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from the I-love-the-java-jive-and-it-loves-me dept.
An international study led by the University of South Florida (USF) found that caffeine impacts what you buy and how much you spend when shopping.
The research team ran three experiments in retail stores – an industry that's increasingly been adding coffee bars near their entrances. In their study published in the Journal of Marketing, they found that shoppers who drank a cup of complimentary caffeinated coffee prior to roaming the stores spent about 50% more money and bought nearly 30% more items than shoppers who drank decaf or water.
"Caffeine, as a powerful stimulant, releases dopamine in the brain, which excites the mind and the body. This leads to a higher energetic state, which in turn enhances impulsivity and decreases self-control," said lead author Dipayan Biswas, the Frank Harvey Endowed Professor of Marketing at USF. "As a result, caffeine intake leads to shopping impulsivity in terms of higher number of items purchased and greater spending."
[...] Researchers found that caffeine also impacted what types of items they bought. Those who drank caffeinated coffee bought more non-essential items than the other shoppers, such as scented candles and fragrances. However, there was a minimal difference between the two groups when it came to utilitarian purchases, such as kitchen utensils and storage baskets.
[...] "While moderate amounts of caffeine intake can have positive health benefits, there can be unintended consequences of being caffeinated while shopping. That is, consumers trying to control impulsive spending should avoid consuming caffeinated beverages before shopping," Biswas said.
Journal Reference:
Dipayan Biswas, Patrick Hartmann, Martin Eisend, et al., EXPRESS: Caffeine's Effects on Consumer Spending, Journal of Marketing, 2022. DOI: 10.1177/00222429221109247
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday June 19 2022, @08:53PM (4 children)
Sounds great. If this catches on I'm never going to have to pay for coffee again! Free Coffee! That said I don't think I have ever seen a store that offered me free cups of coffee as I roamed around or entered the store. That is to say I actually never really roam around in stores. I get in, grab what I need and then I get the heck out of there. Browsing the shelves have very little interest for me.
People like that should write a list of what they actually need and then follow it when in the store. It's not complicated. I write mine at home as I drink my coffee. See I can have it both ways.
How on earth can they draw that conclusion? The coffee might as well just not have anything to do with it. If the coffee didn't make them spend more or less we can assume that they intended to spend those amount or buy those items even without the "free" coffee. How do they link it to the coffee? Did the participants somehow indicate that they did not plan to buy those items but the coffee made them do it? I fail to see where it's the beverage that made them do anything.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 19 2022, @09:38PM
If it was truly random selection then 100 each of decaf/caf/water would be enough to do a statistical analysis. If they also compared them to the store's regular receipts then they would have more data, but also more confounding effects - people in a hurry might refuse a drink and also be less likely to impulse buy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 19 2022, @09:48PM (1 child)
may as well mean that people felt jilted not getting real caffine and did less shoping. they should repeat with any pre-reward like chocolate and carob bars.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday June 20 2022, @05:31AM
Maybe they were so tired, they just longed to finish shopping as soon as possible so that they could get either a rest or a cup of non-decaf coffee.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Sunday June 19 2022, @11:46PM
Indeed. I think this is a bunch of academics angling for free coffee.