chapter 5: shopping lessons

This chapter is about the sociology of consumption. The chapter talks about the many reasons why we shop or why we buy certain things and the social pressures that go along with it.

We shop for many different reasons like buying something we absolutely need like food or buying something we simply want out of pleasure. But through a sociological perspective it is a little more complex than that. Sometimes shopping can be seen as fine like buying the latest item that you’ve been waiting months for or just simply treating yourself as a way of relieving stress but as this chapter points out shopping comes with many negative associations like standing in long lines,credit card debts, social pressures, the hectic crowds on black Friday and financial stress. Many of times we shop to find the best deals on certain items. One example this book makes is when buying a mop, consumers tend to buy the cheapest mop that still does a good enough job. During times like during a recession where money is tight, consumers will have this type of behavior where they will try to get the best product for the lowest price, and that is partly why super shopping centers have dominated the business.

While we all want to buy the cheapest item and still get what we want out of it, saving money isn’t the only reason we decide to buy something. in fact, we are willing to send more on an item to boost our self confidence and make us feel more fashionable. Some brands are bought buy consumers because in our society they are seen as high priced and popular. That makes us think that if we wore those brands we would be respected more. They will purchase some of these brands because they want to fit in a particular social group. However we don’t buy items just for ourselves but we also buy items for our friends, family, and significant other.

In this chapter it asks us the question, Is shopping a social problem? we really see this antagonistic side of society on black Friday. In 2008, Jdimytai Damour, who was a temporary Walmart employee was trampled to death as a crowd of 2000 shoppers rushed into Walmart during the 5 am opening. While the chapter isn’t saying that shopping is bad it doesn’t glamorize it either. Events like black Friday does bring out the selfishness in people but shopping builds the national economy and creates jobs. In a sociological view, a social problem can be a problem for some groups but not for other groups. Its impossible to find out the truth about shopping through just one sociological story.