This Is How They Try To Control Your Mind When You Shop

Most marketing strategies are aimed at managing consumer behavior. Many of the studies in this area focus on researching how we react to offers, what induces us to buy and how we buy. They seek to induce consumption not so much of basic items, which are sold on their own, but of all products that are not essential.

Here we will tell you some of the tactics that are used in supermarkets to get your cart to leave more loaded with items than you had anticipated.

Location of the most needed

Basic necessities are usually located at the back of the supermarket. Items such as milk, eggs and meat, among others, are at the end. That way, you’ll have to travel a long way before reaching them. Along your way, you will find a world of offers, which, necessarily, will be there. If you’re not sure what to buy, you can succumb to promotions before buying what you need.

the shopping cart

Grocery carts are often heavy and difficult to steer. Generally, the wheels are designed with a kind of brake, which makes it difficult to advance. The purpose is that you can’t walk too fast. So you’ll be forced to look at several of the products you’re not looking for. It has also been established that carts tend to be tilted slightly to the left; so sometimes you walk in a straight line and feel that the cart is heading in another direction.

The height

Branded products, which are generally more expensive, are always located on the shelves so that they are eye level with a person of standard height. This type of arrangement makes such products more visible. In fact, if you can’t stay long at the supermarket, you’ll always tend to pick up the first product you find on hand; in this case it will be the most expensive. If you have a little more time, you’ll notice that at the bottom, and probably around the corners, are the same products, but with different brands and lower prices.

The use of colors

Supermarkets’ facades are usually designed in showy colors, in order to make them more attractive. Warm tones are generally used because they fuel the impulse to enter the place. Inside, on the contrary, neutral colors are usually used  (white, almost always), so that the customer focuses on the products and not on the decoration of the place.

The music

In many supermarkets, background music is used, usually soft and relaxing, with a touch of modernity. The intention is to leave the customers calm, so that they are not in a hurry to leave the place. This kind of melody also reduces rational defenses. In this way, a person who is relaxed and devoid of defensive attitudes will be more likely to buy. Classical music has similar effects.

the last moment

Near the cashiers there are always shelves with low cost and high consumption products, such as sweets, cigarettes and magazines. Supermarkets try to make the customer have last minute impulses and buy this type of item. After all, you’ve already made the “biggest expense” and a small additional expense doesn’t change the budget much; or at least they want to make the buyer believe it.

Image courtesy of Monica Arellano Ongpin.