The Role of Proximity in Value Preferences: A Study of Consumer Co‐operatives

Proximity is seen as an essential part of the relationship between a co‐operative and its members, one that is a source of member value and competitive advantage. As the restructuring trend in co‐operatives has tended towards scale and centralization, proximity to the member decreases. Thus, proximity between the members and the co‐operative is a major challenge. Still, proximity has received limited attention in both the co‐operative and consumer (member) value literature. The purpose of this paper is to begin filling this gap by investigating the relationship between proximity (both spatial and non‐spatial) and members' value preferences in a co‐operative. Our findings based on a credit union member survey indicate that in terms of member value preferences, spatial proximity has an indirect impact and non‐spatial proximities impact directly on member value preferences. Implications of the study are discussed.