SYCers - article on subconscious influencing

Vildy

This one is about Whole Foods grocery store but it gets you thinking. Of course, there are loads of books and articles about what department stores and malls do. Paco Underwood, Why We Buy, etc.

"As you descend the escalator you enter the realm of a freshly cut flowers. These are what advertisers call "symbolics" — unconscious suggestions. In this case, letting us know that what's before us is bursting with freshness.

Flowers, as everyone knows, are among the freshest, most perishable objects on earth. Which is why fresh flowers are placed right up front — to "prime" us to think of freshness the moment we enter the store."

http://finance.yahoo.com/famil.....hop-fastco

What do your favorite stores or websites prime you to think of whenever you
"enter?"

14 years ago

Shopping

13 replies

Latest reply was from EvieMM

DressLover

Veteran

I love articles like this. Angie was interviewed in a news story about retailers' tactics to get consumers to open their wallets. (Scroll to the bottom of the page, under press. There is a screenshot of Angie in green that links to the video.)

I'm pretty aware that Nordstrom has the dresses at one mall entrance and shoes at the other. (I always enter from the street through men's for this reason.) My subconscious desire to purchase bananas that are buttercup over vibrant yellow is a new one to me though. (I love the reference to Pantone. Someone has way too much time on their hands...) And apples average 14 months old?! Fact check, please. If true, gross.

14 years ago

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

Interesting, but I don't think it works on me - for grocery stores, at least. I go for the least ripe bananas they have, and inspect every vegetable and piece of fruit with laser focus.

I really can't believe that apples are 14 months old...

14 years ago

Anonymous

Oh the apples can be old. Like bananas they are covered with something, and the retailer gets a spray he sprays them before putting them to sale.
I feel lured by the colors, deep jewels, nice orange and rust this year... They have them in the stores very prominently displayed

14 years ago

Lynne

Veteran

My favourite lure, of which I highly approve, is the free coffee machine in the middle of supermarkets in Holland. It's a very hospitable gesture that has me lingering while my drink cools :). And gazing at the shelves.....

My colleagues husband is a fruit and vege wholesaler, and he confirms the 14month old apple story.

14 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

Guess what, eggs can be pretty darn "old", too. I grew up on a chicken farm.

I shop mostly by color, which is why I shop very little online. But OTOH, I am most
influenced not by pictures of something but of someone's words describing it.
I guess you have to participate more that way, like the old time radio dramas.

I also like the illusion of "specialness." I like the odd item in the thrift store or
the last remaining something or other on the sale rack. I put out of my mind the
fact that it's there because the others sold out. When I go into a regular store,
though, and see so many of the same thing available, I'm turned off and don't
want to buy anything.

14 years ago

DressLover

Veteran

Yes, eggs can indeed be old. And a delicacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg

14 years ago

Anonymous

Yes, I do volunteer budget counselling, and I'm always warning against shopping in the grocery store with the best "ambiance". You pay for that ambiance...one way or another!

14 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

And people were grossed out when the fries on Supersize Me didn't rot...

14 years ago

Charmian

Veteran

As someone who grew up eating "Century eggs", they're not actually a hundred years old ... I think they tend towards only a month.

Everything seems yucky if you look at it in the right light; take jerky, for example: dead dehydrated flesh? Eww ...

14 years ago

teeandcee

Active Member

I'm shocked about the apples. No wonder our food is lacking so many nutrients these days.

Has anyone seen the Derren Brown video they mention in the article? I watched it a few years ago and it was fascinating.

I know one thing for certain about myself and that's that I'm influenced by a bright clearance sign.

14 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

An interesting question! When it comes to fashion, I probably buy the most in stores with hard-sell sales clerks. I can't say I like being pushed to buy, but I like having things pushed my way. On my own, I feel I miss a lot. I also like small stores with visual breathing space. Macy's frustrates me because I find the stores to be so giant and so crammed with stuff; I don't know where to start and I can't see anything anyways. And I suppose I like bright. So for example, I'm Target over Wal-Mart (store size probably plays in there too).

Heh, I wonder if it all stems from the fact that I'm nearsighted...

14 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

rachylou, you bring up a point I never thought of. I'm a little bit nearsighted but I have a narrow field of vision. People with a wide field take in a lot at once and people with a narrow field tend to look at things the way you do if you looked through a paper towel tube that you kept moving around to points of interest. I greatly prefer rather small shops where the stock doesn't change much!

14 years ago

EvieMM

Member

Me too, I like to go back to where my 'body sense' remembers me being.

3 years ago

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