We've all been to a shopping mall, but have you ever stopped to consider how people actually use malls? Anthropologist Paco Underhill (2005) has spent his career studying the American shopping mall and advising retail businesses on how to use space to sell products to the American consumer. From his observations it is clear that visiting a mall is a socially patterned experience, although visitors may not realize how their actions are being shaped by others.
Underhill begins his research on a mall, perhaps surprisingly, in the parking lot. There, he observes the possible entrances to the mall and the fact that, from the outside, the shopper can see little of what is inside. Landscaping is minimal, as is any other attraction that might keep the would-be shopper outside, and so they stream in to the building. The goal of the mall, Underhill infers, is to get people inside to begin spending money.
Once people enter, Underhill observes, they need time to slow down and adjust to the space of the mall, so shops are rarely placed at the entrance; instead, these spaces are rented to doctors, accounting firms, and other businesses whose customers require appointments. After leaving this "decompression area," visitors come to the excitement of the mall proper: shop after shop with brightly colored merchandise pouring out into the hallways to attract attention.
Unlike the halls of a hospital or office building, those at the mall are extra wide. Underhill seeks to understand what goes on in these spaces that requires room for two broad lanes of foot traffic, often separated by stalls, carts, and tables filled with merchandise. While most people pop in and out of the many shops, others stop to look at the shop windows and the merchandise that lies on tables or hands along the way. Still others- particularly during cold or stormy weather - power-walk alone or in pairs, getting their exercise.
Underhill pays close attention to the people in these hallways and what they do, taking careful notes of his observations. He pays close attention to the ages and sexes of people there, if they walk by themselves or with others, who those others might be (children? middle aged?), and if these patterns change by day of the week and time of the day. Entering the food court, Underhill observes the types of restaurants, the ways people interact with those restaurants, the kinds of shops near them, and how long people linger before returning shopping. Underhill then turns his attention to the restrooms, observing where they are located, which is often hidden away in distant corners and corridors, intended not to affect the shopping experience negatively.
As Underhill wanders in and out of the large anchor stores, he makes other observations. Merchandise is piled up in the entryways, some on sale, some seasonal. He observes what grabs people's attention, getting them to slow down and pause. He observes how and where stores place different kinds of products, which influences how people move through the store, and what they are likely to see (and possible purchase even though they did not come to buy that particular thing).
Underhill's research shows that by looking at the architecture and observing closely the flow of shoppers through it we can sense what kinds of behavior the store managers had hoped to encourage, what they might have hoped to discourage, and how people actually make sue of these semi-public spaces.
The experience of walking through the mall with Paso Underhill raises important questions for anthropological researchers, such as:
1. What might an anthropologist learn about the use of space from watching and observing what people do as opposed to interviewing them?
2. How can an anthropologist check the inferences he or she might make about the goals of store managers?