Unfortunately, my sister and I are obviously novices when it comes to Black Friday shopping. Although we both embody the characteristic of frugality, we have never taken it as far as waiting in line for hours and hours to get "the good deal." The culture of the United States has definitely influenced our consumer habits, whether we realize it or not. As far as uncertainty avoidance goes, one can clearly see the extent to which the U.S. prefers chaos to structure. My sister and I nimbly weaved through the massive crowds in Walmart to try to find what we wanted, but then got literally trapped at the back of the store by shopping carts and rather large people. The fact that U.S. consumers are considered more impulsive, risk oriented, and self-confident than other consumers of the world is also brought out by Black Friday shopping, as shoppers unabashedly push other people to grab the deal they want (I've seen it happen!)
So, needless to say, my sister and I have decided that paying a teeny bit more money is worth the comfort of shopping without fearing for our lives...and there's always Cyber Monday thanks to technological advances in society!
I totally agree with you. I would rather pay a little more than deal with the crowds and the lines. I went to Target at around 2 pm on Friday and thought it wouldn’t be to be bad. It was still pretty busy and they had long lines. I agree that this is a great example of uncertainty avoidance. This is one very unstructured day that many Americans are excited about. I think that people act the way they do on Black Friday because of the good deals, but also because of their primary reference group. Usually people go with close friends or family. These are the people who influence us to act the way that we do. So they encourage us to push and rush to get the best deal that we can.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar yet opposite to Julia's type of experience. My mother and I also went to Target around 2 p.m. on Black Friday, but found the store—in Black Friday terms—empty. Truthfully, it had only about as many shoppers as a normal day. I think that geodemographics probably has a large part to do with this difference. While my Target store is located in my upper middle class suburban Chicago hometown, it is on the edge of town just across the bridge from a small working class city that is, for lack of a better term, kind of ghetto. Many Americans found the increased shopping revenue on this Black Friday to be a sign that the economy is moving forward, but I think it depends on the area. Marketers need to be aware of the geodemographic, demographic, and psychographic differences of areas on all days, but definitely when analyzing Black Friday.
ReplyDeleteI would contend that more often than not, Americans prefer structure over chaos. We are all about efficiency and meeting our needs with the least effort possible. We want to finance on our phones, text instead of call, and shop online, receive organized customer service, etc. Once a year, however, Black Friday breaks the norm and challenges our desire for structure. Everything has a price, including our buying habits. In many ways, the foreign nature of this experience contributes to the chaos. The extent of American's anticipation for this "holiday" is clearly measured by the level of frenzy we reach each year.
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