“After 23 minutes supermarket shoppers began using the emotional part of their brain rather than the cognitive part.”
The playbook comes from casinos. Nevada casinos had clocks when gambling was legalized in 1931, and the clocks did not last. Retail copied it: few clocks, few windows, slow music, maze layouts. A Bangor University scan says shopper brains “effectively shut down” after 40 minutes. The store isn’t selling you things. It is selling you a lost afternoon and billing you for it.