Measuring Brand Image: Shopping Centre Case Studies

International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research (2002) 12 (4): 353-373

AUTHOR:
Charles Dennis
John Murphy
David Marsland
Tony Cockett
Tara Patel

ABSTRACT:

‘Branding’ is well known for consumer products. Power has shifted from manufacturers’ brands towards retailers’. Branding may become more important for shopping centres. The authors firstly investigated qualitatively. Shoppers described centres in ‘personality’ terms. One in-town centre was ‘dull, boring and old-fashioned … not exciting, just OK’. A larger regional centre was ‘trendy, prestigious … strong, vibrant, big and colourful’.

Secondly, the authors evaluated quantitatively. Their method was applied to six UK shopping centres, via a questionnaire survey of 287 shoppers. The ‘strong and vibrant’ centre scored significantly higher than the ‘dull and boring’ one. ‘Pro-active marketing’ is central to UK shopping centres. Despite ‘branding’ being little used, active brand management of shopping centres can pay rewards in  customer numbers, sales turnover and rental income.

Keywords: Shopping centres; Branding; Image; Attractiveness.

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