What about falling for a buy-one-get-one-free deal?

還有買一送一的優惠？

Or overspending on a limited-time offer?

或是在限時優惠上過度消費？

You probably answer yes.

你的回答可能是「是」。

Because these tactics are effective, and we all fall for them.

因為這些策略是有效的。我們都上了他們的當。

Repeatedly in our Consumer Insights data, we see this high demand for promotions, for discounts, for value.

在我們的《消費者洞察》數據中，我們反覆看到這種對促銷、折扣和價值的高需求。

It's called "spaving," or spending more to save more.

這就是所謂的「spaving」，也就是會了省錢花更多。

But it's a financial pitfall that could seriously affect your wallet if left unmanaged.

但這是一個財務陷阱，如果不加以管理，可能會嚴重影響你的錢包。

And it's especially attractive to cash-strapped Americans during high-inflationary times.

在高通膨時期，它對資金短缺的美國人尤其具有吸引力。

If you're putting those purchases on a credit card that you can't pay off in full at the end of the month, then you're spending about 20% or more in interest, which will quickly erase any savings.

如果你用信用卡購物，而你無法在月底全額還清，那麼你將花費約 20% 或更多的利息，這將很快耗盡所有儲蓄。

Spaving is not always bad.

Spaving 並不總是壞事。

Like, for example, buying that coat off-season to get a large discount.

比如，在淡季購買大衣，以獲得大折扣。

If it's something that you actually need, particularly if it's not perishable and it's consistent with our goals, then spaving can be okay.

如果這是您真正需要的東西，特別是如果它不易腐爛並且符合我們的目標，那麼 spaving 是可以的。

It's when retailers come up with ideas that you haven't thought about or buy things that you hadn't considered.

但我們講的是當零售商提出你未曾想過的想法，或者購買你未曾考慮過的東西。

Creating that sense of FOMO, that sense of urgency, is a really great trick to get people to act right away.

製造這種「恐慌感」和「緊張感」是讓人們立即行動的絕招。

I think the acute nature of offering the discount, if it's limited time only, if it feels urgent or exclusive, that can really trigger the almost impulse.

我認為，提供折扣的急迫性，如果是限時折扣，如果讓人感覺緊迫或具有排他性，就會引發幾乎是衝動的行為。

This is kind of a new wave of impulse shopping in some manners.

從某種程度上說，這是衝動購物的新浪潮。

And retailers strategize to get customers to spend more.

而零售商則制定策略，讓顧客花更多的錢。

In fact, there's a whole field of study devoted to it — consumer psychology.

事實上，有一門專門研究消費者心理的學科。

Many credit Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, as a pioneer.

許多人將西格蒙德·佛洛伊德的侄子愛德華·柏奈斯視為先驅。

In the 1920s, he was one of the first to apply psychology to companies' advertising campaigns, most notably for Lucky Strike cigarettes, where he likened the product to torches of freedom, helping remove the social stigma for women smoking.

1920 年代，他是最早將心理學應用於公司廣告宣傳的人之一，其中最著名的是為 Lucky Strike 香菸所做的廣告，他將產品比喻為自由的火炬，幫助消除了女性吸菸的社會烙印。

Basically, teams of scientists have figured out how to get us to spend more money, and it is working.

基本上，科學家團隊已經想出了讓我們花更多錢的辦法，而且正在奏效。

That thrill of the hunt that came from prehistoric times still exists now, whether we're online or whether we're at a major retailer.

無論是在網上還是在大型零售商那裡，史前時代的那種狩獵快感現在依然存在。

The opportunities to spave are everywhere — from websites to subscriptions and even the grocery store.

Spave 的機會無處不在，從網站到訂閱，甚至是雜貨店。

In fact, retailers have upped temporary price reductions by 72 percent and increased overall promotions by 15 percent in the past year, according to data analytics company Numerator.

事實上，根據數據分析公司 Numerator 的數據，在過去一年裡，零售商將臨時降價幅度提高了 72%，整體促銷活動增加了 15%。

We tend to get that dopamine hit when we see something that's a sale and then we buy it.

當我們看到打折的東西時，往往會受到多巴胺的刺激，然後就會買下來。

And we feel like, oh, wow, we really are hunting and gathering brains. We're just happy that we got them.

我們感覺，好棒，我們真的像在狩獵和採集一樣。我們因為得到了它們而感到高興。

And then two days later, we realized we didn't even need this to begin with.

兩天後，我們意識到我們根本不需要這個。

A 2023 poll by online discount hunter Slick Deals found that among those surveyed, Americans' impulse spending has somewhat cooled due to inflation.

根據線上折扣獵人 Slick Deals 在 2023 年進行的一項調查顯示，在受訪者中，由於通貨膨脹，美國人的衝動消費有所降溫。

But that shoppers were falling victim to deals more than before.

但購物者比以前更容易成為交易的犧牲品。

We are spending more on impulse purchases than we have in years.

我們在衝動購物上的花費比過去幾年都要多。

And since the pandemic, we are more tuned in to our favorite retailers.

自疫情以來，我們更加關注我們最喜愛的零售商。

52% of consumers surveyed by CINT in 2023 ranked prices and discounts as some of the top reasons they remain loyal to a retailer.

在 2023 年接受 CINT 調查的消費者中，52% 的人認為價格和折扣是他們忠於零售商的首要原因。

Sticky inflation continues to influence the way consumers shop, cutting into discretionary spending and pushing shoppers to hunt for deals.

堅挺的通脹繼續影響著消費者的購物方式，削減了可自由支配的支出，促使購物者尋找優惠。

The consumer price index was up 3.4% in April 2024 year-over-year, but had a slightly lower increase from the year-over-year rise in March.

2024 年 4 月的消費者價格指數同比上漲了 3.4%，但與 3 月份的同比漲幅相比略有下降。

That's significantly less than 2022's pandemic-era peak, but remains higher than policymakers' long-term target of about 2%.

這大大低於 2022 年疫情時期的高峰，但仍高於決策者設定的約 2% 的長期目標。

While consumers have this really reactive mindset and cost-conscious mindset, they're also excited by the fact that inflation is coming down.

雖然消費者有這種非常被動的心態和成本意識，但他們也對通脹下降感到興奮。

And they have this scarcity mindset still coming out of the pandemic where they're kind of hoarding a little bit.

疫情過後，他們仍有這種稀缺心態，有點囤積居奇。

And when they see these deals, they think, oh, you know, during peak pandemic, I needed to stock up on items and I needed to collect the best deals and discounts because not everything was immediately available to me.

當他們看到這些交易時，他們會想，哦，你知道，在疫情高峰期，我需要囤積物品，我需要收集最好的交易和折扣，因為並不是所有的東西都能馬上買到。

Americans have less savings in 2024 than a decade ago, or during the pandemic, when consumer savings were at an all-time high.

2024 年美國人的儲蓄少於十年前或疫情期間，當時消費者的儲蓄達到歷史最高。

But they're still shopping, buy borrowing, and falling behind.

但他們仍在購物、借貸，並且在還款上落後。

Credit card debt reached a whopping $1.12 trillion in May 2024, up more than 13% from the prior year.

2024 年 5 月，信用卡債務高達 1.12 萬億美元，同比增長超過 13%。

One in seven Gen Z borrowers have maxed out their credit cards.

七分之一的 Z 世代借款人刷爆他們的信用卡。

And more than half of Gen X carries a monthly credit card balance.

而且超過一半的X世代每月都會有信用卡餘額。

More than one in three Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings as of May 2024.

截至 2024 年 5 月，超過三分之一的美國人的信用卡債務超過了緊急儲蓄。

For Gen Z, if they are close to maxing out their credit cards, that's going to be detrimental to their credit score.

對於 Z 世代來說，如果他們的信用卡快刷完了，這將對他們的信用評分不利。

They may not be so worried about their credit score at this point in time, but credit scores open the door to lower interest rates on everything from buying a car to buying a home one day, or even if you can get a loan at all.

此時此刻，他們可能並不那麼擔心自己的信用分數，但信用分數卻能為你打開一扇門，讓你在買車、買房，甚至是能否獲得貸款等任何事情上都能獲得更低的利率。

Meanwhile, retailers are also facing the pressure.

與此同時，零售商也面臨著壓力。

Weaker retail sales for the month of April 2024 indicate that consumer spending is cooling.

2024 年 4 月的零售銷售疲軟表明消費者支出正在降溫。

Retailers have really upped the game to make sure that they are selling off their inventory.

零售商們確實加大了力度，以確保賣掉庫存。

So that leaves us as consumers kind of victim to what retailers are doing.

所以作為消費者，我們就成了零售商所作所為的犧牲品。

Just to do the straightforward math, whether you see $20 off of $100 versus $10 on $50, they may be the same, but the $20 off of $100 seems like a better deal.

簡單算一下，100 美元折扣 20 美元與 50 美元折扣 10 美元，兩者可能是一樣的，但 100 美元折扣 20 美元似乎更划算。

We're scrolling or we're online.

我們滑手機或上網。

It's already happened before we even know it.

我們還沒反應過來就已經發生了。

But these tactics can hurt business.

但這些策略可能會損害生意。

For example, in fiscal year 2023, Under Armour missed fourth quarter gross margin expectations precisely because it used steep discounts to drive sales.

例如，在 2023 財政年度，Under Armour 為了促進銷售，使用了大幅折扣，導致第四季度毛利率未達預期。

It's a fine line and it doesn't create a sustainable competitive advantage if you're constantly just providing discounts on everything.

這是一個細微的界限，如果一味地提供折扣，就無法創造可持續的競爭優勢。

And I also wonder when the consumer will have discount fatigue.

我還想知道，消費者什麼時候會對折扣產生疲勞。

At what point will they start to become so desensitized to these deals and discounts that it's not ultimately what drives an acute purchase decision?

到什麼時候，他們會開始對這些優惠和折扣變得麻木不仁，以至於最終無法做出明智的購買決定？

To put it simply, spaving is just another way consumers overspend, impulsively, thinking they're actually making a smart financial decision.

簡單地說，spaving 只是消費者衝動超支的另一種方式，他們以為自己在做出明智的財務決定。

Financially, it's kind of like deaths of a thousand paper cuts.

在經濟上，這有點像千刀萬剮。

Those things add up, right?

這些東西加起來，對嗎？

If you are making these discretionary purchases that you can't really afford just to get free shipping or just because there's a good deal, then it's going to cause problems for you financially.

如果你只是為了獲得免運費，或者只是因為價格划算而隨意購買一些你負擔不起的東西，那麼就會給你的財務帶來問題。

If you are using spaving as a way to save money on something that you would have bought anyway, then it can work to your advantage.

如果你把 spaving 作為一種省錢的方法去買你無論如何都會買的東西，那麼它就會對你有利。

The best ways to prevent spaving come down to awareness.

防止揮霍的最佳方法是提高警惕。

Unsubscribe from promotional emails, stay away from tempting stores, and set a 24-hour waiting period to help curb unnecessary spending.

退訂促銷郵件、遠離誘人的商店，並設定 24 小時等待期，以幫助抑制不必要的消費。

From a psychological perspective, cash is way better because you actually are physically spending it.

從心理角度看，現金更好，因為你是在實際消費。

You know, there's an element that's just so frictionless when it comes to tapping your card or using your phone to pay.

你知道，使用卡片輕觸支付或用手機支付時，這種便捷性讓交易變得毫無摩擦。

It doesn't seem real.

這似乎並不真實。

These are tricky economic times.

現在是經濟困難時期。

Companies don't want to be stuck with excess inventory, and consumers are fighting higher prices.

公司不想被過剩的庫存困住，而消費者也在與更高的價格作鬥爭。

So it works to your advantage to kind of wait for a deal.

等待划算的價格對你有利。

The best thing to do is kind of meet in the middle.

最好的辦法就是在中間找到一個平衡點。

Buy the things that you intend to buy and need, but wait until there's a sale.

買你想買和需要的東西，但要等到打折的時候。