Page 82 - The Disneyization of Society

HYBRID CONSUMPTION

display cases of Air Jordans ‘I didn’t expect this. It’s like a museum. This is great’. 52
The fact that store staff were located in each room like museum attendants further
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led to the misapprehension on visitors’ part that they were in a museum.

Airport terminals

A further illustration of hybrid consumption is the way in which many airports and
terminals are being turned into mini-malls. Not all that long ago, many terminals
boasted little more than a duty free shop, a restaurant, and a shop selling news-
papers and a small selection of books. Hamilton and Harlow noted a considerable
growth in this area and suggested that in the early 1990s sales at airport shops were
growing three times faster than on the high street. 53 Airports and terminals have
attracted big name stores such as Selfridges, Harrods and House of Fraser, which use
the outlets as a way of showcasing their local presence in cities, as well as selling
souvenirs, gifts, and other merchandise. In addition, airports have been attracting
chains of shops, such as bookshop chains. Restaurants and coffee shops have also
proliferated and some of the big high street names now have a presence in termi-
nals, such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nathan’s, Chilli’s, TGI Friday’s, and Planet
Hollywood. Many terminals now have a video games room as well.
However, the principle underlying hybrid consumption at airports is different
from most of the other instances covered thus far. It has been argued that a major
principle behind hybrid consumption forms is that of staying longer. This principle
does not translate entirely to the airport context because the main object of being
in an airport terminal is that you are in transit. Some people may arrive slightly
early to give themselves a little time for last minute shopping or to grab a meal
before a flight but they are unlikely to be seduced by the stay longer principle
because if they did they would miss their flights! Instead, the principle lying behind
the proliferation of shopping and eating outlets and other elements in hybrid
consumption is that these are captive shoppers, diners and game players. Shopping,
dining and playing games offer diversions from the boredom of waiting for a flight.
People may only go into a shop intending to browse but there is a fair chance that
some will be seduced into buying. They achieve one of the highest levels of sales per
square foot of any form of shopping; airport malls like that at Pittsburgh Inter-
national can achieves sales per square foot that are as much as three times that of a
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traditional US mall. Major railway stations, like New York’s Grand Central, are sim-
ilarly waking up to the shopping opportunities offered by such developments. 55

Cruise ships

The large cruise ships have become contexts for hybrid consumption forms. At one
level, they are about tourism and going to a variety of destinations. But many of