It’s a well-known rule that you should never go grocery shopping when hungry, but how does hunger affect buying decisions of non-food items? A new study has the answer.
Research conducted by The University of Minnesota. Looked at feeling hungry affects your decisions when out shopping for non-food items. The study observed buying behaviours across a variety of scenarios.
The results suggest that you should definitely eat before you shop. In one scenario, hungry participants (those who reported feeling a bit hungry, not incredibly hungry) were 70% more likely to buy than their satiated counterparts.
In another scenario, the purchases of hungry shoppers measured to be over 60% the spend of non-hungry shoppers.
The University of Minnesota Researcher team, which included Alison Jing Xu, attributes this effect to what she calls ‘an acquisitive mindset’. Hunger causes us to search for food, but in doing so, may activitate these acquisitive behaviours for non-food items as well.
The result? You are much more likely to buy things you’ll regret when you’ve eaten.