Retail therapy

The meaning of shopping

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological- the basics Health, food,sleep (we cannot

function at all without these three) 2. Safety ( shelter, removal from

danger) With nowhere to live,or being shot at,

you cannot think about anything else.3. Belonging (love, affection, being in a

group)

Maslow cont.

4. Esteem (how we value ourselves and how others value us)

5. Self-actualisation (achieving our full potential)

In Maslow’s theory, you have to meet the needs of the lower steps, before you achieve the higher ones.

False consciousness

1. Marxist idea, shopping gives us ‘false needs’. We are seduced by the goods and made to think we want them.

2. Kelly’s story: She saw a dress she liked in Burton and didn’t buy it. She saw the same dress in Selfridges, displayed with a spotlight, and she bought it.

Cathedrals of consumption

1. Is shopping our new religion? 2. Shopping malls are a whole

world, out of the weather, with shiny interiors, where you forget the rest of the grey world.

3. Buy this dress, this mobile phone, this flat screen TV and your life will be complete.

Baudrillard

1. The old hierarchy has collapsed, culture has ‘imploded’.

2. You can ‘mix and match’ to create your own identity. He used the word ‘bricolage’ to mean taking things from different contexts to make our own identity, e.g. The punk’s ear-rings were safety pins. Madonna wore long black gloves, used for Palace tea-parties, just for fun.

Baudrillard 2

1. B. Used the word ‘hyperreality’ to explain what was happening today. This is almost better than reality, or reality plus.

2. This is like seeing HD TV,instead of black and white.

3. Shopping for him is ‘hyperreal’. 4. 3 key elements: entertainment,

spectacle, consumption.

Baudrillard 3

1. Simulation- our lives are dominated by media experiences, the internet, video games, TV, magazines, films. Distinction between reality and simulation disappears.

2. Implosion- tradition collapses, we are in confusion.

3. Hyperreality- the image dominates, HD is our new reality. Signifiers have lost touch with signifieds.