Rhetorical Analysis Of The Signs Of Shopping

“Believe What You Want” What is it that shoppers are looking for when they walk into a store? The simplest answer is they don’t know what it really is ,but the store does. It is in Ann Norton’s article,” The Signs of Shopping” , that she reveals that within malls between woman there is a community of taste that is created as a culture. There is an opportunity for independence that they can enjoy amongst themselves. While in Malcolm Gladwell’s article,”The Science of Shopping”, he shows how retail consultant Paco Underhill’s idea of “retail anthropology,” affect how people shop and the manipulation that can be put on their shopping habits. The shopping experience is heavily affected by the stores that pay attention to how buyers react

Norton see the mold as bringing the false sense of independence that is created in the culture. The culture is what the woman would feel is their independence.They have the chance to as Norton says create a “community of taste”. It is clear that under Paco research he has paid close attention to consumers and their actions within a store so he can mold a culture. Norton says,”They could not represent themselves through commodities without the funds men provided, nor could they, without money, participate in the community of women that was realized in “going shopping”. (Norton 106) The culture that women “create” is already made up. Through research like Underhill’s it is possible to have the consumer’s idea of what they want to buy. Norton would see this as an idea of subversion because although the consumer feels they have their independence within the culture they are actually dependent on the culture.Stores are just persuading the consumer to buy more products. This can be seen by the set up in the stores. Gladwell tells of Paco’s retailing commandment when he says,” a women’s product that requires extensive examination should never be placed in a narrow aisle”(Gladwell 67). The setup of the stores encourages women to be comfortable to examine products and stay in the culture of being able to bring their taste. The culture though molded by how products are placed in