Gladwell And Paco Atton's The Science Of Shopping By Malcolm Gladwell

Improved 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 discusses retail anthropology which was found by Paco Underhill. By putting video camera inside the stores, Paco Underhill closely observes the shoppers’ behaviors and analyzes their actions. In like manner, Underhill gives the store owners advice on how to better attract customers’ attention. Gladwell stresses that the …show more content…
Both authors clarify their points of view to the reader by noting the pure thought process of advertises identities centuries ago and their shift to a more materialistic mentality as time passed by. In “The Science of Shopping,” Gladwell gives an example of such comparison using Calvin Klein stores. It is stated that “In the nineteenth-seventies, you didn’t have to have a complete all the time,” however, “now the store has to have a complete point of view. It has to have all the options offered, so people have choices” (Gladwell 7). In the past, Calvin Klein stores did not have many options for the consumers to choose from. They realized that not having variations of outfits would make the shoppers less interested in buying their clothes. As long as the shopper feels restricted to specific types of clothes, he/she would lose desire to continue shopping in such stores. Nowadays, in contrast, Calvin Klein stores are known for their diversity of fashion styles. Consumers now have a wide variety of outfits to choose from, which results in increasing the store’s customers. Each individual can find the clothes that define his/her identity. Calvin Klein store’s shift from having a few options to obtaining a wide variety of outfits is a tactic to attract shoppers. The customers now feel that they are more respected by the store because it provides them with the freedom to choose their own identity, which is a valuable characteristic inside each human being. Also, Norton compares between shopping is a “subversive” activity because in the past shopping was a place for women and men didn’t enjoy it. Norton gave an example of subversion by stating, “When she buys things her husband does not approve of she further subverts an order that leaves control over

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