Brand variety, access to convenience and housing prices – empirical evidence of convenience stores from Taiwan

Recent studies have documented that access to food stores is an important determinant of housing prices. However, these studies ignore the role of brand variety among food outlets on housing prices. We provide the first evidence to distinguish between the effects of brand variety and access to convenience stores in Taiwan. We constructed a unique dataset that compiles housing market transaction records and market data of convenience store chains drawn from their electronic invoices. We used the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) to measure brand variety in convenience stores, and found that a 1% increase in the HHI among convenience store chains decreases housing sales and rental prices by 0.07% and 0.16%, respectively. In contrast, greater accessibility to convenience stores increases housing sales prices, but not rental prices. With respect to the responsible mechanism, we found that increased brand variety increases consumer expenditures and the number of customer visits. This result is consistent with the findings of love of variety literature in the context of the convenience store industry in Taiwan.