Studying Shoppers

Looking for insight into how brands can entice frugal shoppers, Susan Berfield of BusinessWeek sat down with environmental psychologist Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping and Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping.

In the written piece for BusinessWeek, Berfield takes Underhill to a Whole Paycheck where he sees much that meets his approval in the way of signage.

We walk by a small sign stuck into a pile of Russian Banana fingerling potatoes that reads “How cute are these?” Underhill loves it. “These are more expensive than Idaho potatoes, so they’re trying to find creative ways of getting you to trade up or try something new.”

Whole Paycheck also likes to write these messages in chalk. That gives the market a real neighborhood friendly feel. Safeway and Publix ought to test the chalk method at point of sale.

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17. She went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time. Starting in Portland in 1995, I worked my way across the country as a copywriter and eventually became a content director making media products for big packaged goods brands. I returned to Oregon in 2008, and now I focus on building brands for companies that matter, including this one.