On Thursday March 20, 2014 I visited Crest Fresh Market in Norman Oklahoma in order to observe everyday people shopping for groceries. It was a rainy day and this supermarket was relatively empty. This is a relatively new store in Norman and caters to a higher end consumer than some of the other supermarkets in town. It was well managed with friendly staff and clean floors. Walking in the door, I grabbed a grocery basket and started following behind the woman in front of me. This was the way I observed, following from a respectable distance while pretending to be shopping myself and taking notes on a pretend shopping list. I was able to follow several individuals as well as one couple and one family who were shopping during this time sample. I saw interesting trends in behavior and analyzed these trends in order to see the causes. As I looked though my notes after leaving the store, I thought of something that linked all these shoppers; they all thought they chose what to buy. Their personalities and the possible personal benefits of certain items led to the purchase of particular goods, but they still bought things available in this store. No matter what the shoppers bought, they were supporting the choices of the large invisible commercial agencies that made the items available.
The first shopper I followed appeared to be an upper middle class woman around 40 years old who appeared to have made all her shopping choices before arriving at the store. The first thing I noticed about her was that she carried a piece of paper, her grocery list. Following her around the store led me to notice how spread out the items on her list were; this was a very large grocery store and she walked it three times over in search of ite...
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...o observe several very different types of people shop in the Crest Fresh Market in Norman. They all chose items based on their personalities and possible monetary or health benefits. Their shopping habits varied widely, especially those of groups of people shopping together. The link between all these people is that while they think they chose the food they bought, but this choice is just an illusion. Large invisible commercial agencies control the products that are available to these consumers, and these do not necessarily pick the products the consumer would pick in a completely open market, but the products that allow for the greatest profit margin. The everyday grocery shopper does not consider these huge corporations during their shopping trips, but without knowledge of the true decision makers, the supermarket will continue to be full of false decisions.
With regulations being set and laws enacted, the United States has seen a change for the better within the food industry and for the consumers overall. As a result, as much as a company is willing to cut on cost, without the consumers, every business in any industry will become bankrupt. The power is in the consumer and as long as consumers are educated properly and willing to speak up, there is a bright future ahead. However, because not everything can be seen, it is important to have books such as The Jungle and authors like Upton Sinclair to let people know what is going on and what not everyone is able to see. In doing so, this will raise awareness, create transparency and demand that companies practice ethically for the betterment of the
True to his claim, Hill continuously bought anything he wanted. At first, he bought a second house, and recruited more roommates to fill the empty extra rooms. Then, he hired a personal shopper to go to stores and buy things for him. Soon after, he found himself with new products that caused him no joy to unwrap, too many roommates to manage, and enough chores around the house to require several helpers to complete. He takes a pause from his narrative to discuss the ways that consumerism is
Everyone is in a consumer’s hypnosis, even if you think you are not. When you go to a store and pick one brand over the other, you are now under their spell. The spell/ hypnosis is how companies get you to buy there things over other companies and keep you hooked. Either through commercials or offering something that you think will make your life better by what they tell you. For example, you go to the store and you need to buy water, once you get to the lane and look, there is 10 different types of water you can buy. You go pick one either because the picture is better or you seen the commercial the other day and you want it. During the length of this paper we will talk about two important writers, Kalle Lasn the writer of “The Cult You’re in” and Benoit Denizet-Lewis writer of “ The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch”. They both talk about similar topics that go hand and hand with each other, they talk about the consumers “Dream”, how companies recruit the consumers, who cult members really are, how people are forced to wear something they don’t want, and about slackers.
As consumers, we like to believe that the information we are told is truthful and unbiased however, this is not always the case in relation to the fast food industry. In his essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko builds a convincing argument by using logical reasoning that fast food companies should be more truthful with their caloric content. Zinczenko also uses this logical reasoning to show how ease of access and family structure can affect fast food consumption. However, Zinczenko’s use of hasty generalizations and cause and effect fallacies render his argument unconvincing overall.
The food industry continues to be a major contributor to health problems in the United States and around the world. Currently, 13% of the world’s 671 million obese individuals live in the United States. (Kaplan) Some believe that it is the government’s responsibility to go to educate the people and then to further encourage them to make wise decisions on what they choose to eat. Others argue that it is the consumer’s personal responsibility to educate themselves and make a conscious decision about their food. After all, we have the freedom to do so. No one forces people to buy and eat the things that they do. But it would be naive and even outrageous to say that there are no extraneous factors counteracting a person’s will to make healthy
consumerism can be hugely related to the human phsychology.people want variety and are attracted to it when presented a range of products.furthermore attractive and idealistic advertisements pull potential customers further into the world of consumerism.from 20 different types of cereal to 35
On a day to day basis we make these conclusions when picking up an item on a shelf, we base our opinion on the design of packaging rather than its contents, raising the question weather or not the society we live in has made us change our shopping experience to buying what we want based on what we see, to what we actually need.
He begins his argument by commenting about kids suing McDonald’s for “making them fat” (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko ponders the absurdity of this claim considering how food choices are based on personal responsibility. However, he then considers the overwhelming availability ratio of fast food to fresh food while sympathizing he was once obese himself (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko uses the primary argument that fast food companies are deceiving consumers with misleading advertisement, hidden nutrition facts, and calorie risks. He believes companies are encouraging the public to eat their unhealthy foods by omitting alarming information and levying “good” deals. In consequence, fast food companies are increasing the chances of obesity and diabetes in consumers by stimulating poor eating
I walked into the front of the store to see a crowd of people searching for a good grocery cart. One that wouldn’t wobble every second that you pushed it. I took a look at many of the faces as they were beginning or ending their shopping experience. The people walking in looking for a cart seemed unsure or not pleased to be there in the first place. While the people leaving looked happy and eager to get home. I took this as a clear sign that this was not the most enjoyable place to ...
Anthropologists study customers’ shopping behavior to put together a pattern of how people shop, and from that, they arrange the items
On Friday January 17, I went to Walmart to use the ATM machine as I am incline to do every Friday after my morning math class. I went there with three goals to accomplish and that is to get money off of my card as soon as possible shop for snacks, toiletries and to catch the 1:30pm bus home, however as it turns out as I approach the machine there was an out of order sign posted on the ATM machine and I came to the realization that I would not be able to catch the bus in time. It was then that I remember the observational essay from English class and as I looked around the store Walmart prove a valuable place to conduct my experiment. From an observational point it seems to me that everyone who came into Walmart on Friday had a specific goal in mind that they wanted to accomplish, when it relates to shopping that had never occur to me before. For one thing the customers when they come into the store they tend to branch out into specific areas.
The freedom to choose and globalization helped in the establishment of modern super markets. A standard supermarket displays more than 30,000 items (Cross, 2000:55). Assu...
Consumerism has always been a big part of society back in the golden days. In today’s society, the ongoing debate of wants and needs are not justified by an individual’s wealth, but it is rather opinionated by the generalized public. Not only are the consumers getting caught in this mess, but many retailers are being sucked in as well. Retailers, have to stay up to date with the latest trends, to make sure they get their products across. Human identity is no longer determined by how much a person makes an hour, but by the commodities they possess. Consumers are so centralized on the materialistic items, that they forget what is more valuable and important. Unfortunately, the frivolous consumption has taken over the
Millionaire food companies compel and attract customers through advertisements. Wonderful presentations and happy actors on TV are strategically used to state the normality to eat a tempting 2000 calories packed burger. The Advertisements is the secret weapon of the monopoly of these companies. “The processed-food industry should be seen as a public health menace” views by Kelly Brownell, from a Yale University professor of psychology and public health (Moss 3). Today, tobacco advertisements upset the parents of children, but poor diet advertisements are primarily ignored. (Moss
The first type of shoppers are smart shoppers, I believe these are the best type of shoppers because they make a plan before going and spending all of their money. They separate their money and set up a budget. Smart shoppers go straight to buy his or her necessities and leave; they do not waste time or money shopping crazily. In fact, smart shoppers save their time and most of all their money. They do not buy stuff that they want; they purchase items that they need. These kinds of shoppers think about their money first, rather than their desires. For example, smart shoppers will think long and hard before purchasing something they really want, they would rather save it for something that they actually need. Therefore smart shoppers are cautious people, they are careful when it comes