Get Outta My Way: An Analysis of Shopping Behavior on Black Friday

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Get Outta My Way An Analysis of Shopping
Behavior on Black Friday
Welcome
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Get Outta My Way An Analysis of Shopping
Behavior on Black Friday

• Purpose
• To examine the shopping behavior of consumers on
  Black Friday
• What is Black Friday?

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What you might
Experience
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In Line Behavior
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Aggressiveness

• "I was trying to get out of the way, but they
  knocked me down," Josephine Hoffman, age 73

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Eager Shoppers
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Mass Confusion
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Flooding the toy aisle
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Shopping Companions
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Exhaustion
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Dream Team

• Mrs. Katie Shaw
• Dr. Kathleen ORourke
• Dr. Lisa Taylor

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Whats in it for you . . .

• Research Process
• Resume/Portfolio Development
• Field Work
• Fun
• Get to work with us

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Future Dates and Expectations
Get Outta My Way An Analysis of Shopping
Behavior on Black Friday
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Important dates

• Observer training sessions
• October 24 7-930pm, KH 2431
• November 7 7-930pm, KH 2431
• Practice observation
• Between Oct 24th and Nov 7th
• Note findings/questions/concerns for discussion

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Important dates cont.

• Black Friday
• November 24th
• Post Observation sessions
• November 28, 7-930pm, KH 2431

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Other Responsibilities

• Study Operational Definitions!
• Locate the store/mall where YOUR observations
  will take place PRIOR to Black Friday!
• Find out what time the store/mall opens
• Locate a store/mall flyer prior to your
  observation if at all possible otherwise be sure
  to get one online or grab one on Black Friday

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Other Responsibilities cont.

• Locate the "hot items" in the store prior to
  Black Friday if at all possible
• Report to the store/mall a minimum of ½ hour
  before opening
• Observe a minimum of ten customers for the first
  part of the observational instrument
• (pages 1-4)

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Get organized the night before

• v Clipboard
• v Stopwatch
• v Pencils (bring an extra!)
• v Observational instruments
• v Confirmation letters

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• Dress code

• Jeans
• Khakis
• Plain t-shirts
• Sweatshirts
• You get the idea?
• You want to BLEND with the customers
• Do not stand out!

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Get Outta My Way An Analysis of Shopping
Behavior on Black Friday

• Observation Team
• Training Session 1
• October 24, 2006

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OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH

• Observes subjects (shoppers) but does not
  interact with them

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Key Terms Related to Observational/Field Research

• Practices - various kinds of behavior
• Episodes - events, such as Black Friday
• Encounters - two or more people meeting and
  interacting in immediate proximity with one
  another, such as customer-sales associate.
• Roles - positions people occupy and the behavior
  associated with those positions occupations,
  family roles, ethnic groups.
• Relationships - examining social life in terms of
  the kinds of behavior appropriate to pairs or
  sets of roles mother-son relationships,
  friendship, and the like.

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Key Terms Related to Observational/Field Research
cont.

• Groups - moving beyond relationships, field
  research can also be used to study small groups,
  such as friendship cliques, athletic teams, and
  work groups.
• Organizations - Beyond small groups, field
  researchers also study formal organizations, such
  as retail stores/chains
• Settlements - field researchers often study
  smaller-scale societies such as villages and
  neighborhoods.
• Social Worlds - ambiguous social entities with
  vague boundaries and populations can nonetheless
  be proper subjects for social scientific study
  the mall, the sports world, Wall Street,
  and the like.

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DESIGN OF STUDY

• Mixed-Method
• Naturalistic/
• Systematic
• Observational Event
• Sampling Design

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Key points related to design

• Quantitative Design
• Includes numerical representation of data for
  example, percentages of shoppers who exhibit a
  behavior

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Key points related to design cont.

• Naturalistic Observation
• Researcher makes observations in a particular
  natural setting (the field) using a variety of
  techniques to collect information.
• Report includes observations and the researchers
  interpretations of the findings.
• Used when the researcher wants to describe and
  understand how people in a social or cultural
  setting live, work, and experience the setting.

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Key points related to design cont.

• Roles of Observation Team
• Nonparticipant in the social setting concealed
  purposes from the other people in the setting.
• Nonparticipant observer is an outsider who does
  not become an active part of the setting.
• Concealed observation is preferable because the
  presence of the observer may otherwise influence
  and alter the behavior of those being observed.
• Naturalistic observation is most useful when
  investigating complex social settings to
  understand the settings and to develop theories
  based on the observations.
• Must limit the scope of observations to behaviors
  that are relevant to the central issues of the
  study.

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Key points related to design cont.

• Systematic Observation
• the careful observation of one or more specific
  behaviors in a particular setting

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Key points related to design cont.

• Coding Systems in Systematic Observation
• A set of rules used to categorize
  observations/behaviors

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DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT
Survey Introduction
and Orientation
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HOMEWORK

• Exercise 1 Conduct one observation of a group
  of people gathered examples may be crowds
  waiting to enter or within stores, restaurants,
  sporting events, campus events, etc.
• Exercise 2 Conduct at least 3 individual
  customer observations in a retail store setting.
• Homework Questions
• After completing the observations of the group
  and of the individuals
• For exercise 1, how did you arrange yourself in
  the setting to be able to observe and write your
  notes?
• For exercise 2, how did you arrange yourself in
  the setting to be able to observe and write your
  notes?
• Did anyone ask you to explain what you were
  doing? If so, what did you say? If not, what do
  you think their reasons might be?
• What worked well for you as an observer?
• What do you want to change or improve before your
  Black Friday observations?

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Questions???