Subtle ways to manipulate you into retail therapy

When we find ourselves using retail therapy as a substitute for stressful lives, we often fall victim to marketing strategies without even realizing we have been prey to them. Subliminal messaging and subtle marketing have contributed to our growing scale of unused products hidden behind the backs of our cupboards. Many don’t even question why malls have escalators on two ends of the building, compelling oncoming customers to walk a whole round of shopfronts to reach down after coming up. What this does is force customers to browse around the arena and buy goods they might not have thought about. 

Escalator and lift advertising is another advertising tactic in the market industry. Imagine a bored customer trapped in an enclosed space alone, they are bound to read or at least skim through the walls and this is the right moment for the brands to pique curiosity. On average, we spend around 30 seconds on an elevator. The 30 seconds of open slot in our mind is what the brand is seeking to capture with bold images and red offers. Now imagine a customer who visits the lift regularly, the ads on the wall are not new and rather a familiar image ingrained in their mind. This increase in brand recall creates a situation where one recognizes products and might even end up buying them. In a similar case, let’s think about the Coke ads we see daily. Its pairing with the food we are most likely to buy (mo mo in our context, and pizza in the Western context) has made it the top-selling soda in the world. Without realizing it many other food businesses have fallen under the scheme of marketing by offering combos between Coke and food. 

Senses are a crucial part of living but also a victim to experience. It is easy for brands to compel customers to come to them by manipulating their senses. Abercrombie and Fitch is a perfect example of this branding. The Abercrombie stores used to target teenagers and their use of dim light and music made a feeling of being in another world which essentially made them feel mature. This use of senses made for many loyal customers who like the feeling of shopping in the stores. This was furthered by the fact that the company hired model-like staff which added to their branding of being surrounded by attractive faces which attracted customers.

Without much realization, we are pulled to products that are of no use to us or do we need. The sharpest minds fall victim to such marketing at least once in their life and there are few ways to stop ourselves from this manipulation of businesses. First is knowing your spending triggers, in what mood do you usually end up buying unplanned products for yourself? Second, is limiting the budget for things you want as opposed to need. This helps in curbing the effect of marketing strategy as you do not have the budget it needs to buy more products. Lastly, stick to a time-out method- any time there is a desire to shop, wait and think it through before making the purchase. This will help organize your financial goals and not fall victim to marketing plans.

Lujata Shrestha

Undergrad student

St Xavier’s College, Maitighar