Analyzing Gladwell's 'Consuming Passion'

Whenever I go to Stop & Shop, I tend to take interest in the thousands of products that surround me as I walk down an aisle. The wafting aroma of freshly baked pastries and the sight of cold soft drinks are just some of the things that trigger my appetite for food. Most often, I find myself buying more than what I originally planned on. That’s exactly what the layout of a supermarket tries to make consumers do. Marion Nestle argues in her article, “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate”, how supermarkets employ clever tactics such as product layout in order to make consumers spend as much money as possible. She covers fundamental rules that stores employ in order to keep customers in aisles for the longest time, a series of cognitive studies that stores perform on customers, and examples of how supermarkets encourage customers to buy more product. Overall, Nestle’s insight into how supermarkets manipulate people into spending extra money has made me a more savvy consumer and I feel if more people were to read her article, then they can avoid some of the supermarket’s marketing tactics as well.

"The biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work” (Gladwell, 42). Outliers is a book that praises the success of great men, then cuts them down to size by explaining how it wasn’t pure hard work and sweat. Gladwell studies those who have already achieved society’s idea of “success.” Every chapter is filled with detailed examinations of cultural heritage and environment in relation to the idea of “success”.The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is a detailed analysis that undergoes a comparison between two characters with outwardly similar beginnings but entirely different destinies due to personal choices, self-determination, and effort. The book values the importance of discipline and

Ever walk into a store with a defined list, but still get other items you never intended to get? Well, in Marion Nestle’s article “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” Nestle goes into detail about how the supermarkets in your daily life uses many tricks to get you to buy items and spend money. Nestle claims that supermarkets and their managers study habits of shoppers to gain the control using certain tactics. According to Nestle, “This research tells food retailers how to lay out the stores, where to put specific products, how to position products on shelves, and lastly how to set prices and advertise products” (Nestle 498). Some tactics that Marion Nestle mention are product location, music, and even item size. During the course of my paper I will convince you that these tactics are in fact real and bring more to your attention. Us consumers have to stick together and this is the first step.

Starting in Chapter 6 Gladwell presents us with the mysterious and seemingly inexplicable series of events that occurred in Harlan, Kentucky in the 19th century to introduce the enormous effect of cultural legacies.

When thinking of successful people you automatically think about how hard people have worked to be successful. In the Outliers book "Malcolm Gladwell" argues that we should look at the world that surrounds successful people. For instance their culture, family, experiences, and their upbringing. Gladwell has made an interesting argument about how people become successful. In this paper, I will be talking about how Bradley Byrne, US Representative for Alabama became successful using some information from Gladwell’s arguments.

Extra Credit: In this chapter, Gladwell does address and disprove a counterargument that everyone came from hardworking hunter-gatherers. Gladwell disproves this by showing that hunter-gathers diet was largely “a rich assortment of fruits, berries, roots, and nuts” (Gladwell 233) which isn’t that difficult to find. They didn’t grow crops, nor raise animals, so they never had any hard work that needed to get done. This shows that not everyone has the same hard working background that the Asians do, and their ore each culture grows different individuals that show different

“The woman reached out with contempt to them all, and struck the kitchen match against the railing” (37). Montag and the other firemen report to a house that is suspected of harboring books. They are correct, and they find books in the attic of the home. The books belong to an old woman whose name is unknown to the readers, and she was devastated that the firemen were destroying her home and books. Ultimately she kills herself by setting fire to herself, her home, and the books. The very property and books in question that were about to be burned by Captain Beatty. She felt that books were so important in her life that she could not go on without them. Some people would feel that things to die for, like freedom, liberty, and their family would be more important, but this woman chose her books. It seems very clear to me that Ray Bradbury seems to be telling us, the readers, that there are things in life

Montag lives in a society where books aren’t allowed, but when he starts realizing things his feelings change about books and love. Clarisse a girl comes into Montag’s life and shows him a different view in love. Also, an old man, Fabor, Montag met at the park shows Montag a different view in books. Montag believed that reading books were useless and that he’s in love with mildred, but towards the end Montag learns from Clarisse and Fabor that books are more than words on paper and that he wasn’t really in love with Mildred.

I believe that Gladwell’s purpose for writing “The Trouble with Geniuses Part One and Two” is for individuals to reevaluate the way that society defines and calculates a genius. According to Gladwell, society continues to make the mistake of not understanding what an outlier truly is. I believe Gladwell’s true purpose is to have individuals question the norms that have been set into place by society when it pertains to labeling someone as a genius. Specifically, those who are put into a position of prestige and or great admiration. Gladwell, wants individuals to question the determining factors which allows people to become an outlier.

At first of the essay, Gladwell provided an example of a successful revolution in the past with no reinforcement of internet and social media. "Some seventy thousand students eventually took part. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more radicalized. These events in the early sixties became a civil-rights war that engulfed the South for the rest of the decade -- and it happened without e-mail, texting, Facebook, or Twitter." This quote just states the thesis statement, which I agree with the author’s. The revolution always happens by the needs of the times. People will follow the right thing, which be accepted by most of the people. And the dross of the society which should be corrected would make people spontaneously participate into

In chapter four, Gladwell focuses on Spontaneity and how important it is for snap judgments. He clarifies that Spontaneity is not a random process like many people think. “Improvisation comedy is a wonderful example of the kind of thinking that Blink is about. It involves people making very sophisticated decisions on the spur of the moment, without the benefit of any kind of script or plot”. Gladwell finds that Improvisation would not work unless you follow certain rules; he explains that it has some kind of structure and not as random as it seems.

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.

They are knocking things off the shelves, eating all the merchandise and rolling on the carts through the aisles. In the background there is uplifting, spunky music playing and certain parts of this scene are in slow motion which emphasizes every move they make. The store’s lighting is really bright and all the colors in the store are vibrant which gives it a really light and airy mood. This gets the point across that they feel free and can do what they want without anyone saying anything negative about them. In every scene that you are supposed to feel as if the characters are carefree and content with the world, you do.

Shopping is a popular pastime for Americans; it is a way to relieve stress, bond with friends, and keep up with new trends. Shopping can be a method of therapy for those who need to lift their spirits; however, with low self-control it can become an impulse shopping addiction Impulse shopping is the act of purchasing goods without prior planning as a result of sudden desire. It can be an addiction because hedonic products bought impulsively induce an exciting rush, which turns into a cycle to recreate the pleasure. Of course, not all people become impulse shoppers, there are different types of shoppers, with varying emotions, psychological conditions and genders. What all shoppers have in common is that they are all targeted by consumer culture, businesses want them to buy their products and they know how to do it. Businesses constantly expose people to advertising in every form such as TV, Internet, magazines, and in public communities. Marketing strategies are developed, achieved through studies on shoppers, to entice customers to impulse shop. New technology such as TV and Internet shopping makes impulse shopping accessible right at our fingertips. It 's easy to impulse shop due to the constant reminder of shopping and how it can improve our mood. Customers that are emotional stressed are likely to impulse shop due to lack of self-restraint. Businesses know that people want instant gratification and take advantage of customer 's emotional state. Ultimately, because

The only issue with the store is that it resides in the accursed land of The Mall, a scorn to those who would most enjoy Mr. Hayes’ commodities. As Arden steps into the store she feels blissful relief as the atrocious sound of “All I Want for Christmas is You” leaves the vicinity of her ears and “Bohemian Rhapsody” is welcomed readily into her senses. The smells of scented wax and dusty books fill her nostrils, ejecting those of artificial perfumes and bleach. Illustrated covers, stamps, quills, dripping wax, and plush armchairs greet her eyes; the barren whiteness of the crowded hallways is a forgotten memory.