Black Friday

Traditionally, Black Friday marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping in the United States. Although the actual date is different every year, it’s always the Friday immediately after Thanksgiving. It is known as the busiest shopping day of the year. Consumers battle each other for great deals and discounts on flat-screen TVs, video games, and the hottest toys. And this tradition is not just for the Americans anymore— it has come to Canada as well.  

Over the past few years, the largest shopping day in the country and elsewhere has resulted in mayhem. Along with great deals, the post-Thanksgiving shopping "holiday" can bring out consumers' more aggressive natures. The crazy Walmart Black Friday fight video clearly shows how aggressive they were during this year's sale. The video shows a mob pushing and fighting each other over flat-screen TVs. And the cops even had to pin them down just to stop them from fighting. Black Friday is great for deals, but sometimes things get out of hand. 

Conversely, there is a Canadian movement called "Giving Tuesday". This movement happens after "Cyber Monday", it is dedicated to donating or otherwise giving back right after the pair of consumer-driven days dedicated to shopping. In my opinion, I think we all need this kind of movement to balance off against the consumerism that we see at this time of the year. People, nowadays, spend more on the things that they don't really need simply because "wants" have now become "needs" like cell phone, laptop, TV, nice car, and nice clothes. 

Let’s face it, we all sometimes buy things we don’t really need, whether it’s a pair of expensive designer jeans or an upgrade from last year’s smart phone model. And as a culture, we feel compelled to buy unnecessary things because we always want to fit in. For example, if we don't buy the latest gadget we feel often feel like we're being left out by other people. People always want to be part of the latest trend. 

One of the most frequently mentioned influences on consumer behaviour is, of course, advertising. It is the retailers' way of making us remember and recognize their brands better, while also affecting our preferences and perceived needs. We have bought into the idea that the media and advertising sells to make more profit that, "more is better". They make their products more appealing to consumers and they make price promotions that are very hard to resist. Therefore, we are constantly buying more and more stuff that we don't really need. In my opinion, buying constantly isn't a good thing for anyone. Yes, we do get that satisfying feeling after purchasing the latest gadget. We feel happy. But what happens after a few days? We forget about it. And the money you spent on buying your gadget should have been used for buying the things that you actually need. It may sound foolish, but material objects don't bring us lasting happiness.