As an early 00's teen I couldn't help, but laugh at the Abercrombie bit. Does anyone remember Hollister was so dark you needed a flash light to see anything?!
Chocolate World, in Hershey, PA, is an attraction loaded with chocolate products and other merchandise. They vent a chocolate smell into the air as well as having several confectionary counters all over the place. The place is a mad house on weekends leading up to the holidays.
Grocery stores around here tend to play songs from the 80s-00s during the week midday, while on evenings and weekends they play more pop/modern songs. Very interesting! I guess they're targeting stay at home soccer moms during the day.
There have been many times that I was in a grocery store where I live. There were times that I was about to walk out and than a song by The Kinks would start playing over the speaker and that would lure me into looking around for a few more minutes and I'd always end up buying something. It's like they had a radar that detected my movements.
I could rant about this for a week, but... It's becoming harder and harder to move through the city due to these tactics. For me, they are not subtle at all, instead, it's like being slapped in the face over and over for as long as I am out among people. In addition to the things mentioned here comes the ever present screens of commercials and the huge posters. I used to be able to walk about with my eyes fixed on the ground when it got too much, but guess what. Now they've started putting posters on the floors as well. Sometimes it's absolute hell, and all so they can sell 2% more, or 7% more.
Cinnabon actually bakes empty pans full of cinnamon just to keep the scent fresh throughout the store so people will come in and buy some, even if they don't have fresh rolls.
I've been going to the grocery store and leaving before I finish my shopping for some reason a lot the past couple years for some reason. I wonder if they are going overboard or something. :P I go in and don't even want what I went there for once I enter.
Product placement is another top strategy. Between eye & waist level is best. As well as location within the store. I used to work in a store - if something wasn’t selling, just shift it’s location and give it a little more prominence. Bam! Sold.
On music... I wear earbuds that cancel out sound (because it can be scary loud in places) and usually play my own music quietly instead. I wonder if I change what I listen to that would change my habits?
I cannot shop in Home Goods/TJ MAXX because the lights are way too bright, it often smells like hundreds of different scented candles, the people are always getting in my way, and the workers are often unhappy. I hate that store.
Insofar as earlier studies re: consumerism & environment? These sorts of studies have been done since the first stores opened (obviously so long as the idea of first studying shopping influences had also ‐ simultaneously ‐ become a part of psyc/socio curiosity & hence, studies). Those earlier studies were replicated & peer-reviewed ad nauseam • & most - as time passed - were verrry well-funded, as the stores, restaurants, etc... (when such places became fiscal giants & even corporate) were they themselves funding the studies. XO
My guess would be that people tend to look better in lower lighting if I recall correctly, so they're trying to make you think you look better wearing those clothes than you normally would. That's only a guess, though
In my country, the changing room tends to have white bright light ... Showing everything so clear ... Sometimes it makes me feels bad about my body ... Lol
There are at least two popular clothes chains which sell clothes I like, but one of them I visit more rarely than I'd like, and the other I avoid (or I enter and immediately exit) bc both of them have their special smell, and the second one uses it so much, that I feel I'm suffocating when I'm inside, it just overpowers me, and I feel nauseous. It's a powdery cosmetic smell, and it would even be actually appealing, if it was just faint and almost not present.
Dude the old Abercrombie and Fitch smell was the only reason I would go to the mall sometimes. Lol I have NEVER shopped there, cause ya know I'm fat, but the scent they used to spray reminded me of the smell they spray on the Disney soarin ride where you are "in a paraglider" over the redwood forests. I have bought out the whole display of soap that reminded me of that smell, but it has been discontinued.
My local grocery store has slightly pink lights over meat, yellow-ish on the cheese, green on the... Greens, and bright whites on pretty much everything else. Also layed out the store so that you walk past pretty much everything at least once, and slightly mist the greens with humidifiers to make them seem fresher.
How about a word on the ethics of researchers agreeing to research consumer manipulation on behalf of companies who are actively trying to get consumers to act against their own self interest.
Working in retail a long time I've noticed that displays of products actually tend to sell better when a few items are gone vs a completely full display. I think this may be because people assume someone else had bought the item, vs full display may signal that the item hadn't moved.
Interesting. I remember when Target smelled like popcorn and Walmart smelled like McDonald's. Personally, I liked the smell of Whole Foods, which I think was from their essential oils and herbs section.
What surprised me most is that, knowing this, a well known big box store I now rarely shop at, that serves a wide populace, from tweens to geriatric, would sometimes play music that would drive out people above the age of, let's say 35ish, without making their purchases & into a competing store.
I'm in the southern US and our Kroger has recently added christian songs to their top-40 playlist. The jump from some praise song to Maroon 5 is weird as hell.
Both my parents work in marketing and when you learn these kinds of tricks and biases early on, the world is much easier to navigate (albeit a bit bitter, when you constantly see the amount of manipulation around you). These should be taught to children and teens, this knowledge is key to manage your expenses wisely and avoid being basically effed by an endless crowd of brands without even suspecting your judgement is being manipulated. It's also a useful basis to learn about psychological biases and manipulation in a wider sense.
They don't want us to learn that though, then it wouldn't work and the rich folks wouldn't be able to squeeze as much money out of the lower folks. So of course this isn't taught to children and teens, because it's against the interests of the richest people, which tend to be the people with the most power.
I realy HATE the stupid sounds in our store. They have birdsong at the fruit and mooing at the milk. Its creepy. And they keep moving things around so you never find it without asking.
I hate when they move crap. Im looking for one cable and I am looking all over the store because they don't have a "cable" section and instead put cables in "PC" or "Media" sections. Super annoying since they put cables like HDMI cables in the Media section which makes no sense to me
I used to think Abercrombie would break a bottle of their cologne on the floor every morning they opened shop to get that strong scent when walking by their store.
I wonder what results a poll accompanying this video announced during the outro would have found regarding perception of Hank's patreon witticism vis-a-vis current vs potential patreon supporters. I'd be especially interested in a report on its efficacy given the motivation for its inclusion (i.e., to attract new donors, to retain existing supporters, etc.).
My local co-op ended up playing the Twin Peaks theme at least once each time I went during October. You’re definitely right about the distracting part.
Watch out everyone, I just noticed that SciShow Psych has started pumping a scent from my monitor that makes me think I need to buy a new monitor. I expect they'll be selling SciShow-branded computer monitors before the year is out!
However, for those people who have fragrance sensitivity, depending on the degree of the sensitivity and that of the store's piped-in stench, you'd either tolerate a slight brain-fog and nausea, and rush through your shopping, or you'd avoid the store altogether like I do with Bed Bath & Beyond.
How about a clean floor vs a dirty floor. Play whatever, smell whatever, light however, having a dirty floor, stiky rotten food and clutter, ygh. I'm not piky, but I would like the store not to be set up and looking like a dumpster after thanksgiving.
At what point does priming people's psychology become manipulation? I really feel like these sorts of tactics are dishonest, and if we get too good at it it would need to be outlawed at some threshold.
I haven't been in A&F in at least a decade and I only ever was in one under duress while shopping with friends. The thing that turned me off about their stores wasn't the scent but was the LOUD MUSIC. It was so loud I had to block my ears. Is there any evidence about how music volume affects shoppers? B/c in my case, loud music is a HUGE turn-off.
I'm *almost* immune to manipulation. If I want a product, I'll buy it. If I don't, no amount of manipulation nor suggestion will make me do so. I'l only impulse purchase something cheap and ads will only attract me to a product of a type I'm already interested in. I'm a salesperson's worst nightmare ;)
I decide what I want to buy, I go where it is sold, I buy it, I leave. Except for tool shops, never know when you might need that extra tool on special which might come in handy one day!
Since fragrance is the single least-regulated thing in our culture, there is no telling what horror show of chemicals stores are subjecting people to in order to boost sales. Good topic for a video? What's safer: your perfume or your lawn pesticides you want banned?
I only buy food and my choices are mostly dictated by Calories and price. there are likely other, unconscious influences but they would probably have a larger impact on what I buy If I had the money to impulsively shop.
How about this one: Small 1,5$ Medium 3$ Large 5$ Small 3$ Medium 4$ Large 5$ With the exact same product lets say a popcorn. People are moral likely to buy the Large one in the second set by making the smaller once more expensive. Because the upgrade from M to L is just 1$ more. Its ridiculous how well it works.
I literally can't not get the largest coffee at Starbucks because of this. My brain won't allow it. I make up for it though by only going once a month, or less.
If the music is too loud, or some crazy people choose to have more than 1 kind of music in the same store(!??!?1wth!?), I get the urge to escape ASAP. But probably losing only 1 customer is not that big of a loss for them?
Buy this item and get a 30% off coupon to use on your next store visit. People FEEL like they're saving money at each of the 2 purchases, plus they feel obligated to make a second purchase.
The thing I hate the most is their pinkish lights over the meat and the greenish/yellowish lights over the fruits and vegetables. To know exactly what you're buying, you have to pick the product and move a couple feet back, it's so annoying.
Every grocery store here plays music (ShopRite, Best Market, Walmart, and Stop & Shop). I live in New York. Some have the oldies station (ShopRite) some current music (Walmart often has Taylor Swift and Panic! at the Disco on), or Latinx music (Best Market).
![Gunna - HIM ALL ALONG [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HiCxoDeo0hc/mqdefault.jpg)
Their tricks don't work on me!
_I don't have any money._
I just never go to stores without a clear idea of what I'm getting so those tricks can't work for me either.
PaleGhost69 me, either. and i hate shopping.
Tricks don’t work on me because going to the store makes me want to curl up in a corner and cry
joke's on you, they'll still happily gobble up any information you let them
Their tricks did work on me!
I don't have any money
I went to a local grocery store that played metal on the intercom. it was awesome.
There *is* a perfect store-wide smell - freshly baked bread.
The context is irrelevant...
Clothes store - freshly baked bread
Garden Centre - freshly baked bread
Hardware store - freshly baked bread
Electronics store - freshly baked bread
Undertakers - freshly baked bread
LMAO!!!! 😂😂😂
Yum
Nah, WD-40!
This is absolutely true, I always want bread
Freshly baked bread at the undertakers' ? Are they baking bread where they cremate people?
As an early 00's teen I couldn't help, but laugh at the Abercrombie bit. Does anyone remember Hollister was so dark you needed a flash light to see anything?!
I refused to enter cos it was kinda scary😂
I’ve never been in Abercrombie because the scent was so strong. So, didn’t work on me. Strong scents of any kind give me a migraine :P
@@theresebrandser Oooh I'm so sorry about that - especially as I relate!! 💔
Hank: “Luckily for us manipulating human brains is tricky stuff.”
Apple, Disney, CIA: hold my beer
I bought a used CD once full of Christmas music entitled "Play This And They Will Buy", obviously intented for stores to play during the holidays.
Then there's Lush, that can't help smelling of...Lush!
I don't mind the smell, but I feel mobbed by the sellers every time I walk in. The Body Shop is a lot more relaxed.
I don't like that 'New Credit Card Bill Smell', though.
Even worse is that, "Old Credit Card Bill Smell"
Just spend a couple of grand on it and it'll lose that odor in no time. ;P
Chocolate World, in Hershey, PA, is an attraction loaded with chocolate products and other merchandise. They vent a chocolate smell into the air as well as having several confectionary counters all over the place. The place is a mad house on weekends leading up to the holidays.
I don’t do frivolous shopping in malls. I only do intentional shopping. I haven’t been to a mall in several years. I’m frugal, and I have will power.
"Wait stores have music?" - me just exiting a store while watching and listening to this video
Grocery stores around here tend to play songs from the 80s-00s during the week midday, while on evenings and weekends they play more pop/modern songs. Very interesting! I guess they're targeting stay at home soccer moms during the day.
There have been many times that I was in a grocery store where I live. There were times that I was about to walk out and than a song by The Kinks would start playing over the speaker and that would lure me into looking around for a few more minutes and I'd always end up buying something. It's like they had a radar that detected my movements.
I live in a college town, and my local WalMart plays some bumping alternative music and it makes me sooooooooo happy every time I go there.
I could rant about this for a week, but... It's becoming harder and harder to move through the city due to these tactics. For me, they are not subtle at all, instead, it's like being slapped in the face over and over for as long as I am out among people. In addition to the things mentioned here comes the ever present screens of commercials and the huge posters. I used to be able to walk about with my eyes fixed on the ground when it got too much, but guess what. Now they've started putting posters on the floors as well. Sometimes it's absolute hell, and all so they can sell 2% more, or 7% more.
When I smell Cinnabon in a mall, it’s always a battle to not buy any.
Cinnabon actually bakes empty pans full of cinnamon just to keep the scent fresh throughout the store so people will come in and buy some, even if they don't have fresh rolls.
I've been going to the grocery store and leaving before I finish my shopping for some reason a lot the past couple years for some reason. I wonder if they are going overboard or something. :P I go in and don't even want what I went there for once I enter.
Product placement is another top strategy. Between eye & waist level is best. As well as location within the store. I used to work in a store - if something wasn’t selling, just shift it’s location and give it a little more prominence. Bam! Sold.
Doors open for black friday, boss music blasts though the speakers at full volume, its go time
On music... I wear earbuds that cancel out sound (because it can be scary loud in places) and usually play my own music quietly instead. I wonder if I change what I listen to that would change my habits?
I cannot shop in Home Goods/TJ MAXX because the lights are way too bright, it often smells like hundreds of different scented candles, the people are always getting in my way, and the workers are often unhappy. I hate that store.
Jokes on them, i never leave my house.
How many of those studies have been replicated?
Insofar as earlier studies re: consumerism & environment? These sorts of studies have been done since the first stores opened (obviously so long as the idea of first studying shopping influences had also ‐ simultaneously ‐ become a part of psyc/socio curiosity & hence, studies).
Those earlier studies were replicated & peer-reviewed ad nauseam • & most - as time passed - were verrry well-funded, as the stores, restaurants, etc... (when such places became fiscal giants & even corporate) were they themselves funding the studies. XO
That scent is what draws me into Abercrombie & Fitch
And this video, JUST BEFORE Black Friday is upon us.. Coincidence??? I think not
The only thing set by Black Friday is survival mode.
@@christelheadington1136 haha, I second that
Using scents in stores is really bad for people with allergies and asthma etc. :( I really wish these things were taken seriously. We buy stuff too!
Thanks for doing this! I'm doing consumer psychology for one of my a levels specialist options and I'm interested to read up on more of it :D
*Is there a reason why the lighting at the changing rooms is so bad?* Or is this just bad design?
My guess would be that people tend to look better in lower lighting if I recall correctly, so they're trying to make you think you look better wearing those clothes than you normally would. That's only a guess, though
@@JohnDoe-xx8yw I've heard the opposite about lighting.
@@GoodxLad they do definitely use special mirrors in the rooms that have them. There's a specific brand you can look into that they all buy
In my country, the changing room tends to have white bright light ... Showing everything so clear ... Sometimes it makes me feels bad about my body ... Lol
Like how Target's changing room mirrors are slightly warped to make shoppers look slimmer when they try the clothes on.
I have hoarder relatives and honestly the burden of material ownership gives me some existential dread
There are at least two popular clothes chains which sell clothes I like, but one of them I visit more rarely than I'd like, and the other I avoid (or I enter and immediately exit) bc both of them have their special smell, and the second one uses it so much, that I feel I'm suffocating when I'm inside, it just overpowers me, and I feel nauseous. It's a powdery cosmetic smell, and it would even be actually appealing, if it was just faint and almost not present.
Dude the old Abercrombie and Fitch smell was the only reason I would go to the mall sometimes. Lol I have NEVER shopped there, cause ya know I'm fat, but the scent they used to spray reminded me of the smell they spray on the Disney soarin ride where you are "in a paraglider" over the redwood forests. I have bought out the whole display of soap that reminded me of that smell, but it has been discontinued.
Thank you for making this video. I'll use those techniques when I own a mall someday.
I love this! I legit wear headphones with meditation tunes while shopping so I don’t spend so much😊
I feel like these tricks only work on people who feel they can trust the store. Luckily I don't trust no one so these tricks rarely work on me.
It doesn't really work on me since I know what I want before I even set foot in the door, go straight to the items, then to the checkout
My local grocery store has slightly pink lights over meat, yellow-ish on the cheese, green on the... Greens, and bright whites on pretty much everything else. Also layed out the store so that you walk past pretty much everything at least once, and slightly mist the greens with humidifiers to make them seem fresher.
Zombies with earbuds, I see them everywhere! They can't possibly be party to these mindtricks
I hate the music in stores so much that I hardly go shopping at all (except for groceries).
I've been a manager at both Walmart and Kroger and a good bit of event planning goes into customer psychology to get them to buy.
How about a word on the ethics of researchers agreeing to research consumer manipulation on behalf of companies who are actively trying to get consumers to act against their own self interest.
Working in retail a long time I've noticed that displays of products actually tend to sell better when a few items are gone vs a completely full display. I think this may be because people assume someone else had bought the item, vs full display may signal that the item hadn't moved.
There was this lingerie store in Japan that just played non-stop ABBA and I always loved going there. Non-stop bops!
I wanna hear more about this!
Interesting. I remember when Target smelled like popcorn and Walmart smelled like McDonald's. Personally, I liked the smell of Whole Foods, which I think was from their essential oils and herbs section.
What surprised me most is that, knowing this, a well known big box store I now rarely shop at, that serves a wide populace, from tweens to geriatric, would sometimes play music that would drive out people above the age of, let's say 35ish, without making their purchases & into a competing store.
I'm in the southern US and our Kroger has recently added christian songs to their top-40 playlist. The jump from some praise song to Maroon 5 is weird as hell.
Both my parents work in marketing and when you learn these kinds of tricks and biases early on, the world is much easier to navigate (albeit a bit bitter, when you constantly see the amount of manipulation around you). These should be taught to children and teens, this knowledge is key to manage your expenses wisely and avoid being basically effed by an endless crowd of brands without even suspecting your judgement is being manipulated. It's also a useful basis to learn about psychological biases and manipulation in a wider sense.
They don't want us to learn that though, then it wouldn't work and the rich folks wouldn't be able to squeeze as much money out of the lower folks. So of course this isn't taught to children and teens, because it's against the interests of the richest people, which tend to be the people with the most power.
@@waxwinged_hound Absolutely !
I realy HATE the stupid sounds in our store. They have birdsong at the fruit and mooing at the milk. Its creepy. And they keep moving things around so you never find it without asking.
I hate when they move crap. Im looking for one cable and I am looking all over the store because they don't have a "cable" section and instead put cables in "PC" or "Media" sections. Super annoying since they put cables like HDMI cables in the Media section which makes no sense to me
I used to think Abercrombie would break a bottle of their cologne on the floor every morning they opened shop to get that strong scent when walking by their store.
'Match the music to the products' HOT TOPIC THO
3:31 He’s wearing wired Audio Technica headphones but the cable isn’t plugged in.
He knows that store's music is affecting his ability to pick the right product to buy.
Ears bleeding profusely from months of Christmas music.
Autism superpower: None of this works on me because I get overwhelmed by the battery of sensory input and become irritated and angry.
I feel like this mostly applies to people who make spontaneous purchases
part of it is INSTIGATING spontaneous purchases, though.
how did you arrive at this feeling? Guessing? Almost all purchases are spontaneous are they not?
Only to the easily led, and unfortunately there are plenty of sheeple, just look at the govt, and the "president" YUCK
Or can afford spontaneity.
I'm for once glad I'm sort of a hermit 😂
@@donfields1234 Ewwww, right!!?? XO
Very interesting!
Music in stores and restaurants annoyed me more than anything.
Awesome!!
can you do a version of this episode for online shopping?
ah, yes, the century of the self.
I wonder how much the people at Complexly design the music and graphics and script to get us to become Patrons.
I wonder what results a poll accompanying this video announced during the outro would have found regarding perception of Hank's patreon witticism vis-a-vis current vs potential patreon supporters.
I'd be especially interested in a report on its efficacy given the motivation for its inclusion (i.e., to attract new donors, to retain existing supporters, etc.).
My local co-op ended up playing the Twin Peaks theme at least once each time I went during October. You’re definitely right about the distracting part.
See you at Hot Topic
**thought-obliterating screamo at 120 decibels*
I'll plug up my ears and nose and go in blindfolded next time, thanks for the tips!
Anti-familiarity might be why so much 80s music, with a bias to soft rock, in stores & restaurants.
I would always giggle at the silly looking mannequins😂
Right!
Or the nekked ones!!
Can’t get me. I have an allergic reaction when I reach my hand in my pocket
I usually feel an empty reaction when I pick my wallet. That stops me from buying unnecessary things.
YEAHH HANK GREEEEN
controlling the smell in stores is pretty easy, I crop dust other customers ALL the time
Nice vid, Keep it up guys
At my store we never play sad songs(except at Christmas)
This why there is always depressing breakup songs playing whenever I go to mcdonalds
Watch out everyone, I just noticed that SciShow Psych has started pumping a scent from my monitor that makes me think I need to buy a new monitor. I expect they'll be selling SciShow-branded computer monitors before the year is out!
So why is it then most grocery store music makes me want to commit seppuku with a banana
However, for those people who have fragrance sensitivity, depending on the degree of the sensitivity and that of the store's piped-in stench, you'd either tolerate a slight brain-fog and nausea, and rush through your shopping, or you'd avoid the store altogether like I do with Bed Bath & Beyond.
So, blue light makes you buy more? K-Mart had it right all along.
How about a clean floor vs a dirty floor. Play whatever, smell whatever, light however, having a dirty floor, stiky rotten food and clutter, ygh.
I'm not piky, but I would like the store not to be set up and looking like a dumpster after thanksgiving.
At what point does priming people's psychology become manipulation? I really feel like these sorts of tactics are dishonest, and if we get too good at it it would need to be outlawed at some threshold.
No clocks so you lose sense of time
Except when they announce they are closing in 10 minutes, then they want you to checkout.
I haven't been in A&F in at least a decade and I only ever was in one under duress while shopping with friends. The thing that turned me off about their stores wasn't the scent but was the LOUD MUSIC. It was so loud I had to block my ears. Is there any evidence about how music volume affects shoppers? B/c in my case, loud music is a HUGE turn-off.
I'm *almost* immune to manipulation. If I want a product, I'll buy it. If I don't, no amount of manipulation nor suggestion will make me do so. I'l only impulse purchase something cheap and ads will only attract me to a product of a type I'm already interested in. I'm a salesperson's worst nightmare ;)
I decide what I want to buy, I go where it is sold, I buy it, I leave.
Except for tool shops, never know when you might need that extra tool on special which might come in handy one day!
Might as well grab a clamp too, just in case
I used to sell towels in a store, I used lemonsent and sold everything
my hyponosmic, light sensitive, always-wearing-headphones self must be immune to quiet marketing then i guess (/j)
love those neurons !!!!!!!!
Since fragrance is the single least-regulated thing in our culture, there is no telling what horror show of chemicals stores are subjecting people to in order to boost sales. Good topic for a video? What's safer: your perfume or your lawn pesticides you want banned?
very interesting!!
If I walked into somewhere that smelled strongly of vanilla I would leave. Cannot stomach that smell.
1:26 Blue light increases Hedonic Purchases?
Then why is most hedonism done in the Red Light District?
the horny
Red lights were used in the rooms of prostitutes to hide syphillis and other sex disease marks/scars/blotches many years ago.
Blue lights highlight the splooge on everything???
What’s with the smell in Bed Bath & Beyond. It’s overwhelming and I hate it. It permeates all their products.
Ikr it's disgusting
Never noticed any store using a different smell, guess I got pay more attention now.
I only buy food and my choices are mostly dictated by Calories and price. there are likely other, unconscious influences but they would probably have a larger impact on what I buy If I had the money to impulsively shop.
I see all the trickery, it is war out there and I'm winning every battle !!!
I'll always remember the smell of Pier One Imports. Anyone remember them?
How about this one:
Small 1,5$
Medium 3$
Large 5$
Small 3$
Medium 4$
Large 5$
With the exact same product lets say a popcorn. People are moral likely to buy the Large one in the second set by making the smaller once more expensive. Because the upgrade from M to L is just 1$ more. Its ridiculous how well it works.
I literally can't not get the largest coffee at Starbucks because of this. My brain won't allow it.
I make up for it though by only going once a month, or less.
Wow, thank you for saying that, I've fallen for that my entire life (then again, I'm really REALLY stupid). But at least now I can look out for that.
If the music is too loud, or some crazy people choose to have more than 1 kind of music in the same store(!??!?1wth!?), I get the urge to escape ASAP. But probably losing only 1 customer is not that big of a loss for them?
Buy this item and get a 30% off coupon to use on your next store visit. People FEEL like they're saving money at each of the 2 purchases, plus they feel obligated to make a second purchase.
Sad songs say so much...
My store plays a 10 hour compilation of farts.
The thing I hate the most is their pinkish lights over the meat and the greenish/yellowish lights over the fruits and vegetables. To know exactly what you're buying, you have to pick the product and move a couple feet back, it's so annoying.
I can't imagine there being music played at a grocery store
Every grocery store here plays music (ShopRite, Best Market, Walmart, and Stop & Shop). I live in New York. Some have the oldies station (ShopRite) some current music (Walmart often has Taylor Swift and Panic! at the Disco on), or Latinx music (Best Market).