Skip to content
Technology & Innovation

Holiday Shopper Psychology

As anyone who has walked through an Ikea knows, stores are increasingly designed to draw your interest into the depths of an ecstatic shopping experience.
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

At the Kitson store here, the $98 Jonathan Adler zodiac pillows in the window and the $4.95 Silly Bandz rubber jewelry in bins at the door have one thing in common: They are bread crumbs on a carefully designed trail into the depths of the store. Owner Fraser Ross strategically plans his stores’ layout to lure in shoppers with quick-hit gifts and guide them to the more expensive fashions and jewelry at the back. “No one wants to buy anything for themselves anymore,” says Mr. Ross, adding that “you’ve got to get them through the door.”

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Related
The hospital where Rainn Wilson’s wife and son nearly died became his own personal holy site. There, he discovered that the sacred can exist in places we least expect it. During his talk at A Night of Awe and Wonder, he explained how the awe we feel in moments of courage and love is moral beauty — and following it might be the start of our spiritual revolution.
13 min
with

Up Next
People’s predilections for promiscuity lie partially in their DNA, according to a new study. The researchers are careful to point out that transgressors are not off the hook.