The ecology of the marketplace experience: from consumers’ imaginary to design implications

In this chapter we explore the role of place from a cultural perspective. More precisely, we show how consumers make sense of the spaces and places around them, and how “consumptionscapes” such as flagship stores, shopping centers, restaurants and bars, and also ordinary stores, perform many sociocultural functions that go unacknowledged in traditional marketing management texts. According to this constructivist view, we propose that design of commercial spaces should be grounded on a thorough understanding of these psycho- logical, bodily, and cultural processes, and of consumers’ needs for self-affirmation through a self-place bond fulfillment. The suggested principles of store design are thus based on the use of devices and architectural elements which provide a stage for consumers’ experiences (cf. chapter 9) and, at the same time, promote freedom of movement and meaning construc- tion. We illustrate our discussions with multiple examples of commercial locations and two brief case studies, namely Prada Epicenter and Mama Shelter as interesting points of refer- ence for both theory development and managerial practice.