Consumers need locational meaning codes to buy the right identity symbols

Evidence

To be able to use the store clerk successfully, however, the individual also requires an understanding of locational meanings. That is, he or she must know which store is likely to be of the most service vis-a-vis the desired identity. To come on as a weekend swinger, it’s no good shopping at a store which specializes in suits for matrons. Nor is the Macy’s clerk likely to be able to assist one in creating the studied casualness of the upper class. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 620

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces ‘locational meanings’ — a layer of place-coded knowledge in the urban semiotic hierarchy.