Malls: Structures of Consumption

MALLS: STRUCTURES OF CONSUMPTION

SA Amazonas SA21 - G

Chua, Jessica

Dangazo, Bea

Lao, Loraine

Magtalas, Anna

Introduction/Background

 

Studying the structures of consumption in malls is important because malls are open to people from all walks of life and it is essential that we should be aware of inequality since as management students, it can be helpful for us to know about the inequalities in the most common setting to address the issues, so that we can contribute to the development of the economy.

Review of Related Literature

In view of related studies, an article by Jon Goss entitled The "Magic of the Mall": An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment gives emphasis on the importance of the location of the malls. The location defines who the consumers are in a given mall. Accessibility is a factor that is considered in choosing the location of the mall.

Interviews made by Sharon Zukin, who conducted a study entitled Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture, showed the conflicts of the shoppers in buying products in malls. Zukin’s research suggests that age, ethnicities, and social classes are factors that affect the buying behavior of consumers. An example from Zukin’s study is of a working-class mother whose conflict is whether to buy clothes for herself or for her children.

According to Malcolm Voyce, author of an article entitled Shopping Malls in India: New Social 'Dividing Practices', malls represent the division of the middle class and the working class. To Voyce, malls serves to ignore the needs of the working class or the poor to make way for the forging of the new middle class identity. In a particular section of his article he stated that “…part of the success of shopping malls lies in the ability of their owners to associate a particular space (i e, the mall) with a particular lifestyle.” This statement suggests the evident division of the malls in consideration to the people they cater. Another similar study of malls was done by Jon Goss. Goss performed the same procedure as Voyce and evidently had the same results; although Goss’ study was concentrated more on the psychological aspect of consumerism in malls.

In contrary to the preceding studies, an analysis by Marriane Conroy states that there are malls that have created their own profiles to attract people from various classes in the society. The different outlets in malls beckon people especially from the middle class to search from store to store to find something that they actually want. The malls’ attempt to bring an end to people’s window shopping.

Research Questions

• How is inequality seen in terms of the shops and restaurants wherein different kinds of people go into?
• 
  How is inequality shown in the opportunities provided to people with different kinds of educational attainment?
• How is inequality displayed in salespeople-to-customer relationship?

Theory/Perspective Used

• Structural Functionalism
• The inequality in job hierarchy helps the business operate properly. Because of the inequality in branded stores, people can have their preferences and choose to spend their money in accordance to their budgets.
• Social Conflict
• The rich people are the ones who can only buy from the branded stores while the average ones have limited choices. Inequality can be seen in terms of the tasks different workers and employees do. Gender inequality in job opportunities is observed too.
• Symbolic Interactionism
• The inequality can be seen in different perceptions of the buying behavior of various social classes. The elite, middle, average people have different opinions and preferences about the branded stores and shops.

Research Design

The group visited different classifications of malls based on their locations, the kind or classes of people visiting, and area of the place. We observed the different stores present and the behavior of the people in these malls. We also conducted interviews so that we can gather more information.

The interviewees were chosen customers, salespeople/staff, and manager/owners. We chose the interviewees in a way that all kinds of stores - from bargain to branded - were represented.

The members collected the socio-economic profile of the people being interviewed such as their name (optional), age, gender, occupation, highest educational attainment, city of residence, marital status and religion. Then, we asked questions regarding their buying behavior (for customers) and their jobs (for staff and managers).

Findings

Classification of Malls

We classified malls into three categories based on their locations, size, and stores. We also put into consideration the accessibility of the malls to different kinds of people. Thus, some malls may be classified into middle-class though they have high-brand stores for the reason that they are accessible to the public easily.

The classifications of the malls are: high-end (e.g. Eastwood, Greenbelt, Robinsons Galleria, Shangri-La), middle-class (e.g.Gateway, SM Malls, Robinsons Malls), and bargain malls (e.g. Divisoria Malls, Harrison Plaza, Riverbanks, Blue Wave Marquinton).

High-End Malls

Middle-Class Malls

Bargain Malls

Differences The group chose some of the malls from each classification and observed the stores, the customers, and the salespeople. Our observations are as follow: In terms of the stores present, high-end malls have more branded stores and huge restaurants. These stores also are attractive and can easily get our attention and the products available are more expensive and prices are fixed. Also, there are security guards found in every boutique. In middle-class malls, there are limited branded stores and a lot of fast food chains. Lastly, bargain malls usually have tiangge and small food chains and the products available are cheap and can be bargained.

Stores in a High-End Mall

Stores in a Middle-Class Mall

Stores in a Bargain Mall

Restaurants in a High-End Mall

Restaurants in a Middle-Class Mall

Fast Food Chains in a Bargain Mall

In terms of the customers, people who go to high-end and middle-class malls are normally in casual but smart clothes while people who go to bargain malls usually wear simple and modest clothes (even house clothes). Those who go to high-end malls are also usually labeled as elite and “fashionistas”.

While observing the salespeople-to-customer relationship, we noticed that salespeople are somehow more responsive to customers who wear elegant clothes and jewelry in high-end malls. Moreover, in bargain malls, customers usually negotiate prices of commodities with salespeople and salespeople are more open to bargaining.

Analysis

Table 1.1 Gender (Salespeople)

Table 1.2 Gender (Customers)

Table 1.3 Gender (Manager)

Establishments are hiring more female employees than male employees because women are more hands-on and approachable in terms of socializing with customers. On the other hand, there is more number of female customers than male customers because women tend to shop more than men. (Table 1.1) Most of the salespersons who were around the shops or boutiques that we visited are females. The chart above shows that 71% of the interviewees were female and 29% of the interviewees were males. This goes to show that managements are hiring more females than males in jobs relating to garments and restaurants. (Table 1.2) There are more female customers than the male customers. In Table 1.2, there are 80% female customers while there are 20% male customers. This shows that there are more female respondents who go to the mall. (Table 1.3) Since females are more hands-on in doing the tasks that are assigned to them, more female managers are being hired by different establishments. In the interview that have been conducted by our group, two out of three managers are female which comprises 67% and only 33% of the managers are males.

Table 2.1 Religion (Salespeople)

Table 2.2 Religion (Customers)

Table 2.3 Religion (Manager)

Religion has something to do with the hiring of salespeople or staff and managers who will manage the establishment’s activities. This means to say that a particular administration makes religion as one of the basis in hiring the persons who will manage their businesses. (Table 2.1) From the seven salespeople that our group have asked, six are Catholic, comprising 86% and only one staff, which comprises 14% of the salespeople that had been interviewed was non-Catholic.  (Table 2.2) Also, 90% of the customers from shops and restaurants  that we interviewed are Roman Catholic while the remaining 10% are having a different religion. (Table 2.3) Furthermore, all of the three managers that our group have interviewed were all Catholic.

Table 3 Budget

Since most of the correspondents were still studying, their budget whenever they go to the malls is only ranging from P200-P500. This budget was followed by another measure of budget ranging from P500-P1000, followed by less than P200 and lastly P1000-P2000 range.

Reasons for going to mall:

·         to relax ·         to bond/hang out with family and friends ·         to shop clothes, grocery, etc. ·         to eat at restaurants ·         to window shop ·         to watch movies

Table 4 Reasons for Going to Mall

Based on the interview that our group had conducted, the customers went to the malls for relaxation, bonding or hanging out with family and friends, shopping for clothes and grocery, etc., eating at restaurants, window shopping and watching movies.

Table 5 Highest Educational Attainment

Majority of the salespeople reached college level but was not able to graduate or finish what they have started. There were four out of seven salespeople who were able to get into the college level who did not, however, graduate. There was also one salesperson who graduated from college and she was the supervisor of a particular boutique. Other salespeople had also graduated from high school or had reached the high school level. On the other hand, the larger number of the customers or the mall-goers was also coming from those who have reached the college level. This may be because most of the persons who visit the mall are college students who are just strolling and killing time in the malls. These students might also bond with their fellow students during their free time. Lastly, the managers who were present in the different establishments were college graduates. Of course, businesses would always hire the best people to work for them and they should rely their trust on the people who was able to attain the higher level of education.

Conclusion

 
Based from our findings and analysis, therefore, we conclude that there is inequality in terms of the shops and restaurants wherein different kinds of people go into. The elite usually visit the high-end stores and restaurants while the average people or the masses go to stores that they can afford.

 
We can also conclude that greater opportunities are given to people who attained the highest educational attainment. In our study, we can see that janitors, salesladies/salesmen and staff achieved undergraduate studies in college level only. However, in managers/owners, they attained college degrees. Furthermore, higher job positions are given to females than males. Also, males are usually the ones working as janitors/crews/staff.

Finally, we conclude that in general, salespeople are accommodating to customers. However, in high-end stores, there is a tendency for salespeople to assist customers who looks as if they are going to buy from their stores.

Our group can now finally conclude that inequality is present in malls in all aspects.

Bibliography

Voyce, Malcolm. "Shopping Malls in India: New Social 'Dividing Practices'" Economic and 
Political Weekly 42 (2007); 2055-2062


Goss, Jon. "Once-Upon-a-Time in the Commodity World: An Unofficial Guide to Mall of America" Annals of the Association of American Geographers 89 (1999): 45-75.

Goss, Jon. "The 'Magic of the Mall': An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment" Annals of the Association of American Geographers 83 (1993): 18-47


Conroy, Marianne. "Discount Dreams: Factory Outlet Malls, Consumption, and the Performance of Middle-Class Identity" Social Text 54 (1998): 63-83

Zukin, Sharon."Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture." New York: Routledge, 2004.

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