If you stand in the checkout line of any discount store, you'll see a very odd assortment of items on display: disposable razors, batteries, ballpoint pens, playing cards, trail mix, combination locks, and so on. Retailers call these items "impulse buys," meaning that although people may not come to the store looking for cards, pens, or trail mix, when they see them near the checkout, they'll buy them. An attitude researcher might say that people buy these items because

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Attitudes toward these items may be highly accessible, meaning they are easily remembered and easily manifested into behavior without much thought or deliberation. The placement of these items in the checkout line takes advantage of the accessibility of these attitudes, leading to impulse purchases.

If You Stand in the Checkout Line of Any Discount