#20 - The layouts of supermarkets are not accidental: they

[LawSchoolDream]

The original staff member stated that nowhere in the stimulus do they say "distracting customers" but isn't saying that "Passing tempting displays the whole way" indicating that the distraction is present? I was split between B,C,D and chose C but cancelled E too soon because nowhere did they mention the word "manipulate".

If we are to say the stimulus indicates manipulation, then I feel the stimulus also indicates distraction. How to decipher which it really is that the stimulus indicates as the correct answer in such scenarios?

[Jeff Wren]

One definition of distract is to "divert (attention) from something," so I can see how the supermarkets' practice of placing common items such as a loaf of bread at the back of the store and putting tempting displays along the way could be seen as distracting the customers from their initial goal of buying the one product that they came in for. However, the supermarket presumably still wants the customer to buy the bread too, so it's more like adding to the customer's goal with extra products rather than completely diverting their attention from that goal.

The main problem with Answer D (which is the same problem with Answer B) is that we do not know that it is not good for business. Just because customers say they dislike the practice does not mean that the practice does not work at increasing sales. For example, many people would probably say that they dislike advertisements in general if you were to ask them, but that doesn't mean that they don't work.

One definition of manipulate is to "control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously." This certainly describes what the supermarkets are doing in placing common items such as a loaf of bread at the back of the store and putting tempting displays along the way. Whether practice this is unfair or unscrupulous is debatable, but it is arguably clever (assuming that it works in increasing sales). And if it didn't work, the supermarkets probably wouldn't bother do it.

[Mo28_28]

Hi
I was stuck between D and E and I chose D and here is my reason.
The argument mentions "passing tempting displays the whole way". When we encounter a tempting object, we probably get distracted.
And I didn't choose E because I thought the word manipulation is too much in this case.
Could you tell me your thoughts on this?

[Adam Tyson]

If the design intends to make customers behave a certain way, Mo28_28, that's a form of manipulation. Don't think of that word in any positive or negative sense; it's neutral, just describing what it does. When I drive down the street, I manipulate my car; that's not good or bad, it's just a fact. So to call it manipulation isn't strong or weak, it's just accurate.

One problem with answer D is that we have no way of knowing whether it's good or bad for business. Customers may dislike it, and that's unfortunate, but they still might keep showing up because they need their bread, eggs, meat, veggies, etc. Heck, it might be really good for business, if customers buy a lot of those distracting things despite that feeling of resentment! Answer D requires us to make assumptions that aren't warranted by the facts, while E is a lot easier to prove. Causing customers to feel alienated and resentful could certainly be seen as an unfortunate consequence by at least some people, like those very same customers.