Chapter 1 describes the in-store decision-making process. The content is primarily based on psychological research, and the chapter serves to enhance the understanding of the rest of the chapters. For the most part, in-store decision-making builds on the shopper’s retrieval of latent wants and needs. The products in the store serve as ‘retrieval cues’ that, when seen, activate already existing needs. Hence, in-store decision-making builds primarily on visual perception where several non-conscious or automatic processes occur in parallel to maximise the chances that the shopper will direct the selective attention to the most ‘interesting’ products. While the limitations of the working memory force shoppers to be extremely selective, the human brain’s ability to run multiple, energy-efficient, and hyper-fast processes simultaneously makes it possible for shoppers to scan shelves of hundreds of products and divert conscious attention to only a very limited few within a few hundreds of a second. Due to the vast number of products on display in a store, a shop visit is one of the most visually complex situations modern consumers ever face.

Negotiation and bargaining strategies are essential for setting salaries and employment contracts. This chapter covers salary negotiations, job offer strategies, and conflict resolution in compensation disputes. It provides practical insights into managing pay discussions in diverse employment settings.

This chapter introduces the strategic role of compensation in organizations. It explores how pay structures, incentives, and benefits impact employee motivation, productivity, and retention. The chapter emphasizes the link between compensation and market competition, highlighting the importance of aligning pay strategies with business objectives. Key concepts include the components of compensation, the role of HR and general managers in compensation decision-making, and the effects of pay transparency. By the end of this chapter, readers will understand how compensation influences organizational success and the key challenges involved in designing an effective compensation system.

Chapter 11 looks at the two final background factors, smell and touch, as well as the social factors that can influence shoppers. Smell is in some ways similar to music in that it can have an activating effect and that it can operate through spreading activation. The activation aspect has been found to make shoppers more alert and present in the situation. With more contextual cues present, the products will be perceived as holding higher quality. Similarly, this has been found to be category specific so that a scent that activates thoughts about a specific product category will enhance the evaluation and purchasing of the activated products. Scent is a chemical sense, and it is harder, as compared to music, for a person to decide where a scent comes from. This in its turn makes it a bit tricky to work with as a store atmospheric. Touch is perhaps more of a product-related quality than a quality related to store atmosphere, but some research has shown that displays and signage that stimulate touching can lead to increased conversion. It has also been shown that the softness or hardness of the store's floor affects the evaluation of the products. Finally, the social factor is often studied as ‘density’or crowding. High density can be good or bad depending on whether the shopping is utilitarian or hedonic. The presence of others is often interpreted as a cue for demand, but on the other hand, nobody wants to queue. Research has also shown shoppers’ tendency to want to impress others. In the presence of others, shoppers tend to buy more expensive products than if they are shopping with no one else around.

Chapter 3 describes a lot of the early retailing research and presents the development of the algorithms behind today’s modern planograms. Concepts such as product facings, stock rotation, space elasticity, and space productivity are explained. The differences between space elasticity and space productivity are also covered as well as how they can be measured, the outcomes of which a retailer should expect depending on various moderating as well as which means are at the hand of the retailer to optimise the performance. Many of these aspects could be seen as the basic understandings for operating a profitable store. The chapter covers how the ideas can be applied in the shelf as well as with regards to the store’s layout. Some large field experiments reveal the efficiency of the space metrics in relation to other tools in the retailer’s toolbox such as promotions and advertising.

Chapter 12 covers research on price knowledge and price strategies. Similar to research on the effects of other types of store atmospherics, research on price knowledge and price perception also has unexpected results. Shoppers’ ability to know the exact price of items they have just bought has, for instance, proven to be very scarce. This has led most retail specialists to abandon the idea of price elasticities and replace that concept with the idea of price perception. Hence, today few retailers would expect an increase in demand if a price is reduced without it being clearly communicated. A clear communication of the reduction is needed since shoppers are not aware of the regular price. One consequence of the research on price knowledge is that retailers focus on ‘known value items’ (KVIs) – products that are more sensitive to promotions. Research also shows that in most cases, a Hi-Lo strategy outperforms an every day low pricing (EDLP) strategy.

Chapter 2 draws on Chapter 1 and helps readers understand five different dimensions of the in-store decision-making model from the first chapter. The first dimension relates to selective attention and shows that we become consciously aware of less than half a per cent of the assortment of products. Various preconscious selection mechanisms are described, and examples of how to ‘cheat the selective attention system’ are given. The second dimension is the flipside of selective attention – selective blindness. Here it is discussed how one or two exposures to a stimulus that we consciously deem as uninteresting is enough for the selective attention systems to filter out that stimulus in the future. The third dimension shows how the context enhances the chances for a related product to be seen. The psychological process behind this is called ‘spreading activation’ and works in such a way that if shoppers are thinking ‘sandwich’, they will more effortlessly be able to spot cheese in the store. The fourth dimension shows that perhaps all decisions involve both reason and less logical ‘arguments’ from the shopper’s senses. For instance, a larger display will be interpreted as containing cheaper products than a smaller one even if the price is the same. Finally, fifth dimension shows that a product’s use can be more effortlessly understood if products that are used together are displayed adjacently.

Training and development are key drivers of long-term employee growth and retention. This chapter explores compensation strategies tied to workforce training, tuition reimbursement, and skill development incentives. It highlights the return on investment (ROI) of employee learning programs and their role in sustaining competitive advantage. The chapter provides insights into structuring training-related compensation policies to maximize employee engagement and performance.

Wage theft and compensation contract failures undermine fair pay practices. This chapter explores how employers may intentionally or unintentionally violate compensation agreements, leading to legal and ethical challenges. It discusses wage noncompliance, underpayment issues, and enforcement mechanisms. The chapter also introduces risk premiums and how employees factor in potential wage theft when negotiating salaries. By understanding these issues, managers can create policies that ensure compliance and build trust with employees.