Shopping for Family

• Published in: Qualitative inquiry Vol. 5; no. 2; pp. 147 - 180
• Main Authors: Allen, Eve, Gustafson, Stacey, Marquis, Trinette, Poeppelman, Timi, Roth, Patty, Sanger, Pam Chapman, Smith, Maureen, Trujillo, Nick, Wright, Jennifer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.1999; Sage; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Anthropology; Attitudes; Consumer behavior; Consumer behaviour; Consumerism; Consumption; Economic behaviour. Consumption; Economic sociology; Ethnography; Families; Families & family life; Family; Family Life; Family Relations; Interviews; Personal relationships; Popular Culture; Shopping; Social Identity; Sociology; Sociology of economy and development; USA; Consumption; Purchase; Golf; Christmas; Poverty; Femininity; Narration; Body Image; Representation; Humiliation; Television; Economic behavior; Body (Human); Family; Present; Identity
• ISSN: 1077-8004; 1552-7565
• DOI: 10.1177/107780049900500201

This article presents an autoethnography of shopping. A team of nine researchers spent more than 100 hours during a 5-month period conducting participant observations in a variety of shopping contexts and conducting more than 25 formal and informal interviews with customers and sales representatives. This article focuses on the interrelationships between shopping and family, as the authors reflect on how shopping and consumption practices have helped define their own identities, their families’ identities, and their identifications with their families. The article blends various forms of writing to reveal the unique voice and identity of each researcher and the unique senses of family culture and consumer culture evoked by this field study of shopping.