Do I buy or not?

Date:
July 8, 2021
Source:
University of Wu"rzburg
Summary:
Psychologists have studied the phenomenon of impulse buying
behavior.

People who focus on enjoyment act differently than people who play
it safe.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
You have probably often said to yourself: "This time, I will only buy
what I need!" But then you still ended up coming home with things that
were not on your shopping list.


==========================================================================
How can you prevent such impulse buying? A team from the Chair of
Psychology II at Julius-Maximilians-Universita"t (JMU) Wu"rzburg in
Bavaria, Germany, looked at this question. The answer is not that simple,
says psychologist Dr Anand Krishna. It depends on what type of person
you are: a pleasure-seeker or a person who focuses on security.

Anand Krishna and his JMU colleagues Sophia Ried and Marie Meixner have published their results in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Sometimes you buy out of curiosity, sometimes you want to indulge yourself Sometimes you buy spontaneously, out of pure curiosity. For example,
there's a treat you've never tried before. Or you want to treat yourself
to something. It could be a chocolate bar, a pretty decorative piece
for the living room or a great pair of jeans.

Sometimes you're really happy about the spontaneous purchase. Sometimes,
you have a guilty conscience: Money is already tight! However, many
people manage to suppress the impulse to reach for a chocolate bar. And
they do so when they are in a situation in which they are particularly sensitive to risks.



==========================================================================
Dr Krishna emphasises that it is not possible to say that certain
customers are predisposed to impulse buying. However, the research results
so far give a clue as to how people who want to protect themselves from
such purchases should proceed.

How to protect yourself from impulse buying According to the JMU
psychologist, people of pleasure are spontaneous by nature. If they
are feeling well and are geared to enjoyment, they will spontaneously
reach for an article that promises to give them even more pleasure. At
the same time, a relatively small impulse is enough for these people
to stop themselves from making a spontaneous purchase: "This can be,
for example, a small note in the wallet that says 'Stop!' or something similar," says Krishna.

Then there are the security-oriented people. For them, a warning note
in the wallet alone would not help. Security people need time. And in
general: even impulse buying does not happen so quickly with them. "Does
this really taste as good as it looks?" Such thoughts may go through their minds at the sight of a fine chocolate. They also need more time to say
"No!" to the treat. It seems to help them more if they look more often
at a note saying "No impulse buying today!" when walking through the shop.

Security people take a tad longer The research results are interesting especially since one might actually think that security-oriented people
are generally more likely to avoid impulse purchases. But this is not
the case. If they are in a positive motivational state, they are just as tempted to treat themselves to something good as pleasure-seekers. The
big difference is that no matter what they end up doing, it takes them
a tad longer cognitively to act.



========================================================================== These findings arose from a laboratory study with around 250
participants. Two experiments were conducted.

The results are interesting for marketing, but also for consumer
protection.

"The latter because impulse buying can be a problematic and undesirable behaviour for many people," says Anand Krishna. To help, it is important
to know that there are two types of people, that different cognitive
processes necessitate different methods to prevent impulse buying,
and most importantly, that the current situation plays a big role.

Motivational state plays an important role They have honestly earned the
reward in the form of a new pair of jeans, the pleasure-seeker thinks --
and buys spontaneously, following what is called in psychology a promotion focus. "Let's say they had ice cream shortly before, so they're attending
to rewards and pleasure anyway, and use the chance to get even more
pleasure," explains the JMU researcher.

The situation is different if the pleasure-seeker has just come from
a conversation at their bank. Despite their basic orientation towards
pleasure, the risks of spending too much money are active in their
mind. They suppress their impulse and walk past the great pair of jeans,
even without much time for reflection.

Goods that certain customers might gladly buy on one day are therefore
left behind on another. This is what the results from the Wu"rzburg
psychology department suggest. And this is independent of how they are presented. Because it seems to depend on the emotional state in which
the customers enter the shop.

The question of what security-oriented customers do when they have to
act under time pressure is still open. For example, if they don't want
to buy the chocolate bar because they stood on the scales in the morning
and they showed two kilos too much. Maybe they still reach for the candy
when they have to hurry to the checkout, because there is not enough
time to reflect. But more experiments are needed to clarify this.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Wu"rzburg. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anand Krishna, Sophia Ried, Marie Meixner. State-trait interactions
in
regulatory focus determine impulse buying behavior. PLOS ONE,
2021; 16 (7): e0253634 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253634 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210708103633.htm

--- up 8 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)