The Dimensions of Alternatives in Spatial Choice Processes*

Abstract

The Dimensions of Alternatives in Spatial Choice Processes*Much effort has been spent in the last few years on synthesizing classical location theories and rewriting them "in behavioral terms" [18, 24, 25, 26, 33, 35, 53,541.A common, though never very explicit, goal in this work appears to be a single general theory of human spatial choice, which will give "the real reasons why people behave . . . in the way that they do" in decisions about where to conduct many kinds of activity [Harvey, 35, p. 371.(See also Olsson [51] and Harvey [33, p. 3 141 .)This paper leaves aside troublesome questions about the more precise definition and the merits of such aspirations (for discussions see [16, 25, 33, 42, 43, 51, 631 ).The paper considers ( a ) the identification of the properties of alternatives entering choice behavior and (b) the incorporation of these properties in a general cognitive behavioral theory of spatial choice processes.Discussion is confined to changes of choice behavior within spatial structures: with particular reference to consumer choice of shopping place from a given set of centres.The paper is constrained in these ways to allow two intractable problems to be avoided for the moment, namely, the problem of unravelling the complex interactions between changes in spatial structures and changes in learning and behavior within structures, and the problem of requiring the collection and aggregation of data on the choices of individuals over a long period.(These prob-

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