Bargain hunters: how shops make us buy

Posted on 27 December 2019 • Society and politics

The post-Christmas sales are in full swing but how do shops persuade us to spend? Have some fund finding out more about what shops do to make us buy with the interactive tool below developed by our sociologists. And if you’ve enjoyed eating your way through the Christmas holidays and and want to know more about life works in a busy supermarket, take a browse at our earlier BBC/OU co-production Inside The Supermarket.

How shops make us buy

There’s more fascinating insight into how shoppers are enticed to buy – sometimes in just 17 milliseconds. Read more about the effects of ambient cues in retail environments, with The Open University’s Dr Morteza Abolhasani.

While Dr Abolhansi explains further how retailers capitalise on big events – like Christmas!