新编大学英语阅读部分第一册Unit6-1

Unit 6
Shopping

In-Class Reading

Consumer Behavior of Young People

I. Word List
Directions: Memorize the words and phrases before class. You will benefit from your effort when you get the passage from your teacher and read it in class.


Proper Names

Apple computer
(美国)苹果电脑

Kraft 美国
Kraft General Foods Group 的简称

Seventeen
《十七岁》(美国杂志名，主要面向年轻人)

New Words

ad *
n. an advertisement 广告

adolescent *
n. a young person who is developing into an adult 青少年
adj. 青春期的

adulthood 1
n. a state of being adult 成年

aesthetic 2 *
adj. relating to the enjoyment 3 or study of beauty 美学的
e.g. The new building has little aesthetic value.

appeal *
n. attractiveness, interest 吸引力
e.g. This kind of music hasn't much appeal for me.

appreciate *
v. recognize or understand that something is valuable, important or as described 完全了解,明白
e.g. I don't think you appreciate how much time I spent preparing this meal for you.

brand *
n. a type of product made by a particular company 商品的牌子,商标

buyer
n. a person who buys 购买者

buymanship
n. the qualities a wise buyer has 购买经验

campaign *
n. a series of actions intended to achieve a particular result, especially in politics or business 运动
e.g. a campaign for equal rights

conclusion *
n. something you decide after considering all the information you have 结论
e.g. At first I thought he was a bit shy, but I've come to the conclusion that he's simply unfriendly.

consideration *
n. careful thought and attention 考虑
e.g. After some consideration we've decided 4 to sell the house.

contemporary *
adj. of the present time; modern 当代的,现代的
e.g. contemporary art/dance/music

cosmetics 5
n. 化妆品

criterion *
n. (plural criteria 6) a standard by which something is judged 标准
e.g. More detailed 7 criteria are necessary before a logical decision can be reached.

distribute *
v. 分发, 分配
e.g. The world's wealth is not fairly distributed between men and women.

economics *
n. 经济学

educational *
adj. 有教育意义的,提供咨询的
e.g. I found the experience most educational.

emphasize *
v. stress 强调
e.g. He emphasized the importance of careful driving.

entertainment *
n. things such as film, television, performance, etc. that amuse or interest people
e.g. The local entertainments are listed in the newspaper.

evaluation 8 *
n. the act of considering something to see how useful or valuable it is 评价,估计
e.g. Evaluation of this new treatment cannot take place until all the data has been collected.

extent *
n. the length or area to which something extends 程度,范围
e.g. People are affected 9 to different extents by what they see on television.

grocery
n. a grocer's 杂货店

growth *
n. the process of growing, an increase 增长
e.g. The government is trying to limit population growth.

heavily *
adv. 大量地
e.g. smoke/drink heavily

impact *
n. a strong impression or effect 影响
e.g. Her speech made a tremendous impact on everyone.

instrument *
n. 乐器
e.g. Which instrument do you play?

introduction *
n. 介绍

jeans *
n. (plural) 牛仔裤

jewelry 10
n. 珠宝, 首饰

kit 11 *
n. (供学生等用的) 一套资料

loyalty 12 *
n. 忠诚

marketer
n. 市场营销人员, 研究市场营销者

marketplace
n. 市场

mature *
v. 成熟
e.g. Her character matured during these years.

media *
n. 新闻媒体
e.g. The media have launched a bitter attack on the Health Minister.

nevertheless *
adv. 然而
e.g. He insisted that everything would be all right. Nevertheless, I could not help feeling anxious.

orient *
v. aim something at, or make something suitable for a particular group of people 以......为方向,以......为目的
e.g. The World Bank is taking steps to orient its lending to reducing poverty.

consumption-oriented
消费型的,重视消费的

packaged *
adj. put or made up into a box or a container to be sold 袋装的

parental 14
adj. 父母的

peer *
n. a person who is the same age as another 同龄人

perceive *
v. understand or think of something in a particular way 看待
e.g. I perceived him to be a rather shy man.

prior *
adj. existing or coming before in time, order, or importance 先前的,优先的
e.g. I have to refuse your invitation because of a prior engagement.

process *
n. 步骤, 过程
e.g. Reforming the education system will be a difficult process.

product *
n. something useful that is made in a factory, grown, or taken from nature 产品

program *
= programme (见第四课)

properly *
adv. 恰当地
e.g. She'll have to learn to behave properly.

rational *
adj. showing clear thought or reason 理性的,合理的
e.g. There must be a perfectly 15 rational explanation for what happened.

recipe *
n. a set of instructions telling you how to prepare and cook food 菜谱

relatively 16 *
adv. fairly, compared with other things 相对地
e.g. The drug has relatively few known side effects.

rely *
v. 依靠
e.g. Nowadays we rely increasingly on computers for help.

respondent
n. (民意测验等的) 调查对象, (问卷调查的) 答卷人

secondary *
adj. second in rank, value, or importance 第二的,次要的
e.g. Getting there is the main thing-how we get there is a secondary consideration.

selection *
n. 选择
e.g. Success is achieved by the careful selection of projects.

significant *
adj. having an important effect or influence 重要的,有意义的
e.g. Please inform us if there are any significant changes in your plans.

source *
n. a person, book, or document that supplies you with information 来源,提供消息者
e.g. I've heard from reliable sources that the company is in trouble.

stereo *
adj. 立体声的

strategy *
n. a well-planned series of actions for achieving an aim, especially success against an opponent 策略
e.g. The company will spend $ 6 million on the development of new products and sales strategies.

style *
n. the design of something, which decides what shape or appearance it will have 样式
e.g. When was this style of dress in fashion?

supervision 17 *
n. 监督, 指导

survey *
n. an examination of opinions, behavior etc., made by asking people questions 调查

teen
n. 见 teenager

teenage
adj. (only before noun) aged 13 between 13 and 19, or concerning someone of that age 青少年的

teenager *
n. someone who is between 13 and 19 years old 13至19岁的青少年

tend *
v. be likely to behave in a certain way 倾向于，趋于
e.g. I tend to go to bed earlier during the winter.

tentative *
adj. 试探性的,暂定的

trier
n. 实验者


Consumer Behavior of Young People

1 Marketers are interested in understanding what products will sell well in the youth market. It is also important to appreciate the influence that young people have on the purchases of others, such as parents. In fact, sometimes marketers are more interested in young people's influence on other buyers than in their role as the main purchasers of certain items.
2 How do youths spend their incomes? Both female and male teenagers spend most of their money on clothes, CDs, stereo equipment, entertainment, and travel. Young women spend most on cosmetics, followed by clothes and jewelry. Young men spend the most on sporting goods, cameras, CDs, stereo equipment, bicycles, shoes, jeans, musical instruments, and electronic games.
3 As members of a highly consumption-oriented society, teenagers have become increasingly aware of new products and brands. They are natural "triers" and spend hours shopping for themselves.
4 In addition to their direct impact on the marketplace, youths have a secondary influence on many of the products and brands their parents choose. For example, research reveals that three out of four teens influence their parents' purchasing decisions. For major purchases, teens' highest influence occurs in the first stage of the decision-making process and is strongest for aesthetic considerations such as style, color, and make of the product but weakest for decisions such as where and when to purchase and how much money to spend.
Apple computer's research showed that teens are influencing family decisions about buying computers. As a result, one of its recent model introductions used contemporary hit radio and computer magazines popular with young people to encourage teens to convince their parents to buy the new product.
5 With the large growth in the number of families of two working parents, youths are doing more of the food shopping and other shopping for parents. For example, one study found that 80 percent of teenagers were "heavily involved" in family food shopping.
Kraft recognized the importance of teenage grocery shopping and is advertising 18 in music television programs, in teen magazines, and on contemporary hit radio, emphasizing recipes containing Kraft products. Along with the ad campaign, Kraft also produced an educational kit on "Food Buymanship" which is given to home-economics teachers to distribute to teenagers in school.
6 Thus, it is clear that this market also occupies an important position in terms of its secondary influence on parents' buying decisions.
7 Another factor emphasizing the market importance of the youth is that this is the time when brand loyalties 19 may be formed that could last well into adulthood. For example, a brand-loyalty study done by Seventeen magazine found that at least 30 percent of adult women were using the same brands they first chose as teenagers. Translated into total market figures, the findings would mean, for instance, that 6,760,000 women still are using the same brand of cosmetics and 8,900,000 still are eating the same kind of packaged cheese that they first bought.
8 During the process of making their buying decision, to what extent are teens influenced by parents, friends, sales clerks, media, or other sources? For many product decisions, friends are the most significant influence. Nevertheless, parents are still an important factor affecting many buying decisions. The important point is that although peer pressure is quite strong, family influences are also significant. Thus, the marketer should know which group, parents or peers, has the most influence at any given time so they can plan their marketing 20 strategies properly.
9 Teenagers often spend hours shopping, especially on weekends. The fact that they are doing more shopping may result in their spending more money in stores they go to. In addition, youths often have a great deal of authority in store-selection decisions, which means that stores must attract them with an effective appeal. Although the popular belief is that young people buy products impulsively 21 and are less rational than the market as a whole, surveys indicate that most respondents aged 14 to 25 compare prices and brands before buying. Research on adolescent shopping behavior has produced the following tentative conclusions:
. Adolescents tend to rely more on personal sources for information on sophisticated products such as computers, and most on media for information on more ordinary products such as clothing or cosmetics.
. At the product-evaluation stage of the decision process, price and brand name are perceived as the most important criteria, with a relatively low influence coming from parents and peers.
. As teenagers mature, they use more sources of consumer information prior to decision making, rely more on friends and less on parents for information and advice in buying, and prefer to purchase products without parental supervision. (806 words)

Time taken: _____ minutes


Phrases and Expressions

along with
in addition to 除......之外
e.g. Tobacco is taxed in most countries, along with alcohol.

in addition to
besides, apart from 除......之外
e.g. He's now running his own research company--that's in addition to his job at the university.

in terms of 按照,在......方面,从......方面(说来)
e.g. In terms of customer satisfaction, the policy cannot be criticized.

perceive ... as
think of ... as
e.g. We began to perceive him as a man of taste.

prior to
before
e.g. All the arrangements should be completed prior to your departure (离开).

rely on
depend on, trust 依靠
e.g. British weather can never be relied on--it's always changing.

result in
make something happen, cause 导致
e.g. Environmental pollution is resulting in the forests dying.

tend to
be likely to 倾向于
e.g. We tend to get cold winters and warm, dry summers in this part of the country.