Prejudice
...ypically expressed little or no prejudice, only an unconscious, unintended response. For my experiment, I will take two middle aged men, one white and one African American, dressed similarly, to the Grand Traverse Mall and run them through a test in ten stores to see the behavior of sales associates in different stores. The result I am expecting is to see some prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping among the associates, as people tend to subconscious pose those traits without even thinking. To demonstrate prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping, my experiment was done at the Grand Traverse Mall in Traverse City, involving a middle-aged white male named Scott and a middle-aged African American male named Will. Scott was dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt, and a work vest. Will was dressed in hunting clothes and boots. The object was to have each man enter a total of ten stores simultaneously and see how long it took for each to be waited on as well as who was waited on first, how courteous, communicative, and helpful the sales people were, the level of aggressiveness as far as their sales techniques, and the level of eye contact on part of the salesperson. I created an evaluation form for Scott and Will to fill out after each store, to rate the level of service in the categories mentioned above. As far as how long it took to get waited on, the average waiting time for Scott was 2.7 minutes, with only one being more than five minutes. The average waiting time for Will was 6.1 minutes, with a couple being fifteen minutes or more and two never waiting on him at all. Scott was waited on first 50% of the time, with twice being waited on at the same time, therefore leaving Will waited on first 30% of the time. The interesting thing was the stereotyping that was obvious in the stores that did wait on Will first, and the amount of attention those particular stores paid to him. The jewelry stores and the athletic shoe store were quite helpful to Will, as the stereotype would go for African Americans in respect to jewelry and athletic shoes. Another interesting note on the athletic shoe store; Will and Scott were both looking at the same basketball shoe with the same salesperson (at different times). Scott actually plays basketball, and Will does not, but the sales associate was much more aggressive with Will (stereotype) and actually told him that he should wait until Sunday when the shoes would go on sale for a great price. He never mentioned that sale to Scott. A similar thing happened at the jewelry counter in JC Penney. The salesperson was very aggressive with Will (stereotype) and actually told him that there was a “Friends and Family” sale starting Sunday and he should wait on his purchase for this great sale. That sale was never mentioned to Scott, and they were looking at similar items. Victoria’s Secret and Ritz Camera were a totally different story. Scott and Will walked into Victoria’s Secret at the same time. Scott was looking at perfume and was approached immediately by a sales associate, who was very courteous, communicative, and helpful. She asked him questions and helped him to figure out what he was looking for. Will was never approached, and actually left the store. Scott told him to re-enter the store and start smelling perfumes. He did this for approximately 15 minutes and was still never approached by a sales associate. He actually told me that his feelings were hurt, and he was thinking about going back into that store at a later date to confront them on their behavior. A similar thing happened at Ritz Camera, although Will’s explanation of that sales associate was, “that guy was an %#?hole.” Will entered the store first, then a lady, then Scott. The lady was waited on first, then Scott, and Will was never assisted. He even asked a question about a $500 camera, and the associate’s only response was, “Yeah!” without even looking up. Radio Shack was another that was very slow to respond to Will, but quick to approach Scott. The discrimination was apparent in a few of the stores, and it hurt Will’s feelings, and astounded both me and Scott. I expected that there would be some prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping, but it is hard to believe until you actually see it. I ...