Bangor University - 1st Consumer Research Summit (April 2016)

Bangor University - 1st Consumer Research Summit

Place and marketing in a dynamic world

Bangor Business School is holding its first summit on place and marketing at Broadgate Tower on the 22nd April 2016. The summit will explore the linkages between place, identity, marketing and consumption. The landscape is shifting with consumers changing the way and place they shop, for example the movement towards home shopping via the internet, (Dunnhumby, 2015) and the use of local supermarkets versus out-of-town superstores (BBC, 2014). Further, marketers are now beginning to understand the importance of place in fostering strong relationships (e.g., Brocato et al., 2015), as well as the complexity that arises in marketing a place (Warnaby and Medway, 2013). Consumers’ attachment to a place may help support or develop aspects of their identity (Twigger-Ross and Uzzell, 1996) and subsequently drive consumer behaviour (Halpenny, 2010; Johnstone, 2012). In addition, Johnstone and Conroy (2008) show that the social interaction between consumers in a retail setting colours consumers’ perceptions and behaviours, suggesting that not only can a place shape consumers’ identity, but consumers can shape the identity of a place, too. In the consumption of ‘place’ as a product, whether in the realm of services or place as a geographical entity (town, city, region, country), the inherent identity and the historical/cultural roots of a place play a significant role in cultivating consumer/stakeholder bonds. As such ‘place’ is not only being acknowledged as an evolving product, it is progressively being regarded as a dynamic concept in need of strategic direction and management (Warnaby and Medway, 2013; Hanna and Rowley, 2015). Lastly, the role of place in facilitating/restricting consumption with consequences on self-perceptions is an interesting and relevant area to be explored (e.g., Hamilton and Hassan, 2010).

The summit will be organized by the Bangor Business School Consumer Behaviour Research Cluster. The goal of the summit is to share knowledge and foster a network of researchers working in this area. We invite papers that employ qualitative or quantitative research approaches or report findings based on rigorous reviews of current literature. The following topics are (non-exclusive) examples in which contributions are sought for the summit:

Place branding
Destination marketing
Identity and place
Place attachment relating to consumption contexts
The consumption of place
Changes in shopping habits related to place
Technological influences that shape conceptualizations of place e.g. location-based services and digital showrooming
The role of place in consumption e.g., consumption rituals
Nostalgia and place
Changes in the meaning of place across time
Trends in use of place for consumption
The role of place in developing customer relationships

Keynote speaker: Professor Gary Warnaby (Professor of Marketing, the University of Manchester)

Submission process

Short papers should be submitted via email to Dr Louise Hassan by 5pm on 22nd February 2016. Papers accepted for presentation can be uploaded as abstract or full paper and made available online for general consumption.

The format for papers is as follows:

5 single-spaced pages (excluding title page, abstract, references, tables, figures and appendix) with size 12 Times Roman font and normal (1” all round) margins.
The title page should include the title of the paper, the author(s) contact details as well as a short abstract of no more than 200 words.
Tables and figures should be provided within the main body of the paper. Only one appendix is allowed.
References should be provided in the Harvard style.
With the exception of conceptual/review papers, papers should contain an introduction, literature review, method, results and conclusion/discussion section.

Summit programme

Download the provisional summit programme.

Cost

In order to cover costs a fee of £90 is charged for workshop participation (reduced to £45 for PhD candidates). The fee will include lunch and refreshments. This can be paid via our online shop.

For more information about the summit please contact: Dr Louise Hassan, Bangor University (l.hassan@bangor.ac.uk).

Summit Committee

Dr Sonya Hanna (Lecturer in Marketing)
Professor Louise M. Hassan (Professor of Consumer Psychology)
Dr Miriam McGowan (Lecturer in Marketing)
Dr Sara Parry (Lecturer in Marketing)
Professor Edward Shiu (Professor of Marketing)

References

BBC (2014) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29442383
Brocato, E.D., Baker, J., & Voorhees, C.M. (2015), “Creating consumer attachment to retail service firms through sense of place,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 200–220.
Dunnhumby (2015) https://www.dunnhumby.com/how-multichannel-grocery-shopping-changing-way-consumers-buy
Hamilton, K., & Hassan, L.M. (2010), “Tobacco consumption in the home: Impact on social relationships and marking territory,” Advances in Consumer Research, 37.
Halpenny, E.A. (2010), “Pro-environmental behaviours and park visitors: The effect of place attachment,” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 409-421.
Hanna, S., & Rowley, J. (2015), “Towards a model of the place brand web,” Tourism Management, 48, 100-112.
Johnstone, M-L. (2012), “The servicescape: The social dimension of place,” Journal of Marketing Management, 28(11-12), 1399-1418.
Johnstone, M-L. & Conroy, D.M. (2008), “Place attachment: The social dimensions of the retail environment and the need for further exploration,” Advances in Consumer Research, 35, 381-386.
Twigger-Ross, C.L., & Uzzell, D.L. (1996), “Place and identity processes,” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 205-220.
Warnaby, G., & Medway, D. (2013), “What about the ‘place’ in place marketing?” Marketing Theory, 13(3), 345–363.

Broadgate Tower
20 Primrose Street
London
EC2A 2EW