Intershopping duration:: an analysis using multiweek data

This study examines the rhythms in the shopping activity participation of individuals over a multiweek period by modeling the duration between successive shopping participations. A hazard-based duration model is used to model intershopping duration, and a latent segmentation method is applied to distinguish between erratic shoppers and regular shoppers. The paper applies the methodology to examine the regularity and frequency of shopping behavior of individuals using a continuous six-week travel survey collected in the cities of Halle and Karlsruhe in Germany in the fall of 1999. The empirical results underscore the need to adopt a flexible hazard model form for analyzing intershopping durations. The results also provide important insights into the determinants of the regularity and frequency of individuals' shopping activity participation behavior. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.