Shopping Centres and Intangible Consumption in Global Cities

Abstract

In global markets, shopping centres are becoming important agents, defining the kind and quality of intangible features of supplies, not only establishing the assortments, but also affecting the consumption behaviour atmosphere that they determine in all its aspects. In this way, shopping malls are responsible for the quality of the intangible consumption process which has a profound impact on people and on the community that people live in. That is why shopping centres, both physical and virtual (i.e. e-commerce sites and other kinds of virtual marketplaces), are significant in big towns, where commercial density is high. By defining the intangible aspects of consumption, shopping centres determine the development of a particular geographical area (normally surrounding a big city) because they are able to concentrate demand, and they play an active role in establishing the choice alternatives, which means forging the consumption habits and expectations of populations and cities.