Most research on place in retailing and marketing examines retail atmospherics, spectacular consumption, third spaces and logistics. This study lies at the confluence of retailing, marketing, and geography, and focuses on the city as the product consumed by its residents. The study seeks to examine the degree to which the retail landscape of a city affects the residents' perceived value of the city, their urban identity, and ultimately, their willingness-to-pay to live there. In order to answer this question, this study utilized mixed research methods consisting of a survey, based on several adapted existing perceived value scales; an urban identity scale; a willingness-to-pay scale; as well as archival geodata used to map the existing and perceived retail landscapes of Tucson and San Francisco–the two cities of interest in this study. These two cities were chosen because they are on opposite ends of a spectrum of US cities that includes cost of living and median income, among other variables. Results show that perceived value of the city and urban identity are very highly correlated and suggest the existence of a new construct. While the retail landscape in Tucson tends to have a positive effect on residents' affective responses to living there, there results are not statistically significant. The relatively low cost of living may play a role in these expectations. Residents accept the existing retail landscape and tend to make do with the options available. In San Francisco, because residents already pay a premium to live there, the retail landscape plays a more statistically significant role in residents' affective responses to living there. These results are important to retailers and marketers because retail expenditures form a large part of the tax revenue a city earns each year. If residents are unhappy with their retail patronage options, they may spend money elsewhere resulting in a decreased tax base from which to run the city.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/595794 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Stovall, George W III |
| Contributors | Staten, Michael, Staten, Michael, Bhappu, Anita, Patten, Iris, Price, Linda |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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