You Can’t Buy Just One Thing At Target, Because…Science
This is somewhat of an epidemic that's been sweeping the nation the past few years. I've notice an over-amount of people obsessed with Target. Don't get me wrong, I think I can understand why. Something about their products, the conformity of all their products, making it seem like you have to collect the whole store. It turns out there is a scientific reason you can't go in and buy just ONE product. Amazingly, I did buy just one thing last week at the Portage location.
But as WXYZ reported, the “target effect” is a real thing which People magazine, House Beautiful, and Southern Living all back up. University of Michigan business school professor Scott Rick says there is a method they use to lure people into buying more, which starts at the size of the shopping cart:
It's very comfortably sized, and it matters for those purchases at the very end; Always room for more when even large items in the basket look small. When you make a little starter purchase, it can loosen the wallet and people start spending on other things.
So don't stress yourself if you fall victim to this, they want you, to want them, to want you to buy more things. It's science.