Psychological shopping hook: Old Navy got me

Do you ever get hooked into shopping by a store's commercials? 

Do you ever get hooked into shopping by a store's commercials? It happens to me sometimes. It defintely happened to me yesterday. The psychological shopping hook is how retailers play mind games in order to get you to spend more money.

Old Navy photo from Google Satellite

Listening to the radio, an Old Navy commercial comes on.

Old Navy: Today only, Ladies' tank tops for $2.00. Limit five per customer.

Me: Oh... let me stop on by and get some tanks...

Inner me: It's a set up...don't go...

Me: Meh. I don't need anything else...I will just buy five tanks.

Leaving with a bloated Old Navy bag and $100.00 bucks poorer. 😩🤷🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

The funny thing is, I knew it was a hook, but I could not resist! I knew what it was...but I took the bait anyway! Should have known better. Ok, maybe I did know better.

I spent a good portion of my life in marketing. In high school, I was president of our marketing club, won awards, traveled all over the country in competitions. In college, I worked part time for a marketing company doing surveys of customers, and I worked in retail at The Limited (R.I.P., the company shuttered its doors this year.). In law school, I worked at a marketimg company, peddling pharmaceuticals.

Old Navy's $2.00 tanks. 

Knew better, yet I went into Old Navy anyway. (Use of mixed media, reinforced my desire to go into the store. I was listening to the TuneIn app for CNN and to my local sports radio station...The commercial came on both, but was repeated multiple times on the TuneIn app.) The $2.00 tanks were placed in a maze of other eye-catching clothing. (Product placement is an important marketing tool!) There I was, eyeballing other items, which were not on my radar, but for having to go through them to get to the tanks.

So I'm walking around Old Navy, and I bump into all kinds of different items with various prices. (Old Navy has a diverse product mix. The four dimensions to a company's product mix include width, length, depth and consistency.) 

The most expensive items for women were to my right. They were the latest floral trends and off the shoulder shirts and dresses. As you move around the store you will find regular shoes, flip flops (Most people know about Old Navy's 1.00 flip flop sales), and other accessories. Nearer to checkout, you will also see cosmetics (Like e.l.f. and Burt's Bees), water bottles, and other little nick nacks that you probably never knew were there. These items are placed closes to check out to encourage impulse buying. Have you ever noticed the maze that stores take you through in order to even pay for what you've picked up? It is intentional and purposeful.

Those $2.00 tanks were in the middle of the ladies' section, obscurely hanging next to items I had no intention of buying until I saw them.  (Got me again!) Picking through what was left of the tanks, a vertically challenged lady was struggling to grab the one she wanted. I happen to be 5'9", so I do what I always do in those situations, lend a helping hand (and long limbs). We both had a chuckle. I started picking up all types of things. But put them back....temporarily.

Found this boyfriend tee and cute light denim
colored dress in the clearance section at
Old navy. 

Now that I'm this deeply in, I head toward the back where the clearance racks are...When I worked at The Limited, in college, we had an entire clearance room...at the back.

So now, I have three $2.00 tanks and a couple of clearance items, a boyfriend tee for $4.49 (Regular price was $16.94.) and a light denim colored dress for $13.49 (Regular price was $34.94.)... So how did about $25.67 in clothing end in a shopping tab of over $100.00? I will tell you how.

Remember those items I rummaged through while seeking $2.00 tanks? Well...I had to pass back by them on my way out. It was at this moment that Old Navy rilled me in! I had not paid attention before, but then I noticed that these items were "on sale." Although I avoided them before, I could not pass them up whilst on sale could I? (Yes...yes I could have...but darn it, I did not want to!)

Picked up these mixed blend tanks and
linen capris "on sale" at Old Navy. 

So yes...I went into Old Navy for $2.00 tanks, but I stayed for the psychological shopping hook that ended with the purchase of 6 additional items and about $100.00 more in spending.



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