In this writing piece, the author reports information that he learned from a sales analyst named Paco Underhill. He uses his acquired knowledge to inform the readers about the “science” that goes into the shopping experience. He explains in detail how stores are run and set up in order to accommodate their customers, and how those stores gather the information on how to set themselves up. Underhill describes shopping patterns in humans, “Human beings walk the way they drive, which is to say that Americans tend to keep to the right when they stroll down shopping-mall concourses or city sidewalks” (97). This piece was written by Malcolm Gladwell on November 4, 1996. While the article was written almost twenty years ago, the message and key elements in the article are still prevalent today. The piece was written for any and all of the readers of his website. Computers were much more …show more content…
They wanted this article to gear towards upper class storeowners, as well as shoppers. The article provides information and tips that would be largely beneficial to storeowners. For example, Gladwell describes one of Underhill’s theories that the probability that a shopper will purchase an item is directly related to the amount of time they spend in the store (101). The target audience was likely a higher educated and older generation. There is no evidence that the article had a target audience of any particular nationality. The article was published in New York City, New York on the same day it was published on Gladwell’s site. (November 4, 1996.) The publisher of The New Yorker is Condé Nast, a mass media company. The fact that The New Yorker uses this publishing company entails that they are trying to market their magazine towards the masses. The New Yorker is a well established magazine that has been published since 1925, meaning a lot of people might be inclined to read the weekly