Shopping used to be nothing more than a way of obtaining food, clothing and other necessities of life. Today, however, shopping

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问题     Shopping used to be nothing more than a way of obtaining food, clothing and other necessities of life. Today, however, shopping symbolizes the materialistic culture of western society and its popularity as a leisure activity reflects the rise of consumerism.【R1】______Having more money has meant spending patterns have changed. While traditional models of economic behavior assume that consumers are rational and weigh up the costs and benefits before making a purchase, anyone who has ever walked into a shop and left five minutes later with a new jacket and 180 less in their wallet knows that this theory does not always hold true.
    【R2】______Her research on consumer behavior identified impulsive buying as an attempt by shoppers to bolster their self-image, particularly for those who suffered from so-called compulsive buying or shopping addiction, a condition that affects 2 to 5 per cent of adults in the West.
    The three-year study compared excessive buyers to a similar group of ordinary consumers. Excessive shoppers were more materialistic and believed that buying goods was a pathway to success, happiness and identity. " Excessive buying is a coping strategy to fill the gaps between how shoppers feel about themselves and the person they want to be," Dr Dittmar said.【R3】______Her research also reveals that certain types of goods are more likely to be bought on impulse than others. Those most frequently reported—clothes, jewellery, ornaments—are closely related to self-image and appearance. This finding is contrary to usual theories about impulse shopping, which explain it as a short-term gratification winning out over longer-term concerns such as debt.
    【R4】______In other words, shoppers were more willing to wait for "low impulse" goods such as kitchenware, than they were for clothes or other "high impulse" items. However, it was found that some of the 60 consumers asked to maintain a shopping diary for the study often regretted their impulsive purchases. Dr Dittmar said, "When people had explicitly bought for self-image reasons, regret was more likely to occur. "
    But this finding was ambiguous because shopping addicts were more motivated by self-image than ordinary shoppers and were more likely to regret their actions. "It’s not quite clear which way round this relationship goes, but there is a link between being very concerned with self-image goods and regretting impulse buying. " The conclusions drawn by Dr Dittmar about the treatment of compulsive shoppers are that prescribing anti-depressant drugs might solve the problem but only as long as sufferers continue to take them. Instead, they needed therapeutic help to address the underlying causes such as poor self-image.
    【R5】______"In no sense do these people directly force anyone to buy anything. But they are very sophisticated, making advertisements and shopping environments very seductive and playing on the idea that if you buy product X you will be much more attractive. "
A. Dr. Dittmar said that the idea that consumers’ impulsiveness differed, depending on the type of goods, was also supported by the finding that shoppers were less willing to delay gratification for items bought on impulse.
B. But there are pitfalls, such as debt and addiction to buying. Addicts shop for shopping’s sake rather than to buy what they need.
C. Helga Dittmar, senior lecturer in psychology at Sussex University, has found that consumer goods are the material symbols of who a person is and who they would like to be.
D. Her research also raises questions over the methods used to attract shoppers and encourage them to buy. Although advertisers and retailers increasingly appeal to consumers’ self-image, Dr Dittmar said it was very difficult to argue that these factors were responsible for compulsive shopping.
E. Although there were other ways of dealing with poor self-image, such as over-exercising or alcoholism , she said that shopping had become one of the most important strategies. This was especially true for women, who were three times more likely to be compulsive shoppers than men, as shopping was a socially approved activity, and allowed those who do not go out to work to get out of the house, Dr. Dittmar said.
F. Women make the majority of buying decisions—estimates anywhere from 60 - 80% and growing. Despite these facts, some industries have created frustrating walls and barriers failing to cater to the buying characteristics women are looking for.
G. This has been made possible by the 75 per cent increase in disposable income in the past 20 years. The number of credit cards in use has more than quadrupled, and the amount of outstanding consumer debt has almost tripled in the same period.
【R3】

选项

答案E

解析 前文中Dr Dittmar提出购物狂们依赖消费来填补现实与理想的距离,E选项指明尽管还有其它方式帮助人们实现这一目的,比如过度锻炼、酗酒,人们还是更倾向于购物这一手段,尤其是女性。此选项进一步解释说明了上一句提出的内容,故选E。
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