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Shoppers like to think they're in control of their own food decisions, but there's actually a complex web of manipulations between supermarkets and food processors going on behind the scenes.
Who's really in charge at the supermarket? Most of us assume that we're in control of our own shopping decisions. After all, we are the ones with a grocery list in one hand and a wallet in the other. It should be that way. But the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) doesn't believe it's so. Most shoppers, even the most conscientious and frugal, can fall victim to the manipulations of a food industry that pairs up with supermarkets to influence our purchasing decisions.
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1) Unconscious MindOur unconscious minds rely on habit and what's deemed comfortable and familiar to us. Supermarkets use tools such as windowless buildings, forgettable music, large carts, scrumptious bakery smells, and constantly reorganized aisles to make shoppers stay longer and, by extension, spend more.
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2) DefaultsDefaults are what you get at the supermarket, unless you actively choose something else. This can be packaging size, product formulations, or standard food combinations.
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3) Willpower ReservesSupermarkets and food processors count on the fact that many of us will go shopping at the end of a long day, perhaps on the way home from work, or with tired, hungry kids in tow. That's when it's hardest to rely on willpower reserves.
It must explain why Cheetos constantly show up in the shopping cart.
Original Submission
(Score: 4, Insightful) by goodie on Wednesday July 15 2015, @07:05PM
Just got a call from my wife who's at Costco... I am now anxiously waiting to see how much stuff she got and where the heck I'm going to store it. I hate that place and their "deals" as much as the people who go there to get a free meal by sampling everything at every corner around lunch time. I refuse to go there (ok she ends up going so it's more or less the same... *shame*).
More on the topic, there's a lot right now going on with "healthy" foods, snacks etc. that try to fool us (sometimes successfully). "Oh look that looks healthy, it has 50% of the fat. Gee I wonder what the heck they put in there instead? 30% more sodium, what else...?". I find that some people react differently to different things: price (for some it's not the cheaper the better, it's the opposite even though it is not better), packaging colors etc.
I do groceries on Sunday morning with a list and I stick to that list. No "aisle-by-aisle" for me. We sit down the day before and discuss what we'd like to eat and see how that goes with our budget and then proceed to buy the stuff. Never go in there hungry or without a clear idea of what you're going to eat/cook. Otherwise the fridge just ends up filled with half empty, incompatible ingredients that will likely end up in the trash. I do it with my son, this way he gets to hear "no we're not taking that" early and I avoid tantrums for premade cakes, cookie bars at the cash etc.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 15 2015, @07:33PM
I thought that is just called "man shopping" as in the stereotypical way men buy things.
1. Decide and maybe make a list.
2. March through store like it is a mission.
3. Buy only things on list.
4. Leave store as fast as possible.
Then again women have 70% of the buying power so I guess it is a moot point.
(Score: 2) by everdred on Wednesday July 15 2015, @08:47PM
When shopping alone, this is primarily what I do. Except I'm aware that there could be things I forgot to put on my list, so I make a point of walking the length of every aisle in an "S" pattern, only glancing at which 'department' I'm in as I pass by (but not letting things catch my eye). That gives me the opportunity to do a "oh right, I forgot we need toilet paper" and apply the brakes when necessary.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:05PM
That is a good idea. I consider myself a fortunate American to live within a couple miles (unfortunately very pedestrian unfriendly) so extra trips are not a concern.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by goodie on Wednesday July 15 2015, @11:27PM
True. With my son it's fast and efficient (but still fun, we go to that grocery store where we got to know some of the staff and name vegetables and fruit etc.). With my wife it's a lot more... erratic. I do groceries so I can go home and cook, she sees it as an alternate shopping experience I think. But it's true that we're like that for any purchase. By the time I've made up my mind as to what tech thing I want to buy, she's already bought/returned a bunch of other stuff and kept some.
My best strategy at the store lately has been to to park the cart at the corner of the aisle. This way it is easier to walk through and I can only put that much stuff in my arms to bring back to the cart (less drag from shelf drop in cart). Of course that means more walking but I'm okay with that.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:50PM
Its engineer shopping not specifically man shopping. It was the death of Radio Shack. I need a 470 ohm quarter watt resistor right Fing now and I don't want to walk by a cell phone accessory display and I don't want to talk about cell phone contracts or RC car toys, oh F this sales BS, pulls out phone says "Whats DigiKeys's URL again?" and then Radio Shack curls up and dies and dust blows away in the tumbleweeds.
For a good laugh go to Digikey, Mouser, Enco, MSC, any of those places I love and see if they try this retail BS on you. Even Amazon doesn't let "wishlist" crap get in the way, even if it shows up on the page.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 15 2015, @10:41PM
I personally love the sections of Amazon that show what other people bought or viewed. Sometimes I find something better, usually something interesting. What other people that are in your situation buy is far better for everybody than the worthless attempts at enticing people to spend more money than they intended to on stuff they didn't want.
(Score: 2) by hash14 on Thursday July 16 2015, @12:13AM
Oddly enough, in some stores, it's the music that makes me want to run out as quickly as I can. I have no idea why they torture their customers like that.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Thursday July 16 2015, @09:35AM
I thought "man shopping" was what groups of single feminine women did as part of their socializing rituals — though as a single non-feminine woman, I've always preferred book shopping or tech shopping...either way, you just came close to the way I do my household's grocery shopping:
1) Walk around house ticking off items we need in a grocery-list app
2) Take 3 minutes to drive to the grocery store, and if it's after 3 or a weekend, spend 5-7 minutes circling the damn parking lot.
3) Gather reusable shopping bags. 10 seconds after getting inside the building, be hailed from behind by somebody that grabbed one of the bags as it tried to escape.
4) Check list. Begin systematically getting items grouped by area (produce area, cereal area, etc.) for expediency. Discover the store is out of at least two items we usually get. Waste several minutes pacing the aisle trying to figure out what the hell else would be acceptable, then grab something semi-random that's edible and on a good sale.
5) Glare at the speaker/PA system, wondering why the hell the store keeps playing irritating music that's popular with young teens when 90% of their customers are at least college-age. Think fondly of the days when miming the use of a shotgun to blow the damn speaker to bits wouldn't potentially result in a friendly chat with the local police for making terroristic threats.
6) Glance down the list, realize that you somehow forgot to get an item on the other side of the store. Get stuck in "traffic" near the cash registers, where there's at least one child whining at a high enough pitch to hurt your ears.
7) Start self-checkout. Lose 3-5 minutes on system-mandated employee intervention on stupid things like scanning more than 1 coupon. Run for the door before it can decide it needs an employee to "assist" you with anything else.
8) Wait, where did I park again...?
(Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:27PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @07:21PM
Congratulations on your divorce... I hope. I'm on the other end of the spectrum (engaged), feel free to leave advice.
(Score: 2) by Daiv on Friday July 17 2015, @04:05PM
It's a trick. Get an Axe.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday July 15 2015, @07:47PM
Doesn't leave any room for food exploration though. Could be some amazing things out there! I do agree that it is a bad idea to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Your cart ends up being 50% snacks.. slightly more than the usual 30% snacks : P
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:45PM
I avoid tantrums for premade cakes
Kids will believe the craziest things you can imagine, look at brainwashing them into cultures and religions and santa claus and stuff. But I digress.
My strategy as a Dad was to convince my kids that its a law that if a kid picks something up then it can't be bought and it can't go in the cart its gotta go back on the shelf, dang it I wanted to buy twinkies and now I can't because you picked them up.
I kid you not, they're almost teens and still believe that "law" exists.
Its a simple law, kid picks it up, I can't buy it.
They might pout, but at least they don't pick stuff up. If they don't pick stuff up they can't really do anything too bad. Or at least they haven't figured out anything too bad so far.
I suppose its no help if your kids are already like 17 but whatever.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:54PM
Wait until they discover that it's not a real law, and consequently don't believe your silly made-up "laws" about pimping, cocaine possession, and distribution.
(Score: 4, Informative) by hendrikboom on Thursday July 16 2015, @12:25AM
When my kids were that age, we had a rule that they could choose one thing. They were very careful when choosing that one thing. They became discriminating shoppers.
I could advise them, of course, but if they chose it against my advice, their choice held.
-- hendrik
(Score: 1) by Derf the on Friday July 17 2015, @01:01AM
I was the same, they all [including their friends we often seemed to have around] could individually choose any one item, with two extra provisoes, they had to share what they had selected with the rest of us [as we all did] & it had to be health [nil junk-food] of which I was the sole arbitor; once they reached pre-teens I no would longer advise and they were only allowed a single chance at putting something in the trolley.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Ezber Bozmak on Thursday July 16 2015, @04:28AM
> Kids will believe the craziest things you can imagine
That's the difference between experience and intelligence. There is a pretty straight-forward lesson in there for anyone willing to judge others without personal knowledge of their circumstances.
> I kid you not, they're almost teens and still believe that "law" exists.
Developmentally, children become very rule focused around age 7-10. They are little fascists rarely questioning the origin or legitimacy of rules, just concerned with following them. At that age my niece enjoyed ratting out her father (who is catholic) to her mother (who is muslim) for taking the kids to pizza hut and getting them pepperoni pizza. (Of course he was being passive-aggressive to his wife, but that's another story.) If your oldest is 12 and hasn't started flipping that dynamic around to where all rules are in doubt, then you're lucky or the kid is behind schedule.
(Score: 2, Funny) by OrugTor on Thursday July 16 2015, @01:51PM
You, sir, are an evil genius. Well played.
(Score: 2) by albert on Thursday July 16 2015, @04:26PM
I'd have done that. Oops, I couldn't resist picking up the Lima beans!
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:46PM
To be fair, Costco legitimately can't be beat if you have a use for 10 lbs of bacon or 30 lbs of ground beef.
Surprisingly decent bacon too.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by goodie on Wednesday July 15 2015, @11:23PM
True... My old boss had four kids, including 2 teenagers and two younger ones. He always said that his biggest purchases at Costco were stuff like giant parmesan wheels, socks and underwear. I guess when you have a certain volume it makes a lot of sense. My gripe is that compulsive purchases (and bundle purchases that we see more and more) tend to yield more waste unless one is careful. Last time I was tempted by the muffins but they make you buy 2 trays and won't sell them alone. I had to back out which probably was a good idea anyway ;).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @12:43AM
Costco has some great uses. Paper products. Oils/sauces that do not need refrigeration. Beverages you consume often. Party purchasing. Big ticket items (tires, electronics). Getting food for trips. Their take&cook at home is pretty good, as long as you remember that it's like a 6 person meal, so be prepared for leftovers.
I know a lot of people with large families and/or who do a lot of entertaining who make far more use of it as well.