AE Denim and a MAC foundation
Act(s)
of consuming: Using
Product: American
Eagle Long-sleeve Denim Shirt
Price: approximately
$25.00
Price of Simialar Products (different brands):
|
Guess
Natalie
Long-sleeve Denim Shirt
$79.00
|
Garage
Medium Blue Denium Shirt
$39.90
|
 |
| Garage |
 |
| Guess |
Why I chose this brand?:
I walk into American Eagle and I want to buy almost
everything in the store. Almost every item seems to fit into my casual country
girl style. From their coloured pants, jeans, sweaters and denim long-sleeved
shirts. I can always trust that at least one thing I find within the store will
fit into my wardrobe. In fact, I am even a member of their mailing list and get
emails about offers almost everyday. Although I only open these emails if I am
planning on going shopping in the near future. It is not so much that I
purchase from the store because the American Eagle brand has some sort of
“prestige” or significance on its own, but rather that the style of their
clothing appeals to me. I would argue that brands such as Guess and Coach have
this sort of prestige attached to them where simply by owning a product from
this store people are considered to “have good style or taste”. I am not the
type to buy something just because it has a particular brand. That being said
the American Eagle Co. does make many clothes that fit my style or identity.
On a related point American Eagle also markets itself to
younger women. The clothing that American Eagle sells, which I have described
as ‘casual’ are the types of clothing that youths or younger women are more
likely to wear. This is in contrast to older women who would likley wear
clothing that is more formal or “workplace appropriate.” However, It is not
just the style of the clothing that markets to a younger age group. On American
Eagles website the corporation features people who look to be in their teens
wearing their clothes. It is also important to note that these people are
smiling, happy and doing “fun” things like swinging. This also suggests that
the clothes are worn by younger people who are out having fun not older women
who are serious or working. As a younger women myself it is certainly possible
that this type of marketing has influenced my decision to buy this brand.
That being said there are other stores that make similar products
to American Eagle and market themselves in similar ways. For instance, for many
of the items I have bought at American Eagle I have seen similar products at
Garage or Guess (see above images). So why do I buy American Eagle? It cannot
be a matter of just price because Garage clothing is within a similar price
range and often even costs less. One possible reason could be the different
feelings that each store instills. When I walk into American Eagle I instantly
feel lighter and happier. The store has bright lighting, clear glass windows
and one can see the entirety of the store when you first walk in. Garage
clothing, on the other hand, has dimmed lighting, covered windows and is longer
so that one has to from the front to the back of the store in order to see
everything. This setup always makes me feel tired or glummy, almost as if I am
trapped within a closed carboard box. I, therefore, think that the atomophere
of the American Eagle store is something that affects my willingness to shop
here.
In addition, although American Eagle is not a
“prestigious” brand perhaps it does have more social significance or social
value than say Garage. I have often heard people mention the American Eagle
brand but never heard anyone say something like “oh I shop at Garage” or “oh
yeah I bought it at Old Navy.” This may suggest that American Eagle is a more
widely recognized brand and that it means something more to say that something
comes from American Eagle than another store. Therefore, though I do not feel
that the brand itself affectes my decisions maybe it does or maybe this is so
for others.
Limitations on choice?:
One obvious limitation on choice of brands in clothing is
again money. As I has been mentioned many times before, those who have higher
incomes have more freedom to by different brands than those with lower incomes.
Those with lower incomes may not be able to purchase things from stores such as
TNA or Banana Republic. In fact, I often do not walk into particular stores or
particular parts of the mall becauase I know I will not be able to afford the
items in that store.
Another limiting factor may be ones gender. It seems to
be me that females experience more pressure to know about and buy brands. Consider
the scene in Legally Blonde where the character Elle Woods “finds” out that a
man is gay because he can tell brands.
This scene suggests that males cannot
tell between brands and females can. So there seems to be more proessure for
women to know the difference between brands. That females can recognize brands
also suggests there is more pressure to buy brands. If one woman can tell what
another is wearing and get some significance from that then women may feel they
need to own certain brands. I have often heard things like “Oh, that’s adorable
did you get it from ___(store name)” or “____ is so fashionable she gets all
her clothing from ____(store/brand). Gender can, therefore, be a factor that
because of the stereotypes associated with each gender put more pressure on
females than males to buy certain brands.
Another way that gender can be said to affect the brands
one buys is that certain brands only design clothing with the purpose of either
females or males wearing them. In the case of American Eagle the store has both
a “womens” and “mens” section. Garage, however, only makes clothing “for women”
or that females are expected to wear. If I had been male, therefore, my
decision between either American Eagle or Garage may have been limited because as
a male I would not be expected to or may even receive social criticism for
buying clothes from Garage.
Act(s) of consuming: Using
Product: Mac
Cosmetics Liquid Foundation
Price: approximately
$36.00
Price of Simialar Products (different brands):
|
CoverGirl TruBlend
Foundation
$12.99
|
Almay Clear Complexion
Liquid Foundation
$14.99
|
Quo Total Perfection
Foundation
Shoppers Store Brand
Approximately $15.00
|
Why I chose this brand?:
I have said before that I am not willing to spend a lot of money on beauty
products (see hairspray blog entry). So why would I spend $36.00 on Mac
foundation when I could get foundation for cheaper? The main reason is that I
am pale, ghostly pale in fact. I have tried many different types of cheaper,
drug store foundations and none of them have ever been light enough to cover my
face during the winter. Even the lightest shades made me look orange and are
noticably different from my skin colour.
Secondly,
my mom has been buying Mac for years and I have followed in her footsteps in
this. My mom’s use of Mac products lead to me using this brands products. In
fact, the first Mac foundation I ever had was one my mother gave to me because
it was not the right shade for herself. Having seen my mother use Mac makeup
and using it myself lead me to be familiar with these products and in some
sense trust them. My past expeirence of using this brand has lead me to trust
that when I buy further products from Mac they will be good quality.
Finally,
another factor that may have lead me to purchase this brand is their promotions
and the assistance of those within the store. One promotion that I have engaged
in at Mac is container return policy. When one brings back a certain amount of
empty containers, I believe six, to the store they get a lipgloss for free.
This promotion may have been a factor in my decisions to continue buying
products. If had five empty containers and needed one more to get a free
lipgloss I would probably by another product to get this promotion. This is
especially interesting when one things that buying more products may be as
expensive if not more expensive than just buying the lipgloss. A second
promotion is that when one buys over sixty dollars of makeup they get a free
makeover. I remember doing this promotion for my birthday when I turned
sixteen. Although I generally only take part in this promotion when I already
intend on spending over sixty dollars if I really did want a makeover then I
may be willing to buy Mac products to receive one.
Note: Is it a coincidence
that the Apple Store which sells Macs and the Mac makeup store are so close together
in the Rideau centre? Could this have some affect on purchasing of these
brands?
Limitations on choice?:
Again, the amount
of money one has to spend on something affects their choice of which brand to
buy. And similarily to my discussion on American Eagle gender may have an
influence on this. As a woman I am expected to wear makeup but if I was a man
perhaps I would be criticized or socially stigmatized for wearing this, or even
any other Makeup brand.
Works Cited
Legally Blonde Prada Last Season Shoes Scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VRZRQGpkW0
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