Going the Extra Mile for Anonymity: Measuring the effect of social stigma on the locational choices of illicit massage parlor customers

Keywords: Informal Economy, Retail, Mobility, Crime, Massage
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 31

Abstract

Traditional locational analysis in retail/business geography begins with the assumption that customers will visit retail locations that are most convenient. This is often taken to mean the locations closest to the customer’s home or work would be preferred to locations farther from those places. This assumption is likely accurate for many types of consumption, but is problematic when applied to sectors of the economy which hold a social stigma as customers might make locational choices that minimize the visibility of stigmatized behavior in places where they may be better-known to neighbors, co-workers, friends, or family members. Illicit massage businesses (IMBs), retail locations that offer commercial sexual services in addition to, or in lieu of, non-sexual massage services are prevalent in nearly every metropolitan area in the United States. Their ubiquity suggests that the illegal nature of the services provided is of little deterrence for customers, however, the social stigma of purchasing commercial sexual services may still influence the locational selection patterns for IMB customers. This study analyzes anonymized personal mobility data from SafeGraph to compare the locational selection patterns for customers of legal massage businesses with the those of illicit massage businesses’ customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area to determine just how far IMB customers will travel to ensure that their stigmatized activities remain invisible to members of their community.