Your Brain is Putty in Retailers Hands

Neuroeconomics

A relatively new field of research, neuroeconomics, studies the brains of consumers. These studies are helping researchers understand what goes on beyond the actual thinking that influences consumers to do what they do.

Touching, Smelling, Hearing

What? You've probably seen packaging that has a cutout in it to allow you to actually feel or touch the product inside. Gotcha! Research shows that allowing the consumer to feel the product makes a direct connection to the buyer's brain and even imparts a sense of ownership.

What? You've probably been approached by a sales clerk who has asked you if you need help finding something. Gotcha! Instead of pointing you to the appropriate aisle, the sales person will lead you to the right place, pick up the product you are seeking, and place it directly in your hands. Doing that, research shows that you are than 25 percent more likely to finally purchase that item.

What? You've been in a store that seemed to have an almost imperceptible aroma. Gotcha! Researchers are concocting aromas that will actually trigger certain words in your head to describe the store wherein you're shopping. You already know that the aroma of fresh baked cookies is a powerful incentive to make a hungry shopper buy. But, they're getting more subtle; even to the point of perfuming products themselves. Things as simple as sewing thread may be treated with an aroma.

What? You've probably been in a store that has ambient background music. Gotcha! Research has shown that with the right music you may overspend by more than 25 percent. For instance, playing music with a tempo slower than the human heart beat makes you linger longer as you go down the aisles.

Bad: What would you like? Good: What can you do without?

What? Say you're looking to buy a home entertainment product. You may be approached by a salesperson with an offer to help. Gotcha! That salesperson will lead you to a option-loaded, top-of-the-line model and proceed to ask you what options you can do without. Selling you the options is a lot easier when you are threatened with having to do without, rather than trying to add and sell the options you may have already decided you don't need.

Modeling Clothes

What? You're going to start seeing them more and more – models walking the floor wearing the clothes a retailer wants you to buy. Gotcha! Research shows that folks are more likely to buy clothes on live models rather than on mannequins. Why? Because feelings of empathy are stirred by live models in a way that mannequins can't. The same sort of thing comes into play when you enter a hobby shop and see somebody actually doing a craft. Or, like sports fans who feel almost as if they're in the game themselves.

Sincerely Yours?

What? Used to be that a salesperson would tell you how nice you look in a certain outfit. Today's consumers are too jaded for that old line to work. Gotcha! The salesperson will add a twist that just might be sincerely flattering enough to get you to buy. They will say, “I had to tell another customer that this outfit just wasn't right for them. But, on you, it's perfect!” Do you see the small shading of difference in the sincerity? It must be true if she or he said that to another customer.

What's a Poor Shopper to Do?

Carry fifties or hundreds. A reluctance to break large bills can prevent you from doing a lot of impulse shopping. Have a list when you go shopping. Not having a list can make you wander and wonder, a sure setup for impulse buying. Even if you're not shopping for food, don't shop while you're hungry. Hungry shoppers can spend up to 25 percent more no matter what they're shopping for. Use a little will power and wait before you buy anything. If you're excited about a product, chill for a bit. The initial thrill, sort of like drugs or alcohol, will make you buy things you don't really need or want, or you may go overboard on options you don't really need.

Half the battle is just knowing that when you go shopping you're fair game for any retailer and any salesperson, and they have the big guns – or they have the hidden small guns that can be just as deadly, budgetwise. Caveat emptor! (Latin: “Let the buyer beware!”)