Psychology may impact our grocery shopping behavior through marketing techniques used to determine what you see and smell in a supermarket.
Market-tested strategies are used to seduce buyers to buy more than intended using various psychological principles. These tactics include symbolism, hedonics, and dwell time. Symbolism is evident when a food is presented in a way that evokes a pleasant mood. Hedonics works by exciting your senses through the way an item looks or smells. Dwell time increases the chances of someone buying more than intended by increasing choices and the time to make a decision. All of these tactics, and more, are used to increase purchases, induce impulse buys, and profit more from the influence these tactics can have on our purchase behaviors.