This page contains details of some of the recent journal article publications by members of the Institute for Retail Studies. Pre-print versions of these articles are available online from the University of Stirling’s Depository (STORRE) in most cases, or contact the author or Leigh Sparks directly.
Rybaczewska, M. and Sparks, L. (2019), Place marketing and place based loyalty schemes, “Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy”, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 42-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-09-2019-0094
This study investigates place based loyalty schemes and place marketing. It focuses on the practical issues of implementation and use as perceived by place managers and businesses. It addresses also the issues of high street retail and town centre management. The investigation incorporated a three-stage procedure: focus group, quantitative data analysis and semi-structured interviews with place managers and business managers. The study showed wide interest and potential for place based loyalty schemes, acknowledged by all stakeholder groups. The major concerns were practical issues such as complexity, security of data and costs of implementation (equally time/effort and money). The key finding is the need for simplicity to avoid competing desires and priorities. Place marketing is claimed to be a priority for town and city managers. There is less agreement however on how to achieve effective place marketing. We show how different stakeholders have different views and how these need to be considered to obtain the benefits all agree are possible.
You can find this paper here.
Hannu Saarijarvi, Sonja Lahtinen and Leigh Sparks (2019) Food, Health and Data, Developing Transformative Food Retailing, Ch 13, p189-204 of Byrom J and D Medway (eds) (2019) Case Studies in Food Retailing and Distribution, Woodhead Publishing.
As a response to industry restructuring, many food retailers are searching for new initiatives through which they can engage themselves further into their customers’ lives. In this endeavor, digitalization allows retailers to integrate additional personalized resources—such as menu-planning guidance, help in tracing product origins and dietary information advice—with their consumers’ everyday processes. At the same time, food healthfulness, consumer health, and wellbeing are growing concerns for consumers, industries, and governments. This suggests a new proactive, transformative role for retailers, arising not only from recognition of the weaknesses of current practices but also from the opportunities of directly engaging more deeply with customers’ lives. This potential new role of the food retailer necessitates an in-depth understanding of its origins, as well as its diverse implications. Consequently, this chapter explores the key elements of transformative food retailing, analyses its potential, and identifies implications for consumers, companies, the academics, and society.
Details can be found here and the chapter is available from the University of Stirling’s Repository here.
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