Competitive Analyses between Regional Malls and Big-box Retailers: A Correspondence Analysis for Segmentation and Positioning

clubs. A total of 569 consumers, from four geographically dispersed metropolitan areas, responded to Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews. A correspondence analysis was used to segment consumer groups based upon two demographic variables, gender and generation, to discover consumers ’ evaluation of utilitarian and hedonic retail attributes. The results revealed that Gen X females most frequently shopped at supercenters, Gen X males and Gen Y females at category killers, Baby Boomer males at warehouse clubs, and Gen Y males and Seniors at regional malls. Regional malls and category killers were evaluated positively on assortment, sales personnel, convenience, institutional image, and psychological benefits. Supercenters and warehouse clubs were evaluated positively on price, but were evaluated negatively on sales personnel, convenience, assortment, institutional image, and psychological benefits. The increasing competition among retailers in the U.S. has been influenced by shifting consumer shopping preferences, slowdown of consumer spending, an abundance of retail choices due to diversified retail formats, and retail consolidation (Reynolds, Ganesh, & Luckett, 2002; Rogers, 2005). In this competitive environment