| > COMMERCE AND CULTURE SAMPLING A TEXT 1 Sampling is a way of forming a general picture of a text. The main topic is usually set out in the first paragraph, and sub-topics are often made clear in the first sentence of each paragraph, so these are good places to begin. Read the first paragraph of the text on page 73, and the first sentence of each of the following paragraphs. Then decide which answer (A-D) best describes the overall topic. A Ahistory of the marketing industry B. Effective sales techniques for the retail industry Information on credit card debt and how to avoid it Research findings that can help us reduce our spending EXAM PRACTICE 2. Read paragraphs 1-4 of the text on page 73 and answer questions 1-3 Shortanswer questions below. "TASK APPROACH ‘© Check the instructions to find how many words you can write © Underline key words in the questions. © Use skimming skills to find the relevant section of text and scanning skills to locate the information you need. The answers are in text order. Summary completion 3 Questions 1-3 Answer the questions below Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer 1uses dopamine to be released? Mticipation 1 What aspect of shopping 2) What research method did Gregory Berns use in his work? 3 Which institution was responsible for a report on shoppers’ attitudes to credit cards? New York University brain scan ‘This task was introduced in Unit 5. In this second type, you have to choose answers from a box of options. Read the advice for this task below. TASK APPROACH © Study each gap and think about the part of speech that is missing, eg. noun, verb, adjective, etc. This will help you narrow the choice. pales er asad © Search the list of options for words of that kind, and try them in the space. ne ‘© Locate the relevant part of the text and re-read carefully, looking for parallel expressions which help identify the correct answer. PARIS OF SPEECH 4. Before you start the exam task, do this practice exercise. 70 a Decide what part of speech is missing in each space in the text on page 71 Choose from the list below and say what clues helped you decide. Ns (noun singular) V (plain verb) Npl (noun plural) ‘V:t-ing (-ing form, N or V) Number V-s (3rd person singular)b_ Identify suitable words from the box and choose the best answer in each case, adninistered 6 living 8 scientists 1 89% 7 condition 8 recognize 9 seek 10 consumers 3 resisting 4 shopaholic 2 1..NPl.... have developed a new test which aims to tell if you are a2 . NS. The testis designed to identify 3 ..NPl.... who regularly spend money on items, regardless of need, and who have difficulty ia 4 .#ing.. the impulse to buy. This 5 ....NS.. igknown as compulsive buying. When the test was 6 ..Vted. to a sample ‘of 550 university staff members, the casults revealed that nearly 7 Number would be considered compulsive buyers. The authors concluded that were 8 V-i09.. in a rconsumpllon-orlentate! sdeleipand peopleiced (otbetedacated sy iNav it compulsive buying is a problem in their lives so that they can 10...¥.... help. Now do the exam task, If necessary, remind yourself about the general Task Advice ‘on page 53 and the specific advice on page 70 before you begin. Questions 4-12 Complete the summary using the list of words, A-Q, below Many studies into the psychology of shopping have been carried out, not only by experts in 4... like Jennifer Argo, but also by 5 .....Q..... ke Gregory Berns, and the results can be found in various | 6 oA... and professional journals. Among other things, researchers have looked at the difference | between shopping alone or with 7 ...JK..........and at the effect of shopping when you have & r problems. Much of this research into shopping is 9 .......... by the marketing industry, in order to discover how to 10 ....E. consumers to buy more and more products they don’t need. 11 ....F. os itis also possible to use the same research to help people to,control their 12 .....P ‘Aacademic G funded M psychologists B additionally H make N retailers Caimed T marketing scientists D companion J money P spending encourage K others Qtime F fortunately L popular Matching 6 This task was introduced in Unit 3. Study the following reminders. REMINDERS ‘© Scan the text and underline the points to match in the text (in this case journals) ‘© Underline key words in the questions. ‘© Study the relevant sections of the text, looking for parallel expressions.D> commence ano cuLTURE Questions 13-17 Look at the following advice on how to avoid overspending when shopping (Questions 13-17), based on research published in a number of journals (AD). Match each piece of advice with the correct journal. NB You may use any letter more than once. Jse only cash as a method of payment for goods. = 4 B ve Sa pare ens “A The Journal of Consumer Research “Avoid shoppi company of oiler people : er ctrat eretateee ee B_ The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied ry to resist the attraction of designer brands i Ae i ca dtsiiiseamtode een eae © The Journal of Advertising Research particularly cautious if you have financial sratleene ao D_ Behavioural Research Therapy : | 17 Take time to consider before making u purchase. ‘TruelFalse/Not Given 7 Read the following advice on choosing between No/False and Not Given answers. TASK APPROACH ‘© A NNo/False statement says the opposite to information in the passage. You can therefore make a No/False statement true by inserting 110 oF rot. ©. There is no information in the passage to say whether a Not Given statement is tru or false. Even if you know the information is true, you must choose Not Given if there is no evidence in the passage. EXAMTIP Answers to 8 Read paragraph 8 again carefully, then say which of each pair of statements is False ‘True/FalseINot Given and which Not Given. — ee F 1a 90 per cent of the world’s poms lives on less than $2.a day. NG1b Purchasi ‘power of $2 a day is defined as the jnternational poverty line NG2a The term ‘satisficing’ comes from a combination of the words ‘saisfy" and ‘suffice F 2b The term ‘satisficing’ was invented by the author of the article Questions 18-22 Do the following statements agree with information given in the passage? Write: TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts with the information NOT GIVE! if there is no information on this 18 Shoppers’ first concern when buying something is whethi valueorno!. T 19 Wendy Liy holds the position of Ala Pear Mis NG 20 After buying a product, the level of dopamine in the bady increases F 21 The ‘pain of paying’ is likely to be gspetienced when ysingacmditeay. Ff 22 People with maze thay one credit card are more likely to gebinbodebi. NG n1 The marketing industry has spent billions of dollars scientifically perfecting ‘ways to appeal to shoppers’ primitive brain responses of instinct and emotion so that they buy products which their reasoning higher brain knows tha they dont need or particularly want. The good news is thar much of this research can be tured on its head, enabling us to control four instinets and spend les. 2 To take a simple example: pausing briefly beeween choosing something and taking ito the checkout ean dramatically increase che chance of resisting the urge «0 buy, according to a study in the Journal ‘af Consumer Research. Wendy Lia, of the Univesity of California, Los Angeles, ran four tests where she interrupted people's purchasing. She found that a breakin the buying process changed their priorities [lau the imerruption, shoppers focused sonschetbec the cblscs hey desu usa Thaugaia, whereas ater che interruption, they retuned with afar more object higher brsined view, which questioned whether chy rally wanted the item at al 3 The ned to cool off our consumer brains is reinforced by Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist at Emory Universi, alana, Georgia. [is brain sean studies ‘show how the Feelgood chemical dopamine is released in waves as shoppers 608 produce and consider buvingi. However isouly dheamisipaion, rather than the buying, that releases the chemical. Qooean ass puschased he duane high disinaus ‘pid offen leaving a sense of egret. In Retail therapy fac, with practic stimulate the dopamine release merely by ‘windowshopping, without making any purchase 4 Another area of enguity has been smushds of payncas. Four studies on 330 people inthe Journal of Experimental Dpeiale: Aiba coating te Pipe that its much easier spend money in the form ofa credit ead. Tye Nese Yar Unisersineled epoconcluds tha ‘regard anything but hard cash as pla oe cee ae ul thing chat gives you the ‘pain of payin des mapas Cea craving to get the dopamine high from spending, according to Professor Drazen Prelec, a psychologist a che Massachusetes Instcure of Technology. He cautions that when you see and touch the plastic i is just like smelling biscuits baking when you are hungry: You feel compelled ro ‘spend in order to satisfy che craving 5. Researchers have also looked atthe phenomenon of designer brands, These eeporel Heny eal arpeaating people to spend more money on special” ‘goods which are actually only of average ‘quality. Such brands are painstakingly developed to encourage people to identify with them, co believe, in effec, that their favourite labels have exactly the same human values as they do. A study in che Journal of Advertsing Research, which investigated this area, reveals how our primitive brains are buie to reate to other people and animals —and chis way of relating attaches to inanimate objects to. 6 One aspect of shopping psychology studied by Jennifer Argo, an associate professor of marketing at Alberta University, arose from personal experience, Argo realised that whenever she went shopping witha fiend, she changed her habits, choosing costlier foods and clothes. She subsequently employed mystery shoppers to stand by @ cof batteries, and found that their mere presence made the battery buyers pick the most expensive brand. IFno one ‘was there, they chose cheaply. The result, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, was consistent in three separate "Weauillspondmoce mangein cf other people,” she says. One answer, According ta separate study, may be to shop with relatives: apparently we buy fewer things when accompanied by family members 7 A inal point of potential interes is reliable to spend when in studies feel driven to hoard, according toa study of seudents in Behavioural Research Therapy. This residual instinct can help to explain how sales campaigns may work by collectively preying on our deepest inseeuites ~ youite not good enough, no ine likes you. 8 ‘The fact is that we neel to look wider, «o the global neighbourhood, remembering that about half of hum lives on less than $2 a day according to UN statistics. Meanwhile a fh ofthe ath’ people buy neatly 90 per cent of all the consumer goods. ‘Satisfcing’ a term originally Gum dhe sosial cis, is the sensible alternative to maximising, ‘When you satisice, you dont lec an imposible search for the perfect option dest your enjoyment ofthe merely satisfactory. We have an opportunity to decide that life in the developed world today, with its unprecedented levels of healthcare, comfort and personal safety, is probably as good as ie will et, and there isno need 0 ery buying any more contentment. We just need to convince ‘out primitive brains ofthis B