Coercive Atmospherics: Final Project SPCM 2360

Welcome to my website that displays my final project for SPCM 2360! Douglas Rushkoff's explanation of atmospherics were interesting to me so I am using this concept as a way to compare different articles and provide a fun and creative project to display atmospherics in a way that will help others understand what they are and how they work. I'll provide a short summary of them here according to Rushkoff. 

•  Gruen Transfer: This is the point when a shopper who has a goal and reason for being at the mall changes to an aimless shopper who is overtaken by the atmospherics strategically placed for the consumer throughout the mall. 
• Disorientation: Consumers get lost in the mall, forget where they parked their car and have difficulty locating the exit. This is due to strategically designed floor plans, exit areas and parking lots located at least three turns away from the entrance. They place lights that mimic  natural sunlight so consumers will feel at ease when staying longer.
• Sight: Many times anchor stores are used as a compass to find your way out of the mall. They would comparatively be used as the north star if lost in the woods. The adverse affect of this is you are more likely to stop at more stores because the anchor stores are placed strategically at ends of the malls. 
• Touch: Malls sometimes use carpeted stores and hard wood floors throughout the halls of the stores to make the stores more inviting. Rushkoff says that studies show women are more likely to buy more if they are walking in heels on hardwood floors because it makes them feel powerful. 
• Sound: Music can be used to provide different emotions in the consumer encouraging the desired behavior from the retailers. Also, lack of music is a way for sales people to be easily heard. 
• Taste: Free samples are given in the food court, home goods stores and food markets to turn them into consumers. 
• Smell: Smells are strategically used to inhibit happiness and a desire to buy more in the consumer. Different smells are used to attract customers into their store, to bring back memory smells (holiday scents), and smells to create less stress in hopes to create a higher spending consumer. 
• Emotions & subconscious: This is the last of the psychological efforts on the consumer. Themes are created to make consumers want to buy their products to try to fit into the overwhelming theme. Rushkoff explains aisles are created larger so that women will shop longer, studies show that if a women is brushed up against while shopping she is more likely to stop shoppping. He also says that most salespeople can not be taken at face value due to their scripted sales pitches despite them seeming to be so endearing. Many of these behaviors are said to be learned simply be watching camera footage and learning how consumers act in different situations.