According to a 2018 study, the average American spends $5,400 per year on impulse purchases. Much of that goes towards food items we don’t really need (think ice cream or dill-pickle flavored potato chips), but a large portion of people also make impulse buys in the categories of fashion, household items, and, of course, shoes. … Continued
Consumer capitalism and the focus group appear to go hand in hand. But Liza Featherstone argues that the focus group has radical origins and, in convoluted ways, points to the potential for collective input in an egalitarian society. She discusses the history of focus groups for consumer goods and electoral politics. Resources: Liza Featherstone, Divining … Continued
How we remember the past appears innate: a look back to the lost innocence of childhood and adolescence, to the sounds and sensations of our early years. But historian Gary Cross says that how we remember the past, and what past we even choose to remember, has everything to do with contemporary capitalism, based on … Continued
