Is this true? Do people actually lose the ability to say no and walk out?
Daft question - if it were that simple then they wouldn't be coy about giving their prices up front.
There definitely is an emotional hook for some people to buy pics once they have been made available. To some degree it's the way I make a living doing event photos, though I like to think I offer reasonable value for money rather than trying to rip people off.
It's also to some degree something that school photographers rely on.
As I'm a photographer, and unlike the cobbler who's kids have no shoes, we've got loads of pictures of our kids that I've taken.


These are the latest, taken last week to send to the GPs at Christmas, but there are HUNDREDS of others.
Anyhow, when the note comes home to say that the photographer will be in school I never deny my kids the opportunity to get snapped, because all the other kids are getting it done, they think it's fun and it is more hassle for the school to take people out of the class for the shoot than to leave them in - however, I have no intention of ever buying any, because it is something I feel I can do myself.
BUT - every time they send the proofs home, my wife wants to buy them! (so far I've always eventually managed to persuade her not to fork out £30 for something very similar to pics that we've already got - but it's not easy).