It’s the season for shopping and there are countless ways in which stores — both online and off — get you to spend more money.
Here are a few tricks of the trade.
There’s a reason why you see so many signs with white letters and a red background, and it isn’t because this is the jolliest of seasons. Red and orange create urgency in the mind so when you walk into a store where you’re surrounded by red sale signs, they are communicating to your subconscious mind that you must purchase today. Imagine the same sign with a green, black or blue background and you’ll find it doesn’t have the same impact. According to a recent study, 93 percent of shoppers indicate that colors influence their decision to buy, and it isn’t just the color of the item you’re purchasing but the colors used throughout the store and on the signs as well.
Stores and restaurants are beginning to leave off the dollar sign because it reminds the shopper of dollar bills — your money going away. Subconsciously, you believe the item costs less — or the actual price doesn’t register — when the dollar sign is missing.
Mondays and Tuesdays are the best time to shop if you want to avoid overspending. Shopping on weekends or when the stores are more crowded will likely get you to spend more. The reason is based in sociology. Everyone wants to feel like they are part of a group. So when you see shoppers snapping up a particular item, you’re likely to do it, too — even if you don’t need it.
Coupons can cause you to overspend. They often are simply advertisements, but consumers are programmed to believe a coupon represents a sale even if it doesn’t. Coupons or signs that advertise multiple items are also designed to make you spend more money because you may think you’re getting a better deal if you buy the items as a package, bundle or combo.
If you purchase music or books online, you might find that although you can download the item immediately, you don’t receive a receipt until a little while later. This encourages you to continue spending. It’s the online version of filling up an empty shopping cart. By the time you’ve received the receipt, the amount is typically higher than you’d originally intended. And when you shop online and you’re asked if you’d like the site to save your credit card information, it isn’t for your convenience — it’s because stores know consumers typically purchase more if the store has their payment information already.
Some stores are designed with confusing aisles, or items you’d think would be similar are separated. This is done on purpose so you walk past much more than you’d intended, increasing the chances that something will catch your eye and cause you to spend more.
Psychologically, shopping can lead to an emotional high, but the high comes from the colors, sights, aromas and experience, not from the actual purchase. The impulse to purchase often leads to buyer’s remorse, where if the shopper admires an item but decides to ponder the decision overnight, they most often do not go back for it.
According to Statistica, the average consumer expects to spend almost $800 this holiday season. Since 1999, the average has ranged from a high of $866 in 2007 to a low of $616 in 2008. Most will use credit and spend much of the following year attempting to pay it off. By knowing these tricks of the trade, shoppers can be wiser to the ways in which retailers encourage higher spending.
