Understanding social processes of shopping destination choice - An approach to model stability and variability

Transport systems are affected by fundamental technical and social dynamics. For planners and researchers, travel demand models are an important tool to gain insights into possible effects of these dynamics and to find appropriate ways of dealing with them. However, most state-of-the-art travel demand models underestimate social aspects of travel choices, which we consider essential for understanding stability and variability of travel behavior. Based on a qualitative interview study, the paper presents an interdisciplinary approach to consider social aspects for modeling shopping destination choice. Starting point for our considerations is that people are social beings, moving around to build and maintain relationships, and that these relationships only unfold in relation to overall sociotechnical structures. The interview study provides evidence for relationships between stores and customers. Relationships can be distinguished in two dimensions. First, in terms of the nature of a relationship: having a relationship either with the owner of a specific store or towards specific brands. Second, in terms of the meaning: if the relationships is perceived meaningfull or obligatory. Findings are represented in a first modeling approach. The results show that the more seldom relationships to owners of a store can be modeled easily, while the more typical relationships to brands require further research. •Grocery shopping is a highly routinized activity and appears well-suited to analyze behavior stability•By highlighting relationships between customers and stores, the social context of travel behavior is taken into account.•Study shows that grocery shopping is not necessarily coupled to generalized costs of transport, but to the nature and meaning of relationships.•Nature and meaning of relationship influences variability and stability of destination choice to a considerable amount.•A first approximation to model the observed phenomena is presented.