Consumer Culture In The Shopping Space

In the consumer society, shopping has already become a reason that consumers rely on; "shopping space" gives the material form to the symbolistic scene of shopping. As the most important part of "the consume space", "the shopping space" is not only a place where consumers are able to buy things, but also a place of entertainment: "The shopping space" is like an exhibition of commodities from outer structure to inner decoration, the shopping space usually provides amusement and recreation in the meantime. No matter the reasonableness turns of its operating management mode, or providing comfortable shopping environment for the consumer, the final purpose of the shopping space is to expand consumption. Therefore, it can be the representation of the modern consumption culture.The main text is divided into five parts:First. The space and consumptionI bring in the concept of "space production" from the angle of space sociology, and combine it with the specific language situation of the consumer society, to put forward that "shopping space" is the segmentate structure of the "consume space".On this foundation, I make "the consume culture of shopping space" as my research topic. "The shopping space" is the practical construction of meaning, is a site full with construction work of symbol. It is a space constructed by practice, making it possible to practice.The establishment of the modern shopping space is mainly in the development process of the city culture and the public consume in the twenties' century. During this changing period, not only those big cities from Europe to America, Berlin, Paris, New York for example, but also cities like Tokyo and Shanghai, this so called intermediate of modern life, such as department store and the related places like coffee shop, movie theater...etc, had already become a structure in which people walk between space and consume.Second. Shopping space and consume experience"Shopping" is usually considered the key point of the consumer society, because the whole concept of consumerism and its development totally depend on a persistent practice. Through the investigation of the always changing structures and properties of "shopping space" and "the language situation of the consume culture", "shopping" presents as a kind of "experience" more often, it is becoming a kind of culture affairs while maintaining its material meaning. What the "shopping space" presents are forms and symbols, they also existed as esthetic and recreational objects.The market is a free view, and is a well designed luxurious machine in the meantime. Here, consumers can build there own little world, can walk around, search, and satisfy their desires. Consumers and commodities can build a temporary and harmonious relationship at any time, they attract each other, try and weigh each other ,even if no sells or buys happens, the consumer still can be host of the commodities temporally.Third. Shopping behavior and sex ideologyShopping in modern times is more and more becoming leisure, not just an affair of common necessarity or practicability. While in related, shopping and consume constantly constitute identification. In this aspect, it is necessary to pay special attention to the different ideologies between men and women.To the practice of women, a success in shopping is like a success in war, business and sport fields, making a source of power. If the word "home" means slavery at home to women, then, shopping space like department store, shopping mall and so on means a gather site in an opposite way and of liberating meaning. We can regard the shopping space as such a place, where women can enter publicly, and be given with right and freedom. Fourth. Commodity trope and marketing aestheticsThe extreme representation of the commodity aesthetics in the consumer society is in the shopping space. Commodities show off the great charming glory endowed by aesthetics. No matter department store, supermarket, shopping center or brand monopoly store or topic store, every space provide a channel for shopping, a grammatical mode of commodities, customers are like words or phrases, travel around in this grammatical channel and follow it to join in the shopping structure. The difference between shopping spaces is that the commodity grammar differs, and the dissimilarity of structure order that the commodities follow.Experiencing marketing en shopping places is becoming more and more important. In order to make the shopping space much more impressive, most shop managers and developers of shopping malls are discussing how to make the shopping experience more joyful.If we say that "space design" is the "site aesthetics"of the marketing aesthetics in shopping space, then "advertisement design" is the "linguistic aesthetics" of the marketing aesthetics in shopping space. By creating different strategy modes including senses, emotions, thoughts, acts and relations, advertisements are not only making different brand images of different shops, but also raising the consume desire of the objective consumer group through their well developed vocabulary and totem.Fifth. The exhibition equip and representation of daily life aestheticsEver since modern shopping space such as the department store, shopping center grows up, "exhibition" has become a ceremony promoting market exchanges. It is a combined exhibition of well-designed objects, the so called "poetics of exhibition", that make the store itself to become a representation system, every object gets its own explanation through the very tag, which referrers to texts such as images of other objects, slogans and trademarks Shopping space is the most typical representation of consumerism. In forms of pop-art, lies a popular characteristic. During the stylization and aestheticism of common life, that characteristic has a trend to mix with commodity consume and leisure and experience in shopping space.Modern department store, shopping center gain their vigor as they build geomorphologic structure in corresponds with fetishism , regardless of the commodity fetishism of Marx or fetishism worship of Freud, the temptation power of belief covers and enlarges all commodities.Sixth.Shopping space and consumption cultural criticismShopping in context, "producer" into "consumers". Here involves a major problem between shopping and power relations, and further said that the shopping as a leisure activity of contemporary society is increasingly divided by the split, and the community is divided according to economic income and shopping capabilities.Consumers may be passive, even in the volatile unwittingly become an accomplice of the system, but it is also dynamic, multi-role. Shopping space "needs" of consumers; consumers also "need" shopping space. This is the system and consumers to reach the "conspiracy" - is the active participation of consumer consumption and continue to base.