Black Friday Madness

Another boxing day come and gone. I couldn't help but be shocked by the news coverage today about the events that took place yesterday throughout stores all over North America during this day. As we learn about the patterns of consumption and buying, consuming, and the motives for consuming goods we should also keep in mind the dark side of consumption. Humans are greedy and selfish people by nature, we are taught at a young age by our parents, culture and societal norms to share and be kind. However when an opportunity presents itself to let that selfish nature out we always give in. Black Friday is a prime example.

Originating in the 1980s, Black Friday refers to the end of profit loss (market by red ink) and the beginning of positive sale profits (marked by black ink) due to the start of the holiday season (Ro, Here's why we call it 'Black Friday'. Black Friday has integrated itself into our culture, marking it one of the most important days of the year for consumers. However due to the large amount of sales at tremendous discounted prices happening only once a year, the dark side of consumer behaviour presents itself.

One of the most notorious example of the effects of Black Friday is the death of a seasonal worker at a Walmart in Valley Stream NY. At the first hour of dawn more than 2000 anxious shoppers waiting for the opening of the Walmart were getting restless, violent and impatient to be the first to take as many discounted items as possible. Due to the intensity of shoppers and lack of proper security, a worker was trampled on by thousands of shoppers resulting in death and injuries for other shoppers and Walmart employees (McFadden & Macropoulos, Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death).

Other examples of the greed of shoppers can be seen in the video below:

We have become a materialistic society with a an addition and dependency of tangible things we can buy at a store. In the textbook, Consumer Behaviour - Buying, Having, Being we discuss the term consumer addiction, this refers to "a psychological or physiological dependency on products or services" (Solomon, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being). Addiction doesn't just refer to a dependency to drugs or alcohol, at some point shopping and consuming can have the effect of a high, satisfying at a new level that can become extreme.

On the other hand many shoppers are fantasized by the idea of Black Friday as being the one and only day where its totally OK to spend $500 in just one day. Due to the nature of the day they no longer shop for functionality or leisure, rather they practice compulsive behaviour. These shoppers are compelled to shop because they have to and for all the wrong reasons. We buy and buy and buy and spend the money we don't have only just to take advantage of the highly discounted items. Shoppers are no longer thinking if its financially feasible to buy a TV, all they can think about is the big 50% OFF sign stamped all over the TV box.

We need to be aware of our mistakes and take care of the craze Black Friday brings upon our society. We need to be aware of the negativity of consumer behaviour and realize the damage it can do to us.