Shopping While You’re In A Bad Mood Isn’t A Good Idea At All, Research Says

Imagine you are in a bad mood. What one thing would you do to make yourself feel better? Go ahead and think a moment about it before reading this article further. I’ll be waiting.

If you replied ‘shopping’ to that, well we’ve got some terrible news for you – it’s actually a bad idea, according to a recent poll, particularly to your bank balance. So if that’s your default idea of comforting yourself, then you might want to think twice.

A research involving 2,000 British adults tells us that making purchases whenever a person is sad or stressed is actually counterproductive. The said study was conducted by MoneySuperMarket.com.

According to the study, a typical person spends £104 (about US$137) more per month when he or she is in a bad mood.

A Unilad article gives us the details of the research, mentioning:

“About 46 per cent of Brits have found themselves under an uncontrollable urge to splurge after feeling the effects of a stressful event in their lives.

“1 Brit in 6 has gone for some retail therapy after a tough day at the office and 1 in 12 has attempted to forget about relationship problems through spending in the shops.

“Britons are most likely to part with their cash for treat foods, clothes and takeaways when they’re feeling less than happy…”

Pip Heywood, spokesperson of MoneySuperMarket.com, shared:

“Everyone has their reasons for buying that handbag, or booking that weekend away in the country, but they probably don’t realize that a situation three hours earlier, unrelated to the purchase, prompted them to buy it.”

1 out of 10 people surveyed admitted they bought themselves a new pair of shoes when they’re feeling sad.

1/5 of the adult participants likewise confessed that stress prompted them to visit shops.

As a result of impulse buying, people are spending way over their monthly budgets.

Now watch the video below:

As Pip further explained:

“We’ve helped around 7 million families save close to £2bn on their household bills in the past 12 months, so we have a natural interest when it comes to how consumers manage and spend their money.

“Conducting this study with MindLab has been fascinating – it’s given us an opportunity to explore the psychology of spending and how a person’s mood affects their propensity to spend.”

Well what do you think about this study, folks? Do you do impulse purchases whenever you’re feeling low? Leave a comment below and tell us about it.