COP2: Study Task 2 - Research Question

Suggested Research Question.

Consumer Environments

How do they use persuasive techniques to manipulate the way we interact with them? 

Spend Money?

What psychogeographic techniques are used to manipulate consumers within them?

Which Academic Sources Are Available On The Topic?

Graves, P (2013) Consumerology, New Edition: The Truth about Consumers and the Psychology of Shopping

Chung, CJ/ Inaba, J / Koolhaas, R/ Leong, S T (2001) The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping / Harvard Design School Project on the City

Baumann S. (2012) IKEA And The Psychology Of Shopping

The Psychology of Design: Creating Consumer Appeal - Rajeev Batra, Colleen Seifert, Diann Brei - Routledge, 24 Jul 2015

How Could The Research Question Be Investigated Through Practice?

Illustrations based on different environments, like Casinos, Las Vegas.
Look into how to avoid being manipulated?

Make fun of these environments - humor.

COP2: Research

From looking into my chosen COP subject further, I have reached a broader idea of the topic i'd like to address. 

Simulated Environments - Consumer/Man made environments 
Resorts, Hotels, Theme parks
Retail? Shop Layout? 

Moving on from the idea of Las Vegas and the impact that the use of architecture etc has on behaviour, I intend to look at spaces as a whole including theme parks, retail environments(ikea), and spaces in general that change the way that we behave through use of architecture/design of an environment. 

The title of my essay will be 'In what ways do man-made, designed environments alter the way we exist within them?' and i intend to look at the examples of Las Vegas, Disney land and Ikea, and the appropriate techniques that are employed to make it a more effective consumer space. 

An amazing source I have been reading is The Harvard Design School: Guide To Shopping which illustrates
various ways in which consumer environments generate money. It explores the spaces, people, techniques, Ideologies, and inventions by which shopping has so dramatically refashioned the city at the turn of the century. I have also come across the term 'Consumptive Potency' - referring to the the measure of consumers and how much they spend within the environment. 

The Harvard Design School: Guide To Shopping - 

by Rem Koolhaas (Editor), Chuihua Judy Chung (Editor), Jeffrey Inaba (Editor), Sze Tsung Leong (Editor) 

2001

- Really interesting ideas about the invention of the escalator/ air conditioning, how they made the shopping experience easier? 

- Effect of plants in an environment? 

Through research I have also become familiar with Guy Debord, a french marxist theory who has created a term "Psychogeography". 

“the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals”. 

(in other words this guy is perfect for my essay)