Author(s): M. Zeki DUMAN
With the rise of consumerist capitalism, shopping malls have begun to proliferate and take its place as the center of public life and an inseparable part of cities and metropoles. In these places, life is built on and controlled by consumerist capitalism. Here, the customers not only fulfill their needs and desires, but are also offered different life experiences. As the symbol of late capitalism, body of consumerist culture and the sole meeting place for people, shopping malls became the main channel of social, economical and cultural life. Both architecture and interior design of shopping malls are planned to tempt the masses to a consumption-based life style. The number of these shopping centers increases in western countries and also in the rest of the world. Particularly in developing countries, global capital and multinational companies have a myriad of investment in retail and merchandising, including biggest brands of the world. On our way to being a consumer society, several shopping malls have opened branches in most metropoles, particularly in ?stanbul, Ankara and ?zmir. Migros and B?M supermarkets are two of the leading shopping centers, due to their corporate profiles and their places in the sector. This paper attempts to construct consumer profiles of the customers of these supermarkets, focusing on the consumer societies and historical development of consumer societies in Turkey.
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