ETHNO-SENSORY MODESTY: DECONSTRUCTING VISUAL MERCHANDISING ARCHITECTURE IN MALAYSIA’S PREMIUM RETAIL SPACES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7si4.1589Keywords:
ethno-sensory modesty, visual merchandising architecture, Malaysia premium retail, masstige luxury, multisensory retail environments, Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R)Abstract
Malaysia’s premium retail spaces fuse global luxury signaling with richly diverse local sensibilities around modesty, heritage, and ethnocultural plurality. This study proposes Ethno-Sensory Modesty Cues (ESMC) as a cohesive Visual Merchandising (VM) framework that embeds ethnocultural symbolism, modesty-informed spatial logic, and multisensory atmospherics into architectural design and shopper experience. Grounded in an S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) lens, the research advances a culturally situated model where ESMC (stimuli) activate affective responses (AR) and cognitive appraisals (CA) within diverse Malaysian publics, ultimately shaping behavioral intentions (BI) such as dwell time, visit frequency, willingness to pay, and word-of-mouth. The study addresses a threefold gap: conceptual (the absence of a defined ESMC construct that integrates heritage signaling, modesty norms, and multisensory design in Malaysian VM), empirical (limited multi-group tests of ESMC–AR/CA–BI pathways across Malay, Chinese, Indian, and expatriate consumers in Malaysia), and practitioner (insufficient guidance on harmonizing masstige accessibility with aspirational branding in premium retail spaces).
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