Thousands of Moscow residents plunged into the pre-holiday excitement. Like the Japanese penguins, that we just saw, they go shopping looking for New Year's attributes and presents. And the salespeople do their best to make them buy as much as possible.
Tamara Nersisyan has looked into consumer frauds behind colored shop-windows and enticing prices and how not to fall for it. New Year's tree, tinsel, garlands. New Year atmosphere in Moscow malls appeared in mid-November. Before the New Year, there's still time left but you already feel the desire to buy something. The salespeople count on it and use a wide range of pre-New Year tricks.
Snowflakes, Father Frost, and deer increase the price of these socks and mittens several times. A usual gingerbread with the symbol of an upcoming year costs as much as a can of red caviar.
A salesman: "These are puffed honey gingerbreads. 550 rubles".
Oleg Klimov, organizer of New Year fairs in malls: "During the New Year holidays, crowds grow enormously, up to 120,000 people. You just cannot get through. People buy up everything".
At the end of the year, people go to malls not to buy something but to plunge into the pre-holiday atmosphere. Psychologists are sure that bright lights, decorated New Year trees, presents, the smell of fir-needles and mandarins bring us back to our childhood and make us buy something we don't really need.
Shoppers:
- Of course, the mood improves when everything is decorated and you want to buy everything.
- We've already decorated the New Year Tree, but regardless we want to touch and buy something.
- I'm delighted to join this pre-New Year race.
Olga Makhovskaya, psychologist: "Shops offer you beautiful packing, atmosphere or aromatherapy to attract consumers, to make shopping a holiday. The more time people spend in the shop, the more they buy".
That's why salespeople try to create the New Year atmosphere earlier. In November they start to sell fresh fir trees. They say that it will keep standing one and a half months if you just sprinkle it with water. And buyers believe in it.
Evgeny Gusev, a seller of New Year trees: "Contrary to the previous year, this year people started to buy trees right from the opening on December 1, we even sold some big trees".
New Year sales are another trick for naive consumers. Malls make a fuss and attract people with huge discounts. In fact, prices go up before the holidays.
Anastasia Komarova, marketing expert: "Some products are in small demand. People don't memorize their prices. And they cannot see how the price soars, and then they're offered an allegedly big discount. All the shops use this trick. From food shops where people buy mandarins to other shops where they buy appliances and clothes, etc".
A good product with a big discount can be sold only if it's the off-season like summer clothes or a swimming suit. You can hardly buy a fur coat or a sheepskin with a 70% discount in December.
In order not to fall for the New Year illusion, experts recommend going shopping with a list and to take not too much money.
Tamara Nersisyan, Artem Grigoryan, Andrey Lapidus, Aleksandr Kosenkov for Vesti.
