What Makes Somewhere the Best Place to Live?

This article aims to analyze how the superiority of a living place is determined. The paper begins by building a conceptual framework of the sense of place. It positions place identity, place uniqueness and place dependency as concepts evolving through reciprocal interaction. The paper explores two empirical questions; first the meaning themes characterizing the best living place are analyzed. Second, the types of reasoning used to justify the superiority of the place are investigated. A dataset gathered in a competition is analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Social, functional and environmental meaning themes form the co-occurring categories of justification. Four types of reasoning is identified; belonging, convenience, distinction and convincing. These findings are discussed alongside those from earlier research.



Citation:

Pirjo Laaksonen, Minna-Maarit Jaskari, Hanna Leipämaa-Leskinen, and Martti Laaksonen (2011) ,"What Makes Somewhere the Best Place to Live?", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 304-309.

Authors

Pirjo Laaksonen, University of Vaasa, Finland
Minna-Maarit Jaskari, University of Vaasa, Finland
Hanna Leipämaa-Leskinen, University of Vaasa, Finland
Martti Laaksonen, University of Vaasa, Finland



Volume

E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011



Share Proceeding

Featured papers

See More

Featured

The Effect of Future Focus on Self-Control is Moderated by Self-Efficacy

Rafay A Siddiqui, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Jane Park, University of California Riverside, USA
Frank May, Virginia Tech, USA

Read More

Featured

The Impact of Product Type on Disposal Intentions

MUSTAFA KARATAŞ, Koc University, Turkey
Rabia BAYER, Koc University, Turkey
Zeynep GURHAN-CANLI, Koc University, Turkey

Read More

Featured

Growing Up Rich and Insecure Makes Objects Seem Human: Childhood Material and Social Environments Predict Anthropomorphism

Jodie Whelan, York University, Canada
Sean T. Hingston, York University, Canada
Matthew Thomson, Western University, Canada
Allison R. Johnson, Western University, Canada

Read More

Engage with Us

Becoming an Association for Consumer Research member is simple. Membership in ACR is relatively inexpensive, but brings significant benefits to its members.