Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction and Context: the Role and History of Retail Consumption -- Management of the Arena of Retail Consumption -- The Retail Enterprise in Context -- The Retail Future -- Introduction and Context: the Role and History of Retail Consumption -- Retailing History -- The Rise of Formal Retailing -- The Market -- Shops and Shopping Spaces -- The Emergence of Modern Retailing -- Non-Store Retailing -- Internationalization -- Shopping Centres and Malls -- Non-Formal Retailing -- The Birth of Modern Consumption -- The Roots of Consumption -- From Separation to Modern Consumption -- Consumption, Signs and Symbols -- "Why We Consume in the Way That We Do"--Some Theoretical Explanations -- Expressiveness in Context -- Management of the Arena of Retail Consumption -- A Dramaturgical View--Elements of the Drama: a Question of Perspective -- So, What is a Metaphor? -- The Metaphor of Theatre in Retailing -- The Servuction Model and its Extensions -- The Development of the Servuction Model--a Brief Historical Context -- The Servuction Model Itself -- Extensions to the Servuction Model -- The Physical Environment -- External Physical Location -- The Generic Brand Proposition -- Behaviour and the Effects of Environment -- Factors That Shape Environments -- A Conceptual Framework -- The Senses -- Personal Characteristics -- Merchandise -- Locating Merchandise within the Servuction Model -- Store Image and Merchandise -- Retail Buying and Merchandise -- Display and Merchandising -- Merchandise range and Consumer Response -- The Current State of Merchandise Management and Customer Response -- Merchandise and Space Planning -- The problem of Merchandise-Related Research -- Locating Merchandise Within the Benefit Bundle -- Atmosphere and Image -- A Focus on Store Image -- Store Atmospherics -- Variation in Perceived Store Image Dimensions -- The Relationship Between Store Image, Store Choice and Patronage -- Store Image and Loyalty -- Store Image, Brand and Differentiation -- The Social Dimension -- Social Surroundings -- Other Users -- Visitors -- Service Employees -- The Temporal Dimension -- The Temporal Dimension and the Development of Relationships -- Time-Rich versus Time-Poor -- Orientation: Past, Present or Future -- Customers' Psychological State -- Pleasure, Arousal and Dominance (PAD) -- Planned Intention -- Previous Experience -- Perceived Risk -- Risk-Reduction Strategies -- The Decision-Making Process -- The Retail Enterprise in Context -- The Strategic Context -- Strategy and Policy--the General Perspective -- Strategy and policy--Retail Applications -- Other Perspectives--in General and in Retailing -- The Strategy Process in the Arena of Retail Consumption -- Service Characteristics and Context -- Service Characteristics -- Classification of Service and Retail Contexts -- Classifying Service Types -- Sources of Quality Measurement -- Measuring Service Quality -- Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction -- The Locational Context -- The Layers and Dimensions of Retail Location -- Levels or Tiers of Analysis -- Pico-Level Considerations -- Micro-Level Considerations -- Meso-Level Considerations -- Macro-Level Considerations -- Managing Spaces and Places of Consumption -- The Social and Ecological Context -- Corporate Ethics and the Impact of Macro-Economic Factors -- The Broadening of Ethical Issues -- The Dawn of Ethical Retailing -- Fair Trade -- Environmental Issues -- The Reality of Ethical and Social Responsibility in Retailing -- The Key Role of the Customer -- The Retail Future -- Conclusions and Prognosis -- Managing the Consumption Arena -- The Future of Retail Provision.

Managing Retail Consumption locates retailing in its social context and develops the position that retailing can be regarded as a site of consumption, identity, creation and pleasure. It develops a consumption perspective which provides a balanced approach between management and the social sciences. The consumption perspective considers the way retail sites are created or manipulated with a view to understanding the interplay between the provider's requirements and the consumer's ability to manage, structure and edit their repertoire of responses.

The text looks at how retailing works and examines the narrative nature of retailing: how it can tell a story, be playful, and form a major element in the consideration of management of retail operations. It also examines retail in its social context including examples and cases of numerous well known companies such as Tesco, Next and Galleries Lafayette.