user: Question: By. Sean Poulter. PUBLISHED:. 11:33 EST, 1 May 2013. |. UPDATED:. 05:03 EST, 2 May 2013. The weekly supermarket shop can be a perplexing chore – so much so, say experts, that we are missing out on bargains. Shoppers pushing trolleys through the aisles are confronted with so many competing posters and signs that they cannot take them all in, according to behaviour analysts. As a result, the subconscious takes over and we tend to fill our trolleys with items regardless of whether or not they are good value. Bombarded by offers: All the half price signs in a Tesco supermarket. But research has revealed our brain cannot take in all the offers. A study cites the example of DVDs priced at £4.24 each that suddenly saw an increase in sales when a sign appeared promoting them at ‘Two for £10’. Similarly, sales of a big brand lager placed under a prominent sign soared by 10 per cent compared with rival brands on the same aisle. The brain of the shoppers apparently registered the sign as evidence that the lager was on special offer when, in fact, it simply read: ‘Thieves will be prosecuted.’ And while supermarkets routinely use so-called BOGOF deals – buy one, get one free – to tempt customers, researchers say it appears that many people are immune to them. Despite a BOGOF deal on teabags, nearly half of shoppers simply bought just one box, rather than picking up the second free one. BOGOFs on baked beans and cheese got a similar reaction. Phillip Adcock, managing director of behaviour analysts SBXL, said the research suggests people are influenced by the fact that a product is being promoted, but are less likely to take in the detail. (Source :SBXL) SBXL sends teams of researchers into stores to monitor real life  evidence of how people shop. Mr Adcock said: ‘Our brains just cannot cope with the number of decisions we have to make in a store. We will see a different offer every three-quarters of a second in a supermarket and we just can’t cope. ‘If you are faced with 85 different types of lager in an aisle, the brain just automatically tries to slim that down to a smaller number. ‘If there are four or five on special offer, the brain will use that as a  reference for a bargain. It is not something you consciously notice.’ ‘In a number of studies we have carried out, it is clear that the precise nature of a special offer or deal was much less important than the presentation of the promotion. ‘Shoppers are unable to make detailed calculations in-store and so they take shortcuts or start to guess. What they actually do is reduce their choice to anything that stands out above the rest.’ Mr Adcock said: ‘The message to shoppers is to take more time taking  in the detail of a promotion in  order to understand what the saving is – if any. ‘The message to supermarkets is that it doesn’t really matter what the offer is as long as the product is  visually prominent.’ Promotions: Offers in Tesco and Co-op stores but research has shown we cannot tell if we are getting value. 'Great offers': Our sub-conscious is drawn to bright displays like this one in Sainsbury's, research has found.
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Important parts: Sub-conscious takes over because there are so many offers. Sales of DVDs priced at £4.24 rocketed when a sign said 'Two for £10' When shop launched BOGOF teabag box deal, 45% picked up just one box. We are influenced by product promotions - but don't take in the details.

Question: Fillip: In a pre-election boost for Chancellor George Osborne, an influential think tank increased its forecast for GDP growth this year to 2.9 per cent. The slump in oil prices is fuelling the fastest growth in the UK economy since before the financial crisis, according to a leading think-tank. In a pre-election boost for Chancellor George Osborne, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research increased its forecast for GDP growth this year to 2.9 per cent – the highest since 2006, when it reached 3 per cent. In November it predicted the economy would grow 2.4 per cent this year, but the think-tank said its ‘significant’ revision is ‘almost entirely due to the sharp fall in oil price’, which has halved in value from $115 a barrel in June to just under $60 now. The benefits are already filtering through to households, with lower petrol prices and energy bills helping to push inflation down to 0.5 per cent. In a speech on Thursday, Bank of England governor Mark Carney is expected to say that Britain faces its first period of deflation – or falling prices – in more than half a century. This will fuel speculation the Bank will leave interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.5 per cent, providing more breathing space for homeowners. Falling prices and rising wages have presented a dilemma for Labour, which has centred its General Election campaign on the ‘cost of living crisis’ in the UK. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls recently dismissed figures that the UK had the fastest growing economy among the G7 nations – the world’s seven leading economies – in 2014, arguing that working people are ‘still not feeling the recovery’. But Paul Hollingsworth, UK economist at analysts Capital Economics, said: ‘This is coming at just the right time for Mr Osborne. The falling oil price is providing a considerable boost for households.’ Cut to the cost of living: In a speech on Thursday, Bank of England governor Mark Carney is expected to say that Britain faces its first period of deflation – or falling prices – in more than half a century. In another boost for Mr Osborne, NIESR also predicted unemployment would fall faster than previously expected, dropping from its current rate of 5.9 per cent to 5.2 per cent by the end of the year. This equates to more than 200,000 extra people finding work. But it issued a cautionary note, warning that ‘the weakness of the global economy – and in particular the euro area, by far the UK’s biggest trading partner – remains a hindrance to a significant improvement’. John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce said: ‘I have detected a much higher degree of confidence about the future among businesses.’ Labour's plans to slow the pace of spending cuts will generate more economic growth in the next Parliament, according to the NIESR. The think-tank predicts that plans for higher public borrowing by a Labour or Liberal Democrat government would provide a 1 per cent boost to GDP by the final year of the next Parliament. This compared with a 0.4-0.6 per cent boost by 2019 in plans outlined by Chancellor George Osborne in his Autumn Statement in December. It also believes that unemployment would be reduced faster under Labour’s plans. But NIESR also stressed there would be no longer-term boost to the economy from whittling down the £91billion budget deficit more slowly. It added that less focus on reducing the deficit would also lead to higher interest rates and spending cuts further down the line. The Chancellor wants to balance the country’s books faster than Labour. He has asked forecasting watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility to assume a budget surplus of £23billion in 2019-20. This implies plans to make larger spending cuts than those laid out by the other parties.
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Important parts:

assistant: Oil almost halved in price from $115 a barrel in June to just under $60 now. Lower petrol prices helping to push inflation down to 0.5 per cent. But Labour claims working people are ‘still not feeling the recovery’