'Twas four weeks before Christmas: Retail sales and the length of the Christmas shopping season

Basker, Emek

doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2005.06.004

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Christmas retailing draws on a wide range of strategic research for sales optimization (e.g. Basker, 2005; Spangenberg et al, 2005; Swilley and Goldsmith, 2012), and as much as 50% of business cycles have been found to be explained by the rise and fall in consumption around this trading period (Wen, 2002). Up to half of the annual turnover of retailers is generated during the ‘holiday season’.…”

Section: Supermarket Jobs and The Extreme Work Of Christmasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The punctuation of mundane jobs with extreme work: Christmas at the supermarket deli counter

Bozkurt

2015

Organization

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This article argues that the characterization of ‘extreme jobs’ as being defined by the constancy of ‘extreme work’ obscures the significance of temporary episodes of ‘extreme work’ for a wider range of jobs and notes that even ‘mundane jobs’ are punctuated by extreme work in a variety of cases. Drawing on a study at a supermarket deli counter during the Christmas trading season, it is proposed that work in this context becomes extreme, in relative terms, in three ways. First, the expansion of the scope of work entails an increase in working hours, an increase in demands for multi-tasking and product knowledge, and an expansion of discretion. Second, an increased mobilization of soft skills is necessitated by intensified work both front stage and backstage. Finally, the Christmas period also entails an extension of ‘inclusive’ management practices over a group of workers who are not typically the focus of such efforts. Four key insights are offered in conclusion: First, ‘extreme jobs’ and ‘extreme work’ are conceptually distinct, and the latter is a relative and relational term that varies with the normalized nature of different jobs; second, the temporality of ‘extreme work’ is variable, as it occurs in different rhythms on different jobs; third, the subjective experience of punctuations of mundane jobs with extreme work can be highly positive; and finally, Christmas deserves further attention in discussions of recurrent and temporary intensification of work, particularly in understanding retail employment.

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Section: Supermarket Jobs and The Extreme Work Of Christmasmentioning

confidence: 99%

The punctuation of mundane jobs with extreme work: Christmas at the supermarket deli counter

Bozkurt

2015

Organization

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“…The amount of money spent during the holidays is notoriously difficult to determine. The holiday shopping season, as defined in the U.S. as the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, can vary from 26 to 32 days with large impacts on holiday spending (Basker, 2005). Each additional day results in~$6.50 in spending, mostly attributed to impulse purchases (Basker, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The holiday shopping season, as defined in the U.S. as the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, can vary from 26 to 32 days with large impacts on holiday spending (Basker, 2005). Each additional day results in~$6.50 in spending, mostly attributed to impulse purchases (Basker, 2005). Byrnes (2019) stated that on average people in the U.S. would spend nearly $1050 on gifts, goodies, and travel.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistently biased: documented consistency in self-reported holiday healthfulness behaviors and associated social desirability bias

Bir

Widmar

2020

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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Holiday healthfulness conversations are dominated by overindulgence of consumption and then, largely in reference to resolutions to do better, physical activity, and exercise aspirations. Consistency was found in self-reported agreement with a series of holiday healthfulness statements, across time, holidays (Thanksgiving versus Christmas), and samples of respondents. The largest proportion of respondents displaying social desirability bias (SDB) were found in response to two statements, namely “I will consume more alcohol during the holiday season than at other times of the year” at (63–66%) and “I make it a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight” (60–63%). Cheap talk was tested as a mechanism to reduce SDB in holiday healthfulness reporting, but showed only limited efficacy compared to the control group surveyed simultaneously. Nonetheless, the consistency across time in reporting and SDB are notable in both self-reporting of health-related data and in studying a unique consumption period around the holidays. Healthcare providers and researchers alike seek to improve the accuracy of self-reported data, making understanding of biases in reporting on sensitive topics, such as weight gain and eating over the holiday season, of particular interest.

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“…While not eliminating in the least the booms and busts that have continued to plague capitalism to the present day, the strategy did serve to make that economic system increasingly dependent on the Christmas season. Good economic times became closely associated (albeit not synonymous) with a successful Christmas season comprised of three main parts: the long build-up stretching through the autumn and early winter, the immediate Christmas holiday, and the post-Christmas sales (Basker 2005). The consumption of objects in everyday life thus came to revolve around rituals of purchase, gift giving and consumption notably concentrated in a late December hyper-festival that was cloaked in religious garb (Connelly 1999;Horsley and Tracy 2001;Whiteley 2008).…”

Section: Revisiting Camus: Slow Collective Suicide Under Fast Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peering into the Abyss: Environment, Research and Absurdity in the ‘Age of Stupid’

Bryant¹

2010

The International Handbook of Environmental Sociology, Second Edition

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'Twas four weeks before Christmas: Retail sales and the length of the Christmas shopping season

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

The punctuation of mundane jobs with extreme work: Christmas at the supermarket deli counter

The punctuation of mundane jobs with extreme work: Christmas at the supermarket deli counter

Consistently biased: documented consistency in self-reported holiday healthfulness behaviors and associated social desirability bias

Peering into the Abyss: Environment, Research and Absurdity in the ‘Age of Stupid’

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