Our Brains & Shopping – Buyer Beware…

One of my favorite branding author and guru, Martin Lindstrom (his latest book is “Buyology, Truth and Lies About Why We Buy”. See it in my Amazon favorites in the right column) has written a short & sweet article in Parade Magazine about the vagaries of shopping. The 5 tips that Lindstrom proposes in the article are derived from all the research performed in writing Buy*ology. Some of these points we “knew” subconsciously, others are fair warning for the vulnerable shopper:

Leave the Kids at Home: Yeah, you’ll end up putting stuff in your basket just to make them or keep them happy.

Watch out for the fake bargains: “You pass by a box of spaghetti marked $2.50. A few days later, the same box features a sign reading “2 for $5″. Hummm, I hadn’t consciously noticed these tactics. I’ll have to start paying more attention…

Avoid Big Carts: Because, the bigger the cart, the more stuff you put in. Think Costco. I never thought of this. I’m grabbing the little handle basket from now on.

Don’t Sniff: because those luscious bakery scents, or Starbucks aroma (most of the supermarkets in our area have positioned a Starbucks right at the entrance of the store) will do you no good. Not for your waistline, not for your wallet. Well, I’m not about to wearing a nose plug when shopping, but awareness will definitely help me avoid putting unwanted product in my cart. Uh, I mean, my handle basket…

Shopoholism: I do believe that it’s a real addiction. My family has switched to cash only and we are now very much aware of buying only what we need. We also buy better quality so that our “stuff” lasts longer. Besides, as mentioned numerous times (here and here), all this consumerism is so detrimental to our environment. (Except for the shoes, ahem).

Read the full article here. Thanks for the warnings, Martin!