Spatial Models of Consumer Choice for Retail Outlets: Theory and Practice in Physics of Marketing

摘要

A theoretical review and an assessment of applications of the spatial models of consumer choice for retail outlets are presented here. As they are also called gravitational models in marketing, they remain relevant in today’s retail world despite the explosion of e-commerce. The major objective here is to emphasize the theoretical significance of these models, analyze their practicality in the market, and refer to their validity today. The focus would be on the original Reilly’s model of the early thirties of the last century, and the two most significant improvements over it, Converse’s model of the late forties, and Huff’s model of the early sixties. After a detailed exposition of these models and their applications, a critical analysis is introduced to address the retail site selection, radius of the trading area, limitations of the models, and some criticism.