Reduce the SAD – make them shop!

Or why sun lamps in shops could be the next big thing.

We know about shops and their wily ways. How they evilly pump out the smell of baking bread when you go into the supermarket, how they cunningly place the profitable products at eye-level, etc etc.

Now a new piece of research, “the effect of weather on consumer spending” finds that in addition to being flimsily swayed by our moods, we consumers tend to spend more when it’s sunny. But wait, even shops can’t control the weather, I hear you cry! Don’t you worry.

The experimenters also tested sun lamps, usually used to treat the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It turns out that even artificial sunlight will do the trick and get us spending more. Perhaps this is something that could be used for good, for example lighting up the fruit and veg aisles. But somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen…

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