Research on drinking and holiday rituals is a growing topic with support from numerous studies in recent years. However, a clear definition of what ritual entails is a matter of debate among social scientists, particularly anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Creating a clear set of criteria to describe what behavior is and is not considered an aspect of ritual has been an impossible task for researchers. Instead, many definitions have arisen from disagreements between the social sciences. Many of these definitions of ritual apply to a particular theory within the constraints of the academic field from which the definition comes (such as anthropology) and when examined within one field, the definitions often contradict each other. For example, in the field of anthropology, Rappaport (1976) argued that ritual was defined as involving behavior having a direct relationship with supernatural deities and motivated by belief systems, therefore submitting to a religious model of ritual. This definition is appropriate for Rappaport's research on the religious rituals of the Tsembaga in New Guinea, but cannot be applied generally to Durkheim's view of ritual arising from social interaction between people and its relationship to collectivist behavior (manual, p. 88). Rituals also tend to share common characteristics with other well-defined socially constructed concepts, such as habits. Certain rituals indeed seem to have a habitual and recurring pattern, such as the annual celebration of birthdays. However, not all rituals represent habits and not all habits can be considered rituals. For example, an individual's graduation is considered a ritual, but it only occurs for a limited time...... middle of paper ...... to accomplish one's mission. This description of Black Friday behavior offered by researchers Thomas and Peters (2011) explicitly describes a scenario for the Black Friday consumption ritual and establishes roles upon which shoppers must act. Concluding Statements From an anthropological perspective, Black Friday can be considered an annual American event. consumption ritual in which millions of people can participate. The evidence that Black Friday is a day of ritual is clear when we consider the number of people who participate in this holiday and the extent to which this day can meet Rook's (1985) criteria for ritual. There is an established relationship between the consumer and the retailer and an annual ritual to bond that relationship. The script manages the expectation for retailers to offer benefits to consumers and for those shoppers to spend a large amount of money..