Thrift shopping: Combining utilitarian thrift and hedonic treat benefits

Abstract

Abstract Through an ethnography of shopping that takes place in five thrift stores in a US midwestern town, the authors examine the role of thrift in a shopping process that is both economic and hedonic—‘thrift shopping’. Taking a dialectical perspective on the study of shopping (Sherry, 1990 ), Miller's ( 1998 ) findings on the role of thrift are extended by showing that in the thrift shopping context thrift coexists with treat, and the pursuit of thrift can itself become a hedonic experience. In addition, the authors identify six ways in which consumers practise thrift in thrift shopping and the hedonic benefits that they derive from this money‐saving activity. The findings challenge the traditional frugality perspective of dichotomising thrift and hedonic desire being opposite and contradictory orientations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.