Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Masters Degree of Technology: Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / In South Africa, the competition between shopping centres has increased significantly over the years due to the increase in the number of shopping centres and the changing shopping behaviour. The success of any shopping centre depends on the revenue generated by customers who frequent the mall to make purchases or use the services of the retail/entertainment outlets. To attract customers to shopping centres, management has to ensure that malls are effectively promoted to relevant stakeholders. Communication is important in any promotional, public relations or marketing activity and should be effective, persuasive and managed in a formal and structured way which fits into the overall goals of the mall. Shopping centre management may use a number of communication tools such as (and are not limited to) advertising, sales promotions, public relations, personal selling and sponsorship. However, do these strategies play a role in generating revenue to promote the overall success of a shopping centre? This dissertation, therefore, sets out to identify and examine the communication tools used by shopping centre managers within the greater Durban area in South Africa. It does so by interviewing marketing managers and the tenant mix of five competitive shopping centres within the greater Durban area in South Africa. Data will be collected from the respondents through questionnaires and an interview schedule. One of the significant results emerging from this study is that the function of tenant relations; promotions; publicity; and public relations plays an integral part in the effective functioning of a shopping centre.

The shopping centre was born in Europe and matured in North America, and it now exists in cities with a wide variety of cultures and politics (Dawson, 1983: 1). According to Casazza et al. (1985:1), the shopping centre is probably the most successful land use, development, real estate, and retail business concept of the 20th century. According to Casazza et al. (1985: 2), the shopping centre is a specialised, commercial land use and building type that previously thrived primarily in suburbia, but today is found throughout the country. When using the term ?shopping centre? accurately, a shopping centre refers to: ?A group of architecturally unified commercial establishments built on a site that is planned, developed, owned and managed as an operating unit related in its location, size, and type of shops to the trade area that it serves. The unit provides on-site parking in definite relationship to the types and total size of the stores? (Casazza et al., 1985: 2). This study investigated the need for a new shopping centre in Klerksdorp. Therefore, this study determined whether a new shopping centre in Klerksdorp would be viable. Klerksdorp and its district are quite unique in certain ways, especially due to the farming and mining activities that are found there. Klerksdorp provides goods and services especially for the people residing in Klerksdorp itself, Kanana, Alabama, Jouberton, Hartbeesfontein, Orkney, Vaal Reefs and Stilfontein. The main shopping activity is generally found in the Central Business District (CBD) of Klerksdorp and its surrounding areas. Klerksdorp has only one major shopping centre (the City Mall) that provides goods and services for the people in an enclosed surrounding area. This causes an over concentration in the CBD and too much traffic in an already limited space. The need for Klerksdorp to provide a bigger centre for the citizens of the town, as well as the surrounding areas, is high. Another regional shopping centre close to Klerksdorp is found in Potchefstroom, namely the Mooirivier Mall, and mainly provides in the extra shopping needs of the people living in Klerksdorp and its surrounding areas. This study therefore determined whether there is a need for a shopping centre from a retail and consumer point of view, and also whether it will be viable. The empirical study revealed that approximately half of the respondents are not satisfied with the current shopping centres in Klerksdorp and that more than half of the respondents feel that the shopping centres do not cater for enough parking. The study revealed that, from a consumer point of view, there is definitely a need for a new shopping centre in Klerksdorp. Urban-Econ Development Economists (2009: 56) concluded that the retail market has been fairly buoyant, and although the effects of interest rate hikes and increased inflation and global recession have become visible, fair growth is still expected in the following years, once the economy starts to recover. This indicates that Klerksdorp has a need for a new shopping centre, as 89,705 m2 GLA is available. This shows that if a new shopping centre is built, the other shopping centres in Klerksdorp will still be sustainable, and a new shopping centre will be sustainable and viable. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The shopping centre was born in Europe and matured in North America, and it now exists in cities with a wide variety of cultures and politics (Dawson, 1983: 1). According to Casazza et al. (1985:1), the shopping centre is probably the most successful land use, development, real estate, and retail business concept of the 20th century. According to Casazza et al. (1985: 2), the shopping centre is a specialised, commercial land use and building type that previously thrived primarily in suburbia, but today is found throughout the country. When using the term ?shopping centre? accurately, a shopping centre refers to: ?A group of architecturally unified commercial establishments built on a site that is planned, developed, owned and managed as an operating unit related in its location, size, and type of shops to the trade area that it serves. The unit provides on-site parking in definite relationship to the types and total size of the stores? (Casazza et al., 1985: 2). This study investigated the need for a new shopping centre in Klerksdorp. Therefore, this study determined whether a new shopping centre in Klerksdorp would be viable. Klerksdorp and its district are quite unique in certain ways, especially due to the farming and mining activities that are found there. Klerksdorp provides goods and services especially for the people residing in Klerksdorp itself, Kanana, Alabama, Jouberton, Hartbeesfontein, Orkney, Vaal Reefs and Stilfontein. The main shopping activity is generally found in the Central Business District (CBD) of Klerksdorp and its surrounding areas. Klerksdorp has only one major shopping centre (the City Mall) that provides goods and services for the people in an enclosed surrounding area. This causes an over concentration in the CBD and too much traffic in an already limited space. The need for Klerksdorp to provide a bigger centre for the citizens of the town, as well as the surrounding areas, is high. Another regional shopping centre close to Klerksdorp is found in Potchefstroom, namely the Mooirivier Mall, and mainly provides in the extra shopping needs of the people living in Klerksdorp and its surrounding areas. This study therefore determined whether there is a need for a shopping centre from a retail and consumer point of view, and also whether it will be viable. The empirical study revealed that approximately half of the respondents are not satisfied with the current shopping centres in Klerksdorp and that more than half of the respondents feel that the shopping centres do not cater for enough parking. The study revealed that, from a consumer point of view, there is definitely a need for a new shopping centre in Klerksdorp. Urban-Econ Development Economists (2009: 56) concluded that the retail market has been fairly buoyant, and although the effects of interest rate hikes and increased inflation and global recession have become visible, fair growth is still expected in the following years, once the economy starts to recover. This indicates that Klerksdorp has a need for a new shopping centre, as 89,705 m2 GLA is available. This shows that if a new shopping centre is built, the other shopping centres in Klerksdorp will still be sustainable, and a new shopping centre will be sustainable and viable. / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This thesis is concerned with the motivation of shopping behaviour. The main aim of the research is to examine internal factors that influence a person's motivation, with specific focus on how consumers' shopping goals and mood states prior to a retail encounter affect their in-store behaviour and the outcomes of the activity in terms of goal attainment and evaluations of the retail outlet. The conceptual basis for the research is provided by theories of goal-directed behaviour, which assume that people are purposive in their behaviour and that there is a synergistic relationship between cognition and motivation (Ratneshwar, 1995; Pervin, 1989). Two complementary perspectives on the motivational role of mood are linked into this conceptualisation: one that emphasises the role of associative cognitive networks and proposes that mood serves to regulate goal-directed behaviour by altering goal-relevant thought and perception (Gardner, 1985; Isen, 1984); the other that postulates that mood is a biopsychological phenomenon that registers the availability of personal resources given near-term demands and alters goal-relevant thought, perception, and motivation in accordance with this (Morris, forthcoming; Batson et al., 1992; Thayer, 1989). In order to examine the motivation of shopping behaviour, an investigation was carried out amongst visitors to craft fairs in Scotland. The research adopted a quantitative approach. The data collection was driven by five main research hypotheses and involved asking consumers to complete two parts of a questionnaire: the first part was filled in upon their arrival at the craft fair and the second part was completed just before their departure. In this way, data on the progression of goal-directed behaviour over the course of a shopping episode was captured. The main findings of the research were that: a) individuals' mood states prior to the retail encounter influenced consumers' levels of commitment to shopping goals, although the importance of mood state varied depending on the type of shopping goal in question; b) types of behaviour exhibited in the course of shopping were influenced by the types of goals that consumers identified to be important to them upon arriving at the craft fair and there was some evidence that individuals' mood states moderated the effects of their goals on their in-store behaviour; c) attainment of shopping goals was dependent on whether the relevant goals were specified as important prior to the retail encounter and in-store behaviour. Mixed evidence was obtained on the role of mood as a factor that moderates the effects of commitment to goals on attainment of goals. d) attainment of shopping goals was partly responsible for the change in a person's mood state between entering and leaving the craft fair; e) retail outcomes in terms of consumers' enjoyment of the retail encounter, their preference for and intentions to patronise the retail outlet in the future were influenced by consumers' evaluations of the extent to which they had attained their shopping goals and their mood state following the shopping episode. One of the main implications of the research is that a view of consumers as purposive in their shopping activities makes a useful contribution to the understanding of shopping behaviour and how repeat patronage can be encouraged. As far as retailers are concerned, there is a need to understand what goals consumers have in mind when they visit a store and how to facilitate behaviour directed towards the attainment of those goals in order that consumers evaluate the shopping activity as successful and leave with favourable impressions of the store. In addition, attempts to locate in an environment that helps to boost the resources that contribute to mood, rather than draining them, and to smooth the way for goal-directed shopping activities may also increase repeat patronage and ultimately customer loyalty to retailers.

Problem: E-commerce is a rapidly growing business sector across the world and provides interesting expansion opportunities for retail businesses. However, differing consumer attitudes across borders create barriers for expansion, and subsequently there is a need to study these differences. Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to examine potential differences between Chinese and Swedish consumer’s attitudes and online shopping intentions when purchasing apparel online. The secondary purpose of this study is to contribute to the TAM by adding constructs that facilitate a cross-cultural examination in an e-commerce context. Methodology: This study is explorative and descriptive and has applied a qualitative research approach. The data has been collected primarily by conducting focus groups in both China and in Sweden. Findings: Differences in consumer’s attitudes and intentions toward online shopping between China and Sweden were identified. The main differences were the perceived overall usefulness of online shopping and the level of risk that consumers perceived in online shopping. Risk related constructs added to the TAM were found to be relevant, while the relevance of certain culturally related dimensions added were questionable.

This study examined the effects of sport brand music on the shopping behaviors sport consumers. Sport brand music is custom-designed music that embodies the attributes and characteristics of the sport brand, and plays a formative role in priming concepts related to the sport brand in the minds of sport consumers. Since sport brand music features song lyrics directly related to the sport brand, the purpose of this research was to examine the effects of sport brand music on shopping-related outcomes in an online retail store. Specifically, it was hypothesized that sport brand music would have a positive influence on sport consumers’ perceptions of musical fit with the sport brand, which would then lead to positive effects on various shopping behaviors, including evaluation of the store, attitude towards the brand, and purchase intentions. In addition, because people observe store environments in different ways, it was predicted that the personality trait of atmospheric responsiveness would moderate the relationships. The theoretical framework for this research is based on the principles and perspectives of conceptual fluency. It is argued that sport brand music that consists of song lyrics related to the sport brand will be more conceptually fluent and easier to process in a sport brand store than will popular music. A quantitative research design in the form of a laboratory experiment was used in this study. Participants (N=250) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: sport brand music (conceptually fluent) and popular music (not conceptually fluent). The conditions employed in this research involved shopping tasks that took place in a sport brand online retail store. Following the shopping tasks, participants were asked to answer questionnaire items via Qualtrics online survey software. Structural equation modeling (SEM) by means of AMOS 7.0 (Arbuckle, 2006) was utilized to test the hypotheses. Assessment of the measurement model fit for the entire model showed that all variables loaded as expected. Evaluation of the hypotheses showed that participants assigned to the sport brand music condition demonstrated more positive perceptions of musical fit than did participants assigned to the popular music condition(β = -.44, p < .001). Further, results supported the hypothesis that musical fit would then positively affect evaluations of the store (β = .50, p < .001) and attitudes toward the brand (β = .14, p < .05), but did not affect purchase intentions (β = .11, p = .06). In addition, findings indicate that evaluations of the store significantly related to attitudes toward the brand (β = .52, p < .001), which positively related to purchase intentions (β = .53, p < .001). Moreover, atmospheric responsiveness was found to have a moderating effect on musical fit (β = -.13, p = .06). Details of this research, as well as research limitations, study implications, and future directions, are forwarded.

The purpose of this master thesis is to identify factors influencing consumer’s intention to use Internet when buying food online. The focal aspects of the study will be service and product quality in order to assess their influence on the consumer’s intention to buy food online.

When we talk about shopping for garments, we mostly think of women first. Men also shop, need clothes, spend time and money in stores and dress in various fashion styles. That is why we decided to explore men’s attitudes and behavior in a garment shopping experience. Our main focus was men’s experience when buying fashionable garments. The thesis is based on investigation within the area of consumer behavior and its focal point is on men, shopping and how do they feel when they shop. In the study we conducted various qualitative researches which are participant observation method along with a short interview and a focus group method that helped us to get deeper into men’s mind and their perception of shopping and fashion in general. We have also conducted library research in order to obtain more data and information about previous studies made in the same field. While collecting all the possible data for this study, we tried to keep a visible link between our empirical findings and the collected library data. Results of the study identified four key traits that greatly help in defining men shopping experience as rather enjoyable or not. These traits are time consumption, uncertainty aversion, prices of garments and companionship while shopping. Time consumption and uncertainty aversion have been indicated as central traits which, in a right balance, can characterize male shopping experience as more pleasurable. Our overall findings indicate that men are strongly represented in the global shopping arena and share their own characteristic shopping behaviour. Thus, men should not be neglected nor ignored as consumers of fashionable garments.

The poultry industry occupies an important sector in Thai agriculture. The "Bird Flu" or "Avian Influenza (AI)" crisis, which first commenced in Thailand in 2004, has caused many problems. It has devastated the Thai chicken industry, the worlds fourth largest, with exports worth $A1.93 billion annually and employing hundreds of thousands of people. The European Union, the number two buyer of Thai chicken, and Japan, Thailands biggest customer, has banned imports of Thai chicken. / Locally, the marketing of chicken meat has posed a major economic problem because of a substantial fall in consumption. Many Thais, who learned about bird flu from the newspapers, have avoided buying and eating poultry as a simple precaution. Other Thais, who have continued to buy and consume fresh chicken meat, are doing so with caution. / This study attempted to examine perception factors and risk reduction strategies influencing consumers decisions to buy fresh chicken meat during a food risk situation in Thailand. In addition, an evaluation is made as to whether there is a difference between consumers perceptions and their purchasing decisions under specified demographic factors. / The current study focused on two key variables; namely, consumer perception factors and risk reduction strategies and their influence on Thai consumers purchasing decisions for fresh chicken meat. The four perception factors were 1) price, 2) product quality, 3) place, and 4) risk, based on studies by Schiffman and Kanuk (1997); Glitsch (2000), and Yeung and Morris (2001a). The risk reduction strategies, employed in this study, taken from previous literature (Glitsch, 2000); and Yeung and Morris, 2001b), include:1) purchasing reputable brands, 2) government control or guarantee labels, 3) purchasing from reliable outlets, 4) traceability, 5) avoiding “cheap prices”, and 6) personal controls. There is a long tradition for using demographic variables to explain the observed differences in consumption and food intake surveys. In this study, the demographic variables examined were age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, family size, and income. / Because the recognition of situational effects is an important guide to understanding and predicting consumer behaviour, the current study evaluated purchasing decisions in three situations: 1) in the current situation, do Thai consumers buy fresh chicken meat for consumption? 2) during the first bird flu crisis when there was a lot of adverse press on the effects of bird flu, did Thai consumers buy chicken meat for consumption? 3) in the future, if there is another bird flu crisis of similar severity, will Thai consumers be likely to buy chicken meat for consumption? / The research design was descriptive with the survey method used to gather data from the target respondents. Data was collected in six of Bangkoks largest markets, each located in a district with a population of approximately one million people. A total of 70 questionnaires were distributed in each of the six markets and 400 valid questionnaires were used to analyse the data. / The results showed that all four of the consumer perception factors, namely: price, product quality, place of purchase, and risk perception, influence purchasing decisions in the three different situations, in different ways. From the four perception factors, product quality had the highest influence on consumers purchasing decision, followed by risk and price perception. Place of purchase did not really influence their purchasing decision in the current situation. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007.

The suburban shopping centre has become part of the urban landscape of Australia over the past 40 years. From their initial point of innovation in the capital cities, suburban centres diffused rapidly through the urban system. The majority of the 26 regional cities identified in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have at least one centre, and in some the extent of suburbanisation has eclipsed the traditional central business area as the prime focus of retail activity. The advent of suburbanised shopping systems also highlights the partial demise of a locally-owned competitive capitalist sub-mode of activity and its replacement by a competitive oligopolistic capitalist sub-mode involving nationally-based firms. As with any change, the shifts in location, ownership and method of operation associated with the growth of suburbanised retailing systems have the capacity to bring about changes in the efficiency and equity of regional cities. Although it is not possible to prove conclusively that the efficiency of retail operations is improved by the growth of suburban centres, the advent of a system which encourages competition between retail firms appears to result in lower prices. Access to retail facilities is also potentially improved for a significant proportion of the populations of regional cities, although comparison shopping between centres might also generate increased cross-city flows of traffic. However, equity is not necessarily increased by these changes. Although the accessibility of lower income, elderly and less mobile households is improved, changes in the location of retailing favour younger, more affluent and mobile shoppers to a greater extent. And although the developers and owners of suburban shopping centres meet many of their own costs, there is evidence that they do not contribute to local government rate revenues to a level commensurate with their turnover and profits. On the other hand, the local authority is often faced with the demands of central business area property owners and retailers to revitalise their section of the city, bringing about an effective transfer of funds from the public to the private sector. The result may well be a net decrease in equity. Under pressure from local business interests, some city councils have chosen to restrict the pace of retail suburbanisation, whilst others have chosen to allow market forces to take their course.