Analysis Of Black Friday : Consumerism Minus Civilization

Because Parker is passionate in her articles, she derives a lot of credibility from it. In “Black Friday has Lost its Bang. Hallelujah,” Parker is passionate about the topic of people being less materialistic. It is clear that she is passionate about the topic of people choosing to be thankful and spending time with family than going Black Friday shopping through, because she seems relieved that the tradition is

Andrew Leonard's "Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization" argues that the Black Friday shopping spree has begun to get out of hand in the previous years. Leonard explains that consumerism is a great thing for America, but showing Americans that it is okay to go crazy when shopping for deals is not the way to approach the buying markets. He mentions a Target advertisement and states that, "The Crazy Target Lady is not a joke. Watch her cannibalize her gingerbread man, or strategize her reverse psychology shopping techniques... she is America. She might be a lunatic, but it's a culturally approved lunacy" (Leonard 166). The author emphasizes how Americans embrace the acts of the target lady as funny and amusing, but during Black Friday shopping, some shoppers will take the night to the extreme like the advertisement does. He does remind us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, by reporting how shoppers are seeing the problems with the night of crazy shopping. I agree with Leonard that there are problems with Black Friday ads, and that consumers are realizing Black Friday shopping is taking away from Thanksgiving.

The phenomenon of consumerism is quiet powerful due to the impact on individual’s lives. Society has come to the point, happiness is associated with consumption. However, the way consumerism works, is if the items being purchased gives temporary happiness. There individuals are always buying the latest products to remain happy. In the text, “The Cult you’re in” Kalle Lasn, discusses a cult-like nature of consumer culture on Americans. Lasn uses the work ‘cult’ as a metaphor; he does not mean an actual cult but American consumers seem to be in a cult-like nature. The ideal example of Lasns argument is the text, “The man behind Abercrombie and Fitch”, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, goes in great depth of the life of the CEO, Mike Jeffries, of

Through the Cold War, America was transitioning in various ways such as the way messages were shared, consumerism, and the constant race against the Soviet Union. During the years 1959-1964, Rod Serling, a New York writer and playwright began using one of the newest inventions, the television, as a way to share his opinion about controversial topics. The rise of the television allowed Serling to access to a larger audience whom he could share his opinion in the form of science fictional episodes in the show The Twilight Zone. Although the show seems ominous and a horror related TV show, it allows us to understand the effects and feeling towards topics such as a possible nuclear war, consumerism, space exploration.

The main points of the book are divided up,and go month by month.Each month is a new topic.Judith is challenged against her own word of not buying anything for a new year.The book witnesses Levine’s journey from enthusiastic experiment in January to a still game but weary participant by the fall.As favorite luxuries run out and clothes become shabbier,many of her points are intentionally provacative.For instance,not buying makes her feel vulnerable and having to ask for help.”I know I’m not alone in my ambivalence about consuming”After a few months Levine does not have to ask for help anymore.She is used to not buying anything,but it is still hard.At the beginning of her year without shopping,she is in a panic.This is not necessarily a personal panic.”Still I am moved by a sense of personal responsibility,not to say personal panic ,about this big,bad problem and the rapidity with which its is getting worse”’At the end of the book ,her mood changed from “panic”’to prosperity.Panic,Surplus,Consumer Psychology,New and Improved,In/Voulnatary Simplicity,Scarity,Redistribution of Wealth,Structual Adjustments,Memories of Underdevelpment,Security Fraud,Brand America,The Ownership Society and Prosperity.are the fifteen chapters in “Not Buying It”.Within each chapter, we discover,the different difficult trade-offs and tensions in not consuming.By focusing primarily on the personal choices and consequences of not shopping,Levine may be telling us more about the mind-set of American

The point of sale assessment depends on the consumer’s perceived shopping motives. Shopping motivation represents a fairly mature reach of research. Many retailers consider smart shopping comprises high sensitivity on process. Smart shoppers are always keen on getting a discount. Shopping on Black Friday is the consumer’s motivation. It gives them the excitement of the game. (look for competitive) Its part of the mystique, shoppers can celebrate their ability to get the best deals.

Quindlen starts her essay by stating that at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, a worker was trampled to death by a horde of excited shoppers during Black Friday; the day after Thanksgiving when stores hold massive sales for the holiday season (Par. 2). She then goes on to talk about credit card debt and gives various examples of people buying different versions of items they

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

In the beginning of her essay, she declares that consumerism is a “pernicious problem, an addiction to consumption so out of control that it qualifies as a sickness” (Quindlen 159). The author’s statement could easily offend anyone who is a part of America’s consumer culture and seems very vague in her statement. What qualifies as out of control consumption; buying toys or clothes or is there a limit where it becomes out of control? Quindlen also states that “now much of the country is made up of people with the acquisition habits of a 7-year-old, desire untethered from need, or the ability to pay” (160). This is a very generalized statement that cannot be effectively given because, again, she does not verify exactly what she means. Are the acquisitions of a 7-year-old the desire to buy everything you see? Maybe they are the desires to own every fun new gadget, regardless of need. She also says “much of the country” but leaves her remark at that; how much is “much”? Without any sources, it can easily be assumed she is using her own personal relationships to come to this conclusions which is a biased group and does not represent the country as a whole. Shopping and consumer consumption is a necessary part of the American economy, and Quindlen’s arguments regarding a majority of the country and their reckless spending may only be extreme in a few cases, and reasonable in

In reading Anna Quindlen’s¬¬ 2008 op-ed, “Stuff Is Not Salvation”, she briefs the reader on the horrors of American consumerism. Her piece starts with a morbid detail of a Wal-Mart employee that was trampled to death during a Black Friday Sale. She goes on to summarize how the shoppers continued to grab items even after the management announced that the store was closed. Quindlen also sprinkles her work with several statistics. Though there are many valid points that these statistics bring, she doesn’t provide a reference nor citation to these points. Quindlen also has a small scope on those whom live frugal and fruitfully. Quindlen focuses only a handful of personal experiences, mentioning friends who falter, and small rural farmers in Pennsylvania.

In recent years, fewer people have been shopping outside (about 74 million in 2015 compared to 85 million in 2011), but the number is still large enough to pose a threat to the environment and retail worker happiness (TheBalance). Since there are people who will shop on Black Friday regardless, Buy Nothing Day may not be a permanent solution to overconsumption, but it could be the first step. The Mall of America, one of the largest shopping malls in the country, closed its doors on Thanksgiving to allow time for employees to spend time with their families (CNBC). If other retail leaders follow this example, Buy Nothing Day can become a reality. The more people that participate in raising awareness, the more others will realize that an obsession with consumerism is not beneficial for the

For generations, Americans has been brainwashed by the media to believe that what is displayed on television is the ideal perception of what real beauty have manipulated American citizens of what style looks like. Furthermore, with their many brainwashing strategies, that means more and more consumers spending beyond their budget. Our perspectives have been heavily influenced by what they believe is nice, but can we afford it all? With unrealistic combination of goods in store, plazas, and mall, consuming has become a bad behavior of some. In support of my argument of the “Overspending”, author Gladwell’s article “The Science of Shopping” also argues that stores adjust to fit the needs and wants of the shopper are evidently presented. With that being said, we have no idea when we are being manipulated into unrealistic shopping behavior that is influenced by the way the advertisement is presented in visual sight. Author Gladwell gets a “retail anthropologist” and “urban geographer” named Paco Underhill to give breakdown points of how he helps brand name stores influence consumers into persuasion of buying more. However, most of us fall short of that discipline, while being persuaded to overspend during our store visits.

A Buy Nothing Day would allow customers to take a break from their spending. Excessive shopping can become a problem. People go out and buy anything just because it is accessible to them. With the implication of this day, consumers

The purpose of this research is to examine consumer behavior on Black Friday. Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year, and it is all driven by the chance for consumers to save the most amount of money possible while getting their holiday shopping done. Research was done online, and also through personal experiences. By understanding what retailers and consumers hope to accomplish on this day can have a positive impact on everyone. Consumers are able to get what they want with the least amount of turmoil, and retailers are able to turn a profit. This research can be most helpful to merchants, as it will help them to understand what a consumer

The American Marketing Association defines impulse buying as ‘a purchase made without planning.’ Frequently, the purchase is an emotional reaction to a marketing stimulus the latter Centre. “Impulse buying has been considered a pervasive and distinctive phenomenon in the American lifestyle and has been receiving increasing attention from consumer researchers and theorists (Youn & Faber, 2000, p.179)”. Despite the negative aspects ofthe impulse buying behavior from past research, defining impulsive behavior as anirrational behavior (Ainslie, 1975; Levy, 1976; Rook & Fisher, 1995; Solnick,Kannenberg, Eckerman, & Waller, 1980), resulting from a lack of behavioral control (Levy, 1976; Solnick et al., 1980), resulting from a lack of behavioral control(Levy, 1976; Solnick et al., 1980), impulse purchases account for substantial sales acrossa broad range of product categories (Bellenger at al, 1978; Cobb & Hoyer, 1986; Han,Morgan, Kotsiopulos, & Kang-Park, 1991; Kollat & Willet, 1967; Rook & Fisher, 1995;Weinberg & Gottwald, 1982). A study found that impulse purchases represented between 27% and 62% of all department store purchases (Bellenger et al., 1978). Rook and Hoch (1985) assert that most people have experienced an impulse purchase. Other research findings support this assertion revealing almost 90% of respondents have made grocery purchases on impulse occasionally (Welles, 1986), and between 30% and 50% of all purchases can be classified by the buyers themselves as