Preview

The Signs Of Shopping

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1715 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Signs Of Shopping
FYW 100
Professor Baluch
Essay 1, Final Draft
The Signs of Shopping
For me, it is the same question every month, should I go shopping or pay my insurance? Most of the time it comes down to going shopping until the insurance has to be paid, and I am sure I am not the only one that has been in this situation. There are different ways of shopping and each one of these ways are coded systems that construct our own identity. They each encourage consumers to buy products and then group the consumers with one identity. In “The Signs of Shopping”, Anne Norton explores the many ways these shopping methods sell products by selling to the public who they should be. Shopping malls, catalogs and home shopping networks are three different methods for buying products and each of them brings in more and more consumers daily, which in the real world, uncontrollable shopping is not a healthy habit to get into.
Shopping was seen as a subversive activity for women. The role of women was to care for their family before putting themselves first. Shopping would allow women to escape from their homes and enjoy the company of other women without the presence of their husbands. They were responsible for housework and taking care of their family’s needs. Shopping was an activity that had replaced those cares. Norton explains, “The housewife who shops for pleasure takes time away from her husband, her family, and her house and claims it for herself” (106). Shopping gave women the option to make their own decisions. As their daughters grew up, they were brought along and bonded over shopping trips. Shopping malls are a place to escape reality and enjoy with others. It manipulates people to leave and experience an ideal reality.

While on the topic of women, statistics have shown that women either do most of the shopping, have a hard time saving up money, or even have a general knowledge about funds, bonds and stocks (Statistics Picture- Bruce Sallen). In one statistic given, about

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A famous writer for the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell has written an article, “The Science of Shopping”, which is based on Paco Underhill’s study of retail anthropology. The intention of a retail store is obvious- that is to attract customers and convince them to perchance as much as they can. There is so much knowledge that we can study, such that how the environment affects people’s thinking. These are tiny details that we don’t usually think about. The reason of how Paco Underhill success is because he notices these details. Details determine success or failure. Paco Undnerhill—a talent and passion environmental psychologist, provides us a new point of view of the science of displaying products, as well as the behaviors of customers…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mktg522 Course Project

    • 8188 Words
    • 33 Pages

    Danziger, P. N. (2006). Shopping: why we love it and how retailers can create the ultimate customer experience. Chicago, Illinois: Kaplan Publishing.…

    • 8188 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Sharon Zukin's essay “Attention shoppers...” she explains that Americans shop because their trying to chase their dreams; weather they be, higher social status, greater education, the ownership of a home,...etc... She also explains that in the last one hundred years or so Americans have been taught to shop from birth, and, that Americans no longer have the basic survival skills of making and growing things for themselves. She also explains that shopping habits change from child, to teenager, to adult. All of which are different aspects of consumerism; which, in and of itself the pursuit of more. Consumerism is a wheel of repetition; in which, Americans seek happiness,wealth, and stability.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    'Putting on a Posh Voice'

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Shoppers memories of both the past and present, as well as perspectives of key sociological thinkers, assist Shaw (2010) in gaining insight into the role shopping plays in cementing older class differences as well as creating new ones.…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bruce Dawe Consumerism

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The over consumptions of material goods have overtaken society to the point where it has become a part of today’s necessity. But first of all, what is consumerism? Consumerism is the process of selling and promoting material goods which often leads people to obsessively consume vast amount of products. The concept of Consumerism however, have been negatively depicted within Bruce Dawe’s ‘Americanized’, ‘Televistas’ and a film ‘confessions of a shopaholic’ .…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Mall

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Alan Brinkley’s essay The Mall he explores the history of shopping complexes in the United States and gives us insight on the different kinds of complexes. The mall started off as a shopping center. The first shopping center was the Country Club Plaza, opened in Kansas City in 1924. The shopping center soon increased in size and became small “strips.” In 1956, the first enclosed, climate controlled shopping opened in Minneapolis and was called South Dale Shopping Center many cities. The malls spread and began to have similar aspects of the downtowns that they were rapidly displacing, but they were safer. Soon after that malls started being built in many cities. The malls were still increasing in size and they were begging to add movie theaters, video arcades, bowling alleys, restaurants, and hotels. “In cities and towns in every part of America, malls became not just a place for shopping, but often centers of a much-altered community life as well” (Brinkley 115). Malls became like little cities with their own police that were private security forces. For the most part they were able to keep undesirable customers off the premises. Mall evolved into self-contained imitations of cities, minus many of the troubling abrasive features of downtowns. Malls set out to be perfect urban spaces mostly having white middle class women in mind. Many teenagers began to cling to the malls instead of other hang out spots such as street corners, parks and downtown. The mall became a universal shopping center that attracted everyone.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Anne Norton’s The Signs of Shopping starts her essay out with shopping at the mall. Shopping at the mall briefly describes what the mall is and who is there, for example, she explains that the mall is the only place where young and old of different cultures come together in one place. She goes on discussing how women use the mall to escape the household and for a sense of dependency. Thus more, surrounding themselves with women and simply enjoying their time with each other at the mall. However, she moves on to shopping at home, how people don’t need to go in the public place surrounded by the different cultures of individuals, it can be all done in solitude. The catalogs take up for all that a person misses from not going to the mall and tv…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Roth-Engendering Inequality

    • 4853 Words
    • 20 Pages

    p. 205: women have different earning even when their job preferences and investments in human capital are identical…

    • 4853 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “It works just as good as the name brand,” my mother would always suggest. As I have matured, I regret to admit that, in most instances, my mother’s notion was right. Consequently, those very words describe my shopping nature. When I think of what kind of shopper I am and how I have developed my shopping habits, there are three factors that are responsible for my consumer behavior. Those factors include my childhood shopping experiences, my knowledge of advertising and marketing, and my persona.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Shopping has become a daily activity which happens a billion times in America and around the world. We cannot imagine how our lives would be affected if shopping was suddenly stopped. Malcolm Gladwell and Anne Norton both write articles about two sides of modern day shopping: how consumers have impacted the retail industry and how the industry influences consumers. In the article " The Science of Shopping," Malcolm Gladwell, a well-known writer and journalist, analyzes the shopping behaviors of customers and how retailers can lure customers; while Anne Norton, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, in “The Signs of Shopping" focuses more on different types of shopping and the construction of identity which customers gain through purchasing. Although two articles argue about different aspects within the same topic, the article by Gladwell seems to be stronger than Anne Norton 's argument. Gladwell gives solid scientific evidence, which are based on Paco Underhill’s study of retail anthropology, so his argument is convincing, while Norton 's article has a lack of proof and is flawed when she stereotypes women as "recognition dependence" (106).…

    • 1816 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Buyer Behavior

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: Berkowitz, E. N. (2006). Essentials of health care marketing (2nd ed.). (pp. 108-109, 393, 399,…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Each of us obtains our excitement through different measures. For some, it involves countless preparation and day-long conversations on Black Friday specials. For others, it involves no groundwork whatsoever and instead lies within the rush one creates through a competitive family atmosphere. Still, some would prefer to forget the shopping option altogether and instead engage in more relaxing activities during the break. Each individual has their own reasons for partaking in certain festivities. Whether it be a family’s tradition to go out and shop or one’s personal preference to stay in and sleep, the only thing that seems to be fully understood about consumers is that every consumer is unique in their own…

    • 2201 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hypothesis Test

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The thought behind this problem statement comes from the report which says that there is a huge difference between the number of single women applying for credit cards and men. There are studies done to project the spending/saving habits of men and women. Research shows that women and men have different interest areas where they like spending money [1]. These areas determine how much they spend. Men spend money mostly on eating out, sports ticket, drinking, cars and boys clubs. Whereas women like to spend money on clothes, jewelry, makeup/spa and other accessories. According to [2], the level of debt for men and women is different. Gender was more influential in predicting financial management practices than was affective credit attitude, with female students employing a greater number of financial practices. Research on credit card behavior [3] among college going men and women states that men apply for more than one credit card whereas women’s hold an average of one credit card during their college education. The identification of gender differences may also indicate the need to closely examine individual differences about money management [4].…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cox, Anthony. Cox, Dena. Anderson, Ronald. (2005). Reassessing the Pleasures of Store Shopping. Journal of Business Research. Vol. 58. pp. 250-259.…

    • 2538 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since about 1990, online shopping has emerged into every corner of life, linking people to the culture of capitalism in frequent and daily ways.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics