of this study lay in its ability to enhance the decision making process with repsect to both site selection and business implementation. For other readers of this study, its significance is associated with the description of a process which may be applied in other business feasibility studies.
This study was limited to a consideration of potential site locations in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Further, the study was limited to a consideration of 12 site locations within the city which had been determined to be both available and feasible for the proposed use.
Literature is reviewed in this chapter, which is related to the problem investigated. Specifically addressed in this chapter are consumer perceptions of self service retail formats, business location decisions, and business real estate acquisition.
Consumer Perceptions of Self Service
The self service distribution concept in retail sales is being ever more widely applied, both within those markets where it has been used in the past, and in new markets.3 The self service distribution concept, however, has not been welcomed by all consumers with open arms. While some consumers are merely indifferent, others are hostile toward the concept of self service. Conversely, of course, there are those consumers who prefer self service.
While it is known that the expansion of the self service retailing concept is proceeding at a rapid pace, the underlying aspects of consumer behavior which are involved are not completely understood. Consumer motivations for the use of self service retailing establishments range in a continuum from (1) a desire to fully participate as an individual in whatever activity may be involved from pumping gasoline to serving food, to (2) a desire to lower the cost of the product or
3J. E. G. Bateson, and E. Langeard, "Consumers Uses of Common Dimensions in the Appraisal of Services," in A. Mitchell, (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research, 1...