José Aparicio on "La Tarde de Telemadrid": Why do we buy what we buy?

Have you ever gone to a vending machine to get a coffee and come back with your hands full of snacks and sweets? You are not alone, and it is no coincidence. José Aparicio, founding partner of Crater and strategy director, took part on 4 February in the programme La Tarde de Telemadrid to explain the psychological and marketing mechanisms behind every impulse purchase in a vending machine.

A new regulation that changes the rules of the game

Aparicio's intervention comes at a key moment, as the Spanish Government has promoted a Royal Decree that requires that at least 80% of the products available in vending machines in hospitals, care homes and workplaces must be healthy. The regulation requires that products such as water, fresh fruit, non-fried nuts, yoghurts without added sugars and wholemeal breads occupy the main space in vending machines, while ultra-processed foods (industrial pastries, salty snacks and sugary drinks) are relegated to the less visible rows. In addition, hot drinks will be dispensed without sugar by default, with an optional maximum of five grams. In Spain, there are more than 390,000 food and drink vending machines, and the consumption of ultra-processed foods has tripled in the last two decades, from 11% to 32%.

Impulse buying: when the brain decides before you do

During his intervention, Aparicio explained how impulse buying works, that is, that moment in which we acquire a product without having planned it and even without needing it. The vast majority of the decisions we make daily are more linked to emotion and instinct than to reason. Our brain makes the decision first and then justifies it rationally so that we feel comfortable with the choice. In fact, according to neuromarketing research, up to 95% of purchase decisions occur at a subconscious level.

The factors that lead us to buy

Aparicio identified several strategic elements that influence consumer behaviour when facing a vending machine:

• The location of the machine: its location in transit or waiting areas facilitates spontaneous purchasing.

• Affordable price: the cost of the product should not be perceived as a barrier, but as something relatively inexpensive.

• Attractive packaging: the design of the packaging appeals directly to our emotions and senses.

• Ease of payment: payment in cash, contactless by card or with a mobile phone eliminates any friction.

• The position of the product inside the machine is, according to Aparicio, the most determining factor. Everything that appears at eye level, in the centre of the machine, is bought on one in two occasions.

The reason why a specific product occupies that privileged position responds to a purely commercial logic: the gross profit margin of pastries, snacks and vending drinks is between 40% and 60%. Brands know these dynamics and take advantage of them to maximise their sales.

In the end, as Aparicio explained on the programme, what really drives us to buy from a vending machine is something as simple —and as powerful— as the fact that the product is there.