Entertainment in retailing: The influences of advanced technologies Eleonora Pantano, Giuseppe Naccarato à Department of Linguistics, via P. Bucci, cubo17b, University of Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy article info Keywords: Retailing Shopping experience Consumer behavior Advanced technologies Entertainment abstract In recent years, the importance of an enjoyable experience during the shopping activity increased. As a consequence, many researchers are focusing on the best application of enjoyable elements in the points of sale in order to maintain existing consumers and attract new ones. The aim of this paper is to analyze how the introduction of advanced technologies modifies the retailing context and affects consumers shopping experience. In particular, three aspects of our results emerge from a theoretical standpoint: new advantages for retailers (the possibility to achieve fast information on consumer behavior and preferences); the improvement of the point of sale; and the positive influences on consumers shopping experience. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In recent years, the importance of an enjoyable experience during the shopping activity increased (Kim, 2001; Kozinets et al., 2002; B¨ ackstr ¨ om and Johansson, 2006). In fact, several authors carried out that consumers who enjoy the shopping experience engage more purchases if compared to those who not (Kim and Kim, 2008). The shopping experience, therefore, can be influenced by the fun provided in the store (Diep and Sweeney, 2008). In particular, this experience plays an important role in the consumers satisfaction process. Indeed, an entertainment context seems to have a stronger impact on consumers satisfaction than a non-entertainment context (S¨ oderlund and Julander, 2009). In fact, it can add value to the goods and services provided in the store (Newsom et al., 2009; Roussos et al., 2003). Moreover, the level of entertainment is a powerful tool to improve processes, by enhancing users experience. For instance, it is very effective for facilitating learning processes (Cutr ı et al., 2008; Pantano and Tavernise, 2009). In this scenario, many studies are focusing on the best application of enjoyable elements in the points of sale in order to entertain more consumers, improve their shopping experience and communicate the brand in new and attractive ways (Burke, 2002; Chang and Burke, 2007; Michon et al., 2006). To achieve this task, several firms added in their stores entertainment elements as bar, gyms and restaurants capable to enjoy existing consumers, as well as to attract new ones. Meaningful example are the Armani brand, which added in its most important Italian store (in Milan, Italy) the famous Nobu Restaurant, and the Ralph Lauren brand which created the Ralph Lauren Restaurant in Chicago (USA), where each element of the environment reflects and reminds the brand style. With the same purpose, also other luxury firms are extending their signature label into the landmark hotel (especially in exclusive places): for instance, BVULGARI opened a hotel in Milan and another one in Bali, and Versace opened the Palazzo Versace in the Australian Gold Coast. Hence, it’s emerging new vision of the shopping places: the shopping places as entertaining places. The current advances in technologies carried out new powerful tools to improve in-store consumers experience. The aim of this paper is to analyze how the introduction of advanced technologies modifies the retailing context, by provid- ing new enjoyable elements, and how these technologies can affect consumers shopping experience. The first part is devoted to the most used technologies in the points of sale; the second one analyzes the main implications of these technologies for marketers and the possible influences on consumers behavior. 2. Advanced technologies in retailing The main characteristic of the current technologies applied to retailing is the interactivity. In fact, these technologies give consumers the possibility to interact with the products in the stores as in a videogame. For this reason, the interactive technologies (such as 3D virtual models) have been already exploited by several e-retailers in order to enhance consumers shopping experience (Kim et al., 2007; Yoo et al., 2010). Furthermore, these tools can be used also in the real stores with similar results. ARTICLE IN PRESS Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2010.03.010 à Corresponding author. Tel.: + 39 0984494363; fax: + 39 0984494110. E-mail address: giuseppe.naccarato@unical.it (G. Naccarato). Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 17 (2010) 200–204