Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

St. Gallen, Univ., Diss., 2007.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 120-126.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-92).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

No description available.

The shopping centre has evolved into an integral part of modern day society. New generations especially are unable to imagine a world without shopping centres. In 2008 a world wide economic down turn emphasized the competition to attract a buying market to shopping centres, some centres thrived and some centres struggled. The need to understand what creates these different responses to highly competitive scenarios is discussed in this study, with particular attention given to the tenant mix that exists in different shopping centres. Criteria that determine an optimum tenant mix are examined and the constraining factors are discussed. A literature review of shopping centres is discussed and the evolution of the shopping centre to our current day understanding of the term shopping centre is examined. Accepted definitions and categorisations of shopping centres along with a brief history of the shopping centre, as revealed by the literature, is presented. To create a tenant mix the body of tenants needs to be divided into sub- categories and various ways to achieve this are examined. The objectives of this study are to determine what strategic approaches to managing the tenant mix exists in the literature and what factors determine the formulation of this mix. Furthermore the study examines to what extent these or other strategic approaches are used in practice and finally makes recommendations to promote the optimum tenant mix in shopping centres. A literature review was conducted to determine what the theory reveals about the shopping centre industry. This was followed by an empirical survey conducted in the Port Elizabeth area of the Nelson Mandela Metropole. Finally the findings and theory were compared to make conclusions and suggest recommendation to achieve synergy in shopping centres through a optimum tenant mix.

Recent studies have sought to explain consumer spatial behaviour in terms of the psychological characteristics of the consumer. A variety of psychological attributes have been suggested as potential independent variables including perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and values. This study seeks to synthesise these disparate approaches through the identification and measurement of consumer dispositions which are seen to function as central components in the decision making process leading to behaviour. Particular emphasis is placed upon the development of a reliable and valid set of dispositional scales which it is hoped might have applicability beyond this single study. This research makes a further contribution to the existing literature by comparing the ability of a dispositional model to predict retail choices with that of traditional shopping behaviour models based on measures of the locational and biographical characteristics of the consumer. Interview responses and a factor analysis of questionnaire data identified five major dispositions underlying retail choices with respect to clothing purchases. These were labeled status-orientation, convenience-orientation, fashion-orientation, price orientation and quality-orientation. A set of Likert scales was developed to measure these dispositions and a pretest was conducted to ensure that established psychometric standards were met. The major data collection phase comprised a questionnaire survey of a stratified random sample of households drawn from the City of Vancouver and adjacent municipalities. The data provided information on the respondent's dispositions, shopping behaviour and biographical characteristics. Location relative to retail facilities was subsequently determined from the respondent's address. A series of discriminant analyses were performed on the questionnaire data to compare the efficacy of locational, biographical and dispositional variables as discriminators between retail patronage groups. The groups were defined on the basis of the type of store and type of shopping centre patronized on each of four shopping trips for clothing. The results suggest that retail choices may be the outcome of a two-stage decision process: the first stage at a macro scale involving the isolation of one or more feasible alternative shopping areas primarily on the basis of locational considerations; the second stage, at a micro scale involving the selection of a store within one of the preselected shopping areas with dispositional factors being fundamental in directing the evaluation of alternatives and the choice of a preferred store. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Prof. F. J. Herbst

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of background music in a retail setting on Generation Y students’ shopping behaviors by using the Mehrabian-Russell environmental psychology model. the study examined the impact of genre, volume, and song familiarity on purchase intention, as well as whether these musical factors would produce a change in mood. the influence of involvement with shopping on in-store music was also examined. a total of 251 students completed pre- and post-shopping surveys at the University of North Texas’ Follett Bookstore. Participants were all between 18 and 35 years of age (Generation Y). the surveys aimed to capture the participants’ entry and exit mood as well as information such as level of shopping involvement and intentions, musical awareness, overall shopping experience, and basic demographics. a positive mood change was found between entry and exit among those who were somewhat familiar and not at all familiar with the music, and entry mood affected overall shopping experience. There was a positive correlation between exit mood and the overall experience, and a negative correlation between exit mood and the amount of money spent.