Shopping and Crowds

By Jonathan Wynn

I like crowds. I remember feeling emotionally overcome as part of the group when I was in the front row at a Radiohead concert in Madison Square Garden or at the greatest comeback in NFL history. Being caught up in the moment, succumbing to the mass and losing a sense of one’s own individualism was something sociologist Emile Durkheim called collective effervescence: the emotional energy binding a group and a person. He was more interested in religious rituals, but I thought of this concept when watching this YouTube video of frenzied shoppers on Black Friday:

 

Thinking about the balance between the needs of the individual and the wisdom of the collective sits at the heart of sociology: Where does the self end and the society begin? Are crowds orderly and productive or irrational and destructive? “The Crowd” can be a pivot point for examining social life, and early sociologists like Durkheim, Georg Simmel and Robert Park all took note of that. Philosopher Elias Canetti called crowd mentality “collective contagion.”

Gustave LeBon (1896) offered an early theory on this kind of deindividualization, believing crowds made individuals irrational and emotional. Mob violence (a la the Salem Witch Trials or sexual violence of the 2000 Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City) could be examples of how the fervor of the crowd can draw seemingly reasonable people into seeming irrational actions. Both examples, however, are not as groundless as we may first think: the Salem Witch Trials and the events in Central Park show how a crowd can echo existing forms of power and control.

The Black Friday crowds can be similarly linked: In this case, these individual behaviors tied to our overly consumerist society. Allison Pugh’s book Longing and Belonging provides a nuanced and thoughtful account of the symbolic practices surrounding childhood and consumption, but the fever pitch Black Friday shopping serves as a kind of flip-side to those more deliberate buying practices. There’s something to focusing on the”meaning of things” but also something to looking at the social action itself.

And to take that on, we could focus on the positives of crowd formation and collective effervescence and not just overtly negative examples, right? My dissertation research, on walking tours in New York City, highlighted how the tour group bonded, especially when confronted by the occasional cranky local who cursed at the folks blocking the sidewalk. My research on music festivals reinforced the collective warmth of being a concertgoer, and there’s other research on crowds and sports.

I imagine there are similar feelings at religious pilgrimages (almost two million people flood the plain surrounding the Hajj), or at protests like Occupy Wall Street, as they congregate for a collective plea for government oversight and awareness of economic inequality. (Elias Canetti, offering a typology of gatherings, would likely call the Hajj pilgrimage a ”Feast Crowd,” Occupy a ”Reversal” or a “Prohibition Crowd,” and Black Friday Shoppers as a ”Baiting Crowd.”)

There are critiques of commercialism, mirroring the crowd formation as well. Bill Wasik, who is credited for inventing the ”Flash Mob” –a kind of conscious, near-instant gathering, mostly for the point of having a gathering—details the origin of the term, which has both technological and shopping-related foundations:

One blog proprietor gave the concept a name—“flash mobs”—after a 1973 science-fiction short story, “Flash Crowd,” which deals with the unexpected downside of cheap teleportation technology: packs of thrillseekers who beam themselves in whenever a good time is going down. The story’s protagonist, Jerryberry Jensen, is a TV journalist who inadvertently touches off a multiday riot in a shopping mall, but eventually he clears his name by showing how technology was to blame.

Flash Mobs indicate that new technology can also be an answer: consider the hacker-collective of Anonymous, which marries the privacy and placelessness afforded by technology with the power of a collectivity, or the Arab Spring, where crowds gathered to protest government oppression fueled in part by advances in mobile technology. A different manifestation is Improv Everywhere, a Flash Mob/performance art troupe. For this year’s Black Friday they organized a prank to get

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of ImprovEverywhere.com

people to re-think consumerism. Their volunteer- pranksters (they call themselves agents) campedoutside a dollar store in Manhattan as if they were awaiting the latest iPod, and stampeded in when the doors opened to the bemusement of passersby and the dollar store workers. They’ve done other events in a grocery store and Home Depots. All of them make a scene, but they also can tweak the collective consciousness on shopping, consciously or not.

In 1906 Sir Francis Galton wanted to prove that the masses were relatively unintelligent but found they can be, in fact, rather smart. He realized that all the little bits of information individuals hold add to a group’s collective knowledge, increasing the likelihood of the crowd’s intelligence. When asked a question, a collective group has a stronger probability of getting the correct answer. James Surowiecki, in The Wisdom of Crowds, updates this group intelligence idea using the example of how the audience on the TV Show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is correct 91% of the time.

So, there is a dual nature to crowds. They might act emotionally, even dangerously, but they also have the potential for collective intelligence. Crowds can be smart, politically savvy, and effective too. Keep this in mind when you are at the mall shopping for gifts.

Comments

[focalprice]

I believe that most humans have a natural tendency to go where there are crowds of people. I say ‘most’ because obviously there are minorities that always seek to move against the current and prefer things that no one else likes. I think that shopping outlets play on this tendency with the adverts they put outside their shop to entice the crowds. If they manage, it will have an avalanche effect as more people come inside not due to the advert itself but due to the number of people already inside.

[Brian]

Very true that humans have the tendency to go where there are crowds of people, not only that but they seem to copy and mirror each others actions also, this phenomenon is called social proof a term psychologist Robert Caldini often speaks about. Its where people see something as favourable because other people are getting involved in it. Companies take advantage of this by using testimonials, facebook likes on a website, pictures of people smiling whilst using a product, even hiring people to queue outside of a club to give the illusion that its popular. This is usually how trends are formed(remember pokemon?)Social proof is a social cue so when someone observes it they think ''if everyone else is getting involved then this it must be good, lets see what the fuss is about''.

[TSW]

Your article just caught my attention while I was doing some crowd control research. I just wanted to add that I feel that stores need to take more responsibility in their advertising. At this point we have seen the deaths and the damage that can be done at some of these Black Friday Events. Messaging like "Limited Quantities - Only to the first 100 customers" just strikes me as irresponsible at this point. I know I personally will avoid going to any store that advertises like that.

[viral content]

Shopping and crowds, for me, are like synonyms. Basically, I shop where I see crowds. Moreover, the places good for shopping never run out of crowds.

[aaghaazehaj]

Assalamualekum, MashaAllah the way you write is a joy to read. The Knowledge gained from this lot, InshaAllah I'll try to carry it with me forever. Hajj Umrah

[Catina Everman]

The article highlights the impact of crowds on shopping behavior. It's intriguing how social dynamics influence decisions. Personal space and comfort are vital for a positive shopping experience.

[betwin360]

Like the Black Friday crowds, these individual actions are associated with our consumerist culture. In her insightful and complex work, Longing and Belonging, Allison Pugh examines the symbolic practices of children in relation to consuming; nevertheless, the frenzy of Black Friday shopping offers a counterpoint to these more contemplative purchasing habits.