Fantasia NZ? : the Disneyfication of the New Zealand shopping mall

Abstract

Manufactured, experiential, consumption environments are increasingly mimicking the design techniques and principles on display within the Disney theme parks. One particular example of an experiential consumption environment which has been influenced by the Disney-style approach to business is the shopping mall. These commercialized attractions offer a distant alternative, and distraction, to everyday life. The theoretical concept of Disneyization offers insight into what visitors to these manufactured experiential consumption destinations are (assumed to be) searching for - and in-turn receiving. This thesis specifically focuses on 1) the development and design of the New Zealand shopping mall by assessing the extent to which identified elements of the Disney theme parks are replicated within the country's shopping destinations 2) the degree to which experiential consumption environments are being developed within New Zealand. Based upon the review of completed fieldwork, the 'System of Objects' theory proposed by Baudrillard and image association perspectives of Eco are added to the theoretical analysis as a complimentary aside to the Disneyization concept. These works also further highlight the link between experiential consumption environments and those who visit them.