Investigating the Celebration of Black Friday as a Communication Ritual

Abstract

This study proposes a culturally based method for achieving greater customer-centricity in marketing by examining Black Friday as a communication ritual. It enables more effective marketing strategies because it explores the meaning of participating in ritual for the consumers. A total of 65 interviews were conducted over a two year period. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis ( Owen 1984 ) and were broken into theory-driven categories adhering to Philipsen’s ( 1987 ) definition of ritual. Data analysis revealed that shoppers engaged in a sequential set of symbolic acts: looking for deals; deciding where to shop; mapping out stores; developing in-store action plans; and assigning roles to perform. Furthermore, Black Friday shoppers celebrated four sacred objects: materialism; relational bonding; Christmas; and tradition. The findings are interrogated for their potential implications for more effective marketing strategies for these shoppers.