Buy 1 get 1 Free: Sneaky ways retailers get you to spend more

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for sales! Black Friday, Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years sales are alluring, especially if you have received a gift card as a present. It is so easy to be lured in by the sale signs and the special promotions at a store. Whether the plan was just to purchase a t-shirt or a bottle of milk, retailers use clever techniques to get you to spend a lot more than you plan to. But do we need to be careful as consumers? If a $100 product is marked at 50% off – have we saved $50 or spent $50? To find out about how retailers use tactics to get consumers to spend more, we spoke to Associate Professor Michael Volkov from Macquarie Business School who specialises in marketing and consumer behaviour.