Six Facts About How Supermarkets Influence What We Buy

These six facts tell us how our supermarket shopping can be influenced by much more than the shopping list we bring with us.

Why Our Shopping Score Matters

Unknown to most of us, the quality of customer service can depend on the multiple customer lifetime value (CLV) scores that we get from retailers.

The Red and Blue States That Agree on Halloween Candy Favorites

While Halloween candy spending displays some agreement between red and blue states, it also relates to a top ten list of economic ideas.

An Almost New Grocery Shopper

Not as devastating as the retail changes at the mall, the supermarket grocery shopper is also switching to new buying habits.

Why the Retail Apocalypse Could Be a Renaissance

Even with mall traffic declining and stores closing, retail restructuring might lead to a renaissance fueled by creative destruction rather than an apocalypse.

What Super Bowl Ads Really Say

Ranging from Apple to Amazon, and Pets.com to Ameriquest, decades of Super Bowl ads can demonstrate some major turning points in the U.S. economy.

What an Economist Would Buy at the Salad Bar

We could say that we are looking at salad bar economics when we compare the price per pound at the salad bar to the produce aisle.

Why We Give The Wrong Gifts

When we receive presents that disappoint us, gift giving creates deadweight loss that diminishes the economic boost from holiday spending.

Why a Starbucks Christmas Tree Frappuccino Has a Brief Life

The Christmas Tree Frappuccino had a short life. It was here Thursday and gone Monday. But Starbucks had a good reason. Frappuccino History The Christmas Tree Frappuccino was the latest in a limited edition frappuccino line-up. Starbucks tells us that…

The iPod, Starbucks, and Richard Thaler’s Behavioral Economics

Discussing the iPod he designed, Tony Fadell expressed his frustration with products that said “charge before use.” He remembered arriving home excited about a newly purchased gadget. But then his emotional momentum would hit a wall when he discovered he…