I often wonder if my (not yet born) children will approve of me, forgive my own less than perfect relationship with my parents, indulge my quirky ban on mass media, and find something in me to love and look up to. As I read page 141-142 of Paco Underhill’s ‘Why We Buy‘, I realized that, while my children may forgive my many faults, they’ll probably not forgive me for trying to ban Tom & Jerry from the living room –
Today both parents are almost certainly working at jobs, which means buying that cannot be done over lunch hours must take place during times the family might happily spend together. Shopping then becomes an acceptable leisure outing — less pleasurable, perhaps, than a week at Disney World, but not entirely without potential for fun. Also, divorce is common enough that the single parent (either one) in the company of the brood is a common sight in movie theaters, restaurants and stores. Kids go everywhere because we take them, but once there, they alter the shopping landscape in obvious and subtle ways.
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Most economists agree that our consumption-driven economies are based on our wanting things we don’t even need and buying things we don’t even want.
Here’s an excerpt from retail anthropologist Paco Underhill’s ‘Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping‘ on how shopping baskets form the foundation of a rock-solid economy –
In a very successful bookstore near my office, there is a pile of shopping baskets in the usual erroneous place — in a corner just inside the door… Judging by where the baskets are kept here, you’d think that shoppers enter bookstores saying to themselves, Well, today I plan on buying four books, a box of arty greeting cards and a magazine, and so first thing I will take a basket to hold all my purchases. Whereas common sense tells us that people don’t work that way — more likely someone walks in thinking about one book, finds it, then stumbles over another that looks worthwhile. In such moments the very heart of retailing lies and if shoppers suddenly ceased to buy on impulse, believe me, our entire economy would collapse… Anyways, when our book shopper stumbles upon a second worthy volume, she then begins wishing she had a basket to make life a little easier. And if at that exact moment a basket suddenly materialized… then she would probably take one. And then, perhaps, go on to buy book number three and four. Maybe even a bookmark. (page 55-56)