05.b. Having a drink, having a snack, having lunch.c. Walking for exercise, browsing without planning to buy, walking forfunj browsing for possible future purchase.d. Talking with other shoppers, conversing with sales clerks, looking atexhibits or shows, people watching.e. Playing a video game, going to a movie, going on a carousel ride, get-ting a haircut.

around shopping," and "Shopping totally absorbs me."Because of our focus on developing a measure of identity,we made the judgment to continue the scale refinementprocedure with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on theitems loading on the first dimension. These items alsowere rated higher (on reflecting of self) by our judges, sowe used these converging statistical and judgmental crite-ria'to narrow the scale with an eye toward content validity.We initially had eight items in our CFA. The initial modelexhibited poor model fit, and three items (e.g., "Shoppingallows me to express myself) were deleted from the scaleon the basis of low factor loadings. Based on modificationindex values, five items were retained. The fit indices indi-cate that this model fit the data well, exhibiting satisfactoryreliability, in both the calibration and validationsuDsamples (Table 2).

At the next step, the convergent, discriminant, andnomoiogicai validity of the RSI Scale were assessed.Because the results for the calibration and validafionsubsamples were nearly identical, they will be presentedand discussed together. Turning first to convergent valid-ity, as expected, RSI correlated significantly with the Lei-sure Dimension Scales.

RSI scores correlated strongly with intrinsic satisfac-tion in both subsamples (see Table 1). Unger and Keman(1983) described this dimension as the "quintessence of

Guiry et al. / RECREATIONAL SHOPPER IDENTITY 77

leisure," citing its purely pleasurable character (p. 382).Thus, the original conception of shopping enjoyment putforth by Bellenger and Korgaonkar (1980) is strongly rep-resented in these findings. However, as argued by Ungerand Kernan (1983), Stebbins (1982), and others, true lei-sure goes deeper than mere enjoyment. Recreational shop-ping appears to share that characteristic, as revealed by theremaining five dimensions measured by the Unger andKernan (1983) scale.

Recreational shopper identity was significantly butonly weakly correlated w\ti\ perceived freedom. However,it should be noted that the reliability of the Perceived Free-dom subscale was quite low, which may have attenuatedthe observed relationship. Recreational shopper identitycorrelated strongly with Unger and Kernan's (1983)Arousal subscale. Examining the content of the four-itemArousal subscale reveals that it is heavily slanted towardnovelty, which Berlyne (1969) found to have strongarousal properties. The recreational shopper also tends tohave a sense of mastery, the correlations between masteryand recreational shopper identity were strong andsignificant.

Unger and Kernan's (1983) Involvement subscale alsocaptures the concepts of escape and total absorption in theexperience, feelings strongly related to recreational shop-per identity. This sort of deep involvement in the activity iswhat Stebbins (1982) termed "serious leisure." The finaldimension of leisure measured by the Unger and Kernanscale is spontaneity, which had a significant but only mod-erate relationship with recreational shopper identity.Unlike the Perceived Freedom subscale, the Spontaneitysubscale exhibited strong reliability, so its somewhatlower associafion is not due to a statistical anomaly. Morelikely, for recreational shopping enthusiasts, shopping isnot necessarily a spontaneous event but rather issomething they plan and anticipate enjoying.

In summary, RSI Scale scores correlated strongly withfour dimensions of perceived leisure and weakly to mod-erately with two others. Using the Fisher r-to-z transfoi-mation, the average correlation between RSI and Ungerand Kernan's six leisure dimensions was .58 in the devel-opmental sample and .59 in the calibration sample. Thus,the more an individual perceives recreational shopping asa form of leisure, the more likely he or she is to incorporateit into his or her self-concept.

Turning to discriminant validity, the RSI Scale exhib-ited low to moderate levels of correlation with materialismand compulsive buying (Table 1). The average correlationbetween recreational shopper identity and materialismand compulsive buying was .42 and .43, respectively, inthe two subsamples. The correlations are significantly (p <.05) lower than the average recreational shopper identitycorrelations with perceived leisure. Thus, as argued ear-lier, it seems apparent that recreational shopper identity is

78 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE WINTER 2006

Items in the RecreationalTABLE 2

Shopper Identity Scale^ and Scale PropertiesStudy 1

Calibration Sample Validation Sample

Factor Loadings Factor Loadings

in Studies 1 and 2

Study 2

Students

Factor Loadings

Parents

Factor Loadings

Shopping is important for my self-definition.Shopping contributes to my self-esteem.If 1 was not able to go shopping, I would feel that a part of me is missing.Shopping aflfirms my values.Shopping enables me to realize my aspirations.

Cronbach alphaComposite reliabilityAverage variance extracted

CFIAGFIRMSEARMSEA: 90% CIRange of factor loadings

,66,75.63,79.68

282.83.83,50

13,69(¡y < .05)

.99

.94

.076

.03 to.13

.63 to .79

.62

.75

.73

.78,76

264,85,85,53

7,85{p < .05)

,99,97.042.00 to. 10.62 to .78

.77,83,85,78,80

258.83.83.49

14,07(p < .05).98,94,084.03 to. 14.64 to .76

,64,73,76.69.67

354,90,90,65

26,36(l, < ,05)

,99,91,11,07 to.15.77 to .85

NOTE; CFI = Comparative Fit Index; AGFI = Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; 90% Cl = 90 percentconfidence interval,a. In both studies, the specific behavioral context was shopping for clothing. In Study 1, the full phrase was included in each scale item. In Study 2, the cloth-ing shopping context was stated at the top of the page on which the scale items appeared, and the actual scale items included only the word shopping, asshown above. This minor modification did not affect the scale properties adversely.

measuring something different from materialism andcompulsive buying. Discriminant validity was alsoassessed according to the criteria proposed by Andersonand Gerbing (1988), None of the confidence intervals forthe Phi correlations included one, and all constrainedmodels exhibited significantly worse model fits than theunconstrained model, providing further support fordiscriminant validity.

Finally, to investigate nomological validity, the RSIScale was correlated with measures of mall activity as wellas the typical duration and frequency of clothing shop-ping, which are logical consequences of recreational shop-ping involvement. Recreational shopper identity corre-lated significantly with three of four dimensions of mall-related activities; only "Eating at the Mall" failed to corre-late. The strongest correlation was with "Passing Time,"which is clearly suggestive of shopping as a recreationalactivity. "Socializing" and "Entertainment/Services" alsocorrelated significantly with recreational shopper identity,further supporting the proposition that recreational shop-per identity is predictive of a wide variety of shoppingbehaviors. Similarly, recreational shopper identity wassignificantly correlated with the amount of time spentshopping on a typical shopping trip, as well as the fre-quency of shopping. Obviously, a consumer who identi-fies with recreational shopping as a primary leisureactivity should tend to spend more time shopping, and thedata support that logic.

Discussion

Study 1 provided initial evidence for the existence of arecreational shopper identity. The RSI Scale was devel-oped and validated using a split sample procedure. Bothsubsamples demonstrated satisfactory reliability, and RSIscores converged with measures of leisure experience.Furthermore, RSI scores did not correlate strongly withmeasures of compulsive buying or materialism, thus dem-onstrating discriminant validity. Finally recreational shop-per identity was a significant predictor of the amount (bothfrequency and duration) of shopping, as well as a range ofshopping-related recreational behaviors. To build moreconfidence in the RSI Scale, we decided to (a) validate itwith another sample and (b) explore its relationship withadditional shopping behaviors of managerial relevance.

STUDY 2

Two data sets were collected in the second study, a stu-dent sample and a parent sample. The student sample wasemployed as another test of the RSI Scale's reliability andvalidity, while the parent sample was used to explore thebehavioral implications of differing levels of recreationalshopper identity. Survey questionnaires were completedby a convenience sample of undergraduate students andindependently by one or both of their parents. The students

were enrolled in an introductory marketing course at alarge southeastem university and received extra coursecredit for their, as well as their parents, participation in thestudy. The students completed the surveys in a classroomsession at which they also had the opportunity to addressenvelopes to their parents. The questionnaires wereinserted in the envelopes by the researchers and mailed tothe parents along with a self-addressed, postage-paidenvelope and cover letter describing the nature of thestudy. All surveys were returned directly to the researcherswithin 2 weeks of mailing.

Measures and Scale Validation

Identical questionnaires were used for both the parentand student sample. Recreational shopper identity wasmeasured using the RSI Scale developed and validated inStudy 1, with a minor adjustment to the way the scaleswere presented (see Table 2, note a). Respondents alsowere asked to indicate their frequency and duration ofshopping trips for clothing for themselves in a retail storeand to estimate how much they spent on all clothing pur-chases for themselves in retail stores during the past year.The preceding questions were also asked for three addi-tional shopping venues: catalogs, TV home shoppingchannels, and the Internet. In addition, respondents wereasked to indicate on 5-point scales the extent to which theyhad a favorite store for clothing shopping, the number ofstores they shop at for clothing, how often they made aclothing purchase using a credit card, and how often theywent to the same store first. The latter two items wereassessed on a 5-point scale ranging from very often tonever. Finally, respondents were asked to indicate theirage, gender, race/ethnic group, marital status, number ofchildren living in their household, highest level of educa-tion completed, U.S. citizenship status, and annual house-hold income before taxes. CFA was performed on the RSIScale for both the student and parent samples. Similar toStudy 1, the RSI Scale demonstrated satisfactory scaleproperties in both samples (Table 1).

Relationships Between RSI and Retail Behavior

The second major goal of Study 2 was to explore theretail behavior of consumers with differing levels of recre-ational shopping identity. We chose to conduct these analy-ses on the parent sample only, because that sample reflectsa broader range of demographic and socioeconomic char-acteristics among adult shoppers. The parent sample con-sisted of 354 respondents. Ages ranged from younger than3,9 to older than 60, with 44.3 percent between the ages of4|0 and 49 and 47.4 percent between the ages of 50 and 59;slightly more than half (52.9%) were female, and 81.0 per-cent were married. Caucasians made up 75.4 percent of therespondents, and 97.2 percent were U.S. citizens.

Guiry et al. / RECREATIONAL SHOPPER IDENTITY 79

Educationally, 29.3 percent of the respondents had a col-lege degree, and 25.9 percent had a graduate degree.Regarding annual household income, 13.1 percent werebelow $40,000, 14.2 percent were between $40,000 and$59,999, 26.9 percent were between $60,000 and$99,999, and 45.8 percent were at or above $ 100,000.

Although the parent sample differs from the nationalaverage (i.e., underrepresenting younger, older, andunmarried adults and overrepresenting higher income andeducation), it is important to note that the goal of thisresearch is not to estimate the degree of recreational shop-per identity in the general population. Rather, the goalshere are to measure recreational shopper identity andexplore its relationships to other shopping-related vari-ables such as shopping frequency and duration. Althoughnot representative of the overall U.S. population, the par-ent sample is a hroad cross section of adult consumers andhence adequate for meeting the present purposes.

The parent sample was divided into three groups.Although a median split is often used to create differentanalysis groups, that approach is not well suited for thepresent purpose. Recreational shopper identity representsan extreme level of shopping involvement, so it would notmake sense to include consumers near the median value onthe RSI Scale in that group. Hence, the data were parti-tioned by creating two extreme groups that were one stan-dard deviation below the mean and one standard deviationabove the mean, respectively, on recreational shopperidentity. The former group (n = 94, 27% of sample) werelabeled shopping aversives (Campbell 1997a). FollowingBloch (1986), the latter group {n = 59, 17% of sample)were termed shopping enthusiasts. The remaining large(n = 201 ) group were called normal shoppers. Thus, shop-ping enthusiasts are those who most strongly embrace rec-reational shopping as a part of their identity, while shop-ping aversives strongly reject recreational shopping as inany way self-related. For the majority (i.e., "normal"shoppers), recreational shopping has no particular place ofimportance in their self-definitions, either positive or neg-ative. We now turn our attention to examining keybehavioral differences across these three groups.

The RSI Scale has a theoretical range of 5 to 25 and atheoretical midpoint of 15. It is interesting to note that theoverall sample recreational shopper identity mean wasonly 10.64, well below the theoretical midpoint. This sug-gests that in general, the respondents did not incorporaterecreational shopping into their personal identities.Indeed, the shopping aversives almost completely rejectedthe notion of recreational shopper identity, with a meanRSI score (M = 5.33) barely above the minimum. Shop-ping enthusiasts, on the other hand, exhibited a rathermoderate mean (M= 17.86), with individual scores rang-ing from 16 to 25. Given the procedure used to partitionthe sample, the significant one-way ANOVA for recre-ational shopper identity should be viewed simply as

80 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE WINTER 2006

TABLE 3Means on Key Variables for Parent Sample

Shopping Aversives Normal Shoppers Shopping Enthusiasts Total

b.e

Recreational shopper identityShopping enjoyment ' °Time spent shopping stores ' '=Shopping frequency stores ' '=Money spent shopping storesShopping frequency catalog ' ^Shopping spend catalogShopping frequency TVShopping spend TVShopping frequency Internet''Shopping spend Internet''Number of stores shopped ' "Has a favorite storeLikelihood of visiting same store firstUses store credit cardDemographic/socioeconomic

Children at home (yes/no)Number of childrenEducationIncomeAge"Percentage marriedPercentage CaucasianPercentage women ' ^

83 to 945.332.462.023.692.632.011.55'=1.17=1.14'=1.47^1.26'=2.822.96'='''3.482.20'='''

0.881.61

4.4 r-"7.77

50.6'=0.870.760.28

188 to 20111.013.492.765.073.032.701.79''1.47"1.28"1.84''1.51''3.683.63^3.722.84'

0.801.323.97'=7.28

50.9"0.800.790.58

52 to 5917.863.843.366.443.884.222.26'='"3.53'='"1.93'=-"3.47'='"

4.173.90"3.863.05"

0.751.473.91"6.88

47.9c.d0.750.640.80

323 to 35410.643.272.664.943.062.771.801.731.352.011.523.533.503.682.71

0.811.434.087.34

50.30.810.750.53

NOTE: Shared superscript letters c and d indicate significant (p < .05) pairwise comparisons with LSD (least significant difference test); e = all pairwisecomparisons significant (p < .05).a. Ws vary because of missing data.b. One-way ANOVA significant atp < .05.

verification that the partitioning did, in fact, yield threedistinct groups in terms of their self-identification asrecreational shoppers.

It is interesting that the single 5-point Shopping Enjoy-ment Scale, while positively correlated with recreationalshopper identity {r-.46,p<.0\), was not as extreme in itsdistribution of scores. Shopping aversives (AÍ = 2.16) wereonly half a scale point below the theoretical midpoint andless than 1 scale point below the mean {M = 3.27), but 1.5scale points above the minimum possible score. Similarly,normal shoppers were above the theoretical midpoint onenjoyment even though they were below the theoreticalmidpoint on recreational shopper identity. In general, therange of scores is skewed downward for recreational shop-per identity and upward for shopping enjoyment, suggest-ing that recreational shopper identity encompassessomething more extreme than mere shopping enjoyment.

Demographic correlates. In the clothing shopping con-text we investigated, shopping aversives were overwhelm-ingly male, while shopping enthusiasts were quite likely tobe female. This relationship between recreational shopperidentity and gender mirrors Campbell's (1997a) findingthat shopping enjoyment "correlated with gender morethan with any other single variable" (p. 166). None of the

other demographic or socioeconomic variables exhibitedstrong relationships with RSI scores. Shopping enthusi-asts were slightly younger than the other two groups, andthey reported lower education levels than the shoppingaversives. No differences were observed across the threegroups with respect to income, marital status, total numberof children, number of children living at home, orethnicity.

Shopping behavior correlates. The differences acrossthe three RSI groups are reflected strongly in their shop-ping behavior. As shown in Table 3, with regard to "brick-and-mortar" stores, shopping enthusiasts spend more timeand more money and go shopping more frequently thannormal shoppers. Normal shoppers, in turn, exhibit higherscores than shopping aversives on those three dimensionsof shopping behavior.

It is hardly surprising that those higher in RSI wouldshop longer and more often; to them, it is an important lei-sure activity. Somewhat less obvious, and of more signifi-cance to retailers, is the finding that greater RSI alsorelates significantly to greater dollar expenditures. Thus,the recreational shopper is not merely a browser, at least inthis relatively affluent sample. This supports the old retailadage that the longer the customer remains in the store, the

more he or she spends. Although recreational shoppingdoes not necessarily imply actual purchase, the evidencehere suggests a strong empirical relationship between thetWCj.

Behavioral manifestations of recreational shopperidentity are not limited to brick-and-mortar stores, how-ever. Indeed, shopping enthusiasts were significantlymore likely to shop more frequently and spend more thaneither normal shoppers or aversives across alternativeshopping channels such as catalogs, TV home shopping,and the Internet. This finding is potentially important.First, it suggests that recreational shoppers "make theirowin fun" and are not reliant on mall retailers' attempts toprovide "shoppertainment" to enjoy their leisure timeengaged in recreational shopping. This is consistent withMáthwick et al.'s (2001) finding that consumer shoppingplayfulness is an "active" rather than "reactive" form ofexperiential shopping value. Second, it suggests that recre-atibnal shoppers are not intensely loyal to shopping at the

all or other brick-and-mortar venues. Instead, they arem"multi-channel," pursuing their chosen leisure activityacross the full range of options. Interestingly, QVC (2003),presenting a profile of their TV home shopping customers,described a national survey conducted in 2001 byYankelovich that showed QVC customers not only "viewshopping as a pleasure sport" but also are more likely thanthe general adult population to shop in department andspecialty stores, from catalogs, and online.

Shopping enthusiasts' use of multiple retail channelsCÍ rries over to a distinct lack of store loyalty in the brick-and-mortar environment. As shown in Table 3, higher RSIscores related to a greater number of stores shopped in atypical shopping trip. Conversely, shopping enthusiastswere not more likely than normal shoppers to have a favor-ite store, visit the same store first each time they shopped,or use a store credit card. Thus, shopping enthusiasts arequite eclectic in their shopping behaviors, exhibiting loy-alty neither to retail form nor to store within the brick-and-mortar environment. This suggests that the enthusiast maybe more of a variety seeker than a creature of habit. Thisinference is consistent with findings in the leisure studiesliterature that suggest that the "serious leisure" consumerseeks a challenge (Csikszentmihalyi 1975).

Discussion

The results of Study 2 fortified and extended the Studyfindings. The concept of a recreational shopper identity

received support in both studies, and the RSI Scale demon-strated adequate reliability and validity. Study 1 presentedevidence about the RSI Scale's convergent, discriminant,and nomological validity, while Study 2 used RSI scores tocreate different segments of shoppers, termed shoppingenthusiasts, normal shoppers, and shopping aversives.Furthermore, these three groups were found to differ

Guiry et al. / RECREATIONAL SHOPPER IDENTITY 81

substantially on one demographic variable (i.e., gender)and a range of shopping-related behaviors.

Consistent with past research on recreational shopping(e.g., Campbell 1997b), shopping enthusiasts were pre-dominantly women. However, the present findings extendprevious research by showing that not only do women tendto enjoy shopping more as a form of leisure but also thatrecreational shopping can become an aspect of their self-definition. Thus, recreational shopping as a leisure activitycan rightfully claim a place as a form of "serious leisure"(Stebbins 1982).

The good news for retailers is that recreational shop-pers not only shop longer and more often but they also tendto spend more. Thus, they are clearly worth pursuing; theyare not mere "browsers" who do not spend money com-mensurate with their time. The bad news for retailers isthat the shopping enthusiasts are not particularly store-loyal or even loyal to a particular retail form. Parentheti-cally, we note that, at the outset of this research, weassumed that a trade-off existed between recreationalshopping and the incidence of shopping in non-brick-and-mortar settings. It is clear from these findings that to therecreational shopping enthusiast, recreational shoppingdoes not necessarily imply walking around the mall.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

This research began with the proposition that recre-ational shoppers should not be viewed generically anddefined simply on the basis of shopping enjoyment, as hasbeen done in past research. The present research revealsthat recreational shoppers vary in their level of identifica-tion with shopping, and, at the highest level of intensitymay use shopping as a form of self-definition. Althoughtwo consumers may indicate that they enjoy shopping toan equal degree, their motivations for shopping and subse-quent benefits realized from the experience may differdepending on the strength of their recreational shopperidentity. Compared with "normal" shoppers, recreationalshopping enthusiasts have stronger recreational shopperidentities and realize higher levels of leisure experience,similar to that seen in other leisure activities (e.g., Celsi,Rose, and Leigh 1993).

The findings of this research suggest several implica-tions for retailers. First, recreational shoppers appear to bea high-profit potential group. They shop more frequently,longer, and spend more money. Catering to the recre-ational shopper is clearly advisable from a profitabilityperspective. Second, for retailers to attract and retain rec-reational shoppers as customers, it is necessary to create astore environment and atmosphere that enables recre-ational shoppers to experience the various leisure dimen-sions while shopping. Periodically changing floor layouts,altering the store environment, and updating the

82 JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE WINTER 2006

merchandise mix with new items should keep the shop-ping experience "challenging" for the recreational shop-per, an important antecedent to the realization of a flowstate (Csikszentmihalyi 1975). Insofar as the recreationalshopping enthusiast is a multi-channel shopper, the trendtoward multi-channel retailers (e.g., Mathwick et al. 2001)may be useful in attracting recreational shoppers.

Finally, advertising and other communication effortsdesigned to attract recreational shoppers should not onlyfocus on the merchandise a store offers but also extol theexperiential aspects of shopping at the store. Messages canbe designed that promote shopping as a pathway to self-fulfillment through the process of shopping, beyond mereproduct acquisition.

Limitations

The present research investigated recreational shop-ping only in a clothing shopping context, which may haveaccounted for the heavy skew toward women as recre-ational shopping enthusiasts. Although other research hasidentified women as more likely to consider shopping arecreational activity, it is conceivable that other contexts(e.g., home electronics, automobiles) would reveal ahigher incidence of male shopping enthusiasts. Second,the two studies included here were not based on represen-tative samples of the population. Although these sampleswere adequate for scale development and validation, andfor exploring relationships between RSI and various shop-ping behaviors, a complete descriptive profile of the recre-ational shopping enthusiast was not achieved. A represen-tative sample survey that includes the RSI scale could beimplemented for that purpose. In a related vein, anotherpotential limitation noted by one of the reviewers is thatthe wording of the RSI Scale items may be too arcane forsome respondents, relying too much on psychological jar-gon. If that were true to a large extent, it is unlikely that theitems would have formed a reliable factor across foursubsamples in two studies. However, given that lowersocioeconomic strata were somewhat underrepresented inthis research, this issue warrants attention in any subse-quent research using the RSI Scale. Finally, the resultsreported here were based only on self-report data, whichare subject to possible bias because of shared method vari-ance. It would be ideal to assess the validity of the RSIScale with independent measures or observations of shop-ping behavior; the present results provide some initialjustification for pursuing a study ofthat nature.

Future Research

An interesting avenue for future research would be toinvestigate recreational shopper identity in a Web-basedshopping environment. The results of Study 2 indicatedthat recreational shopping enthusiasts tend to shop more

frequently across all shopping channels; however, thepresent research focused on clothing shopping in a brick-and-mortar environment. Given the continuing emergenceof Internet retailing, it would be useful to investigate thedegree to which the RSI Scale captures self-related aspectsof recreational Web shoppers. On one hand, it seems diffi-cult to conceive of Internet shopping as "recreational" inthe same sense as a trip to the mall. On the other hand, thecapabihties offered by rich media and a broadband con-nection can create an engaging and entertaining onlineshopping experience. Compared with older consumers,younger consumers much more readily embrace theInternet and its unique offerings such as music and videofile sharing, instant messaging, chat rooms, and virtualcommunities. It seems plausible that younger consumersmight also be more likely to engage in intense and self-related recreational shopping online.

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Guiry et al, / RECREATIONAL SHOPPER IDENTITY 83

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Michael Guiry (guirytn@newpaltz,edu) is an assistant profes-sor of marketing in the School of Business at the State Universityof New York, New Paltz, He received his Ph.D, from the Univer-sity of Florida, His research interests include recreational shop-ping and cross-cultural consumer behavior,

Anne W. Mägi (anne,magi@cba,ufl,edu) (Ph,D,, StockholmSchool of Economics) is a visiting scholar in the University ofFlorida Marketing Department, Her research interests includeretail patronage, consumer loyalty, price perceptions and knowl-edge, and impulsive shopping behavior. Her research has beenpublished in the Journal of Retailing and the Journal of Retailing

and Consumer Services.

Richard J. Lutz (richard,lutz@cba,ufl,edu) is the J, C, PenneyProfessor of Marketing in the Warrington College of BusinessAdministration at the University of Florida, He received hisPh,D, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Hisresearch lies in the area of consumer behavior and in particularconsumer response to advertising. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, and the Journal of Advertising.

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