Food Jungles and Retail Chameleons: Investigating Consumer Attitudes and Food Access in North Canberra using a Calibrated Disaggregated Spatial Interaction Model

Abstract

This thesis studies the human-ecological basis of food access among different consumer groups using a geographic information system. Past research on this topic has lacked an integrated socio-spatial modelling approach that takes into account empirical data on consumer behaviours and socio-economic status. A dominant concept in this subject area is the notion of ‘food deserts’, which focuses on two variables: low socio-economic status, and the distance of consumers to major food retailers. This approach fails to acknowledge the influence of consumer attitudes on food consumption. This thesis addresses this issue through the use of a calibrated disaggregated spatial interaction model to create outputs more representative of actual behaviours. This method calculates the probability of visitation of each retailer, for each consumer subgroup, based on empirically-defined parameter configurations. Empirical data was collected on consumer attitudes and visitation behaviour to a selection of major food retailers in the area of North Canberra (n = 864). Four factors were found to statistically separate the data. These factors included: Cost (1), Convenience (2), and Care (3), and Socio-economic Status (4); and were used to statistically define five consumer subgroups, named: Concerned (A), Expedient (B), Dispassionate (C), Calculating (D), and Frugal (E). Socio-economic status played almost no role in the separation of these consumer subgroups, indicating that socio-economic status is less important than attitudes in the measurement of food access in North Canberra. This result challenges the implicit assumptions about socio-economic status and behaviour in the food desert discourse, and highlights the need for greater use of sophisticated, empirically defined models, that can explain underlying behavioural trends. Unexpectedly, spatial patterns of consumer subgroup visitation to retailers in the study area were comparatively uniform. Aggregate community-retailer visitation patterns also showed that although larger retailers were favoured, proximity was more important. This uniformity revealed that North Canberra is not a typical food desert, but is more characteristic of a ‘food jungle’, an area with high access to retailers. The statistically measured differences in attitudes between consumers was practically irrelevant for discerning spatial behaviour at this level of analysis. This implies that consumers must either be ignoring their attitudinal values, or acting upon them within stores, at a sub-catchment level. The latter situation is highly likely, as retailers are known to fragment their market share, and act as ‘chameleons’, by supplying a diversity of food products which cater to a range of consumers. This result suggests that the addition of new retailers for consumers to choose from, is unlikely to realise change in the food system. Instead, regulatory responses (such as a sugar tax), would be more effective if targeted to in-store purchases. This thesis demonstrated that a calibrated disaggregated spatial interaction model is a useful tool for exploring the influence of underlying contextual and social variables. This method could be used to assess other areas, including those previously labelled as food deserts, for the presence or absence of food jungles and retail chameleons. It could also be applied to other social issues where access and behaviour are fundamental considerations, such as transport, crime, and gambling research. Show more