Cooperative Coercion

Our neighborhood food co-op was a quirky relic from the 1970s when I joined it: a tiny storefront run by volunteer members, with bulk bins, homemade granola, and prices hand-written in Sharpie marker on the cans, bottles, boxes and bags of grocery items. There were no barcode readers or shelf tags, and no computer on the premises until maybe 2005.

Fast forward a decade to that same co-op (sort of), now run by 50 paid employees in a bigger building outfitted with modern technology, including UPC scanners and PLU codes. Food, and particularly natural/organic food, has gotten a lot pricier, but the co-op joined a network that makes deals to get discounts on certain items, and these are highlighted through email and print marketing, plus big sale signs and stylish product displays like you'd see at Trader Joe's.

Another thing that changed in that decade is my vision: I now have a harder time finding things in any grocery store and I am more likely to buy something that's easier to see. This wasn't an issue in the old co-op when my vision was a little better and everything held equal shelf space, so my eyes were not drawn to some things over others. But the new co-op's sale signs pull my attention solely to those products and I have trouble seeing the others, so I end up buying what's on sale and ignoring the stuff I can't see as well, especially the bulk bins that I often went for in the old store.

Is it just me, or do people who can see better also get sucked into buying what's "on sale", even though there may be better deals elsewhere in the store that just aren't as clearly mark(et)ed? Cuious to know—leave your answer in the comments below.