No abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to assess whether tourist shopper segments are an attractive market for shopping centers. This research aims to explore whether or not tourist shoppers are more satisfied than resident shoppers with their shopping experience and whether tourist shoppers have the intention to spend more than their resident shopper counterparts. Design/methodology/approach -Data for this report come from personal face-to-face mall intercepts of shoppers (n ¼ 578) in two new generation malls (West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America in Bloomington) and two heritage-destination (Pier 39 in San Francisco and Forum Shops in Las Vegas) centers. Findings -Analysis concludes that although the shopping center and retail industry place increasing emphasis on leisure shopping and tourism, the results of this study suggest that the tourist shopper market may not be the most valuable customer group. Resident shoppers of tourist-focused shopping centers are more satisfied than tourist shoppers of those centers.Research limitations/implications -The non-random nature of the sample for this study is the primary limitation. Therefore, the results are not generalizable to the greater population of tourist focused shopping centers. Practical implications -The shopping center and retail industry place increasing emphasis on leisure shopping and tourism, but the results of this study suggest that the tourist shopper market may not be the most valuable customer group. Resident shoppers of tourist-focused shopping centers are more satisfied than tourist shoppers of those centers. These findings should encourage shopping center managers to use caution when modifying strategies to meet the needs of the tourist segment, as well as to not forget the importance of resident shoppers to their profitability. Originality/value -These findings should encourage shopping center managers to use caution when modifying strategies to meet the needs of the tourist segment, as well as to not forget the importance of resident shoppers to their profitability.

This paper reports outcomes from a research study whereby fashion-oriented students experienced life where the ability to acquire new clothing was removed. Students volunteered to participate in this experiential learning challenge, titled the Fashion Detox: to abstain from clothing acquisition for 10 weeks and reflect about the experience. This learning experience was characterized by barriers to sustainable consumption, chief among them a range of temptations prompted by inescapable merchandising and marketing strategies, compulsive tendencies, and envy of those who could consume with impunity. Students also indicated many benefits to abstaining from acquisition, such as creativity and self-regulation. This teaching and learning experiment has important implications for the challenges faced by

In light of several successful US mall repositionings, industry experts have encouraged other less productive properties to follow their lead. This study investigates the relationship between selected mall attributes and productivity. A mail survey was sent to a random sample of mall marketing managers. Chi-square and correlation analysis was used to identify the attributes that were significantly related to productivity. Super-regional malls located in large, densely populated cities with high income residents were the most successful properties. The results suggest that the attributes of successful malls cannot be transferred or adapted by lower performing malls. Market strategy variables that could be duplicated were not significantly related to high productivity.

Because promoting sustainable fashion apparel consumption is a pressing contemporary problem, Generation Y participants in the Midwestern United States were challenged to a Fashion Detox, where they refrained from acquiring fashion apparel for ten weeks and blogged about the experience. Content analysis of blog entries for this exploratory study revealed expressions of creativity that were examined through the lens of the propulsion model of kinds of creative contributions. Findings revealed kinds of creative contributions stimulated by voluntary simplicity that satisfy the fashion apparel consumer’s need for novelty and change: expressions of creativity that follow a fashion-driven direction already established, called redefinition and forward incrementation, and those that take a completely different path but within the context of seeking novelty and change, or redirection. Examples of creative activities within these three kinds of creative contributions are, respectively, re-designing old clothes, shifting their focus to home décor instead of apparel, and turning away from fashion apparel altogether. Fourty-six percent of the participants left the 10-week activity feeling that their creativity had been enhanced and 54% expressed the intention to carry on the sustainable consumption lessons they learned. By cultivating expressions of creativity that lead to sustainable consumption through education and innovative business models, stakeholders may initiate a paradigm shift that fulfills the fashion apparel consumer’s need for novelty and change without sacrificing the planet s resources.