Smart shoppers use unconscious tactics

Consumers make better decisions about major purchases if they heed the power of their unconscious minds, say psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis of the University of Amsterdam and his colleagues.

Conscious thinking enables a person to follow precise rules using small amounts of information, the researchers say. Unconscious thinking, or deliberation without directing one’s attention to the choice at hand, permits detection of critical patterns in a mass of information, Dijksterhuis’ team asserts in the Feb.