Featured Post from Baylor University

Black Friday Shoppers Seek Deals on Electronics, Early Sales and Convenience in a Competitive Market

Consumer behavior expert James A. Roberts shares top 5 trends for holiday shopping

Nov 13, 2024

3 min

James A. Roberts, Ph.D.

This year’s Black Friday shopping will bring a fresh wave of trends for both consumers and retailers.


With electronics, online convenience and competitive pricing at the forefront, the landscape of Black Friday is evolving to match the shifting shopping habits of today’s consumers, said Baylor University consumer behavior expert James A. Roberts, Ph.D.


Roberts – who serves as The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business – keeps a close watch on Black Friday, including what he sees as the Top 5 trends for holiday shopping in 2024.


Top Trends for Black Friday 2024


The Shift in Shopping Habits: The balance between online and in-store sales remains steady, with consumers enjoying a 50/50 split in shopping preference, Robert said. While COVID-19 accelerated a surge in online shopping, this year, both are expected to perform equally as shoppers appreciate the flexibility of both options.


Holiday Deals Start Early: As the competitive landscape has grown, Black Friday sales now launch weeks in advance. This early kickoff benefits consumers who are eager to lock in discounts and spreads out the typical holiday rush, providing retailers a longer window to capture consumer interest, Roberts noted.


Electronics Dominate Sales: As in previous years, electronics will be the driving force of Black Friday 2024, accounting for nearly half of all sales. Roberts said that shoppers are especially focused on deals for televisions, laptops, smartwatches and gaming consoles – underscoring the lasting demand for high-quality technology at competitive prices.


Gen Z and Millennials Drive Online Growth: Digital natives like Gen Z and Millennials continue to shape holiday shopping habits. Roberts said their comfort with online shopping – coupled with their mobile-first approach – makes them a powerful force in the online retail space. Retailers can expect these younger consumers to leverage social media, mobile apps and seamless e-commerce platforms for their holiday purchases.


Rising Categories: Beyond electronics, Roberts predicts that other sectors will see strong sales this season, particularly in clothing, cosmetics and home appliances. As consumer preferences expand, brands in these categories should prepare for increased demand.


Factors shaping consumer choices


For Black Friday in 2024, competitive pricing and convenience remain top priorities, Roberts said.


“Retailers who offer the best deals alongside quick and reliable delivery options stand out among consumers,” he said.


Additionally, low-cost brands – such as Shein – have set consumer expectations for affordable pricing, even as “Buy Now, Pay Later” options have increased in popularity – though Roberts said retailers and consumers alike should be cautious when using this financing option at the risk of overspending.


Future of Black Friday


Looking ahead, Roberts said Black Friday’s trajectory appears geared more towards online channels, with each year seeing a slight shift away from brick-and-mortar shopping. Retailers are encouraged to keep an eye on pricing expectations and financing trends, as they’ll play an increasingly influential role in the holiday season.


ABOUT JAMES A. ROBERTS, PH.D.


James A. Roberts, Ph.D., is The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. A noted consumer behavior expert, he is among the "World's Top 2%" most-cited scientists in a database compiled by Stanford University. In addition to journal citations, Roberts has often been called upon by national media outlets for his consumer expertise and latest research. He has appeared on the CBS Early Show, ABC World News Tonight, ABC Good Morning America, NBC’s TODAY Show and NPR’s Morning Edition, as well as in articles in The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, TIME and many others.


Roberts’ research has focused on how individual consumer attitudes and behavior impact personal and collective well-being. His research has investigated the factors that drive ecologically and socially conscious consumer behavior, the impact of materialism and compulsive buying on well-being and the impact of smartphone and social media use on personal well-being. He is the author of “Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don’t Have in Search of Happiness We Can’t Buy” and “Too Much of a Good Thing: Are You Addicted to Your Smartphone?”

Connect with:
James A. Roberts, Ph.D.

James A. Roberts, Ph.D.

The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing

Nationally recognized expert on the impact of consumer attitudes on well-being, including the effect of smartphone & social media use.

Consumer Behavior and CultureSmartphone Usage and ImpactImpacts of Materialism and Buying
Powered by

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Baylor University

1 min

Expert Perspective: Race and Representation Take Center Stage in Texas’ Democratic U.S. Senate Primary

As Texas Democrats head toward a competitive 2026 U.S. Senate primary, conversations about race and representation are playing a visible role in the campaign. In a recent Spectrum News segment, Baylor University political analyst Dr. Mia Moody discusses how racial identity, voter perceptions, and candidate messaging are influencing the dynamics of the race. Mia Moody, Ph.D., is a professor and former chair of the Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media in the Baylor University College of Arts & Sciences. She is a nationally recognized expert on mass media and image repair, intersectionality, critical race theory, and the media framing of women and people of color. View her profile The story explores how candidates are navigating issues of representation within a diverse Democratic electorate, and how those discussions could impact turnout and coalition-building ahead of the primary. Watch the full report for expert insight into how race is shaping one of Texas’ most closely watched political contests. The full story is available below:

5 min

Tales of Christmas Past: Preserving Your Family History During the Holidays

During past family Christmas gatherings, many of us remember when older relatives regaled everyone with tales about their fascinating life stories, firsthand experiences as an eyewitness to history or simply sharing how favorite family traditions started. So how do you preserve those precious family memories during the holidays? Baylor University oral historians Stephen Sloan and Adrienne Cain Darough have recorded and preserved the oral history memoirs of thousands of individuals through their work with Baylor’s renowned Institute for Oral History, home of the national Oral History Association. Together, the historians share seven simple best practices to help family members begin oral history conversations that enrich recollections of the past and capture your family memories. “The holiday season brings about the opportunity to spend time with family members, especially those you may not be able to see on a frequent basis,” Cain Darough said. “This presents the perfect opportunity to conduct oral histories to capture the stories and experiences of your family and loved ones, to learn more about them, the history of your family, traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation and more.” Seven best practices for preserving your family’s oral history 1. Ask first! Make sure your family member wants their story to be documented or recorded. That is the first – and most important – question to ask, said Adrienne Cain Darough, M.L.S., assistant director and senior lecturer with the Institute for Oral History. Ask first. “Many oral historians have run into the spot where someone says, ‘Oh, my grandpa would be great for that topic,’ and you get there and it's, ‘Grandpa does not want to talk to you.’ So first, make sure they want their story recorded,” she said. 2. Determine the type of recording equipment you want to use. Decide if you want to record your interview with an audio recorder or use a video recording device. It all depends on your needs and comfort level with the technology. For family members who are unable to travel this holiday season, you can include them by capturing their stories using a remote recording platform like Zoom, which became a vital tool for oral historians when COVID struck in 2020. Helpful resources from Baylor’s Institute for Oral History include: How to choose the right digital recorder Oral History at a Distance webinar on the dynamics of conducting remote oral history interviews Remote Interviewing Resources guide (Oral History Association) 3. Research your family member’s life and their timeline to help you formulate your questions. Recording a family member’s oral history is more than just putting down a recorder in front of them and saying, “Talk.” If you’re recording an oral history over Christmas with a family member, are there specific things that you want to know that are related to the holiday? For example, what was Christmas morning like for them as a child? How did your favorite family traditions start? What is their favorite holiday dish? (Maybe they could even share the recipe. “You can finally learn why Nana’s banana pudding doesn’t even have bananas in it,” Cain Darough said.) “Doing your research to try to form those questions will help you get around the reluctance to talk sometimes,” Cain Darough added. “The favorite thing that I love to hear is, ‘Oh, I don't have much to say,’ or ‘I'm not that important.’ And then you sit down with them, and you listen to their stories, and your mind is just blown by the things that they've seen and experienced.” 4. Start with the basics: “Where are you from?” When Baylor oral historians conduct an interview, they generally begin with some life history of the subject, providing important context for historians. “Ask questions early on that are easy for them to answer: a little bit of the backstory, a little bit of where they're from, where they grew up,” said Stephen Sloan, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Oral History, executive director of Oral History Association and professor of history at Baylor. “I want to understand the lens through which they experienced events, and the only way I can do that is, who was this? What was formative in their life growing up? Who spoke into who they were? What did they learn? Where did they go? What did they do? Those are the sorts of things that I would be exploring early in the interview.” One of the questions Cain Darough enjoys asking is, “What did you want to be when you grew up?” “You want to give them something that's very easy and comfortable to talk about,” Cain Darough said. “What was your favorite subject in school, just to see if that was something that continued on in their life. If there's a certain hobby or something that you know that they're affiliated with, when did you learn about that? Tell me more. What's your interest with this? And then they'll get to talking.” 5. Ask open-ended questions – without making any assumptions. With oral history, it is important that you don’t go into the interview with a specific agenda or try to lead anyone to a certain conclusion. “We can do this very subtly by assuming information, but you can't assume anything about their experience with the topic,’” Sloan said. “If we assume information, it could be very far from how they encountered whatever event that may have been. Allow them to relate the ways in which they lived these experiences.” 6. Listen closely. Listening is an important facet of gathering oral history. But historians say you are not only listening for what they're saying, you're also listening for what they're not saying. “Are there things that are being skipped around?” Cain Darough said. “For example, sometimes when you're talking to veterans about their combat experience, it may be the first time that they're reliving or retelling these stories. They need time, and you just have to be prepared for that.” 7. Be patient. It might take your subject some time to warm up to the conversation. “If you're talking to someone who is 80, 90 or even 100, that's a lot of memories that they have to go through, so patience is important,” Cain Darough said. Looking to know more or arrange an interview? Simply click on Stephen's icon or contact: Shelby Cefaratti-Bertin today to connect with  Adrienne Cain Darough.

3 min

Reviving the Christmas Spirit: Forgotten Christmas Traditions to Reclaim the Christmas Season

Christmas is just around the corner and many families have already decorated their homes and started celebrating their Christmas traditions – but many stores have had their Christmas products out for months. This early bombardment of holiday advertisements and adornments often takes away from the excitement. So how do you recapture the true spirit of Christmas? Baylor University Honors College professor Michael Foley, Ph.D., who teaches in the Great Texts Program, has researched the history of common Christmas traditions and uncovered forgotten customs. “Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of year, and that wonder is increased when we understand why we do the things we do,” Foley said. “Our delight in the season becomes greater when we appreciate the history and symbolism of the Christmas tree or why we kiss under the mistletoe.” Foley shares three practices to recapture the essence of Christmas and bring more joy to the season for your family. Enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas Historically, the season of Advent during the weeks leading up to Christmas was a period of joyful restraint and preparation. During the Twelve Days of Christmas, from Christmas Day on Dec. 25 to the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan. 6, people would celebrate a release with a continuous period of leisure and merriment. “Today, the Christmas season seems to start earlier and earlier each year. In the 20th century, the commercial season began the day after Thanksgiving, but now stores inundate the market with Christmas decorations much earlier,” Foley said. “The problem with this arrangement is that by the time Christmas finally comes, you’re tired of it. The older model has an organic build-up to the big day and then a great, 12-day release.” Returning to a slower-paced season full of cheerful spirits in the 12 days following Christmas is a way to recenter, refocus and reignite your Christmas spirit, Foley said. Capture the Joy of Incarnation It’s easy to get caught up in the festivities and pressure of the holiday, but it is also important to return to the reason behind Christmas, Foley said, and take time to understand the meaning behind what seem like meaningless customs. “The best traditions capture the fact that God became man in order to redeem us from our sins out of sheer love for us,” he said. Practices like caroling and gathering with family for food and drink are all acts of gratitude and joy that can remind us of God’s love. What may seem like typical holiday decorations, the holly wreath and the Christmas tree, are actually symbols of Christ bringing new life, Foley said. Embrace the Bizarre Today, Christmas is surrounded by a light, cheery feeling. But history tells us that there has always been a certain “dark side” of Christmas. “There is a reason why Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve,” Foley said. “All of winter was the season of fiends, and they were not happy that the winter solstice around Christmas Day marked the beginning of the end of the long dark nights and that Jesus Christ was born and triumphed over evil.” Other traditions involve swapping places with someone such as a parent and child, abbots and novices, or men and women. “At one time, this custom of inverted social roles played an important role in gaining clarity and releasing tension in a hierarchical society,” Foley said. While this might seem useless, impractical, or even pointless today, it can still offer value to the Christmas joy. “These inversion customs are a giddy imitation of the ultimate inversion in all of history,” Foley said. “That Almighty God chose to become a little baby in a measly manger.” Although some forgotten customs might seem odd to us today, there can be a certain kind of wisdom behind them – a wisdom that leads us back to the true spirit of Christmas, Foley said. After all, even Ebenezer Scrooge was able to find joy in Christmas again. Michael Foley is a Professor of Patristics in the Honors College at Baylor University and the author of 17 books, including Why We Kiss under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained. Looking to know more or arrange an interview? Simply contact: Shelby Cefaratti-Bertin today.

View all posts
Powered by