Aisles of persuasion

When you enter the supermarket you probably just have the items of food on your mind that you’re looking to buy. However, in reality when you step into a supermarket, you’re actually stepping into a carefully designed trap, full of persuasion techniques to entice you to depart with your money.  From the invention of the 1938 shopping trolley to make larger purchases more efficiently to the ‘race track isles’ that you have been conditioned to walk up and down without deviation, they all contribute to art of persuasion to make you spend more money.

You may have realised, that in many cases the dairy products and essentials are often situated at the back of the store, requiring one to walk all the way through the store before they can get the quick desired items they came to buy. Not to mention, the expensive branded items are often at eye level to catch your attention just to get that extra pound out of your pocket. There’s even a ‘kid eye level’ so that children can easily grab their favourite savoury goods and throw it into their parent or carers trolley.  Not to mention 2 for 1 deals and loyalty cards that supermarkets offer just to convince you put that chocolate bar into the trolley. In the UK you often enter the supermarket on the left and circulate to leave on the right, whereas in foreign countries you enter on the right and leave on left…. surprisingly similar to the conditioned side of the road you drive on in your respected country. The persuasion techniques supermarkets implement are rather cunning. Next time you enter a supermarket, perhaps look to see if you can identify factors supermarkets implement to change behaviour or persuade you to buy something.