Order 1234961: The Marketplace/ Benihana restaurant

In your paper, consider the following questions: - Arrangement and Encouraged Habits. What is the general layout of the place (think about where tables are in

proximity of the door, etc)? What considerations might staff have make when arranging the furniture to fit within the layout? How does the structure/arrangement of the space influence how people move/know where to do/how to behave? Do they create “spaces” or “stations” within the larger space that encourage different actions (ex: the counter at Starbucks vs. that island where you add creamer)? How do they differentiate these spaces?

- “Point of View.” In Gladwell’s terms, this just means “Image.” What kind of “feeling” is the place trying to establish? Consider how they ‘set the mood’ with decor and sensory aspects (lighting, music, smells, etc). What message are they trying to give off about the space, or what the company represents? How do these choices influence how people act/feel?

- Influencing Purchase. What ways do they, literally, influence people to buy more, or more of certain items? Consider the marketing around the product and placement.

- Customer focus. What relationship does the space have with the customer? Is it immersive, or user-oriented? - Tensions. How does the space deal with tension—this can be anything from bad press, a noisy street, a smelly product,

unethical practices (with the product or the employees), or historical issues?

The Orange Essay: The Marketplace Description Similar to your Cognitive Map, you’ll be analyzing a space you frequent, but one you have not had a role in

constructing—for this essay, you’ll choose a commercial space to describe, focusing on the ways this store or restaurant attempts to influence customers, cultivate habits, and evoke particular moods/associations with their product. Additionally, you’ll discuss how the company attempts to distract customers from the aspects of tension, such as means of production, material ethics, or employee issues, and different perspectives of the space (tensions). This 3-4 pg. essay will need to:

a. Use the questions on the prompt to investigate the methods of persuasion used by the company to form a thesis-driven argument with a logical, connected structure

b. Use a detached, third person perspective c. Use thick description d. Use some of the terminology from our critical sources to aid your arguments (ex: “petting,” or

“hyperreality”) e. Use at least three quotes from to support your argument from our critical sources

Process Work

Rough Draft: 10/3 @midnight

Final Draft 10/15 @midnight

Good, Bad, + Ugly

10/24 @midnight