The Role of Mystery in Preferences for Shopping Malls

Abstract

The Kaplans' information processing model of landscape preference asserts that landscapes are preferred if they make sense to users and permit their involvement. A landscape makes sense when it has coherence and legibility and is involving when it has complexity and mystery. This study was undertaken to investigate whether mystery is related to preference for scenes of shopping mall environments. Forty-five slides of shopping malls were rated for mystery by a panel of experts; the slides were then shown to 111 students who rated them for preference. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation for the variables was found to be 0.69, which indicates a moderately high positive correlation between mystery and preference. Factor analysis showed that two malls with distinctive designs formed separate groupings apart from the other more ordinary malls, and were generally more preferred by respondents. Dull, unornamented, and uninvolving pedestrian ways and corridors formed another distinct, less preferred grouping.