A qualitative investigation of consumers’ perception of safety towards high streets in Sweden

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the way that aspects of the external shopping environment form consumers’ perception of safety, in order to improve our understanding of how consumers experience safety issues in the high streets. Besides, this thesis aims to understand the role of safety in the consumers’ perception towards the shopping environment of high streets and the importance of safety in the retail sector. For this study, a single data collecting method has been chosen by the author. 17 semi-structured interviews have been conducted with people, who shop in the two main cities of the Skåne Region, Helsingborg, and Malmö. The results of this study showed that consumers’ perception of safety is formed in several ways from aspects that emerge in the high streets. The presence of people from different social and cultural backgrounds and the presence of the number of people who walk in the high streets are discussed by the participants. To be more specific, interviewees stated that even the presence of people, who come from different social and cultural backgrounds can form their perception of safety. However, the number of people has a twofold role in consumers’ perception of safety. The familiarity with their neighborhood is also an important aspect, which people in medium-sized cities such as Malmö and Helsingborg experience and it often overlaps with the familiarity with people. In addition, aspects such as lighting and CCTV have been highlighted. However, some participants seemed to experience them differently due to the limited opening hours of stores in Sweden and the daylighting and some interviewees related CCTV systems to human rights and privacy policy. Finally, they pointed out aspects such as the branded shops located in high streets and the cleanliness of the shopping areas, which also overlap with the familiarity with the location.