Distance Minimization in Downtown Pedestrian Shopping

Downtown pedestrian shopping was observed with the purpose of determining whether shoppers attempted to minimize walking distance, and, if so, whether, as has been suggested in previous research, they did that by successively choosing the closest locations. In downtown of an average-sized Swedish city (about 80000 residents), 150 shoppers were interviewed in a parking lot when they were coming back from shopping rounds. 69% of the shoppers visited more than one location, and 51% visited more than two locations. Of those who visited more than two different locations, 35 (69%) attempted to minimize walking distance. This was most frequently done by first choosing the location farthest away, then minimizing distance successively back to the parking lot. In this way shoppers probably attempted to minimize both the walking distance and the effort to carry goods. Some shoppers managed to choose routes which were shorter than if they had minimized distance successively. This finding was consistent with the results of laboratory studies demonstrating the role of maplike mental representations for distance-minimizing choices.