7 life hacks how not to fall for marketing gimmicks

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Marketers have long mastered various manipulation techniques that force us to make unplanned purchases. The life hacker offers effective ways to counter the tricks of the sellers.

1. Plan your purchases in advance

Merchandisers have learned to arrange goods in stores so that you throw a product into the cart that you did not intend to buy at all. This also applies to the general organization of the retail space, and the subtleties of the location of goods on the shelves.

Pre-make a list of the products you need on a piece of paper or on your phone. In the store purposefully, without looking around, move to the necessary departments.

2. Take the required amount - no more

An effective way to save money is … giving up extra money!

Before going to the store, estimate how much you will need to purchase the goods you need. And take that much money with you, leaving excess at home. To do this, you will need to know the exact prices of the products. But, having seen some snickers at the checkout, you simply cannot afford it.

3. Get in the habit of rounding up

The price tag with the inscription "299.99 rubles" according to some unknown laws of psychology looks much more attractive than "300 rubles". Our brain fixes only the first part of the price, not attaching importance to tenths and hundredths. In fact, there is almost no real difference.

Learn to see the whole price and immediately round it up. That is, when you see the insidious 99 rubles, just note to yourself: "This item costs 100 rubles." This way, when comparing prices, you can make a rational decision.

4. Have a big meal before shopping

Often, when we are hungry in the store, we cannot resist buying a whole cart of semi-finished products.

Fast food, mesmerizing meat labels, enticing smells - all of this will not be so attractive to you if you have a good meal at home.

5. Based on your needs, not on the price

The price should not determine your purchases, but your needs. Sellers have long understood that if the inscription "Discount" is glued to any product, then the demand for it will increase significantly, and it does not matter whether the price has really been reduced or it has been raised beforehand.

How not to fall for such tricks? Very simple. Remember this text every time you see a statement about a discount or a free offer of a product. Associate this with deception, then after a while you will feel that the magic inscriptions no longer have power over you.

6. Ignore ads

This is easier said than done. Advertising falls on us from everywhere: from TV, the Internet, store signs.

The high price of goods of popular brands is not at all a guarantee of quality. The brighter the advertisement of the product, the higher its price. This is elementary marketing: you pay to find out about a product.

When choosing a product, try to be aware of how much brand awareness affects it. Approach the choice without thinking "This shampoo is on everyone's lips, it is expensive, advertised, so it is good." Better study its composition and compare with cheaper goods. Read reviews about it on the Internet, try to understand its real merits - so you will be much closer to the truth.

7. Go shopping with a partner

Even after making a shopping list and adopting all of the above tips, it is not always possible to resist the temptation to buy some unnecessary trinket.

A person to whom you give a clear instruction will not be superfluous: “Here is a list of things that I need. Make sure you don't buy anything extra. Trust this person with your wallet - this way you will definitely not be able to become a victim of marketers.