Tenancy Relationships: The Case of Anchor Tenants in 'Real' and Virtual Malls and Communities

摘要

Web-based electronic commerce has moved from the realm of the cyberspace avant-garde to becomingsuccessful enough to attract attention from lawmakers as a potential source of revenue through taxation(Wiseman and Nichols, 1998). As we move into uncharted territory, the players, both individual andinstitutional alike, fall back on assumptions and modus operandi inherited from more traditional commerceventures. In this paper, we focus our attention on the principal players, the virtual mall operator and theanchor tenants and the types of relationships that govern them as a first step towards a comprehensive modelof electronic commerce for virtual mall and communities. Our initial findings indicate that the traditionalshopping center with its ensuing relationships, may not be directly transferable to a virtual setting.