麻豆影院

Donnie Lichtenstein, a CU marketing professor, remembers looking in the newspaper as a young child and regularly seeing an ad for barbecue grills from Sears.

鈥淭hey were always, always on sale. I thought, 鈥楬ow can that be? They can鈥檛 always be on sale.鈥� I guess my curiosity just grew from there.鈥�

Fittingly perhaps, his curiosity has led to figuring out how merchants try to persuade consumers. And even though he鈥檚 considered a national expert in pricing 鈥� and won a lifetime achievement award for his work in behavioral pricing research 鈥� he still comes across as humble. He even admits he finds it hard not to get sucked in by all the tricks retailers can pull.

鈥淚 mean I study this stuff and when I鈥檓 out shopping I still find myself having to stop and say, 鈥榊ou know better,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淩etailers can be so seductive and very powerful. I鈥檓 not immune. I just try my best to hold their feet to the fire.鈥�

One group that might feel the heat is grocery stores. He says they have gotten particularly good at separating shoppers from their cash. Over the past 20 years they鈥檝e made sweeping changes to their stores with layouts, promotions, product placement and partnerships.

鈥淕rocery stores have had to change to stay competitive 鈥� they鈥檝e added a lot of tools to get shoppers to stay longer and spend more,鈥� Lichtenstein says.

Examples include adding Starbucks and bakeries.

鈥淭he goal is to make the store a destination,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey want to make the store and shopping a more pleasant experience, and at the same time the new additions have good markups and margins, such as bakery items, soup bars and sushi counters.鈥�

Homework in savings

Lichtenstein says when you first enter, for example, beware of those displays you see right inside the door and at the end of the aisles. In this grocery store there鈥檚 a six-foot stack of bottled water for $3.68 and an end-of-aisle display of Raisin Bran for $2.50 a box. Deals? Maybe. The key is the location.

鈥淕rocery stores used to save these areas for specials and consumers took notice,鈥� Lichtenstein says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 classical conditioning. Now stores will put the higher margin items in those places, but shoppers still think they鈥檙e a good deal.鈥�

Lichtenstein pauses. He wants to talk comparison pricing. 鈥淚 remember a couple of years ago I was looking to buy a tennis racquet. So I went to the store and remember seeing a sale sticker. The racquet was $300, but it was marked down to only $150. 鈥榃ow, half off,鈥� I thought. But then I caught myself and examined whether or not I thought the racquet was really worth that. Be careful not to fall into the comparison trap.鈥�

Now looking down the refrigerated dairy aisle, little red stickers hang intermittently from shelves as apparent deals. But Lichtenstein warns of these signs, particularly the ones that say 鈥淟imit 6鈥� or 鈥淟imit 10.鈥� 鈥淲hen people see a limit on what they can buy, they automatically assume it must be a good deal,鈥� Lichtenstein says. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not always the case.鈥�

It鈥檚 easy to see Lichtenstein is in his element. He loves knowing the tricks. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been a real deal-prone consumer,鈥� he says. 鈥淎fter I buy something I like thinking about the bargain I got.鈥�

He also likes teaching undergraduate and graduate students, as well as pursuing his research in marketing. 鈥淢arketing research is especially fun because I like to show students it can be applied to other areas like medicine and even elections. It鈥檚 the same science behind why a product can be made attractive to the public.鈥�

He can鈥檛 resist another teaching moment. At the end of that aisle stands a nice lady behind a table who鈥檚 offering free tastes of yogurt. 鈥淚f you try it, just know it鈥檚 a trick to make you feel obligated. It鈥檚 the reciprocity rule when someone gives you something, you feel obligated to repay them,鈥� he says.

Do the math

But beyond the store鈥檚 little money-making land mines, Lichtenstein explains at the root sits an assumption that shoppers are lazy and won鈥檛 do the math or search out the bargain. Two examples: Most higher margin items are placed at eye level. The hypothesis is you won鈥檛 bend down to find a bargain. Grocers will highlight the prices of certain products even though they鈥檙e not the best price per ounce. The premise is you won鈥檛 compare price per ounce to find the better deal.

And therein lies an important shopping lesson, one he seems to want everyone to know: 鈥淏e alert and vigilant,鈥� he says in a tone as if he鈥檚 speaking to a daughter who鈥檚 about to drive a car for the first time.

鈥淢ost people do shop in a mindless, spacey manner,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd many don鈥檛 pay attention to prices; most can鈥檛 tell you what they will pay for the ketchup in their cart. It鈥檚 work, so pay attention when you shop.鈥�

Another tip: 鈥淧art of being a good shopper starts before you enter the store.鈥�

He recommends coupons, especially for items you buy a lot. Lichtenstein buys coupons on e-Bay because he often finds multiples of coupons for products he buys regularly. And sometimes you can find coupons that aren鈥檛 in your Sunday paper.

鈥淛ust know a coupon can change the ratio between the price per ounce, so that 10 oz. bottle of ketchup might be a better buy than the 20 oz. bottle,鈥� Lichtenstein says. 鈥淵ou can do better with coupons overall, but it takes effort.鈥�

And create a 鈥渢rip chain鈥� by cherry picking stores with the best deals. It鈥檚 often worth the trip.

Something else that makes the work worth it 鈥� a good feeling.

鈥淭here鈥檚 something called transaction utility, which is basically knowing you got the best deal and that can be fun for shoppers; I know it鈥檚 fun for me.鈥�