Subliminal Influence at the Supermarket: Part Four

This is the final article in a four-part series: read parts one , two  and three first. In this part, I reveal how to to resist subliminal influences at the supermarket.

Psychologist and author Paco Underhill noted that, “If we went into shops only when we needed to buy something, and if once in there we bought only what we needed, the economy would collapse.” While at first this seems like a somewhat bold claim to make, there is likely some reality in Underhill’s hypothesis, especially when applied to the retail industry as a whole. Shopping has historically been a major source of relaxation, but a recent studies suggests that the pressures of a busy lifestyle and technological advances are turning it into more of a chore. The advent of internet shopping has also hit retailers hard.Mark Jervis , retail expert at PwC, has said that, “many retailers have too many high street stores, while shoppers are increasingly migrating online to operators such as Amazon.” This is significant as it means that it is now more important than ever for supermarkets to make the most of the traffic that they do get through their stores. The emerging trend is to build new ‘hyper stores’ which stock everything from electrical appliances to proprietary fashion ranges. It is hard to deny that supermarkets try to get us to buy more; scholarly research aside, it only takes a short trip down the road to experience this for real. I have already explored the techniques that supermarkets use and discussed why humans have a tendency to fall victim to them. But can we resist this influence?

I asked a retail strategy expert whether he thought it was possible to train ourselves to resist the effects of subliminal influence at the supermarket. He replied, “I don’t think so. Much in the same way you can’t train yourself to breathe faster or walk slower, people have natural cadences and habits which require active thought to break. Rather, a better strategy is to know that these tendencies exist and design strategies around them to mitigate their effects.” His advice echoes that of other experts such as Paco Underhill, Martin Howard and Dave Lakhani, who all suggest that a better method of resistance is to acknowledge the presence of subliminal influence at the supermarket and work our shopping habits around it. In some cases this is simpler than others; for example, it is inevitably easier to avoid pressure from children by shopping alone than it is to avoid the overall atmosphere of a supermarket. But with so many influencing factors in so many different forms, is it really possible to resist them? The methods supermarkets have been identified as using can be essentially be summarised into two categories: lowering your critical awareness and encouraging impulse buys. This provides a more helpful starting point in working out how to mitigate their effects.

If we went into shops only when we needed to buy something, the economy would collapse.

Almost all of the solutions I identified from my research require an increased focus and concentration when shopping, as staying alert and aware is the best way to notice (as in register in your conscious awareness) what is going on around you. I found the easiest way to initiate this was to make a conscious effort to take a different route around the store each time I visited. Not only can this go some way to negating the influence of a supermarket’s intended path for you, but it can break your routine and thus theoretically cause you to use your conscious mind more.

There is little a consumer can do to avoid the entire atmosphere of a supermarket, so the best tip is to aim to get out as quickly as possible. As Underhill writes, “The amount of time a shopper spends in a store is perhaps the single most important factor in determining how much he or she will buy.” Making a list of what you need beforehand and sticking to it will help in reducing the number of items you purchase impulsively. That said, take enough time to scan the shelves in full for the cheapest products, being careful to avoid such tricks as the ‘99’ price endings. Avoid buying items that are conveniently placed next to each other; see if you can find them separately as they’ll often be cheaper.

Eating before going shopping is the another effort consumers can make to resist extra persuasion. Most people tend to make more impulse purchases when they are hungry, according to retail guru Mary Portas. This should also make shoppers less susceptible to tempting scents such as that of freshly baked bread and onsite cafés. One study also identified that paying with a credit card and shopping with friends were also circumstances which led to high levels of impulse buying. A separate study found that shopping with children also significantly increased the number of impulse purchases due to the ‘nag factor’.Keeping yourself as much in your own ‘bubble’ as possible could do a lot of good too: staff are often trained to ‘upsell’ products, continuing until you say no. In other words, if you ask a member of staff for help choosing between products, they will almost always encourage you to go for the more expensive option. In fact, if an employee asks a customer whether they would like to upgrade, up to 30% will say yes according to marketer Alex Mandossian.

Paying with cash keeps your shopping confined to within a physical budget, meaning you can only buy what you came for. This isn’t always convenient, however, and with the average family of four spending £70 on food and drink a week, credit and debit cards are undeniably an altogether safer and easier way to pay. Keeping yourself occupied when queuing at the checkout will also help to keep your gaze averted from the tempting array of sweets and accessories that are often on display there. This is especially important if you are shopping with children.

Tesco sell details of your purchases onto manufacturers including Unilever, Nestlé and Heinz.

Much of the most effective manipulation seems to revolve around supermarkets leading you to believe you are getting a good deal (as with 2-for-1 deals), but this is often only half the story. For example, Tesco’s Clubcard allows customers to collect loyalty points with every purchase they make, but the supermarket giant also sells details of these purchases onto manufacturers including Unilever, Nestlé and Heinz. But is keeping an element of cynicism and distrust in mind when shopping the best solution, or should we just carry on shopping at the supermarket as we always have done? “The consumer is rarely the winner,” says one insider. But does this really matter? If a person chooses to shop at a supermarket and is able to save money by doing so, the profit margins the businesses make are arguably unimportant.

The wider implications of subliminal persuasion at the supermarket are also unclear. Ostensibly, it would appear that the only impacts it has on shoppers is that they tend to spend more money and are simply encouraged to buy products they may not not come for originally, but would not be opposed to purchasing otherwise. It also seems that most shoppers neither notice nor mind that this kind of persuasion is occurring. Some also dispute that it occurs at all, claiming that the layout of supermarket stores is influenced more by logistics than psychology.

There are also some that claim that supermarkets do not influence shoppers as much as others might like to suggest. “People like a conspiracy, and it’s sometimes sensible to take what marketing books say with a pinch of salt,” a supermarket employee told me. I bear this in mind throughout the duration of my project, but based on the evidence contained in the research I have undertaken and read, I feel that there is definitely a very strong case for accusing supermarkets of exerting some form of subliminal influence over our shopping behaviour. Ultimately, however, there is no harm in what they are doing, and shoppers are by no means being forced to do anything against their will. The implications of their suggestion and influence are minimal. A large part of subliminal influence is just taking advantage of ‘weaknesses’ in the human subconscious, nudging people towards decisions they would normally take longer to think about. But should they choose to, shoppers can avoid falling victim to such persuasion with a little more focus and awareness of their surroundings.