大家在商品促销期间并不总是理性购物。有时，我们会因为买到了物美价廉的心仪产品而兴奋开心，也会因为错过了某个受欢迎的折扣产品而遗憾难过。产生这种购物心理的原因是什么？本文介绍大脑用什么机制促使你总想买便宜货。

词汇：shopping 购物

Fistfights over a flat-screen TV, hours in a queue for cookware, arguments over air-fryers. Why is it that discounts and deals can turn a simple shopping trip into a rampage through a retail park? What is it that makes a bargain so irresistible?

The answer might be in our heads. An fMRI study, where brain activity is measured, has shown that when we think about money we might spend, brain areas sensitive to pain are activated. When we think about the thing that we want to buy, areas sensitive to pleasure are triggered. Our medial prefrontal cortex evaluates these responses and makes a decision. If it looks like a good deal, we're more likely to make the purchase and get a hit of dopamine. Writer Mark Elwood, who has written a book all about bargains, tells us that we get even more dopamine from something that's unexpected, such as when something is surprisingly cheap. Our brains are keen to reward us for finding bargains and many shops are keen to take advantage of this.

Anchoring is a pricing strategy where we are shown an initial price, and then the real one. Popular items may be positioned next to something much more expensive, or we may see a very high previous price, next to the heavily reduced one currently available. The initial price, or anchor, conditions how we evaluate what something actually costs. Inflated anchor prices can make unreasonably high actual prices seem fair, and our brains are happy to reward us when we make the purchase. Other strategies include time limits, threatening to deprive us of our dopamine hit if we're not quick enough, and charm pricing, where we're much less worried about paying £9.99 than £10.

If we know this about how our brains work and how retailers might act, what should we do? It can be useful to take time to consider what we're buying, hold on to something and walk around the shop before buying to give ourselves more time to evaluate a potential purchase. It can also be sensible to research prices before shopping, to get a better idea of what represents good value.

词汇表

cookware 炊具，厨房用具
discount 折扣，减价
deal 特惠
retail park 零售商业区，购物区
bargain 便宜货，低价好物
irresistible 不可抗拒的，难以抵挡的
medial prefrontal cortex （大脑）内侧前额叶皮层
purchase 购买
dopamine 多巴胺
cheap 便宜的，廉价的
anchoring （价格）锚定
pricing strategy 定价策略
price 价格
expensive 昂贵的
heavily reduced 大幅降价的
dopamine hit 多巴胺刺激
charm pricing 尾数定价（以零头尾数结尾）
retailer 零售商
evaluate 评估
value 价值

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. When are the brain areas related to pain activated?

2. Which part of our brain makes the decision to buy?

3. True or False? Anchoring is where high prices stop people buying things.

4. Why do time limits make us more likely to buy things?

5. What two pieces of advice are given to help us judge prices?

2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。

1. It always feels good to get a good _______.

value deal anchoring cheap

2. Think about how much you want to spend before making a _______.

discount purchase value price

3. _______ usually have a range of different shops.

Deals Retail parks Discounts Charm pricing

4. This week, all our prices have a 20% _______.

deal discount price bargain

5. The secret to a successful retail business is to come up with the right _______.

anchoring dopamine purchase pricing strategy

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. When are the brain areas related to pain activated?

Brain areas related to pain are activated when we think about money we might spend.

2. Which part of our brain makes the decision to buy?

The medial prefrontal cortex of our brain makes the decision to buy something.

3. True or False? Anchoring is where high prices stop people buying things.

False. Anchoring is where contrasting prices make people buy more because they think they are getting better value.

4. Why do time limits make us more likely to buy things?

Time limits can make us more likely to buy things because we are worried about losing a dopamine hit.

5. What two pieces of advice are given to help us judge prices?

Taking time to consider what we're buying and researching prices can help us make a better judgement when evaluating the price of something.

2. 选择意思恰当的单词或词组来完成下列句子。

1. It always feels good to get a good deal.

2. Think about how much you want to spend before making a purchase.

3. Retail parks usually have a range of different shops.

4. This week, all our prices have a 20% discount.

5. The secret to a successful retail business is to come up with the right pricing strategy.