Issue 6 / Summer 2014

We are all guilty of the same poor buying habits when walking into a supermarket resulting in some not-so nutritious purchases. Researchers know these bad habits. And of course, so do the supermarkets who are selling us their products. For instance, although most of us know what we want to buy even before we enter those sliding doors we often walk out with other purchases-some of which we probably don’t need at home. Here’s why: unless you are laser like in knowing what you want to purchase it is very easy to get distracted with all the other items at your fingertips. For instance, the most expensive items to be found are at eye level, commonly purchased items are found in the middle of any aisle-walk a further distance and you go past more products to buy; and of course those products at the check-out counters are there for a reason-they might not be good for your health but they register a lot of sales! And hard to believe, but retailers even know that left to their own devices shoppers tend to veer to their right as they shop!