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Abstract
The study provides a comprehensive literature review of night market studies in Southeast Asia. Similarities and differences of night markets across different regions are addressed with respect to night market characteristics and visitors' behavior. From 343 valid returns, four factors were identified for night market selections in Taiwan: tangibles, convenience, food, and psychological fulfillment. The findings also explored demographic differences concerning selection criteria of night market visitation in Taiwan. Managerial implication was derived from the results as basis for operational suggestions.
Keywords: night market, tangibles, convenience, food, psychological fulfillment
Introduction
With the weather being mostly hot and humid in Southeast Asia, people tend to take outdoor leisure activities after sunset. Hence, the Night City Concept is socially and economically viable based on the argument of Hillier (1996). The suitability of a night city can be evaluated through four inter-correlated domains: social behavior, night-time environment, night-time activity, and urban outdoor space (Ngesan & Karim, 2012). Perception of positive implication in the social behavior domain may include: change of urban lifestyle, quality time for family, rejuvenate urban community, and act as socializing tools. Conversely, negative perception may include: monopoly by young generation, inclined to social problems, lack of safety and comfort, and threat of local community from tourist culture. In the night-time environment domain, positive perception may include: cooling and windy, offer unique experiences of night scenery, optimize the use of urban natural resources, and promote nocturnal flora and fauna. Its negative perception may include: high energy use for lighting, produce more carbon footprint, contribute to the urban heat island, and threat of mosquitoes. In the night-time activity domain, positive perception may include: traditional and modern cultural performances, community practices, festival and season events, mini concerts, educational activities, passive and active leisure, wholesale night market, mobile stalls, and businesses of food and drink. Its negative perception may include: activities using alcohol and gambling, very artificial activity, shopping malls close early, limited to indoor activities, lack of activities for different age groups, and lack of proper 24-hour activities. Finally, in the urban outdoor space domain, posi-tive perception may include: multiple usage of urban spaces (streets, parks, playgrounds, etc), and natural areas. Negative perception may include: conflict land use of night activity with surround-ings, traffic congestion, and...