Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T19:06:40.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Going to the Mall: A Leisure Activity of Urban Elderly People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Dawn Fowler Graham ,
Ian Graham  and
Michael J. MacLean
Dawn Fowler Graham
Affiliation:
Health and Welfare Canada
Ian Graham
Affiliation:
McGill University
Michael J. MacLean
Affiliation:
McMaster University*
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, define and test a theoretical model which explains elderly people's use of urban shopping centres as places for social exchange. We suggest that elderly people use shopping centres to satisfy social and leisure are individual or predisposing variables and environmental or encouraging variables which differentiate elderly people who engage in this activity. Using a secondary data analysis of a probability sample of 300 non-institutionalized elderly people in Montreal, we found that mallingering is an activity that 67 per cent of this sample do in three shopping centres in this city. Predisposing variables such as age, gender, education and feelings of loneliness, along with encouraging variables such as design and ambiance of the centre are related to this activity. Based on these findings, we suggest that this model contributes to our understanding of the leisure activities of non-institutionalized elderly people.

Résumé

Le propos de cet article est d'introduire, de définir et de tester un modèle théorique qui puisse expliquer la fréquentation par les personnes âgées des centres d'achats urbains, conçus comme des endroits d'échanges sociaux. Nous estimons que les personnes âgées vont dans les centres d'achats pour satisfaire leurs besoins de vie sociale et de loisirs. Nous créons le néologisme « mailler » pour aller au mail ou au centre d'achat. Nous émettons ensuite l'hypothèse qu'il existe des variables individuelles, c'est-à-dire de prédisposition et des variables environnementales, c'est-à-dire d'incitation, variables qui différencient les personnes âgées adeptes de ces activités de magasinage. En nous fondant sur l'analyse de données secondaires, tirées d'un échantillonnage de 300 personnes âgées montréalaises vivant à domicile, nous avons découvert que le magasinage, effectué dans trois centres d'achats de Montréal, constitue une activité pour plus de 67 pour cent des sujets de l'échantillon. Certaines variables sont à relier à cette activaté: variables de prédisposition telles que l'âge, le sexe, l'éducation et aussi le sentiment de solitude et variables incitatives comme l'architecture du centre d'achat et son ambiance. En nous fondant sur ces résultats, nous pensons que ce modèle nous aide à mieux comprendre les activités de loisirs des personnes âgées demeurant à domicile.

Keywords

SociabilityLeisure ActivityLeisure TimeShoppingMallingeringSociabilitéactivatés de loisirstemps de loisirsmagasinagemailler
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , Winter/hiver 1991 , pp. 345 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, M. (1985). A Survey of the Elderly Shopper. Mitcham, Surrey: Age Concern Research Unit.Google Scholar
Andersen, R., & Newman, J. (1973). Societal and Individual Determinants of Medical Care Utilization in the United States. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society, 51, 95–124.Google Scholar
Bellenger, D., & Korgaonkar, P. (1980). Profiling the Recreational Shopper. Journal of Retailing, 56, 77–91.Google Scholar
Brown, D., MacLean, M., & Sijpkes, P. (1986). The Community Role of Public Indoor Space. Journal of Architecture Research, 3, 161–172.Google Scholar
Chapin, F. Stuart Jr (1974). Human Activity Patterns in the City: Things People Do in Time and in Space. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Daws, L., & Bruce, A. (1971). Shopping in Watford. Garston, Watford: Building Research Station.Google Scholar
Fowler, D. (1988). Centerites: Making Public Use of Private Property: The Case of Urban Shopping Centres. Master's Thesis, McGill University, School of Urban Planning.Google Scholar
Gillett, P., Scott, R., & Davis, D. (1983). Shopping and Leisure Activity Patterns Within the Elderly Consumer Segment: The Young-old and Old-old. In Kothari, V. (Ed.), Development in Marketing Science. Las Vegas: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Conference of the Academy of Marketing Science.Google Scholar
Greenbie, B. (1984). Urban Design and the Community of Strangers. Landscape Design, 6, 8–11.Google Scholar
Jacobs, J. (1984). The Mall: An Attempt to Escape from Everyday Life. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.Google Scholar
Kowinski, William Severini. (1985). The Mailing of America. New York: William Morrow and Company.Google Scholar
Lloyd, R., & Jennings, D. (1978). Shopping Behavior and Income: Comparisons in an Urban Environment. Economic Geography, 54, 157–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lumpkin, J., & Greenberg, B. (1982). Apparel-shopping Patterns of the Elderly Consumer. Journal of Retailing, 58, 70–89.Google Scholar
MacLean, M., Brown, D., & Sijpkes, P. (1985). Leisure Activities of the Elderly in Urban Shopping Centers: A Case Study Analysis. In Butler, A. (Ed.), Aging: Innovations and Creative Responses. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Marshall, V. (1987). Editorial: Samples and Generalizations. Canadian Journal on Aging, 6(3), 185–186.Google Scholar
Mason, J., & Smith, B. (1974). An Exploratory Note on the Shopping Behavior of the Low Income Senior Citizen. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 8, 204–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarland, J., & Thompson, V. (1989). Agency Participation and Problem Occurrence Among the Elderly. Canadian Journal on Aging, 8(3), 209–221.Google Scholar
Peace, S. (1982). The Activity Patterns of Elderly People in Swansea, South Wales, and South-East England. In Warnes, A.W. (Ed.), Geographical Perspectives on the Elderly. London: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Satin, A., & Shastry, W. (1983). Survey Sampling: A Non-mathematical Guide. Statistics Canada, Federal Statistics Activities Secretariat and Census and Household Survey Methods Division. Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Sijpkes, P., Brown, D., & MacLean, M. (1983). The Behavior of Elderly People in Montreal's Indoor City. Plan Canada, 23, 14–22.Google Scholar
Smith, B., & Hiltner, J. (1979). Shopping Problems of the Urban Elderly. East Lakes Geographer, 14, 37–42.Google Scholar
Smith, G. (1984). Spatial Aspects of the Shopping Patterns of the Urban Elderly: The Case of Central Area Apartment Dwellers. Canadian Journal on Aging, 3, 133–146.Google Scholar
Smith, J., & Gant, R. (1982). The Elderly's Travel in the Cotswolds. In Warnes, A.M. (Ed.), Geographical Perspectives on the Elderly. London: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Stone, G. (1954). City Shoppers and Urban Identification: Observations on the Social Psychology of City Life. American Journal of Sociology, 60, 36–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swartz, R. (1979). Providing Retail Goods and Services for Residents of Government-assisted Senior Citizen Housing. East Lakes Geographer, 14, 43–49.Google Scholar
Tauber, E. (1972). Why Do People Shop? Journal of Marketing, 36, 46–49.Google Scholar
Westbrook, R., & Black, W. (1985). A Motivation-based Shopper Typology. Journal of Retailing, 61, 78–103.Google Scholar