{"id":772420,"date":"2026-05-04T11:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/772420\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:03:16","slug":"your-brain-on-bargains-why-youre-buying-more-at-the-grocery-store-than-you-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/772420\/","title":{"rendered":"Your brain on bargains: Why you\u2019re buying more at the grocery store than you planned"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 You walk into the store for one thing and somehow walk out with a cart full.<\/p>\n

If that sounds familiar, you\u2019re not alone. Experts say about 60% of what we buy isn\u2019t planned\u2014and there\u2019s a reason why.<\/p>\n

Welcome to your brain on bargains.<\/p>\n

Why deals are so hard to resist<\/b><\/p>\n

From limited-time offers to deep discounts, grocery stores are carefully designed to create urgency. <\/p>\n

And when you feel rushed, your decision-making can drop by as much as 30%.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a good price, a good deal, I gotta get it,\u201d one shopper said.<\/p>\n

But that pull toward a \u201cgood deal\u201d isn\u2019t accidental\u2014it\u2019s psychological.<\/p>\n

That feeling of scoring a bargain? That\u2019s dopamine\u2014the brain\u2019s feel-good chemical tied to anticipation and reward.<\/p>\n

The more deals you see, the more your brain wants to chase that feeling.<\/p>\n

And even the way prices are displayed can influence you.<\/p>\n

Think about it: <\/b>$7.99 vs. $8.00.<\/p>\n

Your brain tends to focus on that first number\u2014seven instead of eight\u2014even though the difference is just a penny.<\/p>\n

And those prices ending in .<\/b>99?<\/p>\n

They\u2019re designed to feel like a bargain, shifting your focus to what you think you\u2019re saving\u2026 instead of what you\u2019re actually spending.<\/p>\n

The BOGO trap<\/b><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the classic: buy one, get one free.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the catch\u2014if you didn\u2019t need two items, you didn\u2019t save money. You spent more.<\/p>\n

And shoppers are starting to notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if I find myself spending more money, and I wonder if I shop based on the BOGOs every week,\u201d one shopper told News4JAX.<\/p>\n

Another agreed that BOGOs are a big shopping draw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it works\u2026 it gets you in the door every week\u2026 and I do spend more than I normally would\u2014but I do love a deal,” they said.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 You walk into the store for one thing and somehow walk out with a cart…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":772421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,2436,3188,723,7310,6459,12013,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-772420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-consumer","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-money","14":"tag-morning-show","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116515976545568819","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}