Visual Merchandising : The Image of Selling

Firmly situated at the crossroads of visual culture and consumerism, this essay collection examines visual merchandising as the art and business of selling, seeking to overcome traditional scholarly ambivalence that celebrates the spectacle but denies the agenda of consumerism. The volume considers strategies in the representation and presentation of retail goods, in terms of the visual interaction that occurs between the commodity and the consumer.

Situated at the crossroads of visual culture and consumerism, this essay collection examines visual merchandising as both a business and an art. It seeks to challenge that scholarly ambivalence that often celebrates the spectacle but denies the agenda of consumerism. The volume considers strategies in the imaging of selling from the mid nineteenth century to the present, in terms of the visual interaction that occurs between the commodity and the consumer and between body and space. Under the categories of Promotion, Product and Place, contributors to the volume examine the strategies in the presentation of retail goods and environments that range from print advertising to product design to store display and architecture. Visual Merchandising: The Image of Selling is located directly at the nexus of business practice and cultural myth, where the spectator never loses sight of their status as buyer and the object of desire is always still a commodity.