On weekends across Australia, you’ll see them: the long queues outside feted eateries. Some cafes try to make long queues happen on purpose. What are they thinking?
, queuing as a regular part of life is linked to the Industrial Revolution, when large numbers of people moved to urban areas, necessitating more structure around the distribution of goods.
The question of scarcity is still relevant though, even when we’re not talking about rations, because of its relationship to FOMO . A croissanterie such as Lune, in inner-city Melbourne, is known to sell out every weekend – so that drives an impulse to get there early and line up to avoid going home empty-handed. It’s an important persuasion tactic, says Elkins. “We see a queue and think, well, there’s a scarcity for that product, so it triggers our desire to be persuaded to stand in line.
“I’ve never queued before,” says John, also visiting from Sydney with partner Betina. “I’ve got other things to do.” He’s never even queued at a nightclub. Once, when he and Betina were faced with a musical festival ticket queue they couldn’t see the end of, they went off and enjoyed cocktails in a bar instead. This weekend, though, he and Betina are visiting their daughter, Luisa, so it’s a special occasion. “They talked me into it,” says John.“Well, that is just ridiculous,” Sarah laughs.
So even when the desired product is not particularly extravagant or expensive – think, a banh mi or a great hamburger – the act of queueing for it bestows it some kind of intangible value, similar to what Marx referred to as commodity fetishism. According to Marx, goods become fetishised when their value is delinked from their purpose or the amount of labour that went into producing them.
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