Doctor of Philosophy / Abstract There has been a significant change in Australian consumer behaviour with an increase in time and money spent, in suburban ethnic business districts (named in this study as ethniehubs). But little attention has been paid to the role of ethnically owned stores in generating income within ethniehubs. In fact, there is still a lack of research conducted by architects and planners about the way in which the physical environment of ethnic stores in ethniehubs attract consumers, and the way in which the physical environment affect consumers’ behaviour. Therefore, the study is important in filling the current gap in literature. For this Sydney-based study, two separate ethniehubs are used for data collection - Leichhardt with a strong Italian character, and Cabramatta with identifiably Vietnamese attributes. The goal of this study is to find out how the ethniehubs have developed and how consumers behave in ethniehubs. The present study derived from architecture and planning, also addresses the effect of the physical environment of ethnic stores on consumers behaviour at both store and ethniehub level. The research has several questions to answer. How have Sydney’s ethniehubs developed? How do ethniehubs influence consumer behaviour? More specifically: What attracts consumers to ethniehubs? Who are these consumers? What do they purchase? Does the ethnic background of consumers influence their behaviour in ethniehubs? The data are collected through observation, survey and focus group discussions of consumers at both Leichhardt and Cabramatta. The findings of this research have a number of implications for urban planning, i.e tourism, place branding and place marketing. By understanding the importance of the physical environment of ethnic stores, more considered architectural design and interior decoration will ensure that their most highly valued aspects are reinforced. This study also contributes to the knowledge of urban planning of ethniehub shopping precincts and ethnic stores decorations each of which has important social and economic consequences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/202443 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Widhyastuti, Ichsanna Samba Rukmie, samba.widhyastuti@gmail.com |
| Publisher | Faculty of Architecture |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | The author retains copyright of this thesis., http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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