Abstract
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are the systems that store location based data and analyze them. In this study, GIS is defined and its importance and functions are described. Usage of GIS in marketing area is explained in details and finally number of academic publications about GIS in general and in marketing literature for decades are analyzed through five different and some of the mostly used databases in social sciences, which are Ebsco, ProQuest, Sage, Springer and Science Direct. Since the importance and usage of GIS in marketing applications and literature increases, however its ratio in total GIS literature is not sufficient yet.
TopBackground
Geographical information systems (GIS) are defined as an integrated collection of software and data that is used to visualize and organize location-based data for the purposes of performing geographic analyses and creating maps (Wade & Sommer, 2006). GIS is capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information (Coyle, 2011). It combines maps, tabular data and analysis capabilities. It allows users to take information, view that information spatially and analyze that information so users can reach conclusions through correlations (Elliot, 2014). As with most technologies, the effective use of GIS depends on the person using it, rather than the technology itself (Fung & Remsen, 1997). GIS is analytical so that able to answer such questions as: “what is adjacent to this intersection?”, “what are the conditions like within 15 km. of this point?”, “how far is the nearest water line?” (Black, Powers & Roche, 1994).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Spatial Data: Data identifies the geographic location of features. It has three types of formats which are vector, raster and semantic.
Geographical Information Systems: An integrated collection of software and data that is used to visualize and organize location-based data for the purposes of performing geographic analyses and creating maps.
Marketing: An organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.
Trading Areas: A geographic area within which a business enterprise or center of retail or wholesale distribution draws most of its business.
Decision Support Systems: Systems which are designed to help managers in the analysis and decision making processes.
Information Systems: Systems are widely used tools to collect and to interpret data. GIS is a kind of information systems.
Gravity Models: Models which were intended to determine trade areas for two competing cities.
Geomarketing: A recent discipline that combines the geographic visualization and analysis with marketing techniques, aiming at more efficiently attains the ultimate goal of organizations.