Meanings
- The change that occurs when a consumer who has entered a shopping mall or store with a specific purchase in mind becomes susceptible to making impulse buys as a result of an intentionally confusing layout.
The Gruen transfer (named after architect Victor Gruen) designates the moment when a ‘destination buyer’, with a specific purchase in mind, is transformed into an impulse shopper, a crucial point immediately visible in the shift from a determined stride to an erratic and meandering gait.
2017, Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi, quoting Margaret Crawford, The Heart of the City: Legacy and Complexity of a Modern Design Idea, Routledge, →ISBNSynonyms: Gruen effect
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe change that occurs when a consumer who has entered a shopping mall or store with a specific purchase in mind becomes susceptible to making impulse buys as a result of an intentionally confusing layout.
Origin
Named after Austrian-American architect Victor Gruen (1903–1980).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Gruen transfer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gruen%20transfer
“Gruen transfer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gruen%20transfer. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gruen transfer,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gruen%20transfer.
Source: Gruen transfer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.