Next week, millions of shoppers will converge on the nation’s retailers looking for a deal. The National Retail Federation predicts shoppers will spend a record $902 per person on winter holidays this year. And the day after Thanksgiving has become the unofficial official kickoff of the holiday shopping season. It’s become known as Black Friday for the one day a year that can put retail ledgers back in the black.

But are those really good deals for consumers?

“Is it hype? Is it real deals? A bit of both,” says Carly Asher-August, a longtime senior instructor in the marketing department at Missouri State University.

Asher-August says a rise in online shopping over the past decade has changed the Black Friday experience, but marketers are still working to give shoppers that same dopamine rush – even virtually.

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