Prus, R. Shopping with companions: Images, influences and interpersonal dilemmas. Qualitative Sociology 16, 2 (1993), 87–110. [URL]

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This paper describes a sociological study conducted to understand “how do people accomplish shopping activities”. Particularly the author was interested in understanding the role of “shopping companions”, who might be seen helpful and desirable in many occasions and distractors in many other circumstances:

“… marketplace settings often have been contrived to encourage or entice prospective buyers to part with theirs goods by offering these in exchange for other items. It is in acquiring goods or entering into exchanges that buyers most prominently express themselves in the action around which the marketplace exists. … the presence of shopping companions adds further complexities to these encounters. Shopping companions might seem to represent clear allies for the shoppers and are often appreciated by shoppers, but shoppers also tend to be concerned about both companion interferences and influences.“

The author further organizes the discussion on shoppers experience differenciating between: a) task vs. recreational approaches to shopping; b) mutuality of shopping styles; c) getting help with shopping activities; and d) the dynamics of influence in group shopping ventures.

a) When shopping is approached as a task to be completed with some efficiency (e.g., buying grocery items), people tend to be more concerned about companions assisting or negating their effort in one or other ways.

b) Mutuality of shopping styles consists in the congeniality of shopper-companion, the consistency of shopper-companion intensities in shopping, and their financial consonance.

c) te major forms of aid involved advice and general assistance. Adivice generally revolves around companions’ definition of products and products applications. This factor involves the risk that buying a certain item entails and the knowledge or expretise of the companion. Even when they felt knowledgeable about products, many shoppers still indicate that they value second opinions of items they contemplate purchasing.

d) Shoppers are generally concerned about maintaining self direction while shopping with companions. Companions appear able to encourage or discourage others to make more purchases that would have been the case otherwise. Some shoppers reported to have developed strategies to avoid influence from companions.

“… shopping is an activity characterized by ambiguity, embellishment, and risk on the one side and obligation, desire, and (often) irretrievable commitments on the other.”