Women’s Empowerment at the Moroccan Supermarket: An Ethnographic Account of Achieved Capabilities and Altered Social Relations in an Emerging Retail Servicescape

Abstract

<jats:p> This study bridges CCT and macromarketing perspectives in carrying out an ethnographic study examining how Moroccan women empower themselves in shopping in the supermarket. Our three-year ethnographic study in Casablanca among women and men illuminates the ways in which women develop new capabilities and alter social relations with family members, friends, store employees and customers. In turn, the interplay of women’s competencies, their interactions with men and women, and their socio-demographics of age and social class, together with supermarket characteristics, provide favorable conditions for the women to empower themselves. As women gain confidence to demonstrate their competencies and manifest their desires in leveraging their traditional nurturing roles and taking on tasks previously in the domain of men, they alter their relations with their husband and with the women who exercise control over them. Theoretical contributions contribute to knowledge of the importance of gender and family interactions as they impact the acquisition of key competencies in novel marketspaces through which women empower themselves, and generate further insight into the complex interweaving of market and social systems. </jats:p>

The Ethics of Freedom in Consumption: An Ethnographic Account of the Social Dimensions of Supermarket Shopping for Moroccan Women

“…The confidence gained in her family extends to her behavior in the supermarket, in asserting her choices to a younger employee and taking the positive freedom to organize the items on the conveyer belt as she wishes. The women’s assertiveness is indicative of the way positive freedom to consume overlaps with empowerment (Godefroit-Winkel & Peñaloza, 2020 ) over time. We return to this point in the discussion.…”

“…In addition, we relate negative and positive forms of freedom in shopping at the supermarket to the empowerment women experience there (Godefroit-Winkel & Peñaloza, 2020 ). Extrapolating from analyses of our data, we suggest that freedom is intimately inter-related to empowerment.…”

“…Studies have shown that supermarkets have specific characteristics that encourage women’s patronage in Morocco and other Arab countries. Sehib et al ( 2013 ) pointed out the value of security, while Godefroit-Winkel and Peñaloza ( 2020 ) added the importance of fixed prices in helping secure the trust of husbands in knowing that their wife would not be overcharged for items. Further, Belwal and Belwal ( 2014 ) documented the new forms of recreation at these emerging retail servicescapes, while Alhemoud ( 2008 ) detailed the pleasures women experience there.…”

“…In addition, there is some evidence that grocery shopping in Morocco alters social boundaries and relations there. Godefroit-Winkel and Peñaloza ( 2020 ) demonstrated the empowerment Moroccan women obtain in grocery shopping, in modifying relationships with mother- and sister(s) in-law.…”

“…The supermarket is an intriguing servicescape, as a place conscientiously designed to accomplish marketing goals and to appeal to consumers socially and culturally (Sherry, 1998 ). In Morocco, the social structure imposes many restrictions in women’s daily lives that constrain their freedom to make important family decisions and to navigate public spaces (Mernissi, 2010 ; Sadiqi, 2003 ; World Economic Forum, 2021 ), and these activities are important parts of shopping and consumption there (Godefroit-Winkel & Peñaloza, 2020 ). In examining the shopping practices of Moroccan women and their interactions within and beyond the supermarket, this study addresses the following research questions: How do women experience negative and positive forms of freedom in a new retail servicescape?…”