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In-store Marketing as a Mode of Discipline

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Abstract

Although the idea of the self-governing consumer has been widely disputed, modern shopping spaces and supermarkets are considered as the key arenas of the sovereign and empowered consumer. Yet, purchasing patterns, which seem predictable over time, can be explained as resulting from consumer routines and habits. Inspired by Foucault’s general thesis that the emergence of individual freedom coincides with new techniques of discipline, this paper explores consumer routines as an outcome of governance structures embedded in modern retail marketing techniques. First, the term embodiment of consumer choice is introduced to describe how shopping in modern supermarkets hinges on various techniques of bodily discipline. Second, by relying on a study of in-store marketing in Norwegian retailing, these promotional activities are examined as techniques normalizing purchasing behaviour. We conclude by saying that power and discipline are underestimated as explanations to the formation of shopping behaviour and consumer routines.

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Notes

  1. From the outset, he took a divergent position. Foucault maintained that we have to accept the idea of the utility-maximizing economic man in order to understand economic processes of the twentieth century. But as later will be demonstrated, his notion of economic man also depicts an individual who is subject to governance.

  2. More specifically, Berman and Evans define merchandising as “activities involved in acquiring particular goods and/or services and making them available at the places, times and prices and in the quantity to enable a retailer to reach its goals.”

  3. Our presentation relies on an investigation of Norwegian slotting fee practices in the grocery business. The investigation was based on a qualitative research design including the four main Norwegian retailing groups and twenty suppliers. Both an analysis of negotiation impacts and an estimation of the total monetary impact of the practices were conducted.

  4. For a survey of the latest technological innovations in monitoring and affecting in-store behaviour of consumers, see The Economist, Technology Quarter, December 8th 2007 pp. 24–25.

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Acknowledgements

This paper has been funded by the Norwegian Research Council research programme Market and Society. We thank anonymous reviewers, Kristin Asdal and Philippe Steiner for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.

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  1. National Institute for Consumer Research, Postboks 4682, Nydalen, Oslo, 0405, Norway

    Arne Dulsrud & Eivind Jacobsen

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  1. Arne Dulsrud
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Correspondence to Arne Dulsrud.

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Dulsrud, A., Jacobsen, E. In-store Marketing as a Mode of Discipline. J Consum Policy 32, 203–218 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-009-9104-y

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