ABSTRACT

The role of local government in ensuring cities and town centres are attractive options for shoppers is well documented in the international literature. However, there is a paucity of research on the role and responsibility of local governments in tackling the complex marketing issues facing town and city retailing, particularly in regional and rural areas in Australia. Australian retailing differs markedly from retailing in the UK, U.S.A and Europe in a number of ways including fewer large, global retail stores, fewer large shopping centres and malls, and a slower uptake of online shopping. This paper reports a set of findings from a larger published study on consumer and retailer perceptions of the role of local government in the marketing of city-centre shopping and improving the overall experience for visitors in a regional Australian city. This research was commissioned by the local council. Traders and shoppers (N = 367) were surveyed on their perceptions of various aspects of city shopping. Qualitative data were analysed using the software program Leximancer to extract themes and concepts regarding specific actions the local council should take to improve city shopping and market the CBD to better attract shoppers and visitors. Findings show four main themes requiring council attention, as well as four additional and important retail-related factors identified by participants as the responsibility of the local city council, but which are actually not within the remit of local government. The findings of this study extend existing literature on town centre and small city retail marketing and are valuable for local governments, business associations, marketing organisations and individual business owners. Findings will assist efforts in two crucial activities: the marketing of cities and towns as attractive destinations for shoppers and visitors and improving and enhancing communication between councils and key stakeholders about the role of local government in marketing city-centre retail places

摘要

地方政府在确保城市和城镇中心对购物者有吸引力的选择方面所发挥的作用在国际文献中已有详细记录。然而，关于地方政府在解决城镇零售业面临的复杂营销问题方面的作用和责任的研究很少，特别是在澳大利亚的边远地区和农村地区。澳大利亚零售业在许多方面与英国、美国和欧洲的零售业存在显着差异，包括大型全球零售店较少、大型购物中心和购物中心较少，以及在线购物的普及速度较慢。本文报告了一项已发表的大型研究的一系列结果，该研究涉及消费者和零售商对地方政府在市中心购物营销和改善澳大利亚地区城市游客整体体验方面的作用的看法。这项研究是受当地议会委托进行的。贸易商和购物者（氮 = 367）接受了调查，了解他们对城市购物各个方面的看法。使用软件程序 Leximancer 分析定性数据，提取有关地方议会应采取的具体行动的主题和概念，以改善城市购物和营销 CBD，以更好地吸引购物者和游客。调查结果显示了需要议会关注的四个主题，以及参与者确定的四个额外且重要的零售相关因素，这些因素是当地市议会的责任，但实际上不属于当地政府的职权范围。本研究的结果扩展了有关城镇中心和小城市零售营销的现有文献，对地方政府、商业协会、营销组织和个体工商户具有重要价值。