Never go into a supermarket hungry! This is a good piece of advice. If you go shopping for food before lunchtime, you’ll probably buy more than you plan to. Unfortunately, however, just this advice isn’t enough for consumers these days. Modern shoppers need an education in how and how not to buy things at the store. First, you check the weekly newspaper ads. Find out the items that are on sale and decide if you really need these things. In other words, don’t buy anything just because it’s cheaper than usual! “New and Improved!” or “All Nature” on the front of a package influence you. Instead, read the list of contents on the back. Third, compare prices; that is, you should examine the prices of both different brands and different sizes of the same brand.
Another suggestion for consumers is to buy ordinary items instead of famous brands. Ordinary items in supermarkets come in plain packages. These products are cheaper because producers don’t spend much money on packing or advertising. The quality, however, is usually as good as the quality of well-known brands. In the same way, in buying clothes, you can often find high quality and low prices in brands that are not famous. Shopping in clothing stores that are discounting can help you save a lot of money. Although these stores aren’t very attractive, and they usually do not have individual dressing rooms, not only are the prices low, but you can often find the same famous brands that you find in high-priced department stores.
Wise consumers read magazine ads and watch TV commercials, but they do this with one advantage: knowledge of the psychology behind the ads. In other words, well-informed consumers watch for information and check for misinformation. They ask themselves questions: is the advertiser hiding something in small print at the bottom of the page? Is there any real information in the commercial, or is the advertiser simply showing an attractive image? With the answers to these questions, consumers can make a wise choice.
(1)What’s the main idea of this passage?
(no more than 10 words)
(2)Please explain the underlined word “plain” in the second paragraph in English?
(no more than 10 words)
(3)How do wise shoppers react to loads of information as is explained in the passage?
(no more than 25 words)
(4) In what way are not-so-famous stores a better choice for customers than famous ones?
(no more than 20 words)
(5)Do you believe in ads or TV commercials? Why?
(no more than 20 words)