“It’s the perfect combination of careful marketing and behavioral psychology to make you buy, buy, buy.”
As I type this, I have four different tabs open to Amazon. It’s Prime Day, I need a new microwave, and as someone who treats bargain hunting like a competitive sport, I’ve been preparing for today like an athlete before the championship game.
Which is exactly the point. As Kate Morgan explains, quick sales like Prime Day are designed to hack our brains, tapping into scarcity bias (valuing something more when there’s a limited supply) and social proof bias (believing that just because hundreds of people did or bought something, it must be good).
“None of this means you’re a sucker for filling your cart,” Morgan writes, but “with a list and a clear mind, you can take advantage of the sale, instead of letting it take advantage of you.”