How To Maximize Your Holiday Gift Giving By Shopping Smart
Our weekly half-hour news interview. On air: Saturdays 5:30 a.m.; Sundays 8:30 a.m., 8:30 p.m. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — An awful lot of psychology is playing out between merchants and shoppers this holiday buying season.
Tempting sales, one-of-a-kind finds, guilt and pressure all tied with a bow of competition but consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow, who has a new book out called "Decoding the New Consumer Mind" has some of tips to keep shoppers from being their own worst enemies in the hunt for the perfect gift.
One tip she has is for people to rethink outlet shopping.
So people are crazy, crazy, crazy for outlet malls. Outlet malls are not selling merchandise that was in regular store for reduced price; they're selling merchandise that was made for an outlet and the other thing I've found is when people go to outlets, because they've had to travel, they have made an investment of time and therefore they want to capitalize on that investment and feel like they're getting their money's worth and so they almost always buy things," Yarrow said. "I'm not saying you can't get good deals at an outlet, I'm just saying don't make that the go-to place."
Yarrow told KCBS In Depth that shoppers can get a better deal just by focusing on exactly what they want and then purchasing it.
"If you can get it on sale—awesome. And if you can't, let's just move along because the more time you spend in a store, the more time you spend on line, the more stuff you're going to buy."
For more, listen to the entire interview here:
