Walk into a supermarket and what’s front and center? The flowers. They’re at the entrance because if they look fresh, we subconsciously think that EVERYTHING in the store is fresh. That’s according to Martin Lindstrom, the author of “Buyology: The Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.” Here are some of the secrets he’s discovered:

• Have you ever noticed little chalkboards in a store, with the prices for things like vegetables scrawled on them? Those chalkboards are there to make you think the items came fresh from the farmer, and the price was set today -  it also gives that “aw, shucks” down-home touch. You see this in restaurants too, like Starbucks and Chili’s. But the fact is, the prices were set a long time ago at the corporate headquarters, that produce was shipped weeks ago, and the signs aren’t scrawled in chalk, they’re mass produced. 

• And have you noticed there’s ice and water everywhere? Not so much for freshness, but to make you think of “purity” because in reality, that hummus doesn’t need to be on ice, and the water droplets on the vegetables actually make them rot sooner. But if it makes us think the items are “pure,” we’re more likely to buy them.

• One last secret: The wafting scent of fresh baked bread at the market or even somewhere like Subway. Good smells put us into what’s called an emotional “hot state,” which makes people act impulsively. When that happens, budgets go out the window and the chance that you’ll make an impulse buy goes up. Just something to keep in mind the next time you go to the supermarket or a restaurant.