In every one of these directions the whole
play of human suggestion may be helpful. The voice may win or destroy
confidence, the statement may by its firmness overcome counter-motives
or by its uncertainty reinforce them. Even hand or arm movements by
their motor suggestion may focus the desires of the customers, while
unskillful, erratic movements may scatter the attention and lead to an
inner oscillation of the will to buy.
At every one of these points the psychological experiment may find a
foothold, and only through such methodological study can the haphazard
proceedings of the commercial world be transformed into really
economic schemes. Indeed, it seems nothing but chance that just this
field is controlled by chance alone. The enormous social interplay of
energies which are discharged in the selling and buying of the
millions becomes utterly planless as soon as salesman and customer
come into contact, and this tremendous waste of energy cannot appear
desirable for any possible interest of civilization. The time alone
which is wasted by useless psychophysical operations in front of and
behind the counter represents a gigantic part of the national budget.
Even the complaints about the long working day of the salesgirls might
be eliminated from the debit account of the national ledger, if the
commercial companies could study the psychical processes in selling
and buying with the same carefulness with which they analyze all
details in preparing the stock and fixing the prices.
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