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Paco Underhill. Why We Buy-The Science of Shopping. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 255 pp.
We cansee the reflections of Tauber's classic article, "Why Do People Shop?" inthe title of Underhill's book. This is where the similarities betweenthese two pieces of work end. Tauber's book explores the ways in which people use retailing environments to satisfy their varied needs. Underhill's book, on the other hand, focuses more on how retailers can make their commercial surroundings more enticing and effective, that is, more amenable to consumption. Despite the fact that the author is neither a retailer nor a consumer researcher, he has every right to act as an expert in this field and to write about these issues. Paco Underhill is a retail anthropologist (originally urban geographer) and a founder of Envirosell, a research and consulting firm that has been operating for almost 20 years now.
From the very beginning, Underhill's research has employed an anthropological approach to researching shopping. In practice, this means observing shoppers in a very detailed manner in real retailing environments. In addition to interviewing shoppers, Underhill's workers have used two main methods of observation: filming and "tracking". As he writes (pp. 13, 15) ". . . our most important research tool is a low-tech piece of paper we call the track sheet, in the hands of the individuals we call trackers. Trackers are the field researchers. . . .whostealthily make their way through stores following shoppers and noting everything they do. . . . In addition to measuring and counting every significant motion of a shopping trip, the trackers must also contribute incisive field notes describing the nuances of customer behavior, making intelligent inferences based on what they've observed." In contrast to much of the academic research done concerning the effect of retailing environments on consumer and shopper behavior, Underhill's empirical studies in"retail anthropology" have high ecological validity. A proof of the unobtrusiveness of this method is the thefts caught on film or witnessed by the trackers. It is also capable of producing quite specific findings, which is something retail managers often desire. For example, the answer to the question, "how many males who take jeans into the fitting room will buy them compared to how many females will?" is...