Forum. The Black Friday trademark in the United States the kick off of the shopping season the day after Thanksgiving, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month of November. Balances important are organised by distributors very invested – the expression “Black Friday” refers also to the first day of the year from which they make profit (accounting from red to black).
At a time when retailers are trying to import this day on the French territory, in the shop, but mostly on online sites, the Journal of Consumer Culture published an article by two british researchers in criminology on the practices of buying on Black Friday in England for 2014, but especially on the excesses incurred (Oliver Smith and Thomas Raymen, ” Shopping with violence : Black Friday sales in the british context “, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 17, no. 3, 2017, p. 677-694, see PDF link)as shown, the United States, a CNN report in a Walmart store in Florida in 2012.
That symbolize the name-calling, shoving, trampling, fights between clients during the day, causing sometimes police arrests and hospitalizations ? What are the motivations of consumers to participate in such a commercial event ? By interviewing thirty individuals, and in attending many of these days, the two researchers engaged in a series of responses.
For the authors, these manifestations of violence, announced the triumph of liberal capitalism, and individualism. Has the social competition is that often reflects consumption (Veblen, Baudrillard, Bourdieu) adds in this case a rivalry physical access to the property.
On the side of motivations, the participation to this day plays a role in economic catch-up : it comes to the purchase of goods, appliances or clothing usually…
