Re-placing place in marketing: A resource-exchange place perspective

Abstract

This study clarifies the marketing discipline's conceptualization of place by presenting a revised perspective and conceptual framework of place, referred to as REPLACE. Drawing from resource exchange theory and attention restoration theory, the framework problematizes the assumption that places are merely physical locales by foregrounding how places can become inseparable aspects of consumers' lives. We present an alternative resource-based perspective of place, namely as a repository of resources that are potentially available to consumers through exchange processes. These exchange processes, and the complexity of the offered resources, influence consumers' relationship with a locale as well as their sense of well-being. With this alternative perspective, we bridge the place concept to public health and extend the understanding of attachment in service settings.