In our time the competition in the business is very strong. There are many different companies and a wide variety of products to choose from. In order to secure a safe place in the market, companies use different paths and diverse sale strategies. The companies often manipulate buyers. The illumination system is often used to make the products more attractive and colorful. This is particularly common in more expensive shops. The main types of lighting used in boutiques are: general illumination, accent illumination and decorative illumination. This lighting can make a customer feel more content and allows the products to stand out and appear somewhat idealistic. Furthermore, by using the illumination system, companies gain the power to influence the consumer’s perception of the product, making it appear more attractive than what it may be. By doing this, products are often sold better and faster. The play of light and shadows, color temperature and skillful design are pushing the consumer to opt for the product in this shop. As soon as consumer returns home and looks at the purchased product amongst different lighting, they can notice a difference. At home the product has another appearance. The colors seem not as colorful, juicy and bright. This can cause the buyers to feel a great sense of disappointment and annoyance at themselves for their decision making – “I was not attentive enough”, they think. But later many of them despite their disappointment go back again to the same shops because the things there seems to be perfect! The problem is that in such shops there is too much artificial lighting and not enough natural daylight. With this said, companies are faced with the dilemma to either provide customer satisfaction that relies on truth and realistic lighting or to improve sales through this use of the illumination system.

In summary, this lighting system is a very good and effective sales strategy but at the same time it cheats the customers. Many people deny it and say that there is no fraud, an optical illusion or just good shop design. In any case, the primary goal of design is to make the people happy and avoid any experiences of disappointment. Companies that put their own interests above the interests of consumer are a form of ethical misconduct in the business. It is something that corporations must truly consider as it will effect their success and reputation in the long run. In business ethics it comes to the question what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. And this question is always very important. Companies hold this responsibility to make the customer feel good about their purchase. This is reality of the business industry.

Koval Nina