When in a purchasing situation, the mental faculties of a consumer are said to reside in one or both of two separate “systems”. System 1 is a subconscious (meaning automatic) stimulus response and impulse oriented system. This relies strictly on immediate and automatic decisions made without the interaction of critical thinking. System 2 is conscious, rational process and logic oriented thinking and this is the executive control system. System 2 is the controlling agent of system 1 and this is where decisions are made and control is exercised.

The executive control system is developed, maintained and functions much like a muscle in the human body. And like a muscle, this system draws its energy from glucose in the blood stream. The very act of making decision has shown in studies to draw heavily on this resource and as a result will deplete it over time. So what is the result? As you can imagine impaired decision making…

Imagine the typical shopper moving through isle after isle of products, constantly bombarded with advertising, comparisons, prices, etc… The employment of the system 2 thinking and impulse control is almost constant and will quickly deplete these energy resources and thus impair a person’s ability to employ impulse control and critical thinking during their shopping. So what does this mean specifically? Let’s take a look at the three outcomes of “decision depletion”.

1. Depletion makes people less likely to compromise as this is a relatively strenuous form of decision making.  Requiring integrating, analyzing and trading off this takes a large amount of energy to perform. Studies have shown that when people are not depleted, they are more likely to compromise (meaning think through a decision on two or more products). When people are depleted they tend to take one dimension (price for example) and go to the extreme (just choose the cheapest).
2. Depleted customers are more likely to fall for the asymmetric dominance effect. What this means is that when people are confronted with 2 equally strong, but very different option the decision is very difficult. If they are presented with a third option that is similar to one of the 2 strong options but very inferior, people will tend to simply choose the option that is similar to but better than the decoy. The simple decision between the two will pervade onto the difficult one. Depletion significantly intensified this tendency.
3. Depleted customers are also much more likely to avoid making a purchase all together. When they have the option to simply walk away and worry about it another day, they will simply do that rather than take on the mental exertion of weighing out a decision.

So what can we do with this valuable information? Let’s look at it from both sides:

1. Consumer – It makes very good sense as a consumer to be assured that your blood glucose levels remain constant and full. Bringing along some fruit or energy drinks will go a long way toward providing this. By doing so, you will keep your critical thinking faculties alive and awake during your shopping experience and therefore be able to make rational, logical decisions during the excursion.
2. Retailers – During almost all shopping experiences the consumer has the option of simply walking away AND defaulting to simply the cheapest purchase. Many times it takes critical evaluation to understand and place an importance on the up-sell of quality and value. Think of ways to infuse sample drinks or fruits or even candy into the shopper’s experience. This will keep not only their critical thinking engaged to provide larger sales but also their longevity to hopefully provide more sales for your establishment.

Image courtesy: Daniel Parks