Deck 5: Shopping Lessons: Consuming Social Order

Question 1

When sociologists write of shopping as a compensatory mechanism, they refer to the fact that it can compensate for:

A) lowly social origins
B) individual weaknesses and failings
C) isolation and loneliness of modern life
D) decreased importance of religion in modern life

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Shopping has become the dominant form of consumption with the rise of:

A) capitalism
B) socialism
C) globalization
D) mechanical solidarity

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following consumer groups does the department store retail model rely on?

A) Teenagers
B) The elderly
C) Men
D) Women

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In his 1927 book The Arcades Project, Benjamin argued that consumerism may have one of the following negative effects. Which one?

A) Suppression of religious beliefs
B) Suppression of political consciousness
C) Suppression of consumer confidence
D) Suppression of ethical standards

Question 5

Which of the following retail models introduced open display as a way to encourage customers to desire goods they had not originally intended to buy?

A) The arcade
B) The farmers' market
C) The department store
D) The big box store

Question 6

An investor wishing to open a retail outlet has hired you as a consultant. Which of the following types of outlet would you recommend as a safe investment in a period of increasing social inequalities?

A) A dollar store
B) A department store
C) A designer clothing store
D) A gourmet food store

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT usually a characteristic of gentrified urban areas?

A) A combination of shopping, leisure and tourism
B) Presence of working class residents
C) Benefits to the local economy
D) Increase in real estate prices

Question 8

Which of the following is best explained by the rational choice model of human behavior?

A) Abstaining from shopping out of environmental concerns
B) Upscale emulation
C) Shopping for luxury items
D) Shopping at big box stores

Question 9

The idea of consumer sovereignty is based on a specific understanding of the relationship between:

A) the material and the cultural
B) agency and structure
C) micro- and macro-social
D) the sacred and the profane

Question 10

Which of the following did Durkheim conclude in his study of suicide?

A) Strong social solidarity lowers suicide rates.
B) Strong social solidarity is oppressive and increases suicide rates.
C) Causes of suicide are individual and personal.
D) Suicide rates decrease with age.

Question 11

According to Durkheim, which of the following would be a social fact?

A) Weakness of character that leads consumers into debt
B) Individual consumer's cost-benefit analysis before a purchase
C) A social norm to buy birthday presents for friends and family
D) A shopping addiction

Question 12

Which of the following communities is most likely to be characterized by mechanical solidarity?

A) International jet-set
B) Globally mobile managers of transnational corporations
C) A suburb housing both middle-class and working-class residents
D) A village where nearly all residents are farmers

Question 13

Mechanical solidarity is to organic solidarity as:

A) cities are to countryside
B) pre-industrial societies are to industrial societies
C) industrialization is to urbanization
D) capitalism is to industrialization

Question 14

Beside data on individual opinions, focus groups are also suitable for gaining knowledge of:

A) meaning-making
B) confidence-building
C) social solidarity
D) stigmatization

Question 15

In the 1990s, female youth violence was defined as a social problem in Canada, although its extent was very small. Which of the following is the most likely reason for its social construction as a problem?

A) Feminists claimed that female youth are no better than male
B) Issues concerning youth are always defined as problems
C) Powerful social groups supported this definition
D) Teachers used it to increase their occupational prestige

Question 16

Why did the U.S. President tell the American public to "go shopping" the day after September 11, 2001?

Question 17

Describe the rational choice model of human behavior. Can this model explain shopping behavior in our society fully?

Question 18

What is the connection between shopping and upward social mobility? Illustrate your answer with an example.

Question 19

Define organic solidarity.

Question 20

Define anomie. How is consumption in our society connected to it?

Question 21

Define social problems. Why might a feminist sociologist see shopping as a social problem?