Shopping Decoded - A Brief History of Shopping Culture

Author: Thomas Hahn (USA)/Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Why do we need items, and how do items change us?
When I was driving toward the Walmart parking lot, I noticed that old lady. In fact, it was because she was blocking my car that I had to pay attention to her. She was using a cane, and it was clear that the impatient shoppers were unhappy with my parking, shouting. The old lady moved forward slowly and steadily toward the entrance of the discount store. At the parking lot, she found a shopping cart and quickly and gracefully put her cane into it. With the help of the shopping cart, she quickened her pace and reached the store entrance in no time. This allowed others to park, and everything returned to order. As I walked toward the store, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the old lady. Why was she making such a fuss? What did she really need?
Upon entering the store, I noticed that our paths often crossed. Every time I saw the old lady, she was either leaning on her cane or on a shelf, examining shirts, pants, or staring at the top of the shelves. After about half an hour, the shopping cart was already filled with small items. It’s safe to assume that none of these were necessities, nor were they extravagant or self-indulgent goods.
When I finally asked her why she came to Walmart, she shrugged and expressed the hardships she had endured. She said she always took the bus to come here. Today, she planned to buy some decorations for her house and some gifts for her grandsons. Clearly, the items she wanted were not necessities.
“I just wanted to come out and browse,” she said. For her, what mattered most was not the items themselves but her ability to go out alone and make her own choices. She told me she had to carefully consider what she wanted to buy, otherwise, if there were too many items, she wouldn’t be able to carry them on the bus. She also had to think about whether she had enough money.
However, once she left the store, she felt she was capable and trusted. The items she bought were both generous and frugal. She wanted to prove to the people around her that nothing in her shopping cart was impulsively bought. From the moment she entered the store, no one thought she was weak or frail; she was still able to live a normal life, buy gifts for her grandsons, and firmly believed she was an important member of the family.
Perhaps you could conclude that the act of shopping is more important than the items in the shopping cart, but that’s not entirely true. While shopping well demonstrates her ability, the items she brings home better prove the power she possesses. Using items connects humans to the establishment of human power—it’s an ancient and universal form of human behavior. Other species can only use limited tools to complete specific tasks, but only humans—far more than what I can tell you—place items at the center of every society.
For everyone, at least since the Neolithic era, items have been symbols of power. Those who owned the main items were either rulers or shamans. The king’s crown, the chief’s cloak, the mystic’s collection, and gem-encrusted teeth—all symbols of power and authority. Throughout history, the desire for items has always been limited and precious. Ambitious people sought to become masters by acquiring these valuable items. Those who already had power would give gifts to their allies and potential rivals to maintain their status. Priests and shamans claimed to reach the spiritual world by using religious items, which were believed to possess supernatural power. When symbols of power fell into the hands of the wicked, social order was in danger.
Throughout history, rulers and religious leaders not only worked through the items that symbolized their authority but also prevented others from obtaining them. To maintain control, they limited the distribution of these items. In today’s society, this is a nightmare for rulers. Even the poor living in dirty and messy places can afford to live and own goods. In a resource-abundant society, it’s difficult to establish authority. Ownership is no longer a symbol of a leader’s power, but it is a significant symbol of another kind of power: the right to choose as a consumer.
My understanding of the old lady at Walmart made me think that the items in her shopping cart were no different from the belongings of a monarch, except that the monarch’s items were a different kind of political statement—they were a declaration of independence. Even today, shopping is not the only way humans establish a relationship with the power of items. There are still people who steal, often seizing items powerfully in their own way. Robbers have killed young people just to get their cool shoes. However, the exchange of gifts remains an important way for humans to build connections and responsibilities.
Shopping is the primary form through which we exercise the power of items. As a habit, shopping is so deeply integrated into our lives that we can no longer recognize its presence. In today’s society, most people learn to shop before they even begin to understand the world or make meaningful voices. Child psychologists have observed that shopping is one of the earliest ways humans begin to understand the world and form their personalities. Three out of every four American babies have been to a store, usually a supermarket, around the age of six months, with some even going to stores right after birth. These children start to realize that there are good things in stores, and before seeing them, they could only be alone with their parents. After a while, around the average age of two, they can point to or indicate the items they want in the store. Most children quickly realize that they have the opportunity to get what they want in their own way. From then on, children begin to remember the things they have seen before or the items they particularly like. Even before they can express their thoughts clearly, they start to demand these items. Therefore, in this sense, marketers begin to take an interest in children.
Most three-year-old children can remember the items displayed in the supermarkets and discount stores they have visited. If they are allowed to walk around the self-service area and make their own choices, they are very happy. This act of choosing is the most important part of the shopping experience. This behavior begins when children can walk and ends when the elderly can no longer walk. Children understand that shopping is not just a process of choosing but also requires payment. American parents allow their children to buy some items at the age of five and a half—letting them choose and pay themselves—and by the age of eight, they are allowed to manage their own money.
We all start our lives as consumers, depending on what others provide for us. The ability to choose items in a store may not make us completely independent, but it gives us a sense of independence and autonomy. This autonomy is highly valued in modern culture. Also, when children see beautifully packaged items in stores, they think of them as jewels. Children enjoy playing with cans and boxes, which stimulate their imagination. Children often see cans and boxes as private property, which is quite different from the marketers’ original intention.
Young people learn to shop as naturally as ducks learn to swim. It’s both a response to their survival world and an individual reaction to the power of items themselves. We may not be “born to shop” as T-shirt ads claim, but we are born to use items, and we increasingly believe that choosing items is an important part of the life of a capable and successful person. Shopping is so important to our growth that it truly affects our thinking and behavior. However, to clearly illustrate the power of items in our lives, we must imagine what life would be like without shopping.