The Meditation Zen Garden (a.k.a Woodland Mall)

The mall is a place of promise; it offers us everything we don’t already have and at SALE PRICE!!! That is how much the stores “love” us, “understand” us. They are willing to lower their prices in these hard times in order to fulfill our “needs”.  Of course, this is an exaggeration, as most products are overpriced in the first place. But that was the vibe I received while walking through the mall. I was always aware of the fact that stores tried to convince customers to buy their products through advertisement, but I never realized how subtle these advertisements can be, how much they appealed to a deeper human nature, and how they actually affected me.  It is so easy to get pulled into the consumerist mindset if you are not really paying attention. During my experience at the mall, I was stunned by how drawn I was to enter various stores, even if it was just to look at a product on display. Thankfully, with my newfound awareness, I was able to resist purchasing anything, but I was acutely aware of the profound effect that the stores had on me. I wanted to buy something, even though my intentions of coming to the mall were purely academic.

Looking at the motivation behind my unintentional desire to purchase goods, I would argue that the advertisements in the mall were all directed toward making me feel like I should buy the product now, before the sale/deal ended. I felt obligated to purchase a product because I felt like the store was doing me a favor by lowering the price, even though I know intellectually that is not the case. This effect of advertisements using the consumer to convince themselves to by the product was noted in the video, The Persuaders.

In addition, I was drawn to the setting and atmosphere the mall produced. Ironically enough, the mall was called Woodland, which automatically makes it sound like a natural and organic place, even though it is the exact opposite. The theme of the mall was leaves and trees (obviously) and there were multiple fake trees and artwork of leaves scattered frequently throughout the mall. This, combined with very high ceilings and skylights, gave me the feeling of being in a forest or garden, which was mentioned by Jon Pahl in the reading. The place had a zen-like vibe and reminded me of a place you would go to meditate. This directly connects the mall to a temple or church, which is the typical place one would go to find “peace”. However, the “peace” found at the mall is not genuine and is constantly “inspiring” you to buy into the consumerist mindset.

Many of the stores in the mall had created a connection with the consumer by providing for their need for satisfaction in a trustworthy, convenient  and routine manner. I observed this first-hand when I saw a girl run up to a store entrance and exclaim, “Ooo, I LOVE this store!” The use of the emotion ‘love’ indicates that the store has successfully created an emotional bond with the customer. I felt this bond with the store Barnes and Noble, which I effectively spent a half an hour perusing. This store has provided me with material that has satisfied my desire for convenient adventure and entertainment time and time again, thereby obtaining my loyalty.

The mall functions as a church by offering people a place to be in community with other people with a similar goal: consuming goods. However, I noticed there was very little interaction between other mall-visitors; in fact, everyone seemed to be in their own little bubble.  The mall may be offering us community with other people, but it is a false sense of community that results in no deeper relationship with other people (outside your own party, that is - going to the mall with friends is a different story).