A. Covering your eyes. B. Following your impulse. C. De……

B: So you’ve made the promise to yourself this holiday season: you’re sticking to a gift giving budget. Well, the stores are going to try to keep you spending. And they’re relying on some psychological triggers to get your business. So, here to expose these little tricks is Kelly Grant. She’ s Senior Consumer Reporter for SmartMoney.com. Thanks for being with us.
K: Thank you.
B: All right, I fall for a lot of these. So help us out, will you First one, gift with purchase. So many times I think I’m getting such a good deal because if I spend a little bit more I get a gift.
K: And that’s exactly what they want you to think right now. And studies have shown that consumers are apt to think of the gift with purchase, not just as spending extra money for something that you might not even want, but we almost equate it with the discount. You feel like if the gift is worth about 40 dollars, then you’re saving 40 dollars, even if that really isn’t the case. So to avoid this one, you just wanna make sure that you’re really looking and making sure the gift-purchase of something is on your list and you’re still spending in budget.
B: There’s a lot of psychological tricks here. For example, the purchase limits. Sometimes, I just want one and I see a good deal but then it says, "Limit 5. " You’ll think, well, maybe I should get more than just one. This is such a good deal. Right
K: That’s exactly the trick. They really want you to think about it and see that limit and think, "Wow, if this wasn’t here, then people would just be filling their carts with this. " And their studies have shown that if there’s a limit in place, you’re more likely to look at buying at least one of those items if you weren’t going to already. The higher the limit, the more likely you’re to buy it. So think about how much of something you need, and try to ignore the fact that they are stacking a limit on everything.
B: Yeah, but how can you ignore those emails that you keep getting about this sale and that sale
K: Don’t open your email. Just cover your eyes. (laugh) That’s really the best advice. I mean the stores really know that we’re hard-wired to think about that as a scarcity. If you know that the sale is ending, then they want you to act on impulse and start running out and buying something. But this time of year, the sales just keep coming, you don’t actually need to do that. So when you’re looking through your emails, try to avoid opening any of the ones, like the sales ending tomorrow, today, and in a few hours. Unless you’re gonna make a purchase from that store anyway, otherwise just delete it unread.
B: Gotcha. You know, and it’s really a numbers game. Because a lot of times, you’ll see "save 30% ", "save 50% ". But are you really saving that much money when you look at your purchase
K: That’s what they want you to think. You’ll often see in the advertising that they will type out the savings, and then through the fine print the new prices on something. It’s basically a visual trick. Whatever you see first, you sort of become attached to the deal. And the price in comparison is not gonna look such a big deal. I mean if you’re saving $500, does it really matter the TV is still $1,500 Hopefully, yes. But the advertising works in such a tricky way that you might think you’re getting that much of a better price, because the savings are significant.
B: Right, sometimes the purchase really isn’t that large a purchase, so you know 30%, not that big of a deal. That’s my purchase. But you see 30%, you think, wow, I’m getting a really good deal here. It’s funny how the numbers work in that, and they know that.
K: They do. And they want us just to splash money about this time of year. So make sure you’re looking for the items that are within your price range and then start looking to see if there’re sales that might have brought something even better, a little bit cheaper for you.
B: Got you. And "Shop now, save later. " Is that a trick
K: We’re seeing a lot of this, especially with clothing stores this time of year, and this is a way that consumers try to think that they’re gonna game the system because they’re gonna buy something a little bit today and get today’s sale, and then they’re gonna get a coupon to come back in two weeks and buy a little more then at even better prices. But really what it is is that the stores are steering you to come back at a time when they know they’re gonna have a lot of fresh merchandise that you’re gonna be interested in or at a time when they figure they’re gonna have other sales that you’re really just gonna be overwhelmed.
So for this one, you know, so many sales are out there right now. Just try to focus on what deals there are currently and not try to play games.
B: So I think the key word here is to stay focused. You know, you have your list, you have your budget. Try not to veer from it if you don’t have to.
K: Exactly. Make that list. Check it twice and just make sure that you’re not deviating from it or if you feel the impulse to, then you really look at it and make sure that’s the smartest move.
B: That’s what we’re gonna set out to do. We’ll see how it turns out in the end. You know how holiday shopping is.
K: Definitely.
B: All right. Kelly, thank you so much.

A. Covering your eyes.
B. Following your impulse.
C. Deleting them unread.
D. Leaving no email address around.