Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the most obvious new geographical indicator is
that of local market penetration. Figure 42.7
shows a map of market penetration for Asda in
Leeds. As with Figure 42.2 and 42.4, we can
clearly see the relationship between store
location and market share. This is an interesting
relationship in terms of advertising and
marketing. Asda runs a very high-profile
advertising campaign based on the 'Asda price'
slogan. Yet for persons living in the centre of
Leeds (see Figure 42.7), this could be deemed a
waste of time. However enticing the advertising
campaign is, few customers are likely to travel
long distances (and pass many intervening
opportunities) to buy their groceries. Perhaps
such advertising is successful locally only when
the consumer is faced with many choices.
In addition to new information such as local
market shares, the models can also be used to
compare actual turnovers to model predictions—
that is, given a certain population size and type
and the nature of the distribution of all competitor
outlets, what would the model expect a certain
outlet to be achieving in sales terms? This helps to
provide a more objective picture of store potential.
Is a store that turns over £3 million per annum
doing well or badly in relative rather than absolute
terms?
The models are most often used in 'what-if ?'
fashion. One example would be the use of the
model to evaluate the impacts of a new store
opening. In this sense, they compete directly with
GIS as a methodology for new store revenue
predictions. Figure 42.8 shows the model's
predictions for the new Kwik Save store in south
Leeds. Since this model is based on real
interactions, it can be seen that the estimated
catchment area for the new store is not circular
but is skewed to the east and south, where
competition is more scarce (compare these
patterns with those shown in Figure 42.5). This
we argue is far more realistic and therefore
accurate than GIS techniques (see Birkin et al .
1996 and Benoit and Clarke 1997 for more
discussion). Box 42.2 gives a simple illustration of
model results based on all competitor locations
being considered.
The use of spatial interaction modelling (still
often referred to as gravity modelling in the
literature) has increased since the late 1980s. Some
Figure 42.7 Market
penetration of Asda
superstores.
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