I'm a little behind in my reading, but I did have a chance to read an article in "Time" yesterday morning. It had a story about how a grocery chain was conducting research on how people shop.
I know this isn't anything new, by any means, but the examples the story gave was interesting.
Apparently there were cameras in real stores and they were observing how people shopped with certain variables. The first was counting how long people stayed in an area and if they rushed through it, it meant they spent less. So, the powers that be changed the flooring so the carts would make a clickity clack noise and people slowed down. When they slowed down, they stayed longer in that area and therefore, bought more.
Another instance was how signs were written for "sales." If the dollar sign was put on a sign, people appeared to buy less than if they left the dollar sign off. Apparently the dollar sign on a poster made people think they are spending more.
The other instance was writing a limit on a sign. The price was the same for the items, but when there was a limit, people tended to buy more.
All very interesting. And a little bit scary if you think about it.
I wonder if the cart with the crazy wheel also has a purpose!
Shopping Savvy
November 12th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
November 12th, 2011 at 11:40 pm 1321141222
November 13th, 2011 at 02:25 am 1321151143