That overpriced chocolate bar at Gate 14 wasn’t about hunger—it was about control. In this in-depth essay, we explore how Mood Repair Theory explains airport retail behaviour, especially in high-stress domestic terminals, and what airports can learn from global best practice to meet travellers’ emotional needs.
Airports aren’t just about planes and passports—they’re carefully engineered environments that shape your behavior at every step. From retail layouts to time pressure, here’s how airport design nudges you more than you realize.
That free cheese cube creates an invisible thread of obligation—the same primal mechanism that once ensured tribal survival now shapes your shopping cart.
From neuroscience to retail strategy: How our most primitive sense shapes modern buying decisions, and why digital commerce is making touch more vital than ever.