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Emphatic architecture: an approach to spatial
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2024
IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.
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IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1351 (2024) 012012
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1351/1/012012
1
Emphatic architecture: an approach to spatial quality concept
in achieving adaptive retail resilience
E N Ustazah1, P Setijanti1*, A Hayati1
1Department of Architecture, Faculty of Civil, Planning and Geo Engineering, Institut
Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
*Correspondence e-mail: psetijanti@arch.its.ac.id
Abstract. The retail atmosphere is changing fast. A physical-based retail is developed by
creating an experience with user empathy. The object of this research is an art fashion retail
boutique fashion with art content and experiences that represent the uniqueness of customer
segmentation. This type of retail will collapse if there are no repeat visits. Consequently, the
retail resilience will be declined. Therefore, it is crucial to conceptualize how the customer
experience in a retail setting influences purchasing decision-making. This study focuses on
designing for customers with specific needs to gain personal experiences in art fashion retail.
This experience is understood effectively through an empathic process. Spatial quality is related
to the atmosphere. Understanding the atmosphere and customers is related to the existence of
spatial settings, activities, senses, and behavior. The relationship between this aspect becomes
the basis for developing the concept of personalizing from the customer's point of view. The
strategy used is qualitative research to explore customer interaction experiences with spatial
settings and gain a broad understanding of related aspects. The composition of the spatial quality
elements of art fashion retail represents the customers' perception, experience, and behavior.
Varied experiences include being close to a product, close to space, feeling at home, getting
imaginative with settings, and uniting and strengthening social relationships. Then customers
gain a comfortable atmosphere, so the existence of retail can be resilient in the latest era of retail
business.
1. Introduction
The retail environment is changing rapidly, both online or internet-based and physical. The rapid
expansion of online retail has long raised fears that shops and shopping malls might be abandoned. The
strategy for dealing with this scenario is experiential retailing, which adapts physical-based retail to a
way to survive along with the proliferation of online retail [1]. A physical-based environment is
developed by creating an inviting experience with the concept of empathy [2] [3]. The object of this
research is an art fashion retail space, namely a boutique with an interior designed to provide
commodities for particular consumers. The art-fashion retail space markets specific fashion products
with value content (art, culture, social) and is made using uncommon techniques [4]. Independent
boutiques tend to have fewer resources and often face pressure to turn “casual” visits into purchases. It
is about how to create resilience in the retail industry [5]. This retail is in a certain location, either in a
commercial area or main street or second street. In this research, the location of the art fashion retail
research is in a residential area that is easily accessible to visitors. This art fashion retail has gallery
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space facilities as a place to display and sell products, as well as a product-making workshop that can
be accessed by visitors. Art fashion retail space is a retail space that markets fashion and art collaboration
products. The value of fashion and art presents fashion that is different and not marketable [6] [7]. This
follows the main target of this type of retail store, which also pays attention to customer characteristics
and personality so that it will deepen the empathy process. In architecture, all customers and problems
are unique, and custom design solutions are used for each problem. Customers differ from one another
and have different requirements. In a design approach, applying a subject orientation involving
customers is essential for creating design solutions that empathize with customers [3]. Bringing out the
expression of creativity in retail space design can be started by understanding the motivation and
character of consumers [8]. Consumer motivation can be a function orientation or a hedonic orientation.
Shopping for fashion needs can be categorized as a recreational activity, where consumers tend to pursue
shopping motivations that are more than just acquiring products but choosing clothes to reflect their
self-image [9] [10]. It represents the taste identity of consumer groups based on their perspectives,
values, and lifestyles. The interior space, consisting of constituent materials, decorations, colors, and
lighting, represents its customers' views, status, and tastes. Some mechanisms connect humans with their
environment, which gives rise to concepts such as perception and cognition that are influenced by
cultural variations [11]. In this research, perceptual and cognition processes occur in a specific retail
environment with specific consumers, providing the richness and detail of the aspects of the
multisensory mechanism. Multisensory activity mechanisms relate to humanity (scenery/motivation,
personality, values, etc.), the body (affectional response, etc.), and the world (retail environment).
Having empathy for customers helps reveal customer-intensive experiences and approaches. This
illustrates how empathy in architecture can be used as a phenomenological approach to customer
experience [6].
Every environment has the potential to offer experiences and determine human behavior. The need
or motivation schema will guide the perceptual process to obtain information about the environment
[12]. Sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste are the senses that enable humans to perceive the
environment, and they bring positive and negative feelings into a given experience. Therefore, it is
essential to conceptualize how the customer experiences the retail atmosphere as a spatial quality in a
fashion boutique, and that the retail resilience is enhanced through increased experience in the
environment for purchasing decision-making. The benefits of aesthetic appeal and the resulting feeling
of "pleasure" when using a product encourage hedonic consumption, including behavioral aspects
related to multisensory, fantasy, and emotional consumption [13]. In experiential fashion retailing, the
shopping atmosphere is designed to increase the frequency and extend the duration of shopping trips
[14]. Buyers who stay longer are more likely to make transactions and spend more than buyers who
shop for a shorter time [15].
Designers are responsible for responding to diverse customer’s needs, expectations, and problems
[16]. There needs to be empathy with customers to help dive into their experiences, lives, and ways of
life. So, developing empathy skills and reflecting them on products or projects is essential. This directs
how empathy is used in design and architecture. There are approaches that separate views on empathy
[17]. In empathic design, sensitivity is emphasized, mainly when dealing with targeted (unique)
customers [18]. For spatial needs, it is essential to actualize the principles that need to be implemented,
from architectural design to landscape design, that empathize with real customers. Therefore, this
research aims to apply an emphatic approach in the design process to create varied experiences to gain
a retail resilience concept.
Spatial quality related to the atmosphere is not just a space but a combination of space or setting and
activity produced by the people in that space [19]. This study aims to explore the impact of empathic
architecture, namely by taking an approach to achieve the concept of developing a spatial atmosphere
based on empathy in art fashion retail through the relationship between activity, behavior, and setting
through case studies of art fashion retail that survives the development trend of the retail, towards the
formation of an atmosphere in art fashion retail, so that it will become the basis for developing the store
atmospheric concept from the customer's point of view. It is this view of buying behavior that is the aim
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of this research to open an exciting synthesis box that brings together analysis and research to form an
overall notion of empathy and, through it, understand how and to what extent increased depth can be
achieved.
Several studies in the marketing field show the role of atmosphere besides quality of service on
customer satisfaction. With the influence on the purchasing process, atmosphere plays a vital role in
particular situational factors in generating purchasing behavior. Situational factors caused by
atmospheric settings will motivate and provide strong support for the purchasing process [6]. Consumers
in fashion retail are a type of loyal consumers. Customer loyalty is one of the crucial keys to retail
business success. Retainingg existing customers costs much less than acquiring new ones [20].
Figure 1. The store atmosphere influences the intention to purchase Kotler & Keller, 2016.
Data collected directly from the field is used to develop concepts. Field data originating from a
natural setting may be dynamic in the form of personal experiences felt by individuals in the research
object space, which may contain variations or hidden data. Creating a theme for empathic architecture
to achieve a spatial atmosphere development concept in art fashion retail as a process of architectural
design. The themes created are fundamental acquisitions in architecture, and the most critical factor in
acquiring them is being able to empathize. So, it is essential to generate customer empathy, especially
in stimulating experiences through multisensory activities as a stimulus generator. In the end,
maximizing the value created from the process of empathy towards customers will create profitable
emotions and experiences in achieving retail resilience through a conceptual approach to developing a
spatial art fashion retail atmosphere on a small scale.
2. Reference/theory
2.1. Empathy in architecture and design
Empathy is about the study of life and human relationships. Empathy came about by embedding the
concepts of empathy and engaging customers. Empathy is transformed into a design tool with a firm
design method. The concept of 'emphatic design' encompasses not only architecture but all other areas
of design [21]. Empathic design emphasizes listening to the real needs of the customer's heart and
turning them into an innovative strategy for understanding the relationship between the customer and
the designer [22]. The most characteristic feature of empathic design is that designers go deep into the
customer experience. While traditional design methods rely solely on the designer's personal experience,
empathic design will understand how the customer sees, experiences, and feels objects, and atmospheres
in the circumstances he uses the design product. This scheme makes the customer directly involved, as
depicted in Figure 1 [18].
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Figure 2. Empathy scheme by T. Mattelmäki, K. Vaajakallio, and I. Koskinen, 2014.
2.2. Sense of place in art fashion retail spatial atmosphere
Sense of place is a person's subjective perception of experiences in the atmosphere. This is an essential
element in maintaining the quality of one's attachment to the atmosphere based on real feelings and built
awareness [23]. Experience is influenced by spatial structure (or place) and routine experiences. Space
will become a 'place' if it is infused with meaning through the presence of an experience. This is related
to the spatial atmosphere related to human perception, about the way people feel where they are through
their personality [24]. Sensory information about the atmosphere is generated through the color,
brightness, size, and shape of visual stimuli and the volume and pitch of auditory stimuli. There are four
elements of the atmosphere, namely: visual (sight) elements– color, brightness, size, and shape; aural
(sound) elements– volume, pitch, and tempo; olfactory element (smell) – fragrance and freshness; tactile
elements (touch) – softness, smoothness, and temperature. This is the earliest typology of atmospheric
elements and does not include crowds and employees. An extensive framework of atmospheric elements
that refers to the influence of the store atmosphere on inferences about store quality and image, namely:
ambient factors – music, lighting, smells; design factors – floors, walls, displays/fixtures, colors,
cleanliness, changing rooms, hallways, layout, signs; social factor – the sales force. This typology
considers the social dimension but does not include retail store exterior design facilities [25].
2.3. Relationship between customer experience and architectural spatial settings as a support for
empathic design processes
Empathy in architecture concept offers a different perspective to the customer-oriented approach with
emphatic design methods. There are five critical steps in the empathic design process: observation,
capturing data, reflection, and analysis, seeing the concept that arises from the process of spatial
experience, and developing a design model [26]. The designer must keep the customer in mind at all
steps of the design process and participate in each step of the design emphatically. Understanding how
customers perceive and understand their needs and problems [18].
In every design process that emphasizes the use of a visual approach, the "sensory experience" of
each spatial object is realized in a design atmosphere which is then explained in architectural aspects.
As an example, aspects of intimacy related to scale, size, the shape of space, and openings in the building
become a factor in the existence of sequences in the building so that the building seems to have a
'storyline.' Another example is light on things. The building forms shadows and reflections on the
surface, with the mass being perforated and given light [27] [28] [29]. In addition to the atmosphere, the
atmosphere of a social situation can also be supportive or discouraging, liberating, or stifling, inspiring
or boring. The atmosphere in a place that gives a specific meaning and empathy to that place can
differentiate it from other places and is formed from a unique activity [30].
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2.4. Retail resilience through sensory experience
'Retail resilience' has been used to explore the ongoing transitions in various public areas such as
downtown, main roads, and suburban malls but has yet to be applied to explore how retail systems
respond to retail [31]. 'Spatial resilience' emphasizes that shopping spaces should be understood as 'free
space' to increase retail resilience obtained from adaptation processes in various forms. Stronger retail
resilience emerges from the mixing and collaboration of different types of shopping areas [32]. The
differences in shopping areas are felt through sensory experience and spatial responses through emotions
and cognition (occurring through the perception process, namely by seeing, hearing, tasting, touching,
and smelling) to atmosphere stimuli as an interaction between information-stimulating receptors in the
perception and sensory processes.[33]. The senses are considered as a perceptual system. Experience
through the senses is a system for obtaining various sensations. Through sensory experience,
information about objects can be obtained without being distracted from intellectual processes [34].
There are ways to bring up the experience: differences, specific themes, depth (complexity), purpose,
and open-ended [35]. The five senses' experience helps define problems that are influenced by
multisensory experiences and generate buying behavior from a range of sensory experiences. Sensory
tools can be applied to create unique spatial experiences as well as a variety of other settings. This makes
the sensory experience very important to note because the atmosphere can significantly influence the
customer's emotions in a spatial setting, so buying behavior will arise [36].
The theme used to approach a way through the schematic influence of architectural elements and
customer experience aspects and efforts to achieve the concept of developing a spatial atmosphere in art
fashion retail from an architectural point of view. The theme in the schema will also bring out layers of
difference through the relationship of behavior and settings that occur and translate it as architectural
features based on emotions and experiences [37].
3. Methods
In empathy-focused methods, customers greatly influence achieving desired outcomes [38]. In this
study, the customer practices mentioned occurred as a research technique based on an emphatic process.
The concept of "atmosphere" is relevant for visual analysis. This concept helps explain how the impact
of images arising from their aesthetic, emotional, and corporeal forms is formed from human moods and
cognitive responses [39]. The thematic case study phenomenological approach uses a qualitative
strategy with photo-elicitation to explore the relationship between customer interaction and retail space
and gain a broad understanding of related aspects. The photo elicitation method is a method that uses
photos or other visual media in interviews to generate verbal discussion to create data and knowledge.
In addition, photo-elicitation makes participants generate deep emotions, memories, and ideas to explore
experiences [40].
3.1. Participants and setting.
Observations and interviews of customer experiences are carried out in art fashion retail in Surabaya,
which has survived for approximately 20 years in an era of rapid change in the retail atmosphere. During
this time, this retailer experienced a decline in purchases, especially during the pandemic. This happens
because the sales scheme is carried out directly at physical retail. However, this retail can still survive
and be visited because it implements health protocols by applicable regulations by adjusting settings
that maximize elements to stimulate customers' sensory experiences. The research location has a product
fashion with artistic content, namely contemporary batik motifs with the theme of the city of Surabaya.
Art fashion retail is located in a residential area but is easily accessible to visitors. This art fashion retail
has gallery space facilities to display and sell products and workshops to make products visitors can
access. Participants are respondents who were selected on the advice of art fashion retail owners and are
interested in being involved in research. Participants are loyal customers and customers who have a
design educational background. This is related to customer relations in retail, its consistency in fashion
orientation, and a more profound process of design empathy. Participants consented to use their
information, photographs, and quoted words from the interview results, ensuring anonymity.
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3.2. Procedure
There was a procedure for reminding participants that they could withdraw from the research at any time
during the research process, and meeting arrangements were made individually. Participants who were
successfully recruited totaled five people, 3 are loyal customers and 2 are customers who have a design
educational background. The tactic used to collect data is semi-structured interviews, where previously
participants were asked to explore retail space and then photographed from three favorite angles, and at
that corner, they made a purchasing decision. With photo elicitation at the interview stage, it is hoped
that more findings will be able to be explored. In sequence, the following steps are carried out. Step 1,
through interviews as a collaboration between participants and researchers, results in collaborative
interactions [41]. Step 2, through organizing the data, the photos obtained are part of the data source.
The photos are grouped into categories according to the room where the photos were taken. Then, it is
sorted from the most taken angle to the least. Step 3: Provide name identification on the photos
(descriptors) produced by the participants. This provides an accurate picture of the concepts and
elements that are important from the atmosphere of the space that provides the participant's experience.
The presented experience is written as an essay or descriptive, then identification classification and
theory validation are carried out on aspects/substances related to the theoretical framework. Step 4,
through structured analysis using the NVivo software, these aspects or substances are in NVivo coded.
Furthermore, the coding process is done by classifying, calculating, relating, and comparing
categories/themes. Step 5, through interpretive analysis, to understand the emerging data.
3.3. Data analysis
Data processing techniques were carried out qualitatively on the results of interviews and photographs
produced by research respondents. The output of this process is a presentation of the results of data
analysis in the form of diagrams, tables, or graphs used for thematic analysis and associative relations.
The version used is NVivo 14 by QSR International. The stages in using the Nvivo program start from
conducting qualitative data analysis by following three s: reducing data, displaying data, drawing
conclusions, and their verification. The processing carried out is the Matrix Coding Query process;
namely, the matrix coding query in NVivo occurs from the cross-tabulation process of coding
intersections between two item lists to find the central theme as a reference for concluding this study.
4. Results
4.1. The retail setting, behavior, and atmosphere of art fashion retail
Even though in interviews and photo elicitation the participants did not have the same tendency to pay
attention to all the elements of stimulation in the retail area, several elements still influenced the
participants in generating stimulation and sensitivity into thoughts and tools to think more deeply about
it. The following elements are felt to majorly influence participants in generating these thoughts. Art
fashion retail creates a shopping experience and sensory stimulation that demands heightened
sensitivity. The various stimuli presented play a role in influencing the purchasing decision process.
This connection between sensory, stimuli elements, and emotion will be the material in representing
how creative ideas can emerge.
Activities are carried out individually or in groups, and interactions occur with elements of the setting
system both physically and psychologically. Physically and psychologically brings up a variety of
behavior movements, exploring, observing, and touching the surface of the setting elements. This is
based on the assessment made by the customer according to the level of interaction he can feel.
Interaction with the setting system is obtained because of a combination of feelings, activities, and
behaviors that are carried out. The description of the relationship pattern of activities and settings with
discussion is carried out in each area, where each area also represents the use of space from participants'
experiences and confirmation from retail owners.
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4.1.1. Sensory. All participants were more focused on the walls with bright colors, and almost all
participants felt that they were bright, fresh, lively, and energetic. The furniture and display elements
made of wood, namely gawangan, give a warm impression by the explanation given by the following
participants, "The room is equipped with a gawangan that matches the theme with dark shades of wood,
making this space feel so warm."
Amben (low-stage table) caught the attention of most of the participants. Amben with dark brown
teak wood material, as shown below, "My favorite apart from the seats is the low stage table (amben)
as a sitting area which creates a sense of comfort. Feel free to view batik cloth products by stretching
the cloth to see all batik motifs.". Decoration elements have received much attention, such as other wall
decoration elements, namely antique plates and batik cloth with unique motifs hung on the walls. As
expressed by a participant, "Furniture used in the store such as drawn batik sofa chairs also add a homey
impression so that visitors who come to the shop feel at home for a long." Setting elements used in the
shop, such as batik sofa chairs and chairs around the table, also add a homey impression so visitors who
visit feel at home to linger in the shop.
Figure 3. Setting and the atmosphere of the art fashion retail study.
In the empathic approach, what is felt by all the user's senses regarding spatial quality, namely the
spatial atmosphere or environment, is an important finding. In this research, participants generate
stimulation and sensitivity into thoughts and elements to think more deeply about it. People create
emotional impressions that build creative insight when all elements of architecture and interior are felt
in more than one sense. The following table contains the setting elements and emotional responses felt
by each sense and sensory category using a query matrix based on the tendency of stimulating elements.
Table 1. Sensory categories use a query matrix based on the tendency of stimulating elements.
Senses
Sight
Sound
Smell
Touch
Elements
Product display
floor, furniture,
wall, decorations
Furniture, product
display, decorations,
worker
Product display,
decorative plants
Furniture,
product display,
floor, airflow
Emotions
Pleasant,
wonder,
attractive, and
intimate
Homey, comfort,
and peaceful
Relax, unique,
intimate
Cool, soulful,
and calm
In the table above, product display elements (furniture and products), floor, furniture, walls, and
decorations stimulate sight sense, sound sense, smell, and touch sense, providing pleasant, wonder,
unique, comfortable, and intimate feelings. Besides how the airflow and daily conversations of workers
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in the workshop can be heard soft until they enter the retail space, it gives a feeling of homey, calm, and
comfortable.
4.1.2. Spatial Atmosphere Element in Art Fashion Retail Setting. The analysis of the relationship
between the activity system and the setting system at the locations yielded findings that in the space
where recreational activity and behavior occur, socializing, learning, and creating. The relationship
between activity and setting involves system setting elements consisting of fixed elements: architectural
elements, spatial quality elements, and semi-fixed elements. The setting system has levels adjusted to
purpose and vision, accessed one by one based on the motivation and schemata of the participant (ethics,
interests, believed values), as shown in Table 2, which includes the identification of spatial atmospheric
elements that participants pay attention to based on an empathy approach and percentage comparison
coverage using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS).
Table 2. Spatial atmosphere element and coverage ratio in art fashion retail.
Elements
Percentage Coverage Ratio
Semi fix elements
Furniture: size and layout
21,61%
Artwork and decorations: color, form, and
layout
17,16%
Product display: size, layout, form, and
color
21,94%
Additional facilities (carpet and mirror):
size and color
4,35%
Banquet facilities: food and beverages
6,94%
Fix elements
Natural characteristics: air, water,
temperature, smell, and plants
6,08%
Architectural elements: wall, floor,
window, door, ceiling
7,46%
Color and light: color composition,
natural light, reflected light, light as shape
and form
14,48%
The store atmosphere, which includes interior, exterior, layout, and interior appearance, can attract
consumers, and arouse interest in buying. The store atmosphere is well-managed when it can make
consumers feel comfortable [42]. Setting the experience through creating store atmosphere elements in
art fashion retail makes consumers want to linger in the store (activity and behavior in Table 3),
indirectly stimulating consumer buying interest. A comfortable atmosphere will make consumers feel
comfortable and linger in the store to attract buying interest.
4.1.3. Activities and behavior. Physical and psychological impact raises various movement behaviors,
exploring, observing, and touching surfaces, both the elements and completeness. This is based on the
assessment made by the customer according to the level of interaction they can feel. Interaction with the
setting system is obtained through a combination of feelings and activities. The description of the
relationship pattern of activities and settings with discussion is carried out in each area, where each area
also represents the use of space from participants' experiences and confirmation from retail owners. The
pattern of this relationship is also accompanied by a description of the dimensions of the emotional
response expressed by the participants whose classification is based on theory [43]. There are
recreational activities and behaviors, socializing, learning, and creating in space. Some of the activities
that emerged from the findings of this study can be seen in Table 3. The various activities and behaviors
are more than just product acquisition, including taking time to enjoy the atmosphere, interacting with
others, for example, other visitors, taking photos or capturing moments, enjoying and having a banquet,
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and getting nostalgic. The table also compares the percentage coverage using Computer-assisted
qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS).
Table 3. Activity and behavior in art fashion retail.
Activity and behaviour
Percentage Coverage Ratio
Interact with products
26,73%
Take time to enjoy the product, setting, and atmosphere
23,35%
Interact with others
11,76%
Look in the mirror to see the mix and match of products
10,50%
Moving and changing spots
9,53%
Imagine a home atmosphere related to the product
4,75%
Sit on furniture
4,45%
Take photos or capture moments
3,98%
Enjoy and drink banquet
3,24%
Get nostalgic with furniture and decorations
1,74%
There is a relationship pattern from the visualization of the scope of the relationship between the
influence of variations and provision of settings on activities and behavior and the presence of stimuli
for participant activities by many elements of settings, where each setting has value for the customer so
that the five senses pay attention to it or respond to it. The participants raise this value because of what
is inside humans and some of the things they learn (schemata), then form a relationship between the
process of perception and cognition that guides emotional responses (affect) and behavior related to
space.
4.2. Architecture experience as an approach to development concept for achieving retail resilience
Activities have a positive impact on the decision-making process. By being aware of problems that were
not realized before and emphasizing that there must be a determination of customer needs and
expectations, the process of experiencing spatial architecture can be carried out. All participants were
more focused on the walls with bright colors, with almost all participants feeling that they were bright,
fresh, lively, and energetic. The wooden furniture and display elements, namely the log cabin, give a
warm impression by the explanation given by the following participants: "The room is equipped with
wood furniture that matches the theme with dark shades of wood, making this space feel so warm."
The following are elements that have a significant influence on participants in generating these
thoughts. In this study, customers are asked to feel the atmosphere through existing architectural
elements stimuli. The results show that customers get positive results on purchasing decisions by making
purchases at the end of the session because they feel emphatic and connected through their reflections
and their perspectives on their needs, conditions, and expectations that arise while in the art fashion
retail area. This relationship will lead to the emergence of themes that represent how an emphatic
approach can be a venue for maintaining and making art fashion retail resilient through a concept
development atmosphere spatial in art fashion retail that is appropriate and targeted to consumers.
5. Discussion
5.1. Experiencing architecture in art fashion retail
Experiencing architecture in art fashion retail occurs when multisensory experience-sensing
mechanisms are continuously found in display areas to showcase products. Where the influence of the
physical atmosphere is supported by the process of perception, motivation, beliefs, preferences,
personality, and experience [44], this condition makes the participants tend to think based on the
essential input source of thinking, namely through sight, as seen in the statement of one participant,
"Apart from batik fabrics and clothes, there are other elements which in my opinion further support the
luxurious impression given to the displayed batik clothes and fabrics. In this corner, namely wooden
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furniture for displaying products and paintings on display". Experiencing architecture that gives rise to
Aesthetics is always associated with how the senses perceive and observe objects and conditions. If
there is no attempt at a multisensory experience, indirectly, participants perceive visual stimuli as the
only way to produce effects and become the primary source of judgment. From the results of the study,
the elements felt by participants in creating emotional impressions and impulse purchases that build
imagination and cognition do not all come from sight, but because of the influence of other senses. Even
the experience they feel can be felt when all of these elements are felt in more than one sense, as
experienced by the participants in the following statement, "The light from outside and the room lights
provide an atmosphere that makes me want to sit back, not just because the light that comes in is bright
enough but also, the air that feels quite cool."
5.2. Relationship between emphatic and architectural spatial atmosphere to bring up concept
development
Findings from literature and data processing results have been analyzed to understand sensory state
elements and raise discussions about how sensory experience influences the spatial atmosphere as an
effort to make it an emphatic method in architectural processes and design on the impact of design
solutions on customers, resulting in a schematic relationship between empathic and architectural spatial
atmosphere to bring up concept development to achieve retail resilience through the concept of
developing a spatial atmosphere in art fashion retail on a small scale. This refers to buyer engagement,
considered essential in the conceptual and actual design stages relevant to art fashion retail design. At
this point, a mechanism can be applied to examine the customer experience more deeply to support using
the empathic design method. Experience in mechanisms is considered using in-depth interviews and
photo elicitation techniques, which are then examined for trends in their influence on the customer's
empathy process. The relationship between empathic and architectural spatial atmosphere makes the
customer and owner more aware and sensitive in expressing their dreams, thoughts, and emotions
towards a design, said to be empathy shown to the customer's influence in achieving maximum results.
Table 4. Relationship between emphatic and architectural spatial atmosphere.
Setting
Activity and
behavior
Behavioral
architecture
Semi fix
Fix
Product display
Colour and light
Interact with
products
Close to product
Furniture
Natural characteristics,
color, and light
Interact with friends
Close and match the
atmosphere of space
Furniture, product
display, and banquet
facilities
Architectural elements,
color, and light
Take time to enjoy
the product, setting,
and atmosphere
Reluctant to go/enjoy
the atmosphere
Furniture
Natural characteristics,
color, and light
Sit on furniture
Unites and
strengthens
relationships
Product display,
artwork, and
decorations, additional
facilities
Architectural elements,
color, and light
Take photos or
capture moments
Show off and collect
Furniture and banquet
facilities
Natural characteristics
Enjoy and drink
banquet
Feel part of the space
Product display
Architectural elements
Moving and
changing spots
Do not hesitate to
walk around the
room
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Setting
Activity and
behavior
Behavioral
architecture
Semi fix
Fix
Product display,
additional facilities
Colour and light
Look in the mirror
to see the mix and
match of products
Self-projection and
choice
Furniture, artwork, and
decorations
Natural characteristics,
architectural elements,
color, and light
Imagine a home
atmosphere
Feel like home
Furniture, artwork, and
decorations
Architectural elements,
color, and light
Get nostalgic with
furniture and
decorations
Get imaginative with
settings
The table above shows a relationship between activity and behavior toward the setting that influences
the emergence of behavioral architecture and how an arrangement of various architectural settings
influences habits that ultimately create a unique architectural habit. The behavioral architecture in Table
4 emerged from the findings of this study. Feel part of the space, feel at home, and get imaginative with
settings from coding analysis and formulating relationships using computer-assisted qualitative data
analysis software. Furthermore, the analysis is carried out by identifying the relationships in each
activity and behavior towards each setting element. These relationships are then transformed into
behavioral architectures, which are then used to facilitate the emergence of theme synthesis in concept
preparation. The following is an explanation of the relationship between activities and settings with
discussions carried out, where each area represents the use of space as explained by the retail owner.
The following describes the analysis of the relationship between system activity—behavior, and system
settings. With the influence of the multisensory experience gained from space exploration activities and
the influence of various elements of space, participants can get a variety of emotions and stimulus
behaviors that are more diverse than before. In addition, the relationship between elements felt by
participants such as the application of room colors that match the participants' personalities. Other
experiences also generate good emotions and experiences in providing meaningful experiential effects
as a source of sensory experience to generate the concept of spatial atmosphere. An example of a
behavioral architecture created is the emergence of "close to product" from the relationship between
product display elements and lighting settings for interaction between customers and products. Apart
from that, according to the results in Table above, an interesting behavioral architecture that also
emerged was "show off and collect," which was heavily influenced by unique settings in retail such as
product displays, artwork, and decorations, additional facilities combined with the arrangement of
architectural elements such as color and light, giving rise to the activity of taking photos or capturing
moments.
5.3. Theme as a concept of developing a spatial atmosphere to achieve retail resilience
Table 5. Themes in art fashion retail to achieve retail resilience.
Behavioral architecture
Themes
Close to product
Intimate
Close and match the atmosphere of space
Convenient
Reluctant to go/enjoy the atmosphere
Lingering
Unites and strengthens relationships
Consolidate
Show off and collect
Show off
Feel part of the space
Being family
Do not hesitate to walk around the room
Relaxed
Self-projection and choice
Self-projection
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Behavioral architecture
Themes
Feel like home
Close to space
Get imaginative with settings
Imagine
From Table 5, themes of architectural activities and behavior such as intimate convenience, lingering,
consolidating, and others obtained from the results of the formulation of various keywords analyzed
using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. The stages of carrying out the empathy
process in architecture begin with collecting data about universal design principles and targeted
customers, gaining customer experience through empathy, and producing a design that creates
awareness by combining the concepts of empathy with the studies developed. The mechanism between
perception, experience, and consumer behavior relates to atmosphere psychology from the relationship
between humans and their atmosphere settings where each factor offers human experiences and behavior
have an influence and are related to each other to give rise to architectural behavior in art fashion retail.
Figure 4. Scheme for developing spatial atmosphere concept in an art retail fashion.
The scheme for developing the spatial atmosphere concept in art fashion retail is supported by four
customer factors starting from multisensory activity (sight, touch, smell, hear, and taste), customer
emotion and perceived experiencing architecture, customer activity and behavior, and customer
motivation, personality, and preferences. These four factors together form an architectural experience
with an emphatic approach that arises from the relationship between architectural objects, activities,
behavior, and how the senses perceive these stimuli. This relationship can occur because of the feeling
of empathy that arises due to the significant influence of the architectural atmosphere of the space. As
seen in Table 3, customer motivation, personality, and preferences attached to users greatly influence
how they perceive atmospheric stimuli. With the influence of multisensory experiences obtained from
space exploration activities and the influence of various spatial elements, participants can obtain a more
diverse range of emotions and behavioral stimuli than before. In the end, this experience creates a theme
that functions to evoke emotions and experiences, both in providing meaningful experiential effects and
as a source of sensory experience, resulting in the development of a spatial atmosphere.
This is also in line with research in the field of marketing that consumer decision-making has shifted
from rational to emotional and based on experience [37], through unique in-store experiences that reach
all five senses and aim to bring consumers into the atmosphere. Authentic ones evoke memories of
places they have visited and hope that consumers will come back to retail and stay longer in retail.
Building resilience as retail is undergoing a paradigm shift as a result of the economic slowdown and
the rise of e-commerce and multi-channel retail, which offers product acquisition needs only. This
research expands our understanding of how blocking stimuli related to one sensory modality may
influence the effects of other sensory modalities, which will also influence the absence of expected
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experiences [45]. As illustrated in the table below, blocking other sensors in a retail environment results
in limited emotions and spatial quality. With the consumer empathy approach, this research explored
how consumers' emotional needs reach all emotional dimensions when referring to the classic theory of
pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD) emotions [43].
Table 6. The influence of architectural experience on the output theme and spatial quality.
Architecture
Experience
Emotion Dimension
Theme
Spatial Quality
Single sensory
1 - 2 dimension emotion
Single theme
A spatial atmosphere
Multisensory
1 - 3 dimension emotion
Varied theme
Concept of developing a varied
and adaptive spatial atmosphere
Experience creates a theme that functions to evoke emotions and experiences, both in providing
meaningful experiential effects and as a source of sensory experience, resulting in the concept of
developing a varied and adaptive spatial atmosphere the concept of developing varied and adaptive
spatial atmosphere. A theme with a multisensory role scheme in a spatial atmosphere, which influences
purchasing decisions and empathic architecture, will give rise to more significant potential for
purchasing decisions. Of course, this has an impact on retail resilience. So that customers will stay longer
and make purchases. According to research by Lindeman, buyers who stay longer are more likely to
make transactions and spend more than buyers who shop for a shorter time [15]. Applying this concept
will likely achieve retail resilience on a small scale in art retail fashion.
6. Conclusion
'Spatial resilience' can be used to increase retail resilience, which is obtained from the adaptation process
of integration and collaboration of shopping areas through sensory experience. By understanding this
concept, spatial responses through emotion and cognition to atmosphere stimuli are the form of
interactions between receptors of information stimuli in shopping places [31] [32] [33]. Empathy elicits
experiences by analyzing differences in depth (complexity), goals, and customer needs until specific
themes are formed from processed interview data and photo elicitation using computer-assisted
qualitative data analysis software. From the research results, five sensory experiences help define needs
that are influenced by multisensory experiences, resulting in purchasing behavior and return visits.
Figure 5. Scheme for developing spatial quality concepts based on architectural experience
Based on a scheme that syntheses architectural behavioral themes, showing empathy for customers
helps reveal customer-intensive experiences and approaches. This illustrates how empathy in
architecture can be used as a phenomenological approach to customer experience. Empathy towards
spatial, especially art fashion retail, emphasizes sensitivity, especially when dealing with targeted
(unique) customers. The results of exploring the impact of empathic architecture emerge through the
relationship between activity, behavior, and setting for a case study of art fashion retail that survives the
development trend of the retail atmosphere. An architectural behavioral architecture theme can be
achieved by creating the emphatic concept of developing a spatial atmosphere in art fashion retail. The
scheme for developing the spatial atmosphere concept in fashion art retail to achieve retail resilience on
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a small scale is supported by multisensory activities, customer emotion and perceived experiencing
architecture, customer activity and behavior, and customer motivation, personality, and preferences. The
pattern of human interaction with the atmosphere produces schematic findings about the types of
relationships that occur in each activity and behavior towards each element of the setting, which contains
themes formed from the empathic process in the architectural experience. Therefore, it is essential to
generate empathy, especially in stimulating experiences through multisensory activity as generating
stimulation. Maximizing the value created from the empathy process for customers will generate good
emotions and experiences to achieve retail resilience through a conceptual approach to developing the
spatial atmosphere of art fashion retail on a small scale.
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