A Scientific Explanation for Your Impulse Buying
Plus how to minimize impulse buys with this resource I created for my readers
Simple ideas written from the point of view of someone who is certain what they are saying is correct tend to be extremely popular—especially when it comes to money.
It’s also how we get half-baked advice that an entire generation parrots back repeatedly—like that spending money on simple pleasures like a latte or avocado toast makes you bad with money.
Yes, the cost of small purchases adds up over time. But, these small purchases aren’t necessarily a “waste of money.” If spending $6 on a coffee helps me get out of the house to sit in comfortable chairs and catch up with an old friend for a couple of hours—I’d make that purchase any day of the week.
Spending money is not bad. The whole point of having money is to spend it on things that make you happy or improve the quality of your life.
Small purchases become a terrible waste of money when they are bought with zero intention and provide zero value—like spending $15 on a magazine that you never end up reading.
Read to the end of this article to learn what causes you to make impulse buys and how you can waste less money with a bit of planning.
Evidence that impulse buying is caused by “attentional bias”
You pop into a store because you need eggs and bread, and by the time you make it to the cash register, your shopping cart has 17 items in it.
Sound familiar?
Some of these items that make it into your cart are items you genuinely need—“I forgot we are out of toiler paper”—but some are impulse buys. Things you did not intend to buy, you don’t need, and you’re not entirely sure why you bought them.
A 2013 study provides evidence that a cognitive bias known as “attentional bias” might be causing you to burn money on impulse buys. Attentional bias refers to the human tendency to focus on certain things while ignoring others—often, we focus on the wrong thing.
Participants in the study used a shopping simulator and were tasked with shopping for a particular item. They were presented with either alternative items you might find in a store or non-shopping-related visual images. The researchers then tracked the eye movements of the participants to measure how distracted they became.
Impulsiveness was measured by how much attention was focused on the item they were tasked with buying. Impulsive buyers were more easily distracted when presented with alternative products.
Interestingly, the impulsive or distracted effect only happened when people were shown alternative products rather than randomly generated images.
Impulsive buyers are easily distracted when shopping but not as easily distracted in other situations. To quote the researchers, “Impulsive buyers may buy more products because they see more products. Thus, the attentional bias can be assumed to contribute to the persistence of impulsive buying.”
The researchers conclude the paper by suggesting that a lack of self-control likely causes impulse buying. However, they suggest that many people lack self-control in the specific context of shopping. This means that they may not have self-control issues in other areas of life, but they find it difficult to control their impulses when shopping.
That makes sense when you consider grocery stores and department stores, which have been designed to maximize the time you spend in the store. The more aisles you visit, the more products you see, and more items end up in your cart.
Avoid impulse buys by planning ahead
This article I wrote on financial self-control might be one of the most important pieces I have written:
Does Strong Self-control Lead to Better Money Outcomes?
Every time you leave your house or go online, nearly everyone is trying to get you to part with your money. There’s nothing wrong with spending money as long as you spend money on things that make your life better and you can afford. The problem is that we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and social m…
Most people confuse self-control with willpower. However, research has shown that relying on willpower is a pretty lousy way to resist impulse spending.
It’s much more effective to create a plan to avoid putting yourself in a situation where you’ll be tempted to make impulse purchases.
That means doing the opposite of what retail stores want you to do and spending as little time in stores as possible. That means only going to stores when you need something, having a list of items you plan on buying and getting out of the store as fast as possible.
In the context of grocery shopping, I have created a resource to help you plan ahead and avoid impulse buys on groceries.
It’s a journal that allows you to have a grocery list that is matched to a meal plan to help you reduce food waste and stay within your budget.
For each week of the year, this journal has space to plan your meals, list the ingredients in each meal, and build your shopping list around those ingredients.
Going into the store with a detailed list of items you need can help you get in and out quickly and avoid impulse buys. It also has the added bonus of helping you reduce food waste because your shopping list is built from the ingredients in a meal plan. It’s a bit of work, but if you’re an impulsive buyer, it may be a useful tool.
Free subscribers can pick it up on Amazon, and paid subscribers can get a free copy here.
This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions.
Love the planner! I downloaded my copy and will give this a try.
I tend to plan what I need to buy. It's a grocery list in my memory. One thing that distracts me is Snickers bars near the check-out. I understand why that works on me but still can't resist those Snickers bars haha :)