School of Geography - Faculty of Environment

Project Overview

Retail Spending and Store Location During a Recession: An Analysis of Changing Consumer Behaviour and Interaction Patterns.

The economic recession in the UK that started in the summer of 2008 has impacted on consumption behaviour and retail expenditure with profound implications for the retail industry. Thus, this research project will attempt to quantify the impact of the recession on retailing both from a consumer (demand side) and a retailer (supply side) perspective in different parts of the UK. Not all retailers have suffered and, in particular, several of the supermarket groups have tended to have benefited as households shift their behaviour, for example by eating in rather than eating out. The research will be undertaken in collaboration with Acxiom (www.acxiom.co.uk) who are one of the largest players in the consumer lifestyle database industry. Each year they generate almost 1 million questionnaires on consumer behaviour, including socio-demographics, income, expenditure, geographically referenced data on residence, main and secondary grocery and non-food retail destinations.

Supervisors

• Professor John Stillwell
• Professor Martin Clarke

Funding

ESRC Case Award