Roundup of the psychology of shopping and technological techniques used to measure it. “Often a customer struggling to decide which of two items is best ends up not buying either. A third ‘decoy’ item, which is not quite as good as the other two, can make the choice easier and more pleasurable…. [A researcher] believes the deliberate use of irrelevant alternatives should work in selling all sorts of goods and services, from cable TV to holidays.” [via]
