This chapter is mainly about why we shop. There are multiple factors at play such as wanting to belong, individuality, bonding, and stress relevant. People will go shop to help relax or spend time bonding with friends or family. A teenager might go shopping to stay in trend to be in a group while still feeling like an individual. Some specifically go against mainstream for some individuality. Let’s say a 19 year old walks into any clothing store. That teen decides to go against what’s mainstream. For them to do that they would need to know what exactly is mainstream at the time. Let’s say pre-ripped clothing is currently mainstreamed. They might go out of their way simple to buy clothes that are pre-ripped to show individuality. I’m normally not one of them, but some people find it relaxing to go shopping. My mom seems to be one since she says that she enjoys it. The problem with her shopping is falling the store’s techniques. Over the ages the retail stores have come up with ways to make you buy more and more. At times they will have sales that seems good but aren’t, started putting items on permit display, and have a place to leave your distraction. I am not sure if it’s still in practice, but decades ago the stores had daycare. They had this service so you would be more prone to compulsively buy stuff. The same goes with adding deals and displaying items permanently. Some people, like my mom, fall for the deal technique to much. For her, she will see something on sale and get a lot of it even if we hadn’t tried it before. The problem with this is buying something not needed and running the risk of it being a waste. About 2 weeks ago my mom bought honey ketchup in placement of hienz. What happened was that the only people in the house who eat ketchup hate. Now the bottles just sit in the cupboard collecting dust while the store got the money for it.
3/1/2019
Sociology Blog 