Why are people so excited by a sale? How does it impact their money behavior?
The short answer
The “SALE” gives some people “permission” to spend money on things they feel in that moment they want and maybe even think they need.
On a personal note…
My mother used to love to go to the grocery store, because “it was the only place she did not feel guilty about spending money.” My mother was raised during the Great Depression and would drive across town to buy lettuce that was a dime cheaper.
So what is this money behavior more specifically?
It does not make much sense, but much of our money behavior is not logical, but purely emotional.
The grocery store sells much more than groceries. You can buy books, magazines, make up, hair dye, nail polish, household utensils and medicine at the grocery store. You can buy groceries and almost anything else you can think of at Walmart or Costco. The nature of the placement of items in the store can help you notice things you did not come to buy.
When you attach the word “SALE” to an item it becomes more attractive. The only way to reduce this “impulse buying” is to make a list of items that you are going to buy at the store and stick to the list. I am such a killjoy!
What has research shown?
Research tells us the ways to get people to buy more “stuff.”
With the pandemic, people soothed themselves by buying more stuff because they could not pay for more experiences. Taking that trip to Europe or across the country because Covid has stolen our fun factor was substituted for “stuff.”
How many times do people buy lottery tickets and have a couple of days to dream about what they would do with 500 million dollars?
The dreaming experience may be worth the price of the lottery ticket OR you could put the price of your ticket in a jar and give yourself a little more time to have fantasies of amazing wealth.
Many of us have little “tricks” we use to spend less or save more. Tell me about how you “trick“ yourself into better money behavior. (You can also tell me what kind of “stuff” you bought.)
Here’s mine:
In 2020 I used Membership Rewards Points to buy a television since I was not going anywhere. In 2021, I bought a treadmill as a better place to watch television using some more points.
See how I convinced myself that it was a “sale” because of the ability to use “points”? I could have used the points at a later date and still used my stationary bike in front of a television. I do it. You do it. Most of us do it!
Happy New Year!
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