The Hague International Shopping City

Abstract

The ambition of the Municipality of The Hague for a more unique, attractive, and competitive shopping street was the starting point of this research. All the main shopping streets in the larger Dutch cities look alike; they all have the same brands, the same decoration and the same layout. The Hague has decided to use their international image to counter this trend of look-a-like shopping streets. However, the question has risen as to how they should approach this. The goal of this research, therefore, was to formulate solid advice for the municipality of The Hague on how to maximize the opportunities associated with the international identity of their retail area. The focus was on the Grote Marktstraat, a street which is planned for reconstruction. In this research, the communication of a place identity is defined with the help of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ characteristics. Hard characteristics were defined as the fixed environment, the design and the infrastructure of the place. Soft characteristics were defined as the non tangible aspects of the place, which include the service, the use, and the supply of the place. The important soft and hard characteristics in an international shopping street were identified and examined with the help of expert and expat interviews. The perception of the consumer is tested with the help of a consumer survey, including a vignette experiment. Based on different shopping statements it appears that the expat respondents are more hedonic shoppers, while the Dutch respondents are more utilitarian shoppers. In line with this it appeared that the expats much more combine shopping with other activities compared to the Dutch respondents. Several questions concerning software aspects helped to discover the important software aspects for the consumers. The consumers find an attractive public in an international shopping city essential. In this public space the presence of green is vital for an international shopping street. A high service level is especially important for the expats. High service level includes English speaking employees, English signing in the street and just overall service level in the stores. Longer opening hours is also a way of providing service. The supply of certain type of brands and stores is another significant aspect in an international shopping city. The Dutch respondents fashion exclusive stores in an international shopping streets, while the expats find the presence of exclusive stores and chain stores just as important. With the help of the vignette experiment the perception of an international shopping street by the consumer was tested. This experiment included 11 hardware variables: Green, Height of shop windows, Parcellation of building, Shop activities on second floor, Cyclist in the street, Parking of bicycles, Type of lightning fixtures, Profile dimension, Seating, Zoning of the pavement and the Neatness level. The DCA (Discrete Choice Analysis) of the total sample shows 11 attribute levels have a significant effect on the image of an international shopping street: Trees in the street (p=