Shopping Behavior - Essay Example

Buying Behavior BUYING BEHAVIOR OF TEENS Several social venues are readily accessible for people to relax or socialize with others. In this paper, selected female teenage groups shopping in the mall were selected as the subjects for observation; since they are one of the dominant groups (Mediamark, Research Inc, 2004) that flock in shopping malls. The focus of the observation was particularly directed to the subjects, shopping behaviors. There were female teens who went to the mall by themselves shopping, but mostly seemed to enjoy the company of friends - both males and females.

The subjects are friends with others, who have multicultural background. They kept asking one another about the items they prefer to buy, at the same time, they listen to their friends' comments and suggestions. Most teenagers who spent time with friends displayed a unique sense of individuality and self-expression. The girls displayed interest in fashion, food and technologies. They were excited to buy wide variety of products. To name some of these products purchased include: Trendy clothings, bags and accessories; Food like cold beverages, potato chips, soda and ice cream; CDs, video games and multi-media accessories.

Despite these buying behaviors, the teens were able to spend significant proportion of the budget they have, yet, they also managed to keep the rest of their money. Participant Observation was employed as the research design for this activity. Undeniably, there was conflict of roles during the period of observation. Observer cannot concentrate entirely on the observation process conducted. The observer acted as if one of the shoppers in the mall and occasionally took the opportunity to examine the subjects' gestures, to hear some of their commentaries and gain insights about the verbal and non-verbal forms of communication manifested by the subjects of the study in order to acquire the true and more clear picture of the teens' behavior.

Negatively, the participant observer was limited to one role within the group, and in some ways became more partial in the observation process. Understandably, this technique is limited, in the sense that the observers cannot simply study as much people they want. Several factors (Yount, 2006) such as age, gender, appearance race and religious denomination of the observer may forbid them from access to the subjects or other groups. In general, various social perspectives can be related to the outcomes of this activity and can be considered as its framework.

Example is the Concept of Functionalism which indicates that the new generation of teens are more expressive in their needs and wants. They also decide and do things on their own; meet their demands more expressively. Functionalism is "the manner by which society could meet their needs towards maintenance of the equilibrium"(Mann,1983). The Theory of Feminism supported that many female teens continuously respond to change and empowerment. Ahmed, et al. said (Marsh, 2002), "Feminism mobilized distinct type of women into varied places and time as they seek for change but are not essentially on same thing nor importantly responding to the same situation.

" Buying Behavior 2REFERENCESMann, M. (1983) 'The Autonomous Power of the State', Archives europennes de sociologie, 25, 187-213. Marsh, H. W., Tomas, I. & Asci, F. H. (2002). Cross-cultural validity of the physical self description questionnaire: Comparison of factor structures in Australia, Spain, and Turkey. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 73 (3) 257-270.Mediamark, Research Inc, (2004) Teens market profile. 75 Ninth Avenue New York, NY 10011.Yount, R. (2006) Research design and statistical analysis in christian ministry. (4th ed.) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and to the members of the North American Professors of Christian Education Association (NAPCE), USA.