Methods are proposed for assessing the boundary coincidence of two market areas that share the same distribution point. These methods may be used to test whether market areas vary in different dimensions such as products, days, or time periods. Four measures of market area size and overlap are presented, along with a statistical method for decomposing market boundary differences. The measures are illustrated using an example.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AhlbergJ. H., NilsonE. N., and WalshJ. L. (1967), The Theory of Splines and Their Applications, New York: Academic Press.
2.
BerryBrian J. L. (1967), Geography of Market Centers and Retail Distribution, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
3.
BliemelFriedhelm (1973), “Theil's Forecast Accuracy Coefficient: A Clarification,”Journal of Marketing Research, 10(November), 444–466.
4.
DeBoorCarl (1978), A Practical Guide to Splines, New York: Springer-Verlag.
5.
HaysWilliam L. (1973), Statistics for the Social Sciences, New York: Holt.
6.
HuffDavid L., and BatsellRichard R. (1977), “Delimiting the Areal Extent of a Market Area,”Journal of Marketing Research, 14(November), 581–585.
7.
LordDennis J., and MesimerDouglas M. (1980), “Temporal Changes in Trade Areas and Patronage Sources,”Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
8.
RustRoland T., and BornmanElizabeth O. (1982), “Distribution-free Methods of Approximating Nonlinear Marketing Relationships,”Journal of Marketing Research, 19(August), 372–374.
9.
SparicioFrank J. (1966), “Trading Area Variations for Different Goods Sold in the Same Store,”The Professional Geographer, 18(January), 5–8.
10.
TheilH. (1965), Economic Forecasts and Policy, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
