My chosen place for Unit 1 is Barnes and Noble. I go there very often because I enjoy books, magazines, journals, music, coffee, and the quiet atmosphere, so that is why it is appealing to me.
People from all walks of life frequent Barnes and Noble: the elderly, students, middle-aged adults, teenagers, children with their parents, among many others. From my personal experience, different ages of people seem to go to Barnes and Noble at different times of the day. Younger people tend to go there later in the day and older people go there earlier. This is probably partly due to the fact that younger people are in school ( and are also night owls) whereas elderly people for example are less busy during the day. Different people also go to different sections of Barnes & Noble depending on their occupation/personality, etc. This is just what I have gathered from previous visits there.
Everybody goes there for different reasons. A lot of these reasons pertain to logos, pathos and ethos. Some go to simply read a book in the quiet section. Others go to buy a CD they have been dying to listen to. Some may go to buy accessories like a journal, a calendar, or a bookmark. Some may go to peruse the magazine section. Some may go to simply sit in the café and people watch. Some may go to buy school books and have no interest in reading at all. Barnes & Noble is a place where people buy things, but it is also a “hangout” place like Starbucks. You don’t have to buy something if you don’t want to.
I feel that I am a part of the target audience since (like I mentioned earlier) I like to read and listen to music. I also really enjoy the warm environment of Barnes & Noble.
Some pre-conceived ideas I have that may influence my objective observation is that mostly “nerdy” people who enjoy reading (and peace and quiet) go to Barnes & Noble. In order to overcome this obstacle I feel I need to keep an open mind. I must carefully observe as many aspects as possible about the people who visit Barnes & Noble. For example, when observing a person I could ask myself, “What are they looking at? A book? What kind of book? How does the book they are looking at relate to them as a person (age, occupation, appearance etc,) I can’t be judgmental and quick to infer that just because somebody is going to Barnes & Noble means that they enjoy the same things I do.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that not only did you analyze the target audience, but you included yourself into this group. I think that this will help you to connect with the space more and draw deeper conclusions about the people in the store and the way it appeals to them.