THE SHOPPING MALL AS CONSUMER HABITAT

Although large enclosed shopping malls represent significant instituti ons in modern Western culture, consumers' activities within malls have been surprisingly underresearched. In the present study, consumers' i nterrelationships with malls as consumption sites are explored using t he concept of a habitat drawn from the ecological sciences. An empiric al study of consumer activity within multiple mall habitats is then di scussed. Specifically, this research explores differences in mall habi tat activity patterns and identifies mall related shopping orientation s that are useful in explaining these differences.