New Methods to Measure Urban Environments for Consumer Behavior Research

New Methods to Measure Urban Environments for Consumer Behavior Research
Author: Bruce S. Appleyard
Publisher:
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2010
Genre:
ISBN:

Until recently, data, technology, and practice have limited travel behavior research in its ability to uniquely capture individual-level details of urban environments. While previous studies have relied primarily on aggregate, zonal averages homogeneously attributed to unique individuals, this dissertation presents methods to more closely align measures of the urban environment with the individual as the unit of analysis. In short, disaggregated data for disaggregated analyses. Furthermore, previous studies have often focused on the immediate areas (1/4- to 1/2-mile radii) around trip origins and destinations, while little focus has been paid to the unique characteristics of the urban environment in between. In response, this research pioneers the use of a new spatial unit of analysis, the "individual access corridor" (IAC), to better understand how people may be influenced by certain urban design, land use, or transport characteristics experienced along their journey to a certain destination (e.g., stores, mixed use developments, schools, and transit stations). The primary goal of this research is to develop and test new methods to measure the urban environment. Three core principles (resolution, respondent, replicability) comprise the central evaluative framework guiding the exploration and development of these new methods. They are introduced in this dissertation as the "3R principles of methodological development." They guide the use of the IAC to capture high-resolution information about the urban environment (land use activity, transport access, and traveler perceptions) that can be uniquely attributed to each individual survey respondent in a replicable manner. This information, in turn, can support reliable and valid analyses of the influence of the urban environment on consumer behavior that are meaningful, rigorous, and generalizable. The secondary goal of this research is to test these new measures as inputs for travel behavior analyses of a relatively standard intercept travel survey--the 2008 Station Profile Survey for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. Improving measures for these analyses is important because substantial effort and money is currently being spent on influencing traveler behavior in suburban/non-CBD areas, and for trips to transit. As most morning commuters across the U.S. drive to rapid transit stations, and over relatively short distances, substantial sustainability benefits could be realized by coaxing even a small fraction of these drivers to use "green" non-motorized travel (NMT) modes of bicycling and walking. As well as providing useful insights into designs and policies that support NMT, this study of rapid transit access behavior serves as a "proof of concept" for the development and application of the new methods to measure the urban environment explored in this research. In terms of its primary goal, this research shows that capturing high-resolution information of the urban environment can be uniquely attributed to each individual survey respondent in a replicable manner to support both reliable and valid analyses of consumer behavior. Reliability of these new methods and measures is determined by: 1) their ability to objectively and uniformly capture and calculate factors of interest; and 2) their provision of similar results through repeated experiments. Validity is established via: 1) a thorough in-depth review of empirical research, literature, and urban theory to identify particular aspects of the urban environment they represent; and 2) an examination of the findings emerging from numerous models, with respect to interpretability, sensibility and usefulness. Specific achievements include the following: * This research supports the use of the IAC to examine the unique intermediate area of a trip between its origin and destination, especially when examining NMT behavior (bicycling and walking). * This research enriches our understanding of how to measure and analyze land use activity, beyond the currently used measures of "diversity", where entropy indices have been widely used as a proxy for land use mixture. Specifically, this research tests the best methods for managing vast amounts of complicated land use information, classified at the parcel-level, to be meaningfully applied to analyses of consumer behavior. * This research complements the current body of literature on travel behavior and the built environment by more formally recognizing and including measures of the functional/operational qualities of urban environments, as well as measures of physical infrastructure, urban form, and "perceptual qualities" (Ewing et al., 2006; Ewing & Handy, 2009). * This research provides valuable insight on transportation policies and urban design practices that will help communities and regions move more deliberately toward sustainability objectives, such as reducing auto use, GHG emissions, and congestion, while simultaneously improving air quality, street livability, the building of social capital, and enhancing opportunities for physical activity. In terms of the second goal of this research--testing the relationship of these new measures of the urban environment to rapid transit access travel behavior--they are proven to support reliable and valid findings that provide useful, nuanced insight into the influence of the urban environment on rapid transit access mode choice. Specifically, the findings suggest that certain policies and design characteristics of the individual access corridors (IACs) to rapid transit could increase the likelihood that one will either walk or bicycle (thus supporting the achievement of sustainability benefits) if: * Access corridors are composed of buildings that are at a human scale, are located close to the street (giving them a stronger sense of enclosure), and have distinct, "visually rich" urban form characteristics that express both complexity and imageabilty. o This is supported by the finding of a strong negative relationship between the use of an NMT mode to access rapid transit, and the presence of larger ("big box") parcels, and auto-supporting land uses, such as parking lots, and road & freeway rights-of-way (ROW) along a commuter's IAC. * Communities are designed with narrower, well connected streets and/or more direct walking and bicycling paths. o This is supported by the finding of a strong positive association between the use of an NMT mode to access rapid transit with route directness. It is also supported by strong negative relationship between NMT rapid transit access and the amount of land in auto-supporting land uses such as parking lots, and road & freeway rights-of-way (ROW), along a commuter's IAC. * Small, personal service retail opportunities are provided. o This supported by the finding of a strong positive relationship between NMT access and small retail/mixed uses along a commuter's IAC. Finally, the methods and measurements explored and developed in this dissertation can be applied in a wide range of urban settings and toward a better understanding of the influence of important characteristics of the urban environment on consumer behavior as it relates to a broad array of sustainability objectives.

Adolescents, Family and Consumer Behaviour

Adolescents, Family and Consumer Behaviour
Author: Harleen Kaur
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2019-12-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000029492

Buying decision making is a complicated process, in which a consumer’s decision is under the influence of others. The buyer’s decision making is directed in such a way that they must act as a consumer in society. Media and family are key socializing agents for adolescents. Moreover, changes in the socio-cultural environment in India necessitate that adolescents’ influence in family’s buying decision making should be investigated. In comparison to Western society, Indian society is quite different when compared in terms of family composition and structure, behavior, values and norms which impact adolescents’ buying decision making. Adolescents, Family and Consumer Behaviour studies the role of consumer socialization agents for adolescents, examining socio-economic factors that influence adolescents’ buying decision making in Indian urban families. It aims to discover the influence tactics that adolescents employ and to qualitatively analyse how marketers in turn influence adolescents. It addresses the topics with regard to strategic management and marketing and will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of management, entrepreneurship, small business management, and human resource management.

Consumer Behavior - Comparative Study on Rural and Urban Consumers

Consumer Behavior - Comparative Study on Rural and Urban Consumers
Author: S. Arulkumar
Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2017-06-19
Genre:
ISBN: 9783330321564

Consumer Behaviour study is the most prominent than ever for today's business. This text gives insights with the most relevant facts regarding Rural and Urban consumer behavior patterns with regard to the Durable and Non-Durable products. This book explores the buying behaviour of the rural and urban consumers decision-making process and the factors which influencing their purchase patterns. The primary purpose of this text is to provide a clear and logical understanding of the consumers and how to frame the marketing strategies in order to retain the consumers.

A New Era of Consumer Behavior

A New Era of Consumer Behavior
Author:
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2023-03-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1803561823

The complexities of consumer behavior call for comprehensive and detailed analytical studies. The need for both businesses and academics across the world to understand the behavior of consumers in crisis situations has been clearly illustrated by the Covid pandemic. A New Era of Consumer Behavior - In and Beyond the Pandemic presents research on both theoretical and practical aspects of this topic in three sections: “Digital Shifts in Consumer Behavior”, “Digitalization of Consumer Behavior in the Tourism Sector” and “Consumer Protection and Sustainability”.

An Archaeology of Nineteenth-Century Consumer Behavior in Melbourne, Australia, and Buenos Aires, Argentina

An Archaeology of Nineteenth-Century Consumer Behavior in Melbourne, Australia, and Buenos Aires, Argentina
Author: Pamela Ricardi
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2019-07-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030215954

This book compares consumer behavior in two nineteenth-century peripheral cities: Melbourne, Australia and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It provides an analysis of domestic archaeological assemblages from two inner-city working class neighborhood sites that were largely populated by recently arrived immigrants.The book also uses primary, historical documents to assess the place of these cities within global trade networks and explores the types of goods arriving into each city. By comparing the assemblages and archival data it is possible to explore the role of choice, ethnicity, and class on consumer behavior. This approach is significant as it provides an archaeological assessment of consumer behavior which crosses socio-political divides, comparing a site within a British colony to a site in a former Spanish colony in South America. As two geographically, politically and ethnically distinct cities it was expected that archaeological and archival data would reveal substantial variation. In reality, differences, although noted, were small. Broad similarities point to the far-reaching impact of colonialism and consumerism and widespread interconnectedness during the nineteenth century. This book demonstrates the wealth of information that can be gained from international comparisons that include sites outside the British Empire.

The Political Economy of Consumer Behavior

The Political Economy of Consumer Behavior
Author: Bruce Pietrykowski
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 427
Release: 2009-05-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1135978689

Consumption forms a major part of people’s lives. As such, geographers, historians of technology and sociologists have devoted much attention to trying to figure out what makes consumption meaningful. By contrast, economists have been content to hold onto theories of consumption that depend on a self-interested representative agent making utility maximizing decisions. Pietrykowski develops this alternative account through the recovery of past attempts to forge a different analytical approach to the study of consumption. In particular, theories of consumption espoused by home economists, psychological economists and Regulation school theorists are critically reviewed. These research projects, marginalized by the mainstream, are the precursors of contemporary scholarship in feminist, behavioural and radical political economics. Reclaiming this work greatly enlarges the scope for contemporary research in consumer behavior. Pietrykowski then provides a richly textured set of case studies of green automobility, slow food and alternative/local currency in order to explore the diversity of user cultures and to highlight resistant forms of consumer practice. By carefully interweaving historical and interdisciplinary research Pietrykowski creates a lively and incisive critique of mainstream economics This monograph will be of interest to academic economists, sociologists, historians and graduate students. In addition, the economics of consumption would also be of interest to readers in management, marketing and schools of business administration.