An empirical analysis of the factors raising the interest in new shopping destinations

• Relationship among factors on interest in new shopping destinations is investigated.
• Mixture structural equation models are estimated with Tokyo metropolitan area data.
• Lower satisfaction level with current choice set incites external information search.
• Benefit of adding new alternatives affects only in active information search group.

The relationship among the factors in the rising interest in new alternatives is empirically investigated in the context of shopping destination choice behavior. The hypothetical causal relationship is that the rising interest in new alternatives requires both active information search and considerable benefit, which is supported by the results of the mixture structural equation models using a data set containing revealed shopping behaviors and attitudes toward shopping destinations in the Tokyo metropolitan area: a lower level of satisfaction with the current choice set incites external information search for all subjects; however, the benefit of adding new alternatives affects the interest in new alternatives only in the group that engages in active information search.