Page 84 - The Disneyization of Society

HYBRID CONSUMPTION

consumption forms, such as banks, shopping facilities (such as supermarkets, travel agents,
opticians), and restaurant chains. Many include hotels and sports facilities for students and
staff as part of a total consumption package that includes a university education. 75
• Hospitals Hospitals are increasingly sites for a considerable variety of consumption oppor-
tunities, most notably shops and restaurants, including fast food chains like McDonald’s
and Pizza Hut. In addition, fitness centres in hospitals have become a major development
in medical real estate in Florida and are increasingly replacing independent gyms. 64
• More prosaic hybrid forms Many of the forms and context of hybrid consumption
referred to in this chapter have been high-profile elaborate forms. There are also more
pedestrian forms which are worth a brief mention. Petrol or gas stations frequently func-
tion as small supermarkets selling a wide range of goods, including, in the UK, post
offices and other facilities. Ritzer and Stillman mention laundromats with exercise equip-
ment and internet cafes as further examples of a process in which the boundaries
between different forms of consumption are broken down. 65

Conclusion

In this chapter, my main aim has been to make a case that in much the same ways
that the Disney theme parks are not just amusement parks that are themed in
that they incorporate an array of consumption opportunities, so too have many
areas of social and economic life come to fuse different forms of consumption.
Increasingly, a visit to these new hybrid consumption contexts is presented to us
as a way of taking in more than one consumption opportunity. Two principles
have been presented as laying behind the emergence of many if not most forms
of hybrid consumption. One is the destination principle. The idea here is that by
including several different forms of consumption in one place or nearly one place,
a destination is created that is more than the sum of its parts. Gottdiener quotes
one commercial developer: ‘Just as with food courts, restaurant-plexes and movie
multiplexes, if there is enough choice, the project itself will become a destination,
and the entertainment selection will be made on arrival’. 66 For the merchant, in
addition to attracting customers who specifically want its fare – a film, a meal, its
wares – others may be attracted who are visiting the venue for another reason.
The quotation on page 58 from the manager of Forum Shops is also indicative of
this kind of thinking. The second principle is the stay longer principle and is
essentially saying that the more needs a venue can fulfil the longer people will
stay. The two principles are, of course, connected because if people are attracted
to hybrid consumption sites as destinations and stay in them longer, the more
likely they are to have an unanticipated want created.
However, there is a further point that can be made that is very much in tune
with the kinds of observations that were being made at the end of Chapter 2.
Combinations of different forms of consumption can become mechanisms for