Dirty Marketing Tricks That We Fall for in Our Everyday Lives

What are some examples of dirty marketing tricks?

I will show you around the supermarket today.  And here are some of the "tricks" that stores employ to encourage purchases.

Upon entering the supermarket:

Shopping cart/basket:

The store will help you with a cart/basket at the entrance.  Some even hire people to hand out baskets to consumers. If I walk in without a basket, I have to carry everything, so I only buy what I need. On the other hand, if you were given a basket, you might add butter spread to your purchase even if you intended to buy just milk. Some shoppers buy the essentials of the month, and a cart is an absolute must.  Obviously not a dirty trick.

Maze of brands:

But what's filthy is the way the store is constructed in every way possible to make you subconsciously choose to spend more money and milk as much as possible before leaving the store.  This is by exploiting human biases (brain loopholes) to make us as irrational as possible.

Most supermarkets have only one entrance and one exit (except emergency exits).  Also, the aisles are arranged so that necessities such as rice and toilet paper are placed at the end.

Therefore, you have to browse a large number of products and brands.  You have to convince them to buy something in a way you didn't plan to buy.

Eye level shelf:

Stores and brands consistently try to upsell. That is, they try to get consumers to buy premium or higher value products for better profits.  One way to do this is with a planogram (store shelf assortment).

Next time you pay attention, you'll find great value/premium products on the shelves at eye level as opposed to the smaller/cheaper packs at the bottom in most categories.

How often do you look consciously? And how often do you bend over and pick them instead of just picking "better brands" that are "a few cents more" at eye level?

Note the descending order of pack sizes/prices below.

POSM (POS documentation):

Ads aren't just what you see on YouTube and TV.  In stores, too, the brand seeks attention through his POSM.

Hmmm; getting your attention may not be a dirty trick.

Dirty Marketing Tricks That We Fall for in Our Everyday Lives

Notice how small the "until" is.  This is to ensure that the 50% discount is established.  Even if you think, "Well, it's only up to 50%," it's still a product you'll want to check out.

Well, do you know how long you've been in the supermarket?  Have you ever noticed the big supermarket windows?  Or at least a clock?  The supermarket is always bright and you don't feel the outside light, so you don't have to worry about the time.

When you're in line to pay your bill, do the following:

Impulse buy:

While standing in line near the checkout counter, you may find small value or small size items such as mints, candies, OTC tablets and condoms such as:

That way, in the last mile of a shopper's journey, the store can squeeze him a dollar.

Of course there are many other tricks, but the above are some of the more frequently used tricks.  That's the end of your supermarket journey.