Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance tools
for independent minded people…
ISSN 2161-5543
A
Digest of Urban Survival Resources
Be a Smarter
Supermarket Shopper
When you shop at the grocery, realize that
you are a target.
Busy
consumers love supermarkets. Row upon row of perfectly presented food allow you
to run in, grab what you need, and dash out. You assume you are in control of
your decisions. After all, you are the one with the grocery list. But
oftentimes you are being manipulated without even realizing it.
Shoppers
often fall victim to supermarket manipulations that influence purchasing
decisions. It’s a cunningly orchestrated sales process that lures you in, keeps
you in, and seduces you into buying as many profitable products as
possible—profitable to food manufacturers, not to your health.
Wanted: Impulsive Shoppers
Of the
food people consume at home, an estimated 64 percent comes from the
supermarket. Few shoppers think about how much their purchasing behavior is
being influenced when they step into a supermarket. An abc News consumer watchdog report says the products we see, where
they are displayed, and even what we smell are all designed by sophisticated,
market-tested strategies with one purpose: to compel you to buy.
Notice
the produce department: a stage set of shiny apples and dewy vegetables, giving
that fresh-picked look and putting you in a pleasant seasonal mood. As you walk
along, the savory smells of baked bread and roasted chicken waft over to your nose.
The resultant olfactory overload gives you a shot of dopamine and activates the
salivary glands.
Paco
Underhill, consumer expert and author of What Women Want: The Science of
Female Shopping, believes this last tactic is important. “When you’re salivating,”
he says, “you’re a much less disciplined shopper.”
As you
pick up products—some that are on your list, some that are impulse buys—a song
plays softly in the background. Slow, soft music has been found to slow
customers down. Author Ronald Milliman revealed in a 1982 paper that soft
background music caused people to walk 15 percent slower and increased sales
volume by 38 percent. That’s a powerful strategy, as most consumer choices are
made in-store, and 60 percent of those are impulse purchases, according to Herb
Meyers, ceo of former New York
corporate identity firm Gerstman+Meyers. “If you feel good through emotionally
evocative music,” he said, “you’re likely to spend more.”
Priming Us for Captain Crunch
Where
these tactics get dicey is in the push toward junk food. These
factory-manufactured products are generally cheaper to produce, so the more
junk food people buy, the more profit retailers and manufacturers make. These
foods also stimulate your taste buds more than, say, broccoli, so you are more
likely to keep coming back for more. To hook the consumer, retailers use two
main sales strategies: lower your critical awareness, and encourage you to buy
on impulse.
This
consumer psychology is called subliminal priming and relies on the target (you)
remaining unaware that such stimuli exists. So when you head to the dairy
section for a gallon of milk, you’ll be exposed to plenty of chips, pop and
other temptations along the way. Distraction is the key component to a store’s
profitability, with the rationale that the longer you linger, the more you
spend.
Walk
down any aisle, and you’ll notice the most popular brands sitting at eye-level
on shelves. Strategic product placement to maximize sales is known as a planogram
model. Food companies pay big dollars to make sure Cap’n Crunch looks your
child straight in the eye, pleading with him to pick the box up—and to plead
with you.
Other
traps, known as “end caps,” hover at the end of aisles. According to the
National Retail Hardware Association, these shelves outsell similar products
elsewhere by eight times. Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that these
shelves get stocked with too much junk: soft drinks, chocolate, confectionery
and chips.
Few
people notice these tactics, making them all the more powerful. Increasingly,
such corporate decisions shape our patterns of purchasing and, as a result, our
patterns of consumption, malnutrition and disease.
The Future of Consumer Targeting
To
induce even more impulse buying, “smart shelves” soon will use sensors to
determine your age and gender and target specific advertisements. Movement
tracking is also coming into favor. Retailers are beginning to experiment with
a variety of new camera tracking technologies that can tell when you enter a
store, where you go and how you shop. Real-time imaging tracks movements and
produces heat maps showing where shoppers concentrate their attention. This
allows companies to determine consumer habits through behaviors and becomes
another effective way to boost revenue.
Even as
you leave the store, the loyalty card you used to save a few pennies gave
additional key insights into what you buy. An army of experts will now data
mine the information to determine how to squeeze your wallet further in the
future.
Winning the War
These
aggressive and even invasive methods are effective largely because shoppers are
ignorant of them. We allow subliminal suggestions to nudge us toward unwise
purchases and unhealthy foods.
Here
are a few tips to help you become a smarter shopper:
Before
heading to the market, eat something to prevent excessive or unhealthy
purchases.
Make a
shopping list and stick to it.
Shop
only once weekly.
At the
supermarket, learn to recognize the strategies that are targeting you. Stay
focused on your list and avoid falling victim to persuasion and impulse. If you
do, the battle between supermarket profit margins and your health will claim
one less victim.
NOTE: Our family makes
use of loyalty cards [Kroger] and it does save us lot of money. We shop their sales and house brand
items. This past week for instance,
their whole chickens were only 58 cents a pound so I bought six of them. Because
of my heart condition we buy many prescriptions through their pharmacy. We purchase phone cards for our pre-paid
phones [no contracts for us] and we frequently purchase gift cards for our many
out-of-town friends and family-all of which earn discount fuel points which
have shaved as much as a $1 a gallon off our fill-ups! Additionally, Kroger frequently mails bonus
coupons [including freebies] to our household targeting the items we buy most
frequently and we take advantage of them.
If you’re a
shut-in or don’t like crowds you might consider Jet.com which delivers and if
you spend $35 or more, delivery is free and the more you spend, prices get
reduced and they offer a section where you can sign up if you need large
quantities of items. This sure seems to
beat the crowds and expense of joining the big wholesale clubs [although places
like Costco do offer great deals on tires and prescriptions, for instance].
Yours for better living,
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
Arm Up System-Defense Without Regulation
PM’s Guide to Home Defense
It is a crazy world out there with plenty of violence and everyone knows you that under most circumstances, police usually arrive after the fact. Your rights to defend yourself are often under attack, even for non-lethal self-defense tools…Includes 2 books and 3 bonus CD ROMS
http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Guide-to-Home-Defense-Arm-Up-System-Defense-W-out-Regulation-Bonuses/370808566
PM’s Guide to Home Defense
It is a crazy world out there with plenty of violence and everyone knows you that under most circumstances, police usually arrive after the fact. Your rights to defend yourself are often under attack, even for non-lethal self-defense tools…Includes 2 books and 3 bonus CD ROMS
http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Guide-to-Home-Defense-Arm-Up-System-Defense-W-out-Regulation-Bonuses/370808566
{Note:
We also offer a Three Set CD-ROM-only version at a lesser price for
those with limited budgets]
Support our efforts by making a
purchase…
Additional Resources
8 Signs You’re a Shopaholic — and What to Do About It
How
to let Uncle Sam help with college costs
As kids go back to school, check out these tax breaks for a family's education costs
As kids go back to school, check out these tax breaks for a family's education costs
Complaining
Effectively
A simple solution to getting what you want
A simple solution to getting what you want
·
Whether you’re cleaning out your kids’ old toys or giving college
books to the Salvation Army, the non-cash items you donate have a value. When
you itemize your taxes, you may be able to write off the value of those items,
ultimately saving you some money.
The Anatomy of a Breakdown
The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Step-By-Step Guide To Help You Through Any Disaster
Prepper’s Home Defense: Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means Necessary
Contact! A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse Survival
20 Very Cool Especially Useful DIY
Survival Hacks From DIY Ready: Looking for some cool DIY projects
that can help you when SHTF? Wants to learn a new skill in the process? These
20 Diy Projects For Survival will have you prepared for anything and then some.
[Love Liberty? See How your
State is Doing Right Here Courtesy the CATO Inst.]
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