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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: 5, Insightful) by The Archon V2.0 on Wednesday July 15 2015, @08:43PM
> at least in all the US markets I've been to, they do their best to arrange cans and jars so that older date stamped goods are up front and the fresher ones are in back.
Yeah. Because people take from the front so they replenish in the back. Everyone gets something 3 days older, but in exchange nothing goes rotten in the back from being there 3*20 days.
> I always rearrange them when I look and I check the date on every thing that has a date.
OK, as someone who's friends with produce workers let me say fuck you. They get enough of that shit from overnighters who slack and front-stock when the boss isn't looking, they don't need it from you too.
Definitely check the dates, grab from the back if you really want to, but don't make the shelf-stockers' lives more miserable. God, that's only one step better than abandoning meat on random shelves.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 15 2015, @09:16PM
At our stores (in USA, Wegmans & Tops Markets) several of the stock rooms are behind the refrigerated cases -- and restocking is automatically from the back (when viewed from the customer side).
If I'm buying something that I know is going to be in my fridge for a week or two (because there are only two of us at our house), then I might reach to the back for a more recent date (but often they are all the same)... Seems like this must be sort of "evened out" by larger families that consume things quickly?
Older story -- In the 1960s, a family we knew were transferred from USA to W. Germany. When they returned she complained bitterly that the shop keepers/owners would personally enforce first-in, first-out. If there was an older milk in the case, the shopkeeper (small store) would not let her buy the newer one.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @03:02AM
Fuck you and your problem. My shopping is not a charity for your buddies.