A cup of coffee before shopping makes you spend more, research shows

There is always disagreement about whether coffee consumption is good or bad for the health of drinkers. Now, a new study published this month by researchers at the University of South Florida offers a mix of potentially harmful but financially healthy: coffee with credit card.

After four experiments, scientists convinced consumers to drink a free cup of coffee before shopping Spend 50% more money and buy 30% more items than their decaf counterparts.

The results were published in the scientific journal Journal of Marketing.

The study’s lead author, Professor Dipayan Biswas, explains that caffeine “increases impulsivity and reduces self-control” by releasing dopamine in the brain. The result: the urge to buy more.

How did the researchers conclude that coffee makes people buy more?

To prove their hypothesis, the researchers installed an espresso machine at the entrances of two stores. More than 300 shoppers were given a free cup before entering: half chose 100mg of caffeinated coffee and the other half chose decaffeinated coffee or water. When sharing your bills, Caffeinated coffee drinkers said they bought more products and spent more money.

The experiment was repeated in an online shop with a group of 200 people from a business school. – split between caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee drinkers – Choose which products to buy from a list of 66 options. As in other trials, caffeine drinkers chose items from the list that were considered more “impulsive” (such as massages), while the rest chose more practical items, such as a notebook.

ARTICLE Journal of Marketing – DOI: 10.1177/00222429221109247.