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Impulse Buying: Why We Do It and How to Stop

13 Min Read | Oct 13, 2023

Let’s be honest here: Impulse buying is  kind of  fun—at least in the moment. You walk into Target for diapers, and before you know it . . .  boom.  Your cart is full of Chip and Joanna’s amazing throw pillows.

This is actually really normal. Americans impulsively spend an average of $314 every month. 1 That adds up to an extra $3,768 spent  every   year  and about $226,080 in a lifetime! Ouch!

I couldn’t help myself. I had to plug those numbers into our  retirement calculator . And listen—if you invested that $314 every month for 10 years at an 11% average annual rate of return, you’d have over $68,000! Nothing like the magic of compound growth to put things into perspective. 

What Is an Impulse Buy?

An impulse buy is any purchase you make when you weren’t planning to. If it’s not planned for in your budget ahead of time, it’s an impulse buy.

It can be as small as grabbing a candy bar in the checkout line (that wasn’t on your grocery list) or as big as walking into a car dealership “just to browse” and driving off in a brand-new SUV.

Examples of impulse buying:

• Candy, gum and energy drinks in the checkout line
• Clothing and shoes
• Video games
• Candles (Bath & Body Works is basically an entire store of impulse buys, am I right?)
• Home improvement purchases
• Toys (to keep the kids under control at the store)
• Extra cleaning supplies (just in case)
• Cars (yes, even cars!)
• “Treat yourself”   buys
• Coffee and takeout

Almost all of us have fallen for the temporary excitement of impulse buying. In fact, a recent survey shows average impulse spending is up nearly 72% since 2020! 2   And our own State of Personal Finance study reveals 45% of Americans say they struggle to avoid impulse buys.

Now, for any men reading this, I can see you nodding along, thinking,  My wife does this all the time!  But hold your horses. The top impulse purchases are clothing, household goods, and food and groceries. 3  The last I checked, men buy those items too.

Why Do We Keep Impulse Buying?

Do you ever wonder how impulse buying gets you? There are four main reasons I see for why people impulse buy. They are:

• Our emotions
• Our past experiences
• A good deal
• The pure love of shopping

We impulse buy because of emotions.

Emotions play a  huge  part in what we buy. Our personal finances are just that— personal . So it makes sense that when something’s going on with us personally, it shows up in our money habits too.  

When you’re having a rough day, does a little  retail therapy sound like the cure? Maybe it’s nothing extreme. Maybe it’s just grabbing a new baseball cap or a new pair of earrings. You tell yourself it’s not a big deal—you just want to get something nice to make yourself feel better.

Making decisions based on pure emotion is a surefire way to let impulse buying take control. And sneaky marketers know this. They’ll play on your emotions with their ads, hoping it’ll hit a nerve that causes you to buy.

We impulse buy because of our past.

If impulse buying and overspending are problems for you, it could be that you were never taught how to handle money well.

Thinking about how money was handled in the household you grew up in will help you understand the foundation for your beliefs about money—aka your  money mindset . If you’re married, this can also help you get to the root of  money arguments  you and your spouse may have. Their experience was probably totally different than yours, which means you guys are coming at this from two different perspectives.  

Start budgeting with EveryDollar today!

If you want to do some more digging on how your past affects your spending today, check out my newest book,  Know Yourself, Know Your Money .

We impulse buy when we believe it’s a deal.

I totally get this one because I love a good sale. I mean, who wants to pay full price? Or worse . . . for shipping and handling? Thank you, Amazon Prime, for making anything other than free two-day shipping feel like a  crime.

But, you guys, this is a total marketing tactic. According to a survey, 64% of shoppers impulse buy because of a sale. 4  When you think you’re getting a deal or “free shipping,” you’re way more likely to pull the trigger on the purchase—and that’s exactly what the marketers want you to do. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. I’d bet Jeff Bezos’ fortune on it.

We impulse buy because we enjoy shopping.

Shopping really does make you feel better in the moment. When we shop, the body releases dopamine—that’s right, the brain’s happiness drug.

This love of shopping, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. What’s dangerous is when all that impulse buying adds up and your love of shopping turns into a  shopping addiction . Your body starts relying on that dopamine hit, so you continue to feed it with more and more spending. But the point here is that it’s easy to like shopping on impulse—science says so.

How to Stop Impulse Buying

Okay, so how the heck do you keep impulse buying at bay? This is where I really want to help you, so get comfortable. Whether you’re on  Baby Step 1 or Baby Step 7 , I’ve come up with 14 tips to help you dodge the temptation to overspend.

1. Make a budget and stick to it.

First things first: You need a budget. If you don’t already have one, then stop right now and get started with our free budgeting app,  EveryDollar .

And the kicker is, you have to actually  stick to it ! A budget isn’t a magic wand that will suddenly make all of your money behave. It’s on you to tell your money where to go each month and then follow through with that plan. If it’s not already budgeted for, don’t spend the money. Yep, it’s as simple  and  as hard as that. You can do this!

Save more. Spend better. Budget confidently.

Get EveryDollar: the free app that makes creating—and keeping—a budget simple . (Yes, please.)

2. Give yourself permission to spend.

Yep, I just told you to stick to your budget—and you always should. But it’s also important to throw a  little fun money  in there too! Give yourself (and your spouse, if you’re married) a line item in the budget with your name on it for your fun spending.

Depending on your situation, this might be $10 a month or $100 a month. Just make sure the amount is reasonable and affordable for  your budget .

The next time you’re walking through the mall and something catches your eye, you just have to check your fun money fund. Now you can shop guilt-free! You’ve already budgeted a small portion of spending money for it, so that  reward or treat  isn’t an impulse buy anymore.

3. Wait a day (or longer!) before you make a purchase.

Listen: Two-thirds of impulse shopping happens in our beds on our smartphones. 5  It’s so easy to see something we want and click, click, click it into a purchase.

One way to help here is to give yourself a day or so to calm down when an impulse buy gets you jazzed. Once you have a cool head and a fresh perspective, ask yourself if you’ll actually use this thing and if you can pay cash for it now. That’s a no-nonsense way to look at the purchase and save yourself from tons of  financial stress  in the future.

And watch out for deals that are only good for 24 hours. Don’t let a countdown rush you into buying anything! Remember the offer, save some money, and be ready for it next time if you can’t afford it right now. Because a sale  will  come back around. Trust me.

4. Shop with a plan in mind.

Figuring out what items you want to buy and how much you’ll spend before you ever start shopping is one of my favorite ways to overcome impulse buying. With a plan in place, you’ll be less likely to give in to overspending. Your shopping list can range from grocery items to the Christmas gifts you plan to purchase for your extended family—just know what it is you want to buy before you go.

P.S. The best way to curb those grocery and takeout impulse buys is with a meal plan—and I’ve got a  free meal planning and grocery guide  that can save you from stress and overspending!

5. Beware of joining too many email lists.

Has anyone else’s inbox been absolutely flooded with sales lately? I mean, I’ve been doing great sticking to  my budget , with everything planned and accounted for. But then, I check my inbox and find 15 different emails announcing one deal after another!

Now, I wasn’t even thinking about shopping—but then these marketers catch my attention, and I just  have  to see what’s on sale, right? Guys, we all could use a little “unsubscribe” in our lives.

6. Don’t shop when you’re emotional.

We just talked about this, but it’s worth mentioning again—don’t let your emotions control your spending habits! You might have a great day and make an impulse buy in the thrill of the moment. Or maybe you’re having a bad day, and you tell yourself you deserve something nice or that this item will make you feel better.

We’ve all been there before. It can happen pretty easily. So how can you fix it? Whether you’re celebrating or trying to cheer yourself up, don’t buy anything when your emotions are riding a roller coaster.

7. Bring someone with you when you shop.

Accountability  goes a long way here. Do you have a sibling or friend who’s willing to get in your face and tell you not to buy something? Bring them on your shopping trip. Tell them what you plan to buy, and ask them to talk some sense into you if you start straying from the strategy.

8. Take only the amount of cash you’ll need.

Figure out how much money you need for the items you want to buy, and only take that amount in  cash . You could even go a step further and leave your debit card at home so you don’t tempt yourself to buy more with plastic (even the debit card kind).

If you stick to your shopping plan and don’t bring any extra money along on the trip, you can’t make an impulse buy. It’s pretty much impossible. Now that’s the  power of cash !

9. Stop the comparisons.

This is a game changer when it comes to impulse buying. If you always compare what you have (or don’t have) to others, you’ll never be satisfied. When we start  comparing ourselves to other people , we’re playing a game we’ll never win.

Instead of looking at what someone else has and thinking,  Oh, I need that too , take a step back and look at your life. Learn to be grateful for what you  do  have. If you change your perspective, you’ll find you already have a lot to be grateful for.

10. Get off social media.

It’s true—if you’re having trouble with comparisons, social media isn’t going to make it any better. If you know you have trouble  being content  when you scroll past everyone’s highlight reel, then remove the source of the problem. I’m not saying you have to kick social media to the curb forever, but try deleting Instagram and Facebook for a week (or more) and see if you notice a difference.

Even if you don’t find yourself falling into that comparison trap, the reality is that social media is one big billboard for impulse buying. Everywhere you scroll, someone is trying to get you to spend your money. But if you’re not on the app, you won’t see all the businesses with flashy sales and new products for you to spend your hard-earned dollars on.

11. Do a no-spend challenge.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and sometimes a no-spend challenge is just what the doctor ordered. If you haven’t heard of this before, it’s pretty much just like it sounds—you don’t spend any money (on nonessential items).

You still pay for things like your rent or mortgage, regular bills, utilities, groceries, etc.  But  you  don’t spend money  on things like restaurants, the hair salon, new shoes or a new kitchen accessory. Basically, don’t even set foot in a store unless it’s to buy groceries (that are on your list!).

12. Forget your card number.

Okay, I admit it. I’ve memorized my debit card number. Real shocking for a spender, I know. I’ve done so much online shopping with this debit card that I actually have the number memorized.

If this is you, this seems perfectly efficient and you get me. If this sounds crazy to you, the rest of us are a little jealous that impulse buying is that much harder for you to do online. But does your card number autofill from your phone or web browser? Is your PayPal just one click away when you check out? If the answer is yes, you might want to consider erasing those numbers from your digital memory.

13. Ditch the credit card(s).

If you put those impulse buys on a credit card—and don’t pay off the balance—you end up paying even more than the average $314 a month I mentioned earlier. Why? Because you’ll have that average credit card interest rate too. Yup, you’ll have to pay 20.68% more on those things you didn’t plan to buy or probably even need. 6

You guys, don’t let the temptation  for rewards  lure you in to using credit cards (that includes  store cards  too). They make it  way  too easy to turn today’s purchase into tomorrow’s problem—because you don’t see the cash leave your wallet or your checking account balance go down. It’s too simple when you don’t technically have to pay for it then and there, which is exactly how credit cards work.

Ditch the credit cards  and  the impulse buys.

14. Keep your goals in mind.

Here’s a real shocker: Giving in to an impulse buy won’t help you achieve your  financial goals —whether that’s  getting out of debt , paying off your mortgage, or investing for your future. Buying on impulse and overspending will eat up any extra money you were saving to put toward those awesome goals. So don’t shoot yourself in the foot here. Help yourself out by remembering the important goals you’re working toward!

Control Starts With Clarity

Spending money can be super fun, especially if you’re a spender, like me. But   that excitement never lasts. If you want to learn more about your spending tendencies and take control of your money for good, I want you to do two things today.

First, get on that budget! Remember,  EveryDollar is free , and it’s how you’ll stop wondering where your money went—and start telling it where to go.

Second, check out my newest book,  Know Yourself, Know Your Money .  You’ll see the way your past and personality affect how you handle your money—and learn how to start moving forward with your finances.

Listen, I want you to get the clarity you need to get unstuck with your finances. And you can! Take these two steps, and start being intentional—not impulsive—with your money.

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About the author

Rachel Cruze

Rachel Cruze is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, financial expert, host of The Rachel Cruze Show, and co-host of Smart Money Happy Hour. Rachel writes and speaks on personal finance, budgeting, investing and money trends. As a co-host of The Ramsey Show, America’s second-largest talk radio show, Rachel reaches millions of weekly listeners with her personal finance advice. She’s appeared on Good Morning America and Fox News and been featured in TIME, REAL SIMPLE and Women’s Health, among others. Through her shows, books, syndicated columns and speaking events, Rachel shares fun, practical ways to take control of your money and create a life you love. Learn More.

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How to Avoid Impulse Buying

By Isabella Simonetti Jan. 12, 2023

• Share full article

Buyer’s remorse is real . But there are ways to avoid overspending on things you just don’t need. I asked Justin Pritchard, the owner of Approach Financial Planning, a retirement planning firm in Montrose, Colo., for advice.

Here’s what he told me →

Make automatic deposits into different savings accounts. Pritchard called this the “pay yourself first strategy.” These deposits leave you with less available cash in your checking account that you might be tempted to spend.

Write a Post-it note to stick on your credit card that lists your spending priorities. The note might say “pause” or “slow down.” This reminder allows you to rethink how you’re spending your money and redirect your spending toward your goals.

Delete your credit card information from your Amazon account. This will add a barrier before you check out — you’ll be required to enter your credit card information manually, forcing you to pause and think about the purchases more carefully.

Use a list when you go shopping , both in person and online. This can help you be thoughtful about your purchases and not buy items that fall outside of your main spending priorities.

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Impulse purchases are costing consumers almost $2,000 a year — here's how to cut back

Cnbc select helps you understand what impulse buying is and how you can cut back to save money..

If you've ever waited in line to check out at a supermarket or convenience store and felt the urge to buy a candy bar or pack of gum, you are not alone — they are there for that exact reason. An impulse purchase is made in the spur of the moment without any forethought or planning. While it's often associated with smaller purchases like snacks, impulse buying can also be seen in big-ticket items like a last-minute getaway or a car you simply intended to test drive.

A 2023 survey conducted by OnePoll found that impulse buys have declined 48% compared to the previous year, with 72% of people surveyed citing inflation as a factor. Nevertheless, over one-third of people still say that the majority of their shopping is impulse purchases.

CNBC Select dives into why people are drawn to these last-minute purchases and how a better understanding of impulse purchases can help you save your money.

What we'll cover

What is an impulse purchase, the four types of impulse purchases, why do people impulse buy, how to stop impulsive buying, bottom line.

An impulse purchase is defined as an unplanned and spontaneous decision to buy something. This sounds pretty straightforward, but there are some nuances. There are many different reasons that someone could suddenly decide to purchase something, such as their emotional state, effective advertising tactics, cultural factors, wanting the feeling of instant gratification and others on top of that.

There are four defined types of impulse purchases. These four categories also help better understand the process that happens before the act of purchasing.

• Pure impulse buying: This is the easiest kind of impulse buying to recognize and is the base level in which someone makes an impulse decision based on a certain emotion. An example would be buying a candy bar at the checkout aisle of a store because you suddenly crave something sweet after seeing it.
• Reminder impulse buying: You see an item or remember a certain thing that reminds you that you need a separate item. For example, you go to the grocery store to buy some bread, but when you walk past the toothbrushes, you remember that you're out of toothpaste so you buy some.
• Suggestion impulse buying: This one stems from a more rational place where our mind creates the need for an item. This is usually when you're convinced to buy something due to a marketing message. For instance, you're out to lunch and instead of ordering your regular soda, you decide to try sparkling water because you heard it has fewer calories.
• Planned impulse buying: Planned impulse buying sounds like an oxymoron, but it heavily revolves around discounts, promotions and items you had already thought about purchasing. For example, you are walking through your local electronics store and see a DVD you had thought about buying a few weeks ago, see that it's now 50% off and purchase it.

Now with these all in mind, they are still called impulse purchases for a reason, and even with them laid out and defined it can still be difficult to fully comprehend your behavior in the moment.

There are a few main reasons that people tend to give in to their impulse buying habits, the first one being their emotions. Retail therapy is very real, and people will often make purchases to make themselves feel good. Similar to doing many things that make people happy, shopping can release dopamine so there's an actual chemical reason that people love shopping just as they would a rollercoaster.

Another significant reason people impulse buy is thanks to deals and sales. People love to get a good deal, so when they see something is 50% off, considering if they actually need it gets pushed a little further into the background. It's another reason many sites offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount, people love to feel like they're getting the best deal they can.

External pressure can also greatly affect impulse purchasing habits . This can be something as small as your child pleading with you for his favorite breakfast cereal, or something larger like societal pressure or aiming to boost your social status through purchasing a fancy car or a new suit.

Regardless of the specific reason that each individual is affected by, the more you are aware of your own spending habits and can start taking steps towards combatting any potentially problematic impulse buying trends.

Create a budget

Creating a budget is a great first step toward helping you control your impulse purchases. There are a number of budgeting  and  expense tracker apps available that can help you better manage your money, or stay on track.

While this might sound counterintuitive, you may be able to combat impulse shopping by giving yourself permission to spend, within reason. Trying to cut it out entirely is not only sometimes not feasible, but doesn't allow you any wiggle room for some fun.

While they still might be impulse buys, planning ahead and creating an overall strategy can help you keep your spending in check and hold yourself accountable for your purchasing habits. You can add impulse purchases into your budget, but make it a reasonable amount. On average, people spend $151 a month on impulse purchases , so consider starting this section of your budget at $50 or $75.

In addition, if you're using a rewards credit card like the Citi Double Cash® Card , you can get 2% back on all your purchases (1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases) which can help relieve some of the guilt while saving money. The card also has no annual fee and new cardmembers can get a 0% intro APR for the first 18 months on balance transfers (after that it's a variable 19.24% - 29.24%). 

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Have a savings plan

It's also important to have a savings plan with both short-term and long-term goals . Separate your savings from your day-to-day spending money so you aren't tempted or capable of using it for unintended purchases. Consider opening a high-yield savings account like UFB Secure Savings so you can earn interest on the money you save.

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Stick to shopping lists

Another way to try and keep yourself focused when shopping is to go in with a plan and list. Know what your goals are before you even enter the store, and by having a list you can have a visual and tactile reminder of the specific items you are to purchase.

It can be easy to walk into the grocery store on an empty stomach and get carried away, but by preparing yourself beforehand and checking things off your list, you have a better chance of staying on target.

Compare offers to find the best savings account

Trying to understand why you impulse buy might be able to help you cut down on some of your bad financial habits . You can take the necessary steps towards limiting your impulse purchases ahead of time before you step into the store.

Why trust CNBC Select?

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products . While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of  credit cards ,  banking  and  money , and follow us on  TikTok ,  Facebook ,  Instagram  and  Twitter  to stay up to date.

Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox.  Sign up here .

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How To Stop Impulse Buying: Tips And Tricks

Hanna kielar.

5 - Minute Read

PUBLISHED: Mar 22, 2023

Have you ever made a spontaneous or emotional purchase with little to no consideration? Standing in the checkout line and tacking on a pack of gum, putting a pair of jeans in the cart when all you came for was to exchange a shirt, or getting some retail therapy after a long day would all qualify as impulse buying – and making a habit of this behavior can put a serious strain on your finances.

If you’re guilty of routine impulse spending, you’re not alone and you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a closer look at what impulse buying is, discuss why it’s a problem and tips to help you break the habit.

What Is Impulse Buying?

Impulse buying is the act of spending money on anything without careful thought and consideration. When you buy impulsively, you make a purchase that prioritizes your satisfaction in the moment without evaluating the consequences of the purchase later down the road.

This type of spending is often emotionally driven and gives consumers a temporary sense of gratification. Impulse spending might be motivated by a lack of self-control, a sale or promotion, or even the brand of the product. Sometimes, those promotional emails or a bad day at work get the best of us.

Why Should You Stop Impulse Buying?

While you may feel entitled to frequently treat yourself with your hard-earned money, impulse shopping can eat a big chunk of your finances. In fact, 73% of shoppers in a 2022 study said the majority of their purchases were impulse buys. According to the same survey, the average person spent $314 on impulse purchases each month in 2022. And, the frequency of impulse purchases is increasing as well – not just the amount of money spent.

It may come as no surprise that the money going toward impulse purchases is money that could go toward paying down debt or building your emergency fund . Especially if you’re using credit cards, racking up bills from impulse buying can dig you into a deep financial hole that’s difficult to come out of. Fortunately, you can break this bad habit in several ways – which we’ll consider next. 

Stay on top of your spending

9 tips on how to stop impulse spending.

Ready to stop impulse buying? Here are some practical tips and tricks to get started.

1. Create A Budget

Without a budget, it’s easy to spend irresponsibly or tack on unplanned purchases. Laying out a budget gives you a framework to keep your spending in line. While many personal budget templates are available, it’s important to personalize your budget to suit your financial situation and work for your goals. Different types of budgets are available to get you started, including the 50/30/20 rule and the 80/20 rule.

Dedicating portions of your budget to specific spending areas and debts can help you avoid tacking on unplanned items. This is where the Rocket Money SM app can especially come in handy. It allows you to create your budget and track your progress so you have a better chance of sticking to your plan.

2. Use Cash

The cash-only budget, otherwise known as the budget envelope method, is another strategy for reducing impulse buying. Some consumers who limit their spending to the cash they have on hand find that they spend a lot less than when they use debit and credit cards . That’s because you’re actually watching the amount of cash you have dwindle, and it makes you think twice about whether you really need to part with it.

But as with any budgeting method, there are both pros and cons of the budget envelope system . While some people find it easier to save money and have better visibility into how much they spend, others might find it harder to keep track of their spending with cash. Some folks are also uncomfortable carrying cash around and find that many places don’t accept cash at all, which can make this method challenging.

3. Stop And Think

As simple as it sounds, you might avoid impulse buying by simply taking a moment to really consider the pros and cons of your purchase. After all, impulse buying stems from a failure to think the purchase through, so why not stop yourself before you get to the checkout line and determine whether each item in your cart is a necessity?

Ask yourself: “Do I really need this? Is it worth it? Is there something else I should spend this money on or save for?” Pondering these questions will help you reconsider a purchase and possibly put it back on the shelf.

4. Shop In The Right State Of Mind

Because impulse buying is usually an emotional or rash decision, it’s important to be in the right state of mind when shopping. If you’re stressed or sad, you might try to make up for it with shiny new gifts. If you’re tired, you might be less inclined to spend time considering your purchases. If you’re hungry, you might add on more snacks and new foods.

Try to be clear-headed when you make a purchase of any kind. Perhaps that means shopping in the morning before work so you’re not tired or on edge. Or maybe you find it’s best to shop after a workout when you’ve released some stress.

5. Avoid Temptation

Another way to eliminate bad spending habits is to avoid the temptation to spend frivolously. Whether your go-to outlet is online shopping or your favorite local clothing store, try restraining yourself from heading to the store or visiting the website where you’ll be tempted to make an impulse purchase.

Instead of driving over to your local clothing store when you’re bored, take a walk or check out a store with items you’re not tempted to buy.

6. Postpone Your Purchase

If you’re not sure whether a purchase is an impulse buy, hold off. Put it back on the shelf or store it in your “save for later” folder. If you’re still thinking about it in a few days, maybe then go back and get it. After a few days pass, you might find that you don’t have the same urge to spend or you’re in a better state of mind.

Give yourself a waiting period for any unplanned purchase. Whether it’s 1 day or a week, delaying your purchase can end up saving you a lot of money.

7. Try A No-Spend Challenge

A no-spend challenge is when you designate a certain time period where you only spend on your living expenses . During this challenge, you don’t spend anything on nonessentials. In other words, you’ll pay to cover your rent or mortgage, utilities, phone bill and any other necessities, but you’ll skip take-out orders, going to the movies or splurging on a new pair of shoes.

This challenge allows you to prioritize responsible spending and save money on purchases you don’t need to make. Any money you don’t spend can go toward other goals, like paying off your student loans or building up your savings account.

8. Remove Your Saved Card Info

Many of us know how easy it is to order online with just a click of a button – your card information is saved and ready to go. To make it a bit more difficult, remove your card information from anywhere it’s saved. That way, when you want to order an item, you’ll have to reenter all your card information.

This gives you a moment to consider whether this purchase is really worth the money and the time spent reentering your information. When the process is no longer effortless, you might second guess an impulse purchase.

9. Unsubscribe From Your Favorite Retailers

Sometimes you have no intention of spending money, but an email pops up showing you a promotion on one of your go-to buys. You might as well stock up, right? Retailers are only getting smarter – and they document your purchases and send hard-to-ignore promotions for your favorite products.

This is why it’s crucial to unsubscribe from text alerts and newsletters from your favorite stores. If you aren’t aware of a sale, you won’t fear missing out on it.

More Simple Tricks To Stop Impulse Spending

Below are some other simple ways to stop impulse spending. You can try these when the methods above don’t cut it:

• Bring a shopping partner. If you’re going to a store where you notoriously overspend, bring along someone who’s a good influence. Encourage your shopping partner to hold you accountable for making responsible purchases.
• Shop with a list. Before you go shopping, make a list of the items you need. Push yourself to stick to these items to prevent any unplanned purchases and rule out the potential of overspending .
• Set clear financial goals. To stop impulse shopping, you need to have something to work toward. Whether your hope is to pay off credit card bills or save for a down payment on a house , set clear financial goals to stay motivated.
• Allow yourself some discretionary spending. Remember, you’re allowed to treat yourself every now and then. When you create your budget, set aside some money for occasional non-essentials that both bring you joy and fit within the monthly budget.

The Bottom Line

While you’re entitled to reward yourself with your hard-earned money from time to time, it’s important to be able to identify impulse buying and put a quick stop to it. When impulse shopping begins impeding your ability to achieve financial goals, use the budgeting tips and tricks we’ve reviewed here to spend responsibly. When you’re ready to create a personal budget, sign up with Rocket Money to efficiently manage your finances.

Create a budget that works for you

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How To Stop Impulse Buying: 50 Tips To Take Control

Did you know the average U.S. consumer spends $5,400 every year on impulse purchases?

This is close to the average credit card balance of an American adult, according to CreditCards.com .

Which means, if we could all have a little more self-control, we would be out of debt a heckuva lot sooner!

But, if you’re like me, it’s one of the main reasons you have so much debt.

My impulse buying has been a *huge* contributor to living beyond my means and racking up credit card debt.  From $5 Starbucks frappuccinos to a last-minute summer vacation splurge, I’ve allowed my emotions to overrule common sense too many times.

In addition to adding to my financial mess, my impulse buying has caused feelings of regret, guilt, disappointment, discouragement, and defeat.  These are *not* helpful when trying to reach your goals!

Spending money impulsively can bust your budget, but it can also keep you from developing smart money habits in the long run. Ultimately, if you don’t learn how to stop impulse buying, you’ll never reach financial freedom.

Overcoming the habit of impulse buying and the consequences it creates takes time, self-awareness, and a little bit of helpful knowledge.  The  key is being intentional about identifying your motivation for spending.

All of us have given in to the temptation of an impulse purchase – even the most disciplined budgeters. But the more you can control your spending, the less harm this bad habit will cause to your finances.

Anyone can learn how to stop impulse buying and be more intentional with their money.  The first step is knowing how to identify this damaging habit.

Would you rather print out this list of 50 tips to stop impulse buying?  Download it for FREE!

Table of Contents

What is (and isn’t) impulse buying?

Although the term indicates buying something on impulse, it goes farther than just an unplanned purchase.  An impulse buy typically has 3 characteristics:

• It wasn’t planned.
• There’s an exposure to a stimulus.
• The decision is made spontaneously.

Impulse buying is actually a well-researched behavior that helps marketers understand their customers better and how they respond to various stimuli. After all, once they figure out the “switch” from casual shopper to committed buyer, they’ve hit a marketing gold mine!

An impulse purchase can range from a pack of gum to a new car, but it’s typically dependent on the stimuli a consumer is exposed to, and it’s always unplanned. Emotions play a large part in impulsive buying, and that’s why marketers carefully consider product wrapping, store placement, and display presentation to trigger feelings that lead to a purchase.

Of course, not every unplanned purchase is an impulse buy.

If you plan to go shopping for new work clothes but you’re not sure what you’ll buy, that’s not impulse buying as long as you stay within the budget you’ve already set. Even though you didn’t *plan* to buy a specific skirt and shoes, you still bought with intention of purpose and set aside enough money to purchase them. That is *not* buying on impulse.

However … if you happened to see a sweet deal on a new toaster so you swiftly added it to your cart … that would be an impulse buy.

Knowing the difference and choosing to shop intentionally will help you control your spending and reach your financial goals faster.

Types of impulse buying

There are several reasons your feelings can trick you into buying something impulsively. Some may even convince you that you’re not buying impulsively and your purchase is actually a necessary one.

Of course, we’re all familiar with the product displays at the cash register . Items like gum and candy, batteries, chapstick, and magazines are placed here strategically because marketers know you will buy them on a whim. This is a true impulse buy.

But then you might see some gift cards and think I need to get my boss a gift anyway so I’ll just grab me one of these gift cards. So even though you may feel like the purchase was initiated by a need, it is still unplanned, unnecessary, and based on your emotions.

Another type of impulse buy occurs when you see a pleasing display in the store , and you’re reminded that you should probably stock up on this item because you’re going to run out eventually anyway, right?

And then finally there’s that irresistible offer that you would be dumb to refuse , so better get it now! It might not be on sale tomorrow, so you’re saving money by buying today!

All of these scenarios were initiated by some type of stimuli (usually a pleasing visual display) that triggered a feeling and ultimately an unplanned purchase.

Learning how to stop impulse buying requires an awareness of the underlying emotions involved.  If you can identify when your feelings are trying to control the situation, you can make better decisions.

What do feelings have to do with it?

You can’t control what you’ll see in the store, but you *can* learn to be aware of how you’re feeling before you go in. When you can identify what you’re feeling, and how your feelings influence your spending habits, you’re halfway to winning the battle against impulsive buying.

As humans, we tend to give our emotions a little too much say in the decisions we make. And when it comes to spending money, marketers know that buying stuff feels good.

Not only that – buying something *spontaneously* actually releases the chemical dopamine in our brains, which gives us a natural high.

That’s why stores are very strategic about product placement, lighting, music, color, and sometimes even smell. All of these factors subconsciously affect how we feel, and can have a huge influence on whether or not we’re going to buy more than we planned.

Pretty tricksy, eh?

And feeling *happy* isn’t the only emotional motivator to spend more. Feeling stress and anxiety can also drive you to buy on impulse.

When we feel tense, worried, or overwhelmed, our bodies have a built-in alarm that goes off in the brain. This alarm is called the amygdala, and its purpose is to keep you safe and alert. It also drives you to seek protection or comfort. When the amygdala is sounding its alarm, we can feel compelled to seek relief in the easiest, quickest way possible.

Unfortunately, the amygdala doesn’t know the difference between a life-threatening situation and an argument with your spouse.

So, if you need a break from your partner after a spat, you might just head to Target for a little therapy. Shopping therapy, that is.

That’s your amygdala trying to find you some relief. It’s just doing its job. A little dopamine released in the brain can do wonders for your mood.

But you can also be draining your wallet if you habitually buy something just to feel better.

There’s nothing wrong with you if you want to find relief from stress. It’s *how* you get relief that can be a problem.

When our emotions are running high, we tend to make decisions based on how we feel and we often don’t think about the consequences of our actions. This causes us to neglect considering how an unplanned purchase will affect our financial future.

The goods news is you have a choice. You don’t have to be controlled by your amygdala. You can step back, get perspective, and make a choice that aligns with what you truly value.

But first, it’s important to be aware of underlying motivators that can cause you to buy something impulsively. This way, as you learn how to stop impulse buying, you can make better decisions despite what you’re feeling in the moment.

What leads to impulse buying?

So far I’ve mentioned how emotions and external stimuli can lead to impulse buying. Another factor that influences spontaneous spending requires even greater heightened awareness: your unconscious mind.

Science has shown that 95% of our behaviors are driven by the unconscious mind, and that includes our purchasing decisions .

So, what does this mean for the average consumer?

Basically, when you fail to tap into those unconscious thoughts that drive your impulsive buying decisions, you’re at the mercy of shrewd marketers who know how to convince you to spend money – even when you don’t really have it to spend.

If you’re committed to learning how to stop impulse buying, then it’s critical you know what deep-seated thoughts are driving your actions.

Here are 8 beliefs and behaviors that often operate below the surface of our conscious thinking and lead to an impulsive purchase:

• You’ll save money. When you see a killer deal on something you might need in the future, you feel irresponsible for not taking it. This is when you convince yourself that spending the money will save you money.
• You identify with the brand. When you have a positive emotion tied to a certain brand or product, the more likely you’ll be willing to spend money on it – planned or unplanned.
• Vicarious ownership. Although it can be fun to hear your friend’s experience with the latest household gadget, you’d probably rather experience it firsthand. This builds an emotional connection to the product and leads to an increased chance of impulsively buying it the next time you see it in the store.
• FOMO. The Fear of Missing Out can take a few different forms. A popular product that is often sold out, a positive experience your friend had, or a search for that *perfect* item are all variations of FOMO that can motivate you to buy something you otherwise wouldn’t have.
• You’re a hunter and gatherer. It’s human nature to collect stuff and stock up on resources for fear of running out. This behavior used to serve us well thousands of years ago, but today it usually stems from a scarcity mentality .
• You avoid your feelings. As mentioned earlier, part of your amygdala’s job is to seek relief in times of danger or distress. This is very helpful when you’re in a burning building, but not so much if you’re just stressed out because of your job. The better choice is to deal with your stress in a healthy way instead of trying to cover it up with a spending spree.
• You want to keep up with the Joneses. When neighbor Sue buys a brand new Lexus, there’s a level of comparison and competitiveness that can rear its ugly head. If you don’t tame the beast , you might end up with a car payment you can’t really afford.
• You have an addiction. Most people that have an addiction are the last to know about it. If you seriously struggle with overspending and impulse buying, consider the possibility that your “innocent” habit is really a full-blown addiction that you need to get help for.

Why is impulse buying a problem?

Even if you’ve read this far, you still might think that a little impulse buying here and there isn’t a big deal. Which, can be true. Or not.

If you are currently experiencing any of the financial problems listed here, you can confidently consider that impulse buying might be a factor:

It busts your budget

Okay, so this one’s pretty obvious. If you’re following a spending plan, you should know how much of your money is going where so you don’t run out.

When you’re in the middle of the month and you don’t have enough money left to put gas in your car, it’s possible you’re making too many unplanned purchases.

It prevents you from reaching your savings goals

A part of your budget should be a savings fund. If your savings account has barely budged an inch (or worse – has gotten smaller), you might want to track your spending to see if you’re wasting savings on impulse purchases.

It creates more debt

Debt is often a series of small, insignificant, unplanned purchases that pile up over time. If you looked at your credit card balances today, I bet you wouldn’t remember how it got that high.

It’s easy to buy impulsively when it doesn’t immediately cost anything. If your debt keeps creeping higher, review past statements and add up how much of it was unplanned spending.

It perpetuates a paycheck to paycheck cycle

When you spend money impulsively, you are not in control of your finances. This can result in bad purchasing habits that damage your financial future.  If you never learn how to stop impulse buying, it will be difficult to escape the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

It contributes to a scarcity mindset

If you struggle to make ends meet because your impulse purchases are draining your income, you can start seeing your job as a means to an end instead of a fulfilling part of your life. This can lead to feelings of hopelessness and apathy.

When you believe you’ll never get out of debt or be better with money, you’ll likely continue to spend money on things you don’t need as a way to escape reality.

It causes buyer’s remorse

Who wants to feel guilt, regret, and shame? These feelings feed into limiting beliefs that keep you from ultimately achieving your financial goals. You can avoid buyer’s remorse by being intentional with your finances and spending money on things you truly value.

It creates relationship problems

When opposites attract, money can be a point of conflict. Typically one of you is trying to save and the other just wants to spend. This can cause arguments and tension in the relationship.

For the spender, this is a formula for impulse buying – which perpetuates the cycle.

It’s okay to set aside part of your budget as “fun money”. But if you make unplanned financial decisions that hinder the goals you’ve both set, then impulse buying is creating a problem.

It prevents the development of healthy money habits

If you ever want to achieve financial freedom, you’ll need to learn some healthy money habits. Budgeting, saving, investing, and delaying gratification are all excellent examples – but they require intention, discipline and planning.

Impulse buying will keep you from developing these habits, and ultimately prevent you from reaching your financial goals.

It hinders your financial success

Who doesn’t want to be financially independent? Everyone wants to be rich, but few are willing to make the sacrifices to get there.

If you cannot control your spending habits, they will control your financial future.

How do I know *I* have a problem?

If you want to learn how to stop impulse buying, you must first admit there’s a problem.  This can be the first step toward positive change.

So how do you know if your impulse buying is just an occasional indulgence or an unhealthy dependency that can derail your financial future?

Besides the negative consequences I’ve already mentioned, here are three key warning signs that impulse buying might be a serious issue in your life:

• You typically fail to consider why you are spending money and what you’re spending it on.
• You get a “shopper’s high” from buying new things and often experience excitement when making unplanned purchases.
• You frequently make spending decisions spontaneously, especially when you are feeling heightened emotions.
• You don’t consider your financial health when buying impulsively.
• You often buy something but never use it.

If you feel like your impulse buying is out of control, here are 50 practical tips to beat the temptation and be more intentional with your money.

How to stop impulse buying for good

Spending more than you have on things you don’t need is a recipe for financial disaster.  Impulse buying can threaten financial stability, increase debt, and drain your savings account.

The key to beating the spending urge is self-awareness.   Becoming mindful of your actions and the reason behind them is the first step toward being in control of your money.

There are several different ways you can start resisting negative spending habits.  Learn how to stop impulse buying for good with this list of 50 strategies to choose from.  Start with one you can commit to, then continue to add more to create your own personal plan to beat impulse buying.

#1  Make a budget you can stick to

If you’re not on a budget, now’s the time. A budget will help you stick to spending limits and save more money. The zero-sum budget is one method you could try.

#2  Always have a game plan

Never go shopping without a plan. Write a list of exactly what you need, including each item’s price if possible. Then stick to it!

#3  Hold yourself to a waiting rule

Set a rule that requires you to put some space and time between you and the item you’re tempted to buy impulsively. Any time you want to buy something you didn’t plan for, take anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days to decide if it’s a good decision. The less impact it has on your budget, the less time you need to decide.

#4  Pay with cash

Paying for purchases in cash is a totally different experience than paying with a card. When you have to actually physically part with your money (instead of just swiping a card), you’re less likely to go through with it.

#5  Freeze your credit card

If you just can’t trust yourself, take some drastic measures and freeze your cards. This will force you to spend in cash only, and you can always unfreeze them when your spending is under control.

#6  Include spontaneous spending in your budget

Splurging occasionally isn’t being irresponsible – as long as it’s already in your spending plan. Include a little fun money in your budget and give yourself permission to splurge every now and then.  Learning how to stop impulse buying doesn’t mean you can never spend spontaneously.  It just means you need to be strategic about it.

#7  Avoid tempting places

Do you *have* to go to Target for bread? If it’s too tempting to wander to the women’s clothing department, maybe go to a grocery store instead.

#8  Block online shopping opportunities

Shopping online is sooooo convenient. With just a few clicks it’s easy to spend more than you planned. Do yourself a favor and block the sites you shop at the most. At least until you get your impulsive spending habit under control.

#9  Drop the lists

Whenever I get asked for my email address I just say I don’t give it out. It’s too easy to spend money impulsively when I get an email from one of my favorite stores, tempting me with their latest sale!

#10  Choose free ways to celebrate

Keep a list of free or low-cost ways to celebrate a special achievement. Often it’s easy to convince ourselves that we “deserve” something extra because of our accomplishment. It’s okay to reward yourself, just be smart about it.

#11  Always do your research

Don’t let a killer deal on a big screen TV be the only reason you hand over your hard-earned money. Always do a little research first to make sure you’re getting all the features you really want. Then, go prepared with a list of questions to ask the salesperson. The more research you do, the more certain you’ll be that it’s a wise purchase.

#12  Know the return policy

The clearance section is one of my favorite places to browse, but sometimes that slashed price also comes with a no-return policy. Find out the store’s policy for clearance items before you check out. If you can’t return it, don’t buy it. If you do buy something impulsively because the price was too great to pass up, you always want the option to return it later if you choose.

#13  Define needs versus wants

Get real with yourself about the difference between wants and needs. You might feel like you “need” a new car because your current one is looking a little ragged, but the reality is that nobody *needs* a new vehicle.

Consider all of your options first (keeping the current car, buying a used car, taking public transportation) and then create a priority list of all the things you’d like to buy in the future. Choose the top 2 or 3 and set a goal date to purchase each one.

Having these things on your priority list is a good reminder that because they aren’t true needs, you have time to save up to pay cash instead of going into debt for them.

#14  Know what triggers you

If you’re serious about breaking your impulse buying habit, it’s important to know what your triggers are. When you’re aware of the circumstances that give you the urge to spend money, you can avoid them when necessary.

Maybe you’re tempted by TV commercials, Facebook ads, or the latest Target catalog. Or perhaps the urges are the strongest when you feel sad, bored, stressed, or angry. Once you identify what pushes you over the edge, seek out healthier alternatives.

#15  Don’t be swayed by sales

My husband has a difficult time resisting a good sale. And who can blame him? When you see a bargain on something you’re probably going to buy eventually anyway, you can get the feeling that you’re going to waste money later if you don’t spend it now.

This is a tricksy & false belief that can easily pull you into excessive debt and keep you from achieving your goals. Get in touch with what you truly value, and have a plan for buying those things that add that value to your life. Don’t be manipulated by a sale sign. Remember, you’re in control.

#16  Invite your frugal friend

Do you have a penny-pinching friend? Bring them with you when you need to go shopping for something. Ask them to hold you accountable to every penny you spend!

#17  And leave your shopping sisters behind

The flip side of #16 is avoiding shopping sprees with your friends. When your besties are spending money on whatever looks good, you’ll have a tough time beating the temptation to do the same.

#18  Stop keeping up with the Joneses

Be aware of the comparison trap. When you feel like you don’t measure up to neighbor Sue, it’s easy to think you need to buy things you don’t really need in order to keep up. I have two words for you: you don’t.

#19  Limit social media

You used to have to look out your window to feel a little jealousy over your neighbor’s new car. Now, you can go online and see the one your friend 6 states over just bought. There’s an easy fix for that: stay off social media . If you can’t give it up entirely, limit how much time you spend on it daily.

#20  Give yourself a challenge

Ever wonder how much you could actually save if you just stopped buying unnecessary stuff? Find out by going on a no-spend challenge! Try not buying anything you don’t absolutely need for 30 days, and see how much money you could be putting in your retirement fund instead.

#21  Know your why

Learning how to stop impulse buying means getting in touch with what you truly value.  What are your financial goals? Do you want to get out of debt and save up for a comfortable retirement?

Write your goals down and carry them everywhere with you (on paper or in a phone app). When you feel tempted to spend impulsively, break out the list for some serious inspiration to walk away instead.

#22  Check your feelings at the door

Before you back out of that garage, have a mental check-in with yourself. If you’re feeling a heightened emotion (like stress, anxiety, frustration), then you might want to stay home until you know for sure your emotions aren’t controlling your decisions.

#23  Beware of boredom shopping

If you’re only at your favorite store because you’re bored, it’s time to figure out cheaper ways to be entertained. Finding a good book at the library or taking a hike at a local park are two free ways to spend your time without the temptation to spend money.

#24  Learn from others’ experiences

It’s easy to be convinced that a new kitchen gadget on Amazon would be the perfect tool to kick your cooking skills up a notch or two. That is, until you read the reviews that complain about the low quality or poor design. Learn from other people’s bad experiences and keep your money in your pocket.

#25  Hang on to every receipt

Even if you have a shopping fail and give in to spending more than you planned, there’s no reason you can’t back track and make a better choice. Always keep your receipts so you can return purchases you regret buying later. No harm done!

#26  Never shop on an empty stomach

For me, an impulse buy is often edible. And if I go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, I usually end up buying more than what’s on my list. Because of this, I make sure I eat something before going to a store full of food. It makes all the difference.

#27  Plan your meals

Another way to cut unnecessary spending when grocery shopping is to create a meal plan. Knowing what you’re going to eat and when, as well as what ingredients you need to buy, will do wonders for your food budget. You’ll also not be tempted to spontaneously go out to eat as often, which keeps even more money in your pocket.

#28  Take a deep breath

Impulse buying is typically done on an unconscious level. As you get better at realizing you have a choice not to spend, taking deep breaths can help create a diversion and help you be fully present in the moment. Deep breathing will also help you slow down and get your feelings in check before making a decision you’ll regret later.

#29  Track the temptations

Build awareness of your shopping habits by tracking how often you’re tempted to make an impulse buy. Keep a small calendar in your purse and make a note on every date you feel the urge to spend. This will help you become more conscious of what it feels like to be tempted and help you recognize the warning signs so you can make a better choice.

#30  Know what it’s truly costing you

Too often we ignore the true cost of an impulse buy. When you think of the money you’re spending in terms of an hourly wage, you might decide you don’t really want to buy something that will eat up 5 hours of your next paycheck.

Likewise, consider the opportunity cost of that unplanned purchase by reflecting on what you’ll need to give up in order to buy it. If you haven’t been able to save the money to go on that cruise you’ve been dreaming of, that’s a pretty high opportunity cost just to buy stuff you probably don’t need.

#31  Ask questions

Keep a list of “shopping” questions with you whenever you go shopping. Before you put that item in your cart, pull it out and answer each one. Some questions could be Does this purchase align with my values? Does this purchase fit into my financial goals? Is this purchase necessary? Will this purchase add true value to my life? A little reflection can be a very effective strategy to putting it back on the shelf.

#32  Reflect on your failures

Okay, so you spent money on something you didn’t plan for. Before you chalk it up to a bad day and moving on, take some time to reflect on how it made you feel. Did you experience a shopper’s high? Did it relieve stress at the time? How long did it last? Did you have buyer’s remorse? Did you feel like you failed? Take note of the emotional experience and let it help you decide if the money spent was really worth it.

#33  Dig a little deeper

Because impulse buying is often done at an unconscious level, it can require a heightened awareness to identify the true reason someone does it. Typically, it has little to do with physical needs and more about trying to fill an emotional one.

If you struggle with controlling your spending urges, challenge yourself to figure out why you are driven to spend impulsively. Once you’ve determined the real “why” behind your spending, look for healthier (and less expensive) ways to find fulfillment.

#34  Take an inventory

Check your cabinets and closets and know what you already have. There have been many times I bought something unplanned because I saw something on the shelf that I thought I needed more of. If I had just checked before spending, I would have known that I still had 2 tubes of toothpaste at the bottom of my vanity drawer.

#35  Make a compromise

Sometimes temptation is just too hard to resist. If you find yourself on the verge of committing to a cartful of stuff you didn’t plan on buying, take a few deep breaths as you do a quick mental calculation of how much it’s going to cost you.

Then, grab one small, inexpensive item from the cart and go straight to the register. In times when walking out without spending anything is too difficult, you can minimize the financial damage by making a compromise with yourself.

#36  Remember your last regret

Remembering those things you regret from your past can be a very effective way to make better choices in the future. When you’re on the fence about making an unplanned purchase, think about the last time you regretted an impulse buy. That may be all you need to put it back on the shelf.

#37  Consider layaway

When you’re really torn between making an impulse purchase and walking away, ask the store if they have a layaway plan. You’ll likely have to meet certain requirements (minimum down payment, cancellation fee), but it will give you the ability to take advantage of a good deal while also providing time and space to continue thinking about it.

#38  Chart your progress

Create a chart to track your financial goals, and place it somewhere you’ll see every day. Looking at your progress on a daily basis is one of the best ways to stay on track with your money and keep your spending aligned with what you truly value.

#39  Don’t drink and shop

Do I need to say more?

#40  Create a more meaningful option for your money

Take a quick review of your impulse buys over the past few months. Add up a rough estimate of the total cost, and compare that to a financial goal you’ve been wanting to reach.

Comparing the cost of your spontaneous shopping to a credit card balance you’ve meant to pay off can motivate you to curb your spending. Every time you’re tempted to make a spending decision on-the-spot, take note of the item’s price and put that amount toward your goal instead.

#41  Give to your favorite charities

One way to break the habit of spending on yourself is to give to your favorite charities instead. Find some organizations that line up with your values and start donating a percentage of your monthly budget.

Every time you want to carelessly drop a few bucks at Starbucks, think about how much more meaning that money could have if redirected to a favorite charity.

#42  Be more generous with loved ones

In addition to charities, consider increasing your generosity to families and friends. Think about how you can bless others with the income you’ve been blessed with. When we focus on others’ needs, it’s easier to deny ourselves the indulgence of impulse purchases.

#43  Choose meaningful memories over meaningless stuff

If you struggle with impulse buying, you likely have more stuff than you actually use. Refocus your priorities on building relationships through shared experiences, and create a savings account to fund them. Then, think about the memories you’ll make the next time you’re tempted to buy yet another pair of shoes.

#44  Develop a substitute habit

Once we engage in behavior unconsciously, it’s a habit. One of the best ways to break a bad habit is by replacing it with a good one.

Choose a substitute for impulse shopping that supports your financial goals, and start replacing your visits to the store with this other activity. After a few weeks of consistently making a different choice, your brain will find it easier to choose the new habit when you feel triggered.

#45  Put up some barriers

If you create inconvenient barriers to engaging in a habit, it’s easier to break.

For example, if you leave your credit cards at home, there’s a better chance you’ll pass by the sales rack because you don’t have a way to pay for it. Or if you unsubscribe from Amazon Prime, you might not want to pay shipping and wait an extra week to receive your purchase. Deleting any app that allows you to shop is also a way to create “friction” between you and an impulse buy.

#46  Write down what you’re spending

Another way to create awareness around your impulse buying habits is by keeping a spending journal. Much like a food journal, you would use it to log every transaction you make on discretionary purchases.

Although you would also track these expenses in a budget, the purpose of the spending journal is to become more conscious of how much and how often you spend more than you planned. You can also write down the circumstances surrounding each purchase and what you were thinking & feeling at the time.

#47  Choose your company wisely

Someone once said that we each are an average of the 5 people we hang out with the most. Do you want to be a saver and not a spender? Start hanging out with other savers. Not only will their good habits rub off on you, they’ll also be a great source of support, encouragement and sound advice.

#48  Go easy on yourself

A little guilt over an irresponsible purchase can influence you to make a better choice the next time you’re shopping. However, money shaming yourself for making a mistake isn’t helpful moving forward. Return the item if that’s a good option. Otherwise, recommit to your financial values and goals and try better next time.

#49  Develop an attitude of gratitude

Too often we forget how much we truly have to be grateful for. By keeping a gratitude journal, you can remind yourself of how much you’ve been blessed and create a genuine sense of contentment in your life. When we’re content with what we have, we don’t feel the need to fill our lives with stuff we don’t need.

#50  Reach out for support

Most people’s impulse buying habit is just that: a habit. One that’s hindering their financial goals and maybe creating unwanted debt, but a habit nonetheless.

For others, impulse buying has become compulsive and turned into an addiction. If you’re feeling hopeless and overwhelmed about your financial situation, I encourage you to get help. A licensed therapist or financial advisor can give you professional advice and direction that might be necessary in your situation.

Print out the full list of 50 tips to stop impulse buying here:

Money can’t buy joy

Different people have different motivations for buying impulsively.

For some, it’s FOMO – either with experiences friends are having or just finding the perfect item.

Then there’s the possibility of getting a killer deal – whether it’s needed or not.

For others, there could be a serious shopping addiction, and there is a constant chase for the next “high”.

For me, I would say the majority of my impulsive shopping came out of a YOLO mentality –  You Only Live Once!

Regrettably, I’ve spent much of my life in debt because of bad financial decisions like impulse shopping.

And, not to say I don’t still occasionally fall into temptation, but I have gotten a lot better at resisting.  Learning how to stop impulse buying in my own life has been a long and windy road.  But, along the way, I’ve learned a few things that have made me wiser.

I’ve learned that a  seemingly insignificant but stupid decision today can have consequences that last for years.   I think about the consequences now, because I’ve lived them.

I’ve also learned that  money can buy me happiness, but it can’t give me joy.   Happiness has many degrees, is fleeting and unpredictable.  But joy runs deep, through the soul, from heaven above.

Yes, I’ll feel happy when I buy that cute new purse, but then that happiness will dull over time as my new purse becomes my old one.  Joy, on the other hand, is not dependent on material possessions and can’t be taken away by any earthly experience.

In other words, joy is priceless.

And then I’ve learned that  gratefulness is the remedy .  Having an attitude of gratitude can turn any fear of missing out into peaceful contentment.

Usually, when someone wants to indulge in some excessive spending, it’s motivated by an unfulfilled craving in life – a desire to be happier, or prettier, or smarter, or whatever.

But, if you take a moment to step back and remember how much you have to be truly grateful for, those desires give way to contentment.

Which is the last life lesson I’ll mention here.  Learning to be content will cure your spending habit like nothing else.  

When I am content with what I have, where I live, what I drive, what I wear, and everything else in my life – I am no longer driven by my desires to have more.

Instead, my heart is at peace, I can keep things in perspective, and I can make wiser decisions.

And these are things money can’t buy – impulsively or not.

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OPINION article

Factors affecting impulse buying behavior of consumers.

• Instituto Superior de Gestão, Lisbon, Portugal

In recent years, the study of consumer behavior has been marked by significant changes, mainly in decision-making process and consequently in the influences of purchase intention ( Stankevich, 2017 ).

The markets are different and characterized by an increased competition, as well a constant innovation in products and services available and a greater number of companies in the same market. In this scenario it is essential to know the consumer well ( Varadarajan, 2020 ). It is through the analysis of the factors that have a direct impact on consumer behavior that it is possible to innovate and meet their expectations. This research is essential for marketers to be able to improve their campaigns and reach the target audience more effectively ( Ding et al., 2020 ).

Consumer behavior refers to the activities directly involved in obtaining products /services, so it includes the decision-making processes that precede and succeed these actions. Thus, it appears that the advertising message can cause a certain psychological influence that motivates individuals to desire and, consequently, buy a certain product/service ( Wertenbroch et al., 2020 ).

Studies developed by Meena (2018) show that from a young age one begins to have a preference for one product/service over another, as we are confronted with various commercial stimuli that shape our choices. The sales promotion has become one of the most powerful tools to change the perception of buyers and has a significant impact on their purchase decision ( Khan et al., 2019 ). Advertising has a great capacity to influence and persuade, and even the most innocuous, can cause changes in behavior that affect the consumer's purchase intention. Falebita et al. (2020) consider this influence predominantly positive, as shown by about 84.0% of the total number of articles reviewed in the study developed by these authors.

Kumar et al. (2020) add that psychological factors have a strong implication in the purchase decision, as we easily find people who, after having purchased a product/ service, wonder about the reason why they did it. It is essential to understand the mental triggers behind the purchase decision process, which is why consumer psychology is related to marketing strategies ( Ding et al., 2020 ). It is not uncommon for the two areas to use the same models to explain consumer behavior and the reasons that trigger impulse purchases. Consumers are attracted by advertising and the messages it conveys, which is reflected in their behavior and purchase intentions ( Varadarajan, 2020 ).

Impulse buying has been studied from several perspectives, namely: (i) rational processes; (ii) emotional resources; (iii) the cognitive currents arising from the theory of social judgment; (iv) persuasive communication; (v) and the effects of advertising on consumer behavior ( Malter et al., 2020 ).

The causes of impulsive behavior are triggered by an irresistible force to buy and an inability to evaluate its consequences. Despite being aware of the negative effects of buying, there is an enormous desire to immediately satisfy your most pressing needs ( Meena, 2018 ).

The importance of impulse buying in consumer behavior has been studied since the 1940's, since it represents between 40.0 and 80.0% of all purchases. This type of purchase obeys non-rational reasons that are characterized by the sudden appearance and the (in) satisfaction between the act of buying and the results obtained ( Reisch and Zhao, 2017 ). Aragoncillo and Orús (2018) also refer that a considerable percentage of sales comes from purchases that are not planned and do not correspond to the intended products before entering the store.

According to Burton et al. (2018) , impulse purchases occur when there is a sudden and strong emotional desire, which arises from a reactive behavior that is characterized by low cognitive control. This tendency to buy spontaneously and without reflection can be explained by the immediate gratification it provides to the buyer ( Pradhan et al., 2018 ).

Impulsive shopping in addition to having an emotional content can be triggered by several factors, including: the store environment, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and the emotional state of the consumer at that time ( Gogoi and Shillong, 2020 ). We believe that impulse purchases can be stimulated by an unexpected need, by a visual stimulus, a promotional campaign and/or by the decrease of the cognitive capacity to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of that purchase.

The buying experience increasingly depends on the interaction between the person and the point of sale environment, but it is not just the atmosphere that stimulates the impulsive behavior of the consumer. The sensory and psychological factors associated with the type of products, the knowledge about them and brand loyalty, often end up overlapping the importance attributed to the physical environment ( Platania et al., 2016 ).

The impulse buying causes an emotional lack of control generated by the conflict between the immediate reward and the negative consequences that the purchase can originate, which can trigger compulsive behaviors that can become chronic and pathological ( Pandya and Pandya, 2020 ).

Sohn and Ko (2021) , argue that although all impulse purchases can be considered as unplanned, not all unplanned purchases can be considered impulsive. Unplanned purchases can occur, simply because the consumer needs to purchase a product, but for whatever reason has not been placed on the shopping list in advance. This suggests that unplanned purchases are not necessarily accompanied by the urgent desire that generally characterizes impulse purchases.

The impulse purchases arise from sensory experiences (e.g., store atmosphere, product layout), so purchases made in physical stores tend to be more impulsive than purchases made online. This type of shopping results from the stimulation of the five senses and the internet does not have this capacity, so that online shopping can be less encouraging of impulse purchases than shopping in physical stores ( Moreira et al., 2017 ).

Researches developed by Aragoncillo and Orús (2018) reveal that 40.0% of consumers spend more money than planned, in physical stores compared to 25.0% in online purchases. This situation can be explained by the fact that consumers must wait for the product to be delivered when they buy online and this time interval may make impulse purchases unfeasible.

Following the logic of Platania et al. (2017) we consider that impulse buying takes socially accepted behavior to the extreme, which makes it difficult to distinguish between normal consumption and pathological consumption. As such, we believe that compulsive buying behavior does not depend only on a single variable, but rather on a combination of sociodemographic, emotional, sensory, genetic, psychological, social, and cultural factors. Personality traits also have an important role in impulse buying. Impulsive buyers have low levels of self-esteem, high levels of anxiety, depression and negative mood and a strong tendency to develop obsessive-compulsive disorders. However, it appears that the degree of uncertainty derived from the pandemic that hit the world and the consequent economic crisis, seems to have changed people's behavior toward a more planned and informed consumption ( Sheth, 2020 ).

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Aragoncillo, L., and Orús, C. (2018). Impulse buying behaviour: na online-offline comparative and the impact of social media. Spanish J. Market. 22, 42–62. doi: 10.1108/SJME-03-2018-007

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Falebita, O., Ogunlusi, C., and Adetunji, A. (2020). A review of advertising management and its impact on consumer behaviour. Int. J. Agri. Innov. Technol. Global. 1, 354–374. doi: 10.1504/IJAITG.2020.111885

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Kumar, A., Chaudhuri, S., Bhardwaj, A., and Mishra, P. (2020). Impulse buying and post-purchase regret: a study of shopping behavior for the purchase of grocery products. Int. J. Manag. 11, 614–624. Available online at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3786039

Malter, M., Holbrook, M., Kahn, B., Parker, J., and Lehmann, D. (2020). The past, present, and future of consumer research. Market. Lett. 31, 137–149. doi: 10.1007/s11002-020-09526-8

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Moreira, A., Fortes, N., and Santiago, R. (2017). Influence of sensory stimuli on brand experience, brand equity and purchase intention. J. Bus. Econ. Manag. 18, 68–83. doi: 10.3846/16111699.2016.1252793

Pandya, P., and Pandya, K. (2020). An empirical study of compulsive buying behaviour of consumers. Alochana Chakra J. 9, 4102–4114.

Platania, M., Platania, S., and Santisi, G. (2016). Entertainment marketing, experiential consumption and consumer behavior: the determinant of choice of wine in the store. Wine Econ. Policy 5, 87–95. doi: 10.1016/j.wep.2016.10.001

Platania, S., Castellano, S., Santisi, G., and Di Nuovo, S. (2017). Correlati di personalità della tendenza allo shopping compulsivo. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia 64, 137–158.

Pradhan, D., Israel, D., and Jena, A. (2018). Materialism and compulsive buying behaviour: the role of consumer credit card use and impulse buying. Asia Pacific J. Market. Logist. 30,1355–5855. doi: 10.1108/APJML-08-2017-0164

Reisch, L., and Zhao, M. (2017). Behavioural economics, consumer behaviour and consumer policy: state of the art. Behav. Public Policy 1, 190–206. doi: 10.1017/bpp.2017.1

Sheth, J. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: will the old habits return or die? J. Bus. Res. 117, 280–283. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.059

Sohn, Y., and Ko, M. (2021). The impact of planned vs. unplanned purchases on subsequent purchase decision making in sequential buying situations. J. Retail. Consumer Servic. 59, 1–7. doi: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102419

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Varadarajan, R. (2020). Customer information resources advantage, marketing strategy and business performance: a market resources based view. Indus. Market. Manag. 89, 89–97. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.03.003

Wertenbroch, K., Schrift, R., Alba, J., Barasch, A., Bhattacharjee, A., Giesler, M., et al. (2020). Autonomy in consumer choice. Market. Lett. 31, 429–439. doi: 10.1007/s11002-020-09521-z

Keywords: consumer behavior, purchase intention, impulse purchase, emotional influences, marketing strategies

Citation: Rodrigues RI, Lopes P and Varela M (2021) Factors Affecting Impulse Buying Behavior of Consumers. Front. Psychol. 12:697080. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.697080

Received: 19 April 2021; Accepted: 10 May 2021; Published: 02 June 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Rodrigues, Lopes and Varela. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Rosa Isabel Rodrigues, rosa.rodrigues@isg.pt

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

• Personality

What Motivates Impulse Buying?

Personality, pleasure, and product connections can all lead to impulse buys..

Posted July 18, 2012 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

Impulse buying is a common behavior today. Our culture of consumption enables us to succumb to temptation and purchase something without considering the consequences of the buy. Is that a bad thing? In my view, yes, it can be. Impulse buying is related to anxiety and unhappiness, and controlling it could help improve your psychological well-being.

To control something, though, it’s important to first understand it. To understand impulse buying from a psychological perspective, we should ask the question, “What motivates us to impulsively buy products?” There are in fact a number of answers to this question, and knowing them will help you make smarter, more rational decisions the next time you’re shopping or the next time you just catch yourself wanting to buy something.

Some people have a habit of making impulsive purchases. That might sound innocent, but there are a number of characteristics that go along with this tendency. First, impulse buyers are more social, status-conscious, and image-concerned. The impulse buyer may therefore buy as a way to look good in the eyes of others. Second, impulse buyers tend to experience more anxiety and difficulty controlling their emotions, which may make it harder to resist emotional urges to impulsively spend money. Third, impulse buyers tend to experience less happiness , and so may buy as a way to improve their mood. Last, impulse buyers are less likely to consider the consequences of their spending; they just want to have it.

People who like to shop for fun are more likely to buy on impulse. We all want to experience pleasure, and it can be a lot of fun to go shopping and imagine owning the products we see. Once we start experiencing pleasure as a result of this sense of vicarious ownership, we’re more likely to buy those products so that we can continue to experience that pleasure.

The concept of vicarious ownership is related to another impulse buying motivator, which is a connection between a consumer and a product. When we’re connected to a product, our minds essentially start acting like we already own the product, which makes it harder to go without buying it. This raises the question, “How are connections with products formed?” A physical connection with a product is created when we’re close to it and when we’re able to touch it. A temporal connection with a product is created when we’re able to purchase it immediately. Finally, a social connection with a product is created when we see someone using it and compare ourselves to that person.

How do all these factors interact? Well, consider the following hypothetical example: The impulse buyer may feel unhappy, and may think that being seen with an expensive new purchase will bring respect and happiness. This perceived road to happiness motivates the impulse buyer to go shopping. Once in the retail environment a product catches the impulse buyer’s eye. S/he looks at it, probably picks it up and inspects it, and maybe thinks of a friend who owns it. The impulse buyer likes the product, and experiences pleasure at the thought of being able to purchase it immediately and go home with it. The impulse buyer can’t resist the urge to buy the product and does so, without considering whether it’s too expensive and/or frivolous. This inevitably leads to buyer’s remorse, paradoxically bringing unhappiness, the very feeling the impulse buyer wanted to stop experiencing.

Knowing what motivates impulse buying and whether these motivators are affecting you can help you spend less money on impulse.

There is one caveat I’d like to mention, which is that everyone behaves impulsively now and then, and a certain (modest) level of impulse buying can be harmless. However, an excessive level of impulse buying can lead to debt and unhappiness, so it’s in your best interest to know the warning signs. If you find that you often spend money without really thinking about what you’re buying or why, and you fit the description of an impulse buyer, you may have an impulse buying tendency. If you get a sudden urge to buy something after you play around with it, or after realizing you can buy it immediately, or after thinking of a friend who owns it, you’re probably experiencing an impulse buying urge that came from a connection between you and the product.

Ultimately, an easy way to tell if a purchase is impulsive is to ask, “Did I plan to buy this, or did I get the urge to buy it just now?” If you didn’t plan to buy it, you’re probably experiencing an impulse buying urge. By putting that product back on the shelf and refusing to purchase it, you’re doing something to help yourself. You’re rejecting the idea that by purchasing that product you’ll be happier, better respected, or more complete. In so doing, you’ll not only get to keep more of your money, but you’ll become a smarter consumer and possibly a happier person.

Ian Zimmerman, Ph.D. , is an experimental psychologist who studies consumer behavior in order to help consumers make better, smarter buying decisions.

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The Sage Millennial

Finance. Millennial. Productivity.

Impulsive Buying: How To Stop Impulsive Buying

This article may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support!

When was the last time you bought something essential? And by essentials, I don’t mean a new phone or fashion accessories or tv or a couch or junk unhealthy unprocessed foods or that trendy gadget you’ve been longing to buy. 

Essentials are those things that you need, without which living a normal life will get difficult.

Things like fruits and vegetables, basic clothing, a place to stay, a not so expensive phone, and a laptop to work (if it’s needed) are a few essentials every man or woman should have. 

Far from importance quite often, we fall for such traps. This is impulsive Buying and here’s a definitive guide on how you shouldn’t fall prey to Impulsive Buying. 

Ready to not buy Useless things? Let’s Go!

What is Impulsive Buying?

Impulsive Buying is a tendency where a customer buys goods and services without planning. When customers take such decisions at the spur of the moment, it is triggered due to various emotions playing in your head. 

It’s an unplanned expense but not exactly unplanned. Things such as mobile phones, chocolates, cars, jewellery, clothes, sunglasses and other objects that appeal to a person are considered objects used in Impulsive Buying. It’s anything that a person likes and it’s not essential. 

Impulsive Buying is difficult to describe, it’s not just unplanned buying. Your purchases can be unplanned and yet essentials such as apples to eat for a week weren’t in your shopping list so it’s unplanned if you buy them and is yet essential because an apple is a need. 

But is it? An apple might be a need for one person but might be a want for another. You see, impulsive Buying is extremely confusing and it differs from person to person. What you may think as a want is actually a need for someone else and vice versa. 

Impulsive Buying Behavior

Marketing agencies work hard and try all sorts of ways to ensure that a customer buys a product whether there’s a need or not.

If you see a pair of sunglasses right next to the grocery store, that’s because it was strategically placed there to trigger your mind into impulsive Buying that product. 

It’s so instant that most often you only realize it was a bad purchase after you make the purchase. Till then you’re glad you made the purchase and are excited about the product. After the purchase, it’s the complete opposite. 

Marketing agencies study how humans react to different things and create strategic marketing campaigns, they’re so good that even the person who hates the product and might never use it may end up buying a pair or two. 

While you certainly can’t ignore these ads (because they’re so attractive), you can try your best to avoid buying them and being prey to impulsive Buying. Let’s see how we can tackle this heavy expense problem.

How to stop Impulsive Buying?

While impulsive Buying cannot be permanently stopped, it can certainly be reduced to a point where you won’t be wasting any money. Let’s divide impulsive buyers into three simple categories

Category of People in Impulsive Buying

Each person can be categorized into three categories. I believe we are all in one of these categories. All we have to do is find our category and work our way down from there. Impulsive Buying can’t be avoided but can be minimized. 

Your aim should be to transform from an aggressive or a normal Impulsive buyer to a Minimal Impulsive Buyer and then try to be the best minimal Impulsive buyer. Let’s break it down slow and easily.

1. Aggressive impulsive buyer

Over 60% of Individuals will fall in the category. Luckily I was never a part of this category but almost all my friends are still a part of this category. If you’re an aggressive Impulsive buyer, you’re that person who looks at something and instantly gets attracted to buy it. 

You think less and buy more. This doesn’t mean you’re not intellectual, it means that you love buying anything that attracts you and doesn’t think about your finances at the point of purchase. 

How to stop being an aggressive impulsive buyer?

The first thing I want you to do is every time you see anything which is attractive (eg: burger, jewelry, earphones, apple watch, shoes) you need to take a pause. Wait for 10 seconds and think; Is this needed? 

How will this purchase help me? Can I avoid this purchase? If the answers aren’t all that appealing, it’s clear this is something you shouldn’t purchase. 

Then take a step back, move the other, and don’t waste your hard-earned money on this expenditure. 

Consistently follow this and you will slowly get out of this category. Hurrah, you just took the first step to avoid Impulsive Buying

2. Normal Impulsive buyer

About 35% of people fall into this category. Here people are picky and they think before they make a purchase but if they like something (a want) they will surely buy it. 

If they don’t like it, they don’t buy it. People belonging to this category don’t buy it all but buy some of it, while this is much better than aggressive impulsive Buying, it’s not the ideas category you want to be in. 

The great thing about the people in this category is that they know crystal clear about their likes and dislikes and what they are Okay with not purchasing. 

How to stop being a normal impulsive buyer?

Just like the aggressive impulsive buyer, you too have to take a deep breath in and analyze the situation. 

You won’t have a huge problem as you’ll avoid spending money on things you dislike; you only focus needs to be on those things that you like and analyze if there is an actual need for it. 

Do this and you’ll soon be transferred to the Minimal Impulsive Buyer category – The Ideal Category.

3. Minimal Impulsive Buyer

Less than 5% of people make it here. This is the category where impulsive Buying is at a minimum. The people belonging to this category surely get the urge of buying things they instantly see but they can’t control their urge and save their money . 

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably not in this category but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your place here. 

Once you know how to stop impulsive spending and try saving as much money as you can while not living miserably, you will be a part of this category. 

How to be consistent at being a minimal Impulsive Buyer?

It’s all about not falling prey to shiny objects and controlling your urge to spend. If you can do that, you’re not going to leave the category ever. 

Every time you feel tempted, think of your larger goal; what is it you want to achieve and what are you willing to do to get there? This simple question will easily stop you from impulsive Buying. 

6 ways to stop Impulsive Buying 

1. Plan beforehand

Don’t be that guy who enters a mall without a plan, without a list of things to buy. You’ll definitely end up with 5 other non-essentials that are a total waste of money. 

Before you leave your house, take a piece of paper or use your phone to write down the essentials you need. Don’t say you’ll keep a distance from the ads cause you won’t be able to. 

But if you have a list, you’ll at least know where you need to go thus saving money. Refuse impulsive Buying and control your urge to spend on unnecessary stuff. 

2. Understand Needs and Wants

A want is a desire, it’s something that isn’t necessary but we still end up purchasing it. Instead, a need is something you actually need, something without which you cannot do your daily chores. 

It’s essential to your living without which having a normal lifestyle might get really tough. Understanding the difference between both will help you identify which item is wanted and which one is needed. 

Thus you can ensure needs are considered while wants are avoided.

I’ve written a detailed post on understanding Needs and Wants , you should check it out to understand the two in-depth.

3. Use the 10 second Rule

Impulse is a sudden trigger your brain releases. It’s so sudden that you end up doing irrational work. Using the 10 Second Rule, you can easily reduce or stop impulsive buying to a great extent. 

Every time you see something and you feel like purchasing it right away, know that your trigger is activated and you’re in an impulsive buying state. Don’t move, stand where you are, take a deep breath in, and for 10 seconds think about not buying the item. 

That’s it! Your mind will immediately stop the urge to buy and the trigger will be deactivated. 

4. Set aside a splurge amount

This by far is the smartest way to reduce Impulsive spending.

You need to set aside some money for your wants, this way you won’t crash your budget as well as satisfy your wants. 

I recommend you spend not more than 5% of your net income on wants, that much is enough for your fun time, be it a movie night, a date night, new clothes, jewelry, or any other expenses. Want to buy a car? It’s simple – accumulate 5% each month till your car amount is met and then buy your car. 

It’s up to you. But don’t exceed this limit, even a little bit in excess can hamper your finances, you don’t want that. 

5. Keep credit cards away

Another great technique to avoid spending aimlessly is not having enough money. Yes, credit cards are the best in the world but if you truly want to save money and stop impulsive buying, you have to maintain distance from your credit cards. 

Just don’t use it. Only when you really require it, otherwise it’s only creating problems in your journey to financial freedom.

Similarly, don’t carry debit cards too. As we discussed earlier, you enter a shopping mall or a grocery store with a list prepared beforehand. So you can guess how much your total cost will be and carry 20% more than your calculations. 

This way even if you’re highly tempted to buy, you won’t be able to just because you don’t have the funds necessary to buy. A simple yet effective strategy. Do try it.

6. Don’t get tempted by discounts

These discounts are really really good. No, I mean it, they are so amazing that even the best of the best fall trap into this and after they spend loads of money, they feel like they didn’t need all this and their finances are hampered. 

Just because it’s a clearance sale, doesn’t mean you buy a lot, it’s just the beginning of the year. Be aware of these traps and keep a calm mind while you see them; no reaction is the best reaction.

Also, the easiest way to avoid discounts is to not leave your house during such discounts. Just stay quarantined at home and you’re on the path to financial freedom!

How is impulsive Buying different from compulsive buying?

Remember how we spoke about spending 5% of your income on things you want? That’s exactly what compulsive buying means.   Basically, a compulsive shopper will plan the shopping experience as a way to release stress or tension, to avoid anxiety, any other problem or maybe just for fun. Impulsive buying is an unplanned whole compulsive buying is planned. 

Impulsive buying leads to sadness after spending whereas compulsive buying will continue bringing happiness even after they spend. But the grass isn’t all green for compulsive buyers; doing these planned purchases over and over again will make the buyer an addict.   So every time he/she has anxiety issues or stress/tension, they resort to spending money to de-stress themselves leading to excessive spending.

How to Avoid Impulsive Buying?

If you buy the things you don’t need, you’ll eventually have to sell the things you do need.

So always try avoiding impulsive Buying and keep wants aside.  About 5% of your net income can be used for wants and that’s fine.

Wants to make our life more fun. Don’t exceed it though. Just an additional 5% expenditure on wants may make or break your budget . 

Do you tend to fall prey to impulsive buying or can you control your emotions? Share your effective strategies to reduce spending. Let me know in the comments below.

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Impulse buying: What it is and how to avoid it

October 17, 2023 | 7 min read

Have you ever gotten your credit card statement and been surprised by the amount you owe? Maybe you reviewed the charges and noticed several purchases you didn’t need—or had already forgotten about. This can be a sign of impulse buying.

A single impulsive purchase might seem harmless. But overspending can add up—and lead to financial stress . Read on to learn why impulse spending can happen and how to break the habit.

Key takeaways

• Impulse buying is typically an unplanned purchase that may not fit into someone’s budget.
• Impulse buying can be influenced by a number of factors like the shopper’s emotional state, need for instant gratification and brand loyalty.
• With a few practices like budgeting, saving and making shopping lists, it’s possible to stop impulse buying and stay on track with long-term financial goals.

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Impulse buying definition

You may be wondering: What’s the difference between a regular purchase and impulse buying?

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an impulse purchase is usually unplanned and may lead to someone spending more than they can afford. And when it comes to making buying decisions, it might help to think about a want versus a need.

A need is something that a person can’t live without—like food and shelter. It can also go beyond that. Students need school supplies, homeowners need furniture and commuters may need a car.

On the other hand, a want is something you may desire but could live without. Not all wants are impulse purchases—they can be planned and budgeted for. But if many of your purchases are spontaneous and your wallet feels light, it might be worth examining impulse buying habits.

Impulse buying examples

Impulse buying can come in many forms, from grabbing a candy bar in the checkout line to getting sucked into a sales pitch at the mall. Here are just a few scenarios where someone might purchase something they want but don’t need—and haven’t budgeted for.

• Grabbing treats at the store that weren’t on the grocery shopping list.
• Purchasing last-minute concert tickets because friends are going.
• Getting talked into buying expensive sunglasses from a mall kiosk.
• Splurging on a watch because it looked good in the display case.
• Signing up for a streaming subscription to watch one movie and never canceling it.
• Having dinner delivered instead of sticking to a meal plan.
• Buying a gift card because it’s being sold at a discount.
• Making an unexpected investment that seems too good to pass up.

Signs of impulsive spending

Just like there are symptoms of the common cold, it’s possible for someone to recognize when they’re spending impulsively. A few signs may include:

• Seeking instant gratification or a mood boost.
• Spending beyond their budget.
• Not being able to pay off bills.
• Feeling buyer’s remorse .
• Returning, not using or even hiding a purchase.

Reasons why the impulse purchase cycle may happen

Research shows that between 40% and 80% of purchases are impulsive. But if this spending habit can impact personal finances, why do people do it?

Impulse buying isn’t always logical—it can be highly emotional. Things like the store environment, self-esteem and emotional well-being may affect a buyer’s decision. Here are a few reasons why an impulse purchase might be hard to resist.

Emotional state

Many different feelings can trigger impulse buying—like fear, hunger, boredom and envy.

Emotional spending can even happen more during national events. Remember those toilet paper shortages? Or the rise in airline ticket prices after a couple of years of staying home? Research shows that impulse buying and revenge spending tend to increase during inflation, presidential elections and economic downturns.

Instant gratification 

Psychologists use the term “present bias” to explain what’s happening behind instant gratification. It describes the tendency to choose a smaller payoff now—in the present moment—instead of a larger payoff in the future. When someone impulsively swings through the drive-thru for an $8 pick-me-up latte on a bad day, that might be called instant gratification.

Advertising

Advertising is often aimed at getting shoppers to spend more money—and one way to do that is by encouraging impulsive spending. 40% of people spend more than they planned while shopping in a physical store, compared to the 25% of people who overspend online.

Advertising tactics may include deals and promotions, product placement and stimuli like the store environment and salespeople that influence customers.

Brand loyalty 

Car manufacturers , tech companies and clothing designers are often known for their repeat customers. Convinced that there’s a best brand of car to buy? Can’t wait for the new smartphone model to come out? Need to have the latest sneaker? That’s brand loyalty. And it might impact how quickly someone buys a brand’s product once it hits the shelves.

How to stop impulse buying

People with impulsive spending habits may want to stop—but don’t know where to start. Sticking to a budget, setting savings goals, using shopping lists and paying in cash are all ways to try to limit impulse buying. Financial freedom could be just around the corner.

Keep a budget 

Creating a budget is like drawing a map—it shows you the way to your financial goals . The CFPB offers a few simple steps to get started:

• Identify where your money comes from, including any income plus benefits or financial support.
• Categorize where your money goes and start tracking spending. This step is important for curbing impulse buying because every time a purchase is made, it shows up here.
• Take note of all your bills and when they’re due so you can pay them on time and in full.
• Create your budget using the help of a budgeting tool .

With a clear financial picture—including what’s coming in and what’s going out—impulsive shoppers might be more motivated to stick to their planned spending.

Create a savings plan

Managing income and expenses is often the first part of budgeting. But setting savings goals comes next. According to the CFPB, a SMART savings goal answers the following questions:

The bigger the savings goal, the less opportunity for impulse buying. Instead of swiping their card for a dose of instant gratification, someone might envision the college tuition , home or emergency fund  they’re saving for instead.

Make shopping lists

A simple way to start saving money is to make a list before going shopping. Navigating the grocery store, mall or even an online retailer becomes easier with a plan in hand. That way, the only purchases made are ones that fit into the budget.

Pay with cash

Carrying and paying with cash can help limit spending—compared to paying with a credit card that might have a high credit limit . It’s a handy trick for folks who are learning how to rein in their purchases.

As you get better at avoiding impulse buying, a rewards credit card might make sense. With responsible use, you could use it to build credit and earn rewards on purchases. It could also help to learn a few tips for budgeting with a credit card .

Ask these questions before buying

Before pulling out your purse, it might be worth asking yourself a few questions like:

• Are any of the items in my cart unplanned purchases?
• Is this item a need or a want?
• What emotions are affecting my desire for this item? What about advertising?
• Could I come back for this item in 24 hours—or later, if it’s over $100?
• How long would I have to work or save to buy this item?

By taking a pause before making a purchase, shoppers can better avoid unwanted spending habits.

Impulse buying in a nutshell

Although impulse buying can look different for everyone, it’s a habit that might not benefit your financial goals in the long run. With a few tactics like building a budget and making a shopping list, you could begin saving money for the things you really need.

Looking for other ways to set healthy limits for yourself? A spending limit on your credit cards can help curb impulsive purchases until you’re on track.

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Impulse buying: a meta-analytic review

• Review Paper
• Open access
• Published: 09 July 2019
• Volume 48 , pages 384–404, ( 2020 )

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• Gopalkrishnan R. Iyer 1 ,
• Markus Blut 2 ,
• Sarah Hong Xiao 3 &
• Dhruv Grewal 4  

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Impulse buying by consumers has received considerable attention in consumer research. The phenomenon is interesting because it is not only prompted by a variety of internal psychological factors but also influenced by external, market-related stimuli. The meta-analysis reported in this article integrates findings from 231 samples and more than 75,000 consumers to extend understanding of the relationship between impulse buying and its determinants, associated with several internal and external factors. Traits (e.g., sensation-seeking, impulse buying tendency), motives (e.g., utilitarian, hedonic), consumer resources (e.g., time, money), and marketing stimuli emerge as key triggers of impulse buying. Consumers’ self-control and mood states mediate and explain the affective and cognitive psychological processes associated with impulse buying. By establishing these pathways and processes, this study helps clarify factors contributing to impulse buying and the role of factors in resisting such impulses. It also explains the inconsistent findings in prior research by highlighting the context-dependency of various determinants. Specifically, the results of a moderator analysis indicate that the impacts of many determinants depend on the consumption context (e.g., product’s identity expression, price level in the industry).

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Consumers spend $5,400 per year on average on impulse purchases of food, clothing, household items, and shoes (O’Brien 2018 ). Thus, there is considerable need to investigate consumer impulse buying, defined as episodes in which “a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately” (Rook 1987 , p. 191). Products purchased impulsively often get assigned to a distinct category in marketing texts, yet decades of research reveal that impulsive purchases actually are not restricted to any specific product category. As Rook and Hoch ( 1985 , p. 23) assert, “it is the individuals, not the products, who experience the impulse to consume.”

Academic research that explores the various triggers of impulse buying consists of three main schools of thought. First, some scholars argue that individual traits lead consumers to engage in impulse buying (e.g., Verplanken and Herabadi 2001 ). For example, people who are impulsive are more likely to engage in impulse buying (Rook and Hoch 1985 ), whereas those who do not display this trait may be less likely to engage in spontaneous behaviors while shopping. Among the psychological factors that might evoke impulse buying, researchers have explored the traits of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and representations of self-identity. Second, both motives and resources might drive impulse buying. Researchers have identified the effects of two types of motives (hedonic and utilitarian), as well as subjective norms, and argued that mere impulsiveness is often not strong enough to trigger impulse buying. Instead, the availability of resources coupled with a failure of self-control also is required to enact impulse buying (Baumeister 2002 ; Hoch and Loewenstein 1991 ). Considerable research has investigated the specific influences of different types of resources, including psychic, time, and money resources (Vohs and Faber 2007 ), with the assumption that resource-based motives, availability, and constraints impact consumer impulse buying. Third, some studies focus on the role of marketing drivers, highlighting how impulse buying can result from store or shelf placements, attractive displays, and in-store promotions. This view holds that impulse buying can be influenced, so retailers invest in marketing instruments designed to trigger it (Mattila and Wirtz 2001 ).

Although these diverse research streams approach impulse buying from different angles and have established considerable insights into its triggers, a unified and comprehensive view of the drivers of impulse buying would further enhance our understanding. We perform a meta-analysis on an accumulation of prior empirical research, focusing on disparate drivers and the most impactful antecedents, and the substantive insights obtained from the estimation of effect sizes. Our study can guide further research and the results also could aid managers in crafting strategies to stimulate impulse purchases by targeting the most receptive customers and investing in effective marketing campaigns. In addition to the direct effects of various antecedents on impulse buying, our proposed framework identifies several mediating mechanisms, including self-control (Vohs and Faber 2007 ) and positive and negative emotions (Rook and Gardner 1993 ). We test the joint effects of emotions and self-control, which enables us to specify their concurrent mediating roles, as well as the potential for serial moderation (i.e., self-control influences emotions). Apart from the typical study moderators, we examine industry moderators—namely, the average price level, advertising, and distribution intensity in the industry, as well as the identity expression capacity of the product category—in line with Rook and Fisher’s ( 1995 , p. 312) call for “a better understanding of various contextual factors that are also likely to contribute to this relationship [between determinants and impulse buying].” The precise roles of these moderating variables have not been explored in prior impulse buying studies, and a better understanding of their influence can provide new insights and spur further in-depth research.

Our use of a meta-analysis is in line with calls in recent research (Grewal et al. 2018b ; Palmatier et al. 2018 ) highlighting the importance of such integrative reviews. An earlier meta-analysis by Amos et al. ( 2014 ) summarized the impacts of various factors on consumer impulse buying; our review extends on their work in several ways. First, we recognize the diverse perspectives on impulse buying and the need to obtain a more comprehensive understanding by combining insights from different research streams. To this end, we have sourced extensively and include 186 papers in our meta-analysis, compared with 63 in Amos et al. ( 2014 ). Second, Amos et al. focus primarily on main effects, whereas we examine moderators and mediators, in addition to the main effects. This scrutiny of the moderating effects also allows us to consider individual relationships rather than pool the effect sizes of all antecedents (Amos et al. 2014 ) and thus identify stronger and weaker effects. Third, by examining mediating effects, we can test alternate theory-based relationships of the various antecedents on impulse buying. The resulting insights help provide a more inclusive understanding of impulse buying as compared with the use of only one theoretical perspective.

Conceptual framework

Several determinants of impulse buying appear in prior research. In line with Dholakia ( 2000 ), we explore the effects of trait determinants, motives, resources, and marketing stimuli on impulse buying. Beyond these categories of main effects, our integrated model explores their impacts through the mediation of self-control and individual emotional states as well (Mehrabian and Russell 1974 ). We also account for contextual differences in effects by examining the moderating influences of industry-related characteristics. Furthermore, we consider the possible influence of study characteristics (i.e., impulse buying measure, sample composition, and publication year) on the effects obtained. Our conceptual model is in Fig.  1 , and we offer a summary of the predicted relationships in Table  1 .

Meta-analytic framework

Determinants of impulse buying

Trait and related determinants.

Several individual traits and self-identity may serve as internal sources of impulse buying. Psychological impulses strongly influence impulse buying (Rook 1987 ; Rook and Hoch 1985 ), and prior research shows that people who score high on impulsivity trait measures are more likely to engage in impulse buying (Beatty and Ferrell 1998 ; Rook and Fisher 1995 ; Rook and Gardner 1993 ). Moreover, other traits are also associated with impulse buying and studies in the past have attempted to study their impacts as well (e.g., Mowen and Spears 1999 ; Sharma et al. 2010 ).

First, we examine the role of sensation-seeking as having a direct impact on impulse buying. Sensation-seeking, variety-seeking, novelty-seeking, and similar dispositions are arguably distinct from other traits such as impulsivity and reported as contributing to impulse buying (Punj 2011 ; Sharma et al. 2014 ; Van Trijp and Steenkamp 1992 ). Second, an impulse buying tendency , which includes the trait of impulsivity, reflects an enduring disposition to act spontaneously in a specific consumption context. This well-recognized concept captures a relatively enduring consumer trait that produces an urge or motivation for actual impulse buying (Rook and Fisher 1995 ). Impulse buying tendencies, are easier to observe than other traits and are also highly predictive of impulse buying (Beatty and Ferrell 1998 ; Rook and Gardner 1993 ). Third, buyer-specific beliefs about self-identity and its deficits influence impulse buying decisions (Dittmar et al. 1995 ). Impulse purchases are more likely to involve items that are symbolic of a preferred or ideal self as well as products that offer high identity-expressive potential, to compensate for the buyer’s own identity deficits (Dittmar et al. 1995 ; Dittmar and Bond 2010 ). However, contextual factors may play a role on the impacts of such perceptions of identity deficits (e.g., Dittmar et al. 2009 ).

Motives and norms

Consumers’ motives, such as hedonic or utilitarian motives , are important internal sources of impulse buying that reflect goal-directed arousal, leading to specific beliefs about consumption. For example, consumers may believe that buying objects will provide emotional gratification, compensation, rewards, or else minimize their negative feelings. Such beliefs may be especially relevant if the objects are unique and feature a marked opportunity cost, such that they need to be purchased immediately (Rook and Fisher 1995 ; Vohs and Faber 2007 ).

Norms invoked by consumers about their own impulsiveness also might affect impulse buying decisions. As Rook and Fisher ( 1995 , p. 307) explain, “consumers’ own prior impulse buying experiences may serve as a basis for independent, internalized evaluations of impulse buying as either bad or good.” From a self-regulation perspective, when prior impulse buying evokes positive experiences, consumers likely engage in it again, as a promotion-focused strategy (Verplanken and Sato 2011 ).

Customers with greater psychic resources or interest in a product category are more likely to engage in impulse buying, whereas those who lack the necessary resources (time, money) engage less in impulse buying (Hoch and Loewenstein 1991 ; Jones et al. 2003 ; Kacen and Lee 2002 ). Age and gender might capture shopping-related resources, such that impulse buying tendencies often are more prevalent among specific social or demographic cohorts (Kacen and Lee 2002 ; Tifferet and Herstein 2012 ; Wood 1998 ). Drawing from prior research, Kacen and Lee ( 2002 ) offer that younger shoppers may be more likely to buying impulsively while older adults may be better able to regulate their emotions and engage in self-control.

Several research and practical observations have highlighted gender differences in shopping (e.g., Underhill 2000 ). Dittmar et al. ( 1995 ) find that men and women are likely to buy different products to buy impulsively and also use different buying considerations when buying on impulse. Also, it has been found that women are more likely as compared to men to experience regret or a mixture of pleasure and guilt (Coley and Burgess 2003 ).

• Marketing stimuli

Marketers deliberately design external stimuli to appeal to shoppers’ senses (Eroglu et al. 2003 ). Managers expend substantial time and effort in designing retail environments and the resulting retail interactions to increase shoppers’ psychological motivation to purchase (Berry et al. 2002 ; Foxall and Greenley 1999 ). It has been estimated that about 62% of in-store purchases are made impulsively and online buyers are more likely to be impulsive (Chamorro-Premuzic 2015 ). Thus, impulse buying can be triggered by various marketing stimuli such as merchandise, communications, store atmospherics, and price discounts (Mohan et al. 2013 ).

Mediators of impulse buying

Baumeister ( 2002 ) has established the importance of motives and resource depletion for driving impulse buying; therefore, we also consider whether self-control and emotions might be triggered. By including these mediating mechanisms in our meta-analysis, we avoid over- or underestimating the importance of various impulse buying triggers. In particular, we assess the joint effects of emotions and self-control, which enables us to specify their concurrent mediating roles, as well as the potential for serial mediation (i.e., self-control influences emotions).

Self-control as a mediator

Countering prior arguments that impulse purchases stem from irresistible urges, Baumeister ( 2002 ) has argued that individuals’ self-control can and do resist such urges. Muraven and Baumeister ( 2000 ; p. 247) submit that self-control, or the “control over the self by the self,” involves attempts by individuals to curb their desires, conform to rules and change how think, feel or act. Also, individuals differ in self-control leading to the view that self-control is an inherent strength or trait (Baumeister 2002 ). It has also been argued that a failure of self-control could occur due to conflicting goals, reduction in self-monitoring or depletion of mental resources (Baumeister 2002 ; Verplanken and Sato 2011 ). The depletion of mental resources, or “ego depletion,” may also be temporal, i.e., more likely to occur at the end of the day (Baumeister 2002 ; p. 673). The “ever-shifting conflict between desire and willpower” (Vohs and Faber 2007 , p. 538) demonstrates the importance of self-control as a key mediator in the impacts of various antecedents noted in our model and impulse buying.

Emotions as mediators

Environmental psychology research, and particularly the stimulus–organism–response model proposed by Mehrabian and Russell ( 1974 ), highlights experienced emotions as potential mediating constructs. Input variables such as environmental stimuli or individual traits jointly influence individual affective responses, which then induce response behaviors (Baker et al. 1992 ). Verplanken and Herabadi ( 2001 ) explain that customers engaging in impulse buying tend to display emotions at any point of time during the purchase (i.e., before, during, or after). Extant findings are somewhat inconsistent though. It has been argued that impulse buying behavior relates strongly to positive emotions and feelings such that impulse buyers experience more positive emotions such as delight and consequently spend more (Beatty and Ferrell 1998 ). Impulse buyers have a strong need for arousal and experience an emotional lift from persistent repetitive purchasing behaviors (O'Guinn and Faber 1989 ; Verplanken and Sato 2011 ). Such arousal even might be a stronger motive for impulse buying than product ownership (Dawson et al. 1990 ).

Rook and Gardner ( 1993 ) acknowledge that while pleasure is an important precursor, negative mood states such as sadness, can also be associated with impulse buying. For example, various studies suggest self-gifting to be a form of retail therapy that helps customers in managing their moods (Mick and Demoss 1990 ; Rook and Gardner 1993 ; Vohs and Faber 2007 ). Other researchers concur that impulse buying can serve to manage or elevate negative mood states but also suggest that this influence occurs through a self-regulatory function (Rook and Gardner 1993 ; Verplanken et al. 2005 ). Thus, emotional states—whether positive or negative—likely affect impulse buying, but we find no consensus about whether or how negative moods, positive moods, or both determine impulse buying uniquely.

Finally, research rooted in environmental psychology asserts that exposure to environmental stimuli, consumers’ personalities, and personal motives can cause specific (positive or negative) emotional reactions (e.g., Babin et al. 1994 ; Donovan and Rossiter 1982 ; Mehrabian and Russell 1974 ). These in turn mediate the impacts of personal, situational, and external factors on impulse buying (Parboteeah et al. 2009 ; Verhagen and van Dolen 2011 ). The limited empirical evidence on the mediating role of emotions refers to specific contexts; for example, Adelaar et al. ( 2003 ) show that pleasure, dominance, and arousal triggered at the moment of purchase mediate the effect of a media format on impulse buying intentions online. Verhagen and van Dolen ( 2011 ) found that positive emotions mediate the effects of consumer beliefs about online stores and their likelihood of buying impulsively. Store environments and circumstances such as time and money resources also might prompt negative emotional reactions (Lucas and Koff 2014 ; Vohs and Faber 2007 ), suggesting the need for more empirical evidence to determine which emotions are more prominent.

The serial mediation of self-control and emotions also deserves examination. The motivational role of self-control also suggests that a successful exercise of self-control may also contribute to positive affect; in other words, individuals with higher self-control not only resist temptations successfully but may experience other consequent states such as fewer emotional problems and greater life satisfaction (Baumeister 2002 ; Baumeister et al. 2008 ; Hofmann et al. 2012 ; Tice et al. 2001 ). The conceptualization of self-control as a strength and self-control failure as ego-depletion (c.f., Baumeister 2002 ) also paves the way for understanding how the exercise of self-control and the unpleasant consequence of self-regulation of a pleasant task may contribute to seeking other pleasurable pursuits (Finley and Schemichel 2018 ). Thus, individuals may counter the distasteful after-effects of a self-control act by pursuing opportunities that would contribute to positive emotions (Finley and Schemichel 2018 ). This view of self-control views ego-depletion as a process, whereby the exercise of self-control in one time period leads to the individual seeking subsequent positive experiences (Finley and Schemichel 2018 ). Another view of self-control offers that self-control may not be all about inhibitions and restrictions; the trait of self-control may also engage in a promotion focus and thereby engage in initiatory behaviors towards achieving the same goal (Cheung et al. 2014 ). While the above discussion sheds light on the relationship between self-control and positive emotions, there is a lack of clarity in current literature on the precise direction of the relationship between self-control and emotional states relative to impulse buying as well as the impact of self-control on negative emotions.

Contextual moderators

We seek novel insights by examining industry characteristics as potential contextual moderators. Based on extant studies, we identify the price levels, advertising, and distribution intensity within the industry context as moderators that may influence the effects of other factors on impulse buying. The identity expression capability of the products themselves could moderate the impacts of the various determinants too. Prior impulse buying studies do not test the effects of these moderators; to derive our predictions, we thus turn to relationship marketing research that reveals how industry-level variables determine effectiveness (Fang et al. 2008 ). Product price levels matter, because financial constraints suppress impulse purchases (Rook and Fisher 1995 ), and impulse buying triggers are less effective in more expensive product categories. In their meta-analysis, Samaha et al. ( 2014 ) find that advertising intensity in a specific industry reduces the effectiveness of a firm’s communication activities. We posit that similarly, impulse buying triggers may be less effective in industries in which all firms invest heavily in advertising, because consumers are less likely to recognize and consider these various triggers. In addition, distribution intensity in an industry might influence impulse buying, because the urge to purchase likely increases when products are rare or exclusive (Troisi et al. 2006 ). Finally, some products are more prone to impulse purchases, especially if they symbolize a preferred or ideal self (Dittmar et al. 1995 ; Dittmar and Bond 2010 ). Thus, we anticipate differing effectiveness of impulse buying triggers according to the product.

Method moderators

Meta-analyses frequently consider the influence of the methods adopted by the included studies, such as how they measure key constructs, on the strength of the focal relationships. Impulse buying studies frequently use different measures for similar constructs; we use the scale for buying impulse developed by Rook ( 1987 ) as a baseline to assess whether other measures perform differently. Meta-analyses also can reveal whether the use of specific samples influences the findings (Orsingher et al. 2009 ). In particular, student samples tend to be more homogeneous than non-student samples and thus produce stronger effect sizes. Finally, we assess the influence of the study period. The emergence of the Internet and advanced communication technologies have left customers more knowledgeable, with altered expectations of retailers (Blut et al. 2018 ). Accordingly, we consider whether customers’ impulse buying behaviors might have changed over time.

Data collection and coding

We collected the data for this study by searching electronic databases, including EBSCO, Proquest, Ingenta Journals, Elsevier Science Direct, Google Scholar, the web, and several pertinent leading journals (e.g., Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research ). We also identified relevant articles by examining the reference lists of the collected articles. Our search used various terms, including “impulse buying” and “impulsive buying,” “impulsivity,” “compulsive buying,” and “unplanned buying,” and encompassed titles, abstracts, and keywords. The document types included articles and reviews (c.f., book review); the language was English; and the subject areas spanned marketing and advertising, management, business, economics, sociology, and psychology. We also obtained some unpublished studies from their authors. We sent 159 emails to authors of published papers seeking at least minimally relevant statistics for conducting the analysis. After excluding theoretical papers, qualitative studies, book reviews, studies that mention but do not measure impulse buying, and studies that do not report the necessary effect sizes, we pared down the list of 386 articles to a final data set of 186 articles reporting empirical results. Footnote 1

We coded each effect size according to the relationship of the independent variables (traits, motives, resources, and marketing stimuli), the mediators (self-control, positive emotions, and negative emotions) and impulse buying. We also coded the industry and method moderator variables, such that we assessed industry characteristics (i.e., product-identity relation, price level, advertising intensity, and distribution intensity) using the industry description reported by the studies. We similarly coded the method moderators (i.e., study year, measurement of impulse buying, and student sample) using information provided in each study. Two coders achieved agreement greater than 90% and discussed any inconsistencies, using the construct definitions in Table  2 to classify all the variables.

We included studies that reported (1) correlations (r) between the variables of interest, (2) the standardized regression coefficients (beta coefficients), (3) F- or t-values, or (4) frequencies, to calculate as as many effect sizes, so as to enhance the generalizability (Peterson and Brown 2005 ).

Integration of effect sizes

Correlation coefficients were used as effect sizes in our meta-analysis. If such coefficients were not reported in the collected studies, we transformed alternative statistics, such as regression coefficients, into correlations (Peterson and Brown 2005 ). Following Peterson and Brown ( 2005 ), we imputed correlations from the beta coefficients using the formula: r = .98β + .05λ with λ = 1 when β > 0 and λ = 0 when β < 0. Some studies also report more than one correlation for the same relationship between two constructs, in which case, we averaged the two correlations and treated them as if they were from a single study (Hunter and Schmidt 2004 ). We did not have enough effect sizes to include some determinants in all analyses, such as the four marketing stimuli of communication, price stimuli, store ambience, and merchandise. We therefore examined these determinants separately when possible and merged them as necessary to include them in other analyses. If a study had measured more than one of the four instruments, we calculated an average effect size for the aggregate marketing stimuli variable. This approach ensures the use of only one aggregate marketing stimuli effect size for each study. After transforming and averaging the effect sizes, the total data set in the meta-analysis consists of 968 effect sizes, extracted from 231 samples obtained from 186 articles. The total combined sample includes 75,434 respondents.

We used a random-effects approach (Hunter and Schmidt 2004 ) to calculate the average correlations. Effect sizes were corrected for measurement error in the dependent and independent variables using the coded reliability coefficients. We followed the Hunter and Schmidt ( 2004 ) recommendation of dividing the correlations by the product of the square root of the respective reliabilities of the two constructs involved. Further, reliability-adjusted correlations were weighted by sample size to adjust for sampling error. It has been recommended that reliability-adjusted effect sizes should be transformed into Fisher’s z coefficients before weighting them by sample size (Kirca et al. 2005 ). This transformation is not without controversies, and some studies suggest that Fisher’s z overestimates true effect sizes by 15%–45% (Field 2001 ). However, when we compare the results of both approaches, we find no significant differences.

Next, for each sample size–weighted and reliability-adjusted correlation, we calculated standard errors and 95% confidence intervals. We used a chi-square test and applied a 75% rule-of-thumb to assess the homogeneity of the effect size distribution (Hunter and Schmidt 2004 ). To assess the robustness of our results and potential publication bias, we estimated Rosenthal’s ( 1979 ) fail-safe N; in other words, the estimation of the number of studies that had null results and therefore not published before the Type I error probability can be brought to a barely significant level ( p  = .05). We also tested the influence of sample size and effect size outliers on integrated effect sizes, but the results remained largely the same (Geyskens et al. 2009 ). To assess the practical relevance of the different determinants, we calculated the shared variance with impulse buying for each predictor, as well as the binomial effect size display (BESD) (Grewal et al. 2018b ), which indicates the likelihood that a customer (e.g., female) would purchase impulsively compared with a reference group (e.g., male customers). A value greater than 1 indicates a greater relative likelihood, whereas a value lower than 1 signals a lower likelihood.

Descriptive statistics

Direct effects.

As Table  3 indicates, the averaged effect sizes for most motives, resources, and trait predictors are significant; however, socio-demographic predictors seem to matter less for impulse buying. We find strong support for the impacts of the three trait-related predictors on impulse buying. As expected, an individual's tendency to act impulsively has a stronger effect than other traits, reflecting its stronger link to the behavior of interest.

Utilitarian and hedonic motives show about equal impacts on impulse buying; further research should pay more attention to these determinants. We find support for gender effects but observe no differences for age. The former results are in line with prior research that suggests women generally are more likely to purchase impulsively than men (Dittmar et al. 1995 ). However, the insignificant results for age suggests there are not many differences between older and younger customers with regard to spending money impulsively. Moreover, we find that marketing stimuli exert a direct influence on customers’ impulse buying behavior. When examining the specific marketing instruments, we find the strongest effects for communication and price stimuli and weaker effects for store ambience and merchandise.

We uncover significant effects for emotions and self-control (Table  4 ). Descriptive statistics were also examined to gauge the impact of the predictors on the mediators (Table 4 ); 30 of the 39 predictor–mediator relationships (77%) are significant. Thus, we obtain a preliminary indication of the mediating roles of emotions and self-control, and we can proceed to test the proposed mediating effects in the SEM.

The shared variances and BESD give some indication of the practical relevance of different determinants. Using these criteria, we observe strong effects of impulse buying tendencies, utilitarian motives, and communication. All the significant relationships are robust to publication bias because the file-drawer N is many times greater than the tolerance levels proposed by Rosenthal ( 1979 ). We also examined funnel plots and do not find any indication of publication bias. In all cases, the significant chi-square tests of homogeneity suggest moderation.

Evaluation of structural equation model

We tested the mediating effects using structural equation modeling (SEM) and included variables for which correlations with all other variables could be identified. The complete correlation matrix includes correlations between the most often studied variables in prior research (Table  5 ). It served as the input to LISREL 8.80 and the harmonic mean of all sample sizes ( N  = 1726) was used as input. Since the harmonic mean is lower than the arithmetic mean, SEM estimations are more conservative (Viswesvaran and Ones 1995 ). Note that since each construct had only a single indicator and since measurement errors were taken into account when estimating the mean effect sizes, the error variances in the SEM could be set to 0. The different marketing instruments could not be individually included in the SEM, due to the small number of effect sizes, so we aggregated all marketing instruments into one determinant variable and examined its influence in the SEM; if a study included two or more marketing stimuli effects, we averaged them. The proposed model with both mediators and the effect of self-control on emotions performs well and displays a good fit (Fig.  2 ).

Results of the structural equation model. Notes : A dotted line indicates that the path is not significant. Model fit: χ 2 /1 = 67.74; confirmatory fit index = .99; goodness-of-fit index = .99; root mean residual = .02; standardized root mean residual = .02

Positive moods

The SEM results suggest that positive moods are important mediators (Fig. 2 ). Customers with stronger hedonic motives are more likely to experience positive feelings; customers with utilitarian motives are less likely to experience such feelings. Those with favorable subjective norms and high self-control also experience positive moods. These effects are new to extant impulse buying literature. Similarly, customers who are generally high in impulsivity experience positive feelings. Finally, marketing stimuli relate significantly to positive feelings, though the effect is relatively weak.

Negative moods

Negative mood states relate significantly to impulse buying, and each of the determinants link to this mediator, with the exception of marketing stimuli and self-control. Customers high in hedonic and utilitarian motives are less likely to experience negative moods. Favorable subjective norms increase the likelihood of negative feelings. Impulse buying tendency is positively related to the experience of negative moods. The insignificance of marketing stimuli suggests that the stimuli do not trigger negative moods in customers. Self-control also does not reduce the experience of negative emotions.

• Self-control

Unlike mood states, self-control reduces the likelihood of impulse purchases. This cognition intervenes when customers experience an urge to buy impulsively. According to the SEM results, several predictors either trigger individual awareness of the long-term consequences of spending or reassure consumers that spending is acceptable. For example, customers high in impulsivity are less likely to exhibit self-control. Subjective norms that encourage impulse buying lower self-control perceptions, but marketing stimuli serve to increase self-control. Finally, hedonic and utilitarian motives increase self-control perceptions. The positive effect of marketing stimuli on self-control suggests that customers are aware of how firms try to influence them to make them impulsive purchases.

Similar to Pick and Eisend ( 2014 ), we tested the importance of mediation effects using two approaches. First, we examined the ratio of indirect effects to total effects as displayed in Table  6 . We find significant indirect effects and high ratios for most determinants, including self-control (20%), impulse buying tendency (46%), utilitarian motives (34%), norms (49%), and marketing stimuli (39%). Only the indirect effect of hedonic motives is insignificant, leading to a low ratio of indirect effects to total effects (8%). The direct, indirect, and total effects differ for some determinants; self-control has a negative direct effect on impulse buying, yet the indirect effect through mediators is positive, which mitigates the total negative effect. Impulse buying tendency has positive direct and indirect effects on impulse buying, such that the total effect is nearly twice as strong as the direct effect. Utilitarian motives have a positive direct effect on impulse buying and a negative indirect effect that lowers the total effect. Norms display a negative direct effect and a positive indirect effect; we observe the opposite effects for marketing stimuli. The mediation model thus provides a clearer view of how these determinants influence impulse buying.

Second, we compare the proposed model, which assumes partial mediation effects, with two models with only indirect effects of the determinants through moods and self-control (full mediation). As suggested by Pick and Eisend ( 2014 ), we compare the models using a chi-square difference test (Δχ 2 /df). Both full mediation models exhibit significantly worse model fit than the proposed model (mood: Δχ 2 /df = 630.51/6, p  < .01; self-control: Δχ 2 /df = 755.28/8, p  < .01). Thus, the mediating effects of moods and self-control are partial rather than full.

Moderator analysis results

The need for a moderator analysis was assessed through the chi-square test of homogeneity and a 75% rule (Hunter and Schmidt 2004 ). The 75% rule indicates that if the proportion of variance in the distribution of effect sizes attributed to sampling error and other artifacts is less than 75%, a moderator analysis is warranted. In our results, the chi-square value is significant in all cases, and the 75% rule suggests values lower than 75%, in support of a moderator analysis. We coded several moderators in our random effects regression model as dummy variables, including the four industry moderators: product identity relation (1 = high expressive, 0 = low expressive), price level (1 = high, 0 = low), advertising intensity (1 = high, 0 = low), and distribution intensity (1 = high, 0 = low). Footnote 2 For the two method moderators, impulse buying measure (1 = Rook, 0 = non-Rook) and sample (1 = student, 0 = non-student), we used dummy codes. The year of the study came directly from the articles.

Using meta-regression procedures suggested by Lipsey and Wilson ( 2001 ) and the provided macros, we assess the influence of the moderators in our model with random-effects regression (Hunter and Schmidt 2004 ). Using reliability-corrected correlations as the dependent variable, we conducted tests of the moderators for 18 predictor variables and regressed correlations on four industry variables and three method variables. To test moderation effects, we ensured that at least 10 effect sizes were available (Samaha et al. 2014 ).

Product identification

We confirm a moderating influence of product identification (Table  7 ). If a product’s expressiveness is high (i.e., product identity is coded as 1 for high expressiveness), some predictors lose their relevance, including self-identity and subjective norms. Products that facilitate consumer self-expression are more likely to be bought impulsively, because they represent a preferred or ideal self (Dittmar et al. 1995 ; Dittmar and Bond 2010 ). Products with high expressiveness also suppress the effects of norms. In these conditions, other determinants become less effective. However, some determinants related to communication and negative feelings gain importance, because consumers are very sensitive with regard to their self-perceptions.

Price level

As expected, the average price level of products in an industry buffers the impacts of several predictors. Most predictors lose some relevance when prices are high (i.e., price level is coded as 1), including sensation-seeking, impulse buying tendency, hedonic motives, utilitarian motives, psychic resources, and positive moods. Only self-control gains importance, in line with our reasoning. Higher prices alert consumers to the financial consequences of their urge to buy impulsively, making these determinants less effective (but self-control more effective).

Advertising intensity

The influence of advertising is quite interesting. On the one hand, it appears to increase desire for certain products, so some predictors gain relevance. On the other hand, the predictors may lose relevance, because products seem less unique when they are advertised everywhere. Negative moods and merchandise gain importance with greater advertising intensity, but norms, psychic resources, and store ambience matter less.

Distribution intensity

Product availability in an industry depends on its distribution intensity. For example, Dholakia ( 2000 ) explains that physical proximity is essential for the experience of an impulsive urge, but a product that is unusually difficult to purchase may be more appealing to customers than products that are available everywhere. We anticipated and find that at least some impulse buying predictors, such as utilitarian motives, psychic resources, merchandise, and negative mood states, become less effective when a product is more widely available. Moreover, communication gains relevance with greater distribution intensity.

When examining the moderating influence of the method adopted in the different studies, we find that several predictors, such as impulse buying tendency and utilitarian motives, gain importance over time. We do not observe a specific pattern for the measures employed. The results with regard to the measures used in the studies suggest that the widely employed Rook scale performs as well as alternative impulse buying measures. We also find generally weaker effects in studies using student samples. In further meta-regression models, we assessed the influence of country culture and emerging markets but do not find notable differences.

Implications and directions for further research

This meta-analysis aims to provide a comprehensive and coherent understanding of impulse buying behavior, by synthesizing previous research. Our meta-analytic review seeks deeper insights into impulse buying, and our comprehensive model of impulse buying integrates constructs and relationships from studies over the past four decades of empirical research on impulse buying. The results from our meta-analysis provide new insights into the impacts of various antecedent factors and call particular attention to the tensions between the inherent urge to buy impulsively and the constraints and control on such buying impulses. Also, the results clarify the impacts of marketing stimuli on consumer impulse buying and highlight the context-dependency of impulse buying research. These meta-analysis results in turn suggest several implications for practice and directions for further research.

Managerial implications

Consumer buying on impulse has long been an area of interest for managers; even a small proportion of impulse purchases on each shopping trip or a small base of impulse shoppers can contribute significant annual incremental sales (Rostoks 2003 ). It is therefore important to identify not just which consumers may be more inclined to purchase on impulse but also specific environmental factors that may prompt and encourage impulse buying. Impulse purchases can increase retail sales (top-line) and profits (bottom-line), especially for high-margin products. As summarized in Table  8 , our results suggest employing a variety of marketing strategies.

In their attempt to devise strategies to encourage impulse shopping and/or promote impulse buying behaviors, retailers have not been averse to making large investments in marketing stimuli, such as merchandising, displays, lighting, music, and other environmental factors that might trigger impulse purchases (Mattila and Wirtz 2001 ). Our review acknowledges that impulse buying can be triggered by external factors, so retailers should devise new, unique marketing stimuli to convey the value of their offerings and encourage impulse buying. Yet not all marketing stimuli are equally effective. Communication and price stimuli are more effective in prompting impulse buying than are store ambience and merchandise. Although retailers often devote considerable expenses to store design, store atmosphere, store layout, and merchandise placement, they may be better off investing more in price promotions and advertising, which likely have stronger impulse buying effects.

An important practical insight from this meta-analysis is that though marketing mix stimuli have positive impacts on impulse buying, they also heighten awareness of such tendencies and thus may curb impulse buying overall. This finding suggests consumers are becoming increasingly familiar with firms’ tactics to persuade them to buy impulsively and skeptical of various marketing practices. For practitioners, these findings may be somewhat discouraging; impulse buying is not simply a response to marketing stimuli, and psychological, social, and situational variables also have impacts. Additional research is warranted to understand how shopper skepticism evoked by marketing tactics might inhibit impulse buying. Retailers may need to try harder to devise unique or new marketing stimuli that can get past consumers’ defenses and convey the value of their offers.

The identification of an impulse buying segment of customers would be of great importance to retailers that currently rely solely on marketing stimuli. But if impulse buying were only trait driven, marketing strategy would have no effect on impulse purchases. The good news from our meta-analysis is that impulse buying is triggered by both factors internal to consumers and external marketing stimuli. Thus, it may be possible to identify consumers prone to impulse buying but also specify situations that enable it. That is, marketers could identify a distinct impulse buying segment and then design the shopping environment to make their impulse buying more likely. In some challenging findings though, we show that demographics such as age and gender matter less for predicting impulse buying, so retailers likely need to undertake deeper research into consumer psychographics to identify an impulse buying segment.

Shopping motives, whether hedonic or utilitarian, also matter when it comes to impulse buying. These motives are inherent to the consumer, so marketers should design stores and offers to evoke and facilitate appropriate motives. Yet consumers’ resource constraints (e.g., time, money) curb their buying impulses, so marketers also could focus on devising tactics to reduce the impacts of resource constraints. For example, access to speedy financing and faster checkouts likely help mitigate credit and time constraints.

Consumers with high self-control and those influenced by social norms also may be less prone to impulse buying, because the uninhibited urge to buy impulsively is curbed by self-control and social norms. Understanding these restrictions can help ethical marketers develop stimuli that both facilitate unplanned purchases but discourage purely uninhibited, impulsive purchases that may lead to later regret and consumer dissatisfaction. Ultimately, marketers must choose between making an immediate sale that might produce consumer dissatisfaction and exhibiting concern for the consumer to encourage future patronage. Similarly, both positive and negative emotions enhance impulse buying, and ethical marketers should leverage affective strategies to encourage impulsive purchases that align with available consumer resources. Public policy makers also might take heed of self-control, norms, and emotions to devise policies to reduce unhealthy impulse buying.

Because industry characteristics also matter in impulse buying, managers need to understand how the industry context moderates the impacts of various consumer traits, motives, and resources on impulse buying. Even if impulse buying is common in industries with low price levels, our findings caution that it is not the only relevant industry context; rather, impulse buying also occurs when product–identity relationships are strong. In such contexts, marketers should place due emphasis on communications that encourage impulse buying.

Directions for research

Our meta-analysis, while revealing, was restricted given the lack of sufficient studies testing and/or reporting all possible effects in all possible contexts using multiple methods. In exploring the main effects of various factors on impulse buying (Fig. 1 ), we had to use aggregations in several cases, due to the insufficient number of effects available in prior research. Future studies should undertake explicit examinations of each effect, especially specific marketing stimuli, self-identity, positive and negative moods, specific types of social norms, and consumer resources. The most glaring deficiencies in prior research provide the bases for our recommendations for further research, which we detail in Table  9 and summarize briefly here.

We indicate the effects of various individual drivers, including marketing stimuli, on impulse buying in Table 3 , which suggests an important facilitating role for impulse buying. We test the individual impacts of traits, motives, resources, and stimuli on impulse buying, but interactions among these antecedents also could be influential. For example, experimental research might determine how the effects of traits, motives, and resources on impulse buying are moderated by marketing stimuli (e.g., communication, price, store ambience, merchandise elements). The size of the motive effects (r = .34 for hedonic, r = .36 for utilitarian) implies their potential significance; they could be activated by communications delivered to customers in stores, using digital displays (Roggeveen et al. 2016 ) or mobile devices (Grewal et al. 2018a ). Furthermore, the synergistic effects of various communication and promotional elements on impulse buying warrant further exploration.

Most studies make assumptions about the context, rather than actively manipulating or exploring its effects. In most cases, the context refers solely to the product category (e.g., food, beauty products), shopping environment (e.g., retail store, online), or industry (grocery, apparel). But various other contextual cues could be relevant, such as consumer decision stage, whether consumption is private or public, demographic variables, and whether the shopper is alone or accompanied by someone (Table 9 ). Such contextual cues should function as moderators in future studies to help reveal how various antecedent factors affect impulse buying.

Studies exploring impulse buying also tend to use surveys and examine correlational data. Such descriptive analyses provide generalizable insights, though manipulations of various marketing stimuli, motives, and resources in experiments also could enable causal inferences. Longitudinal research that relies on panel data could also reveal how consumer motives and resources interact with the context to prompt impulse buying. New technologies, such as eye-tracking methods, could demonstrate the specific impacts of marketing stimuli (e.g., product placements) and how consumers’ attention paid to various details in the shopping environment contributes to their impulse buying. Finally, we find some evidence that is contradictory with theoretical predictions, so qualitative research would be helpful to explain why.

Our meta-analytic review aims to provide empirically generalizable, robust findings pertaining to the impacts of various antecedents of impulse buying, its potential mediators, and the moderators of these relationships. As a unique feature, our meta-analysis includes a test of alternate theoretical perspectives that previously have sought to explain impulse buying. As Palmatier et al. ( 2007 ) attest, on the basis of their comparative consideration of multiple theoretical perspectives on interorganizational relationships, various perspectives could receive empirical support individually, but their relative impacts cannot be determined unless all explanatory perspectives are subjected to a comparative test. With the greater number of effects sizes available for each model, achieved by compiling data for the meta-analysis, our comparative test of various perspectives on impulse buying brings the relative impacts of various dominant explanatory factors in each perspective into sharper relief.

In summary, our meta-analysis explores the direct effects of consumer traits, motives, and resources and marketing stimuli on impulse buying, along with the mediating impacts of self-control and positive and negative emotions. Our joint examination of these mediators reveals the inner affective and cognitive psychological processes of impulse buying and their relations. Industry and method moderators also influence impulse buying. This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive summary of extant research, underlying various implications. We hope it also sheds some new lights on directions for research that can continue to enhance our understanding of impulse buying.

The complete list of studies used in this meta-analysis is available from the authors.

For example, grocery retailing involves low product identity relation, low price level, high advertising intensity, and high distribution intensity; the luxury car industry was coded as high product identity relation, high price level, low advertising intensity, and low distribution intensity.

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Iyer, G.R., Blut, M., Xiao, S.H. et al. Impulse buying: a meta-analytic review. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 48 , 384–404 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00670-w

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5 ways to stop overspending on impulse buys

Learn how to use a budget to kick your impulse spending habit to the curb.

February 16, 2023

Do you often find yourself buying things even when you didn’t plan to? It can be hard to resist a good deal on football tickets or a stylish new pair of shoes—even if they don’t quite fit in this month’s budget. In the moment, the purchase may feel great . You’re pumped for that football game, and you already have a whole outfit planned around those shoes.

But over time, impulse buying could mean bad news for your wallet.

“It is absolutely important to avoid making impulse buying a habit because it can lead to several dangerous financial consequences,” says Andrew Schrage, co-owner of a personal finance website. If you consistently ignore your budget and give in to every tempting purchase (oh, there can be so many!), you run the risk of getting yourself into credit card debt, negatively impacting your credit score or not being able to contribute to your financial goals, such as an emergency fund or retirement savings , Schrage adds.

If you consider yourself an impulse spender, you may have to ask yourself, “How do I avoid going broke on my impulse buying habits?”

“Impulse buying has nothing to do with intelligence or lack of intelligence. It has everything to do with the actions you take,” says Clare Dubé, personal finance expert and blogger.

Take action today with these five steps to use a budget to stop impulse spending and avoid impulse spending to save money for your future:

1. Get to the bottom of your impulse spending habit

If you’re looking for ways to stop overspending on impulse buys, Dubé says to first ask yourself why you are making the purchases in the first place.

“While that may seem obvious, the answer is often unknown to the person,” Dubé says, adding that she believes every purchase fills a need. “Oftentimes, the need being filled is an emotional need.” Have you ever raised your spirits after a bad day with the instant gratification of buying something new and shiny? Now, consider whether that purchase actually made you feel better. More often than not, the answer is no.

Putting your money toward the things you do actually care about is a way to stop overspending on impulse buys. To recalibrate, Dubé suggests listing your values, then narrowing the list down to the top three. “Use those values as a guide with every financial transaction,” she says. For example, if you value supporting your local business community, you’ll start to think twice before impulse purchasing a mass-produced clothing item you could find anywhere.

This process serves two purposes when it comes to ways to stop overspending on impulse buys. “One, moving forward, purchases are being made based on what is important to that person,” Dubé says. “Two, when you stop and think what value [or values] the pending purchase aligns with, it allows you to be more mindful of the purchase , and therefore keeps the purchase from being an impulse.”

2. Include discretionary spending in your budget

One way to avoid impulse spending to save money is perhaps a surprising one: Give yourself permission to spend a little on “fun stuff.”

“There should be a line for discretionary spending” in your budget, Schrage says. Without this, your budget may feel too restricting and it can be more difficult to stick to in the long run. Making financial room for fun is a way to use a budget to stop impulse spending because it allows you to know your budgeting limits without feeling deprived.

“At the beginning of each month, if you know that you only have $250 to spend on ‘stuff,’ you’ll be that much more likely to remain in control,” Schrage says. That “stuff” will include any non-essential spending that relates to your values and brings you joy—perhaps spending on books or on supplies for your favorite hobby.

If you end up spending more than you have in your budget on discretionary spending, you’ll be able to flag it right away and make a decision about where to cut back elsewhere.

“It is absolutely important to avoid making impulse buying a habit because it can lead to several dangerous financial consequences.” Andrew Schrage, co-owner of a personal finance website

3. Consider your payment method for discretionary expenses

Swiping a credit card may not feel like spending “real money” in the moment, but you always have to pay off your balance later—and sometimes with interest.

As you learn how to use a budget to stop impulse spending, consider how your credit card usage has been impacting your budget. For instance, when you swipe your card, do you always make sure the spending falls within your budget? Or do you think of your credit card spending as separate from your budget, carrying a balance from one month to the next?

To see how often you use your credit card to make impulse purchases, comb through your last few credit card statements. If credit seems to be linked with impulse spending, you could cut back on your credit card usage as a way to stop overspending on impulse buys.

Instead of swiping your credit card for discretionary expenses, consider going a different route. A cash envelope budget , for example, can be a great method to avoid impulse spending to save money. This involves withdrawing your full spending budget in cash every month and divvying up the cash into one labeled envelope for each budget category. That way, you can spend on impulse without spending beyond your budget.

If cash is not your style but you still want a break from credit, you can build good money habits with a debit card .

4. Set rules for extraneous spending

If you’re determined to avoid impulse spending to save money, try giving yourself some spending parameters. Schrage has several suggestions for ways to stop overspending on impulse buys—you simply have to figure out which ones will hold you most accountable.

“One strategy is to always give yourself a 24-hour waiting period before making any significant purchase,” he says. The waiting period will help you determine whether you really need the item. If you don’t, the purchase may completely slip your mind. But if you’re still thinking about it after a full day and it aligns with your values, it may be worth fitting it into this month’s discretionary spending budget.

Schrage also suggests avoiding shopping—online and in person—unless you know exactly what you want to buy. “Then you should create a list if necessary and stick to it,” he adds.

Another of Schrage’s ideas to avoid impulse spending to save money is to include your long-term financial goals in your budget, such as saving for your dream vacation or buying your first home . “That way, you know that you have to set aside money for them instead of blowing it on unnecessary buys,” he says.

In addition to evaluating your own spending habits and goals, consider the habits of those you spend the most time with. “If you have friends who you’ve determined have bad spending habits , distance yourself from them,” Schrage says.

“When you stop and think what value [or values] the pending purchase aligns with, it allows you to be more mindful of the purchase, and therefore keeps the purchase from being an impulse.” Clare Dubé, personal finance expert and blogger

5. Give yourself a break

What happens if you want to use a budget to stop impulse spending, then slip up and buy something you hadn’t planned for—not even in your discretionary fund category? Dubé says not to beat yourself up about it.

“Money shaming and blaming is never the answer when an impulse purchase is made,” she says. Instead, she suggests trying to rectify the transaction. “For example, is the purchase a piece of clothing or other item that has not been worn or used with tags still attached? Then return the item,” Dubé says.

Otherwise, you can simply accept that you’ve lost money to an impulse purchase and pledge to do better going forward. Refocus on the tips above and use a budget to stop impulse spending for good.

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Budget and the Bees

12 Ways to Avoid Impulse Purchases

Posted: May 22, 2024 | Last updated: May 22, 2024

Impulse buying is a common challenge many face.  Sometimes people make poor financial choices because of their emotional state while others can’t resist a good deal. However, w hen people make spontaneous, unplanned purchases, it often leads to unnecessary spending and financial strain.  If you struggle to control this urge, here are 12 effective strategies to help you avoid impulse purchases and regain control of your spending habits.

1. Make a Shopping List

Before heading to the store or shopping online, create a detailed shopping list. This helps you stay focused on what you need and avoids unplanned purchases. When you have a list, you are less likely to wander into sections where you might be tempted by unnecessary items. Having the list and enough self-discipline to stick to it will help you stay under budget.

2. Set a Budget

Another effective way to avoid impulse purchases is by establishing a budget before shopping trips. Knowing your spending limit can prevent overspending and impulsive decisions. Setting a budget helps you plan your finances better, ensuring you only spend what you can afford and allocate money to more important expenses.

3. Avoid Shopping When Emotional

Emotions like stress, sadness, or even excitement can trigger impulse purchases. Therefore, it’s best to avoid shopping during periods of extreme emotion. Try to shop when you’re calm and clear-headed. Emotional shopping can lead to regretful purchases that you don’t need and didn’t plan for.

4. Implement a 24-Hour Rule

Sometimes, people feel they have to buy an item as soon as they see it. However, this can often lead to buyer’s remorse. If you find something and feel the urge to act now, wait 24 hours before purchasing it. This cooling-off period can help you decide if you really need the item. Often, the initial desire fades, and you can make a more rational decision.

5. Unsubscribe from Retail Newsletters

Retail newsletters can tempt you with sales and new arrivals. Therefore, it’s better if you never receive them, especially if you are on a budget. Unsubscribe from these emails to reduce temptation. By doing this, you reduce exposure to constant marketing and advertisements, making it easier to resist impulse buying.

6. Limit Access to Shopping Apps

The convenience of online shopping has also made it harder to avoid impulse purchases. But, removing shopping apps from your phone will limit your access to them. This reduces the ease of making quick, impulse decisions. When shopping isn’t at your fingertips, you’re less likely to buy things you don’t need.

7. Use Cash Instead of Cards

Paying with cash will also make you more aware of your spending. Since you physically see the money leaving your hands, it makes you more conscious of your spending habits. This tangible exchange makes the act of spending more real and can curb unnecessary purchases.

8. Track Your Spending

Tracking your spending is an important part of creating a budget. By keeping track of your purchases, you will also better understand your spending habits. The good news is that many apps and budgeting tools can help with this. By regularly reviewing your spending, you can identify patterns and areas where you tend to overspend.

9. Plan Your Meals

Planning meals ahead can help you avoid unplanned spending. When you know what you are making, it greatly reduces the need for last-minute grocery shopping. Unfortunately, these spontaneous trips often lead to impulse buys. However, with a meal plan, you know exactly what you need, which helps you avoid buying extra, unnecessary items.

10. Shop with a Purpose

Another way to avoid impulse purchases is to pay attention to why you shop. Are you in the store because you need something, or because you are bored? Choosing to shop with purpose will completely change how you approach your finances. With this method, you only shop when you have a specific need or purpose. Avoid browsing stores or websites without a clear intention. With purpose-driven shopping, you will reduce the likelihood of buying items on a whim.

11. Invest in Quality

Sometimes, buying higher-quality items can save money in the long run. Although they are more expensive upfront, well-made products will eliminate the need for frequent replacements. Since quality items often last longer and perform better, it makes them more cost-effective over time.

12. Practice Mindfulness

In the end, changing our behaviors comes from increased self-awareness. Although painful at times, times of self-reflection help us grow as individuals and change negative behaviors. Mindfulness can help you become more aware of your spending triggers and control impulsive urges. Being mindful allows you to pause and reflect on whether a purchase is necessary or just a fleeting desire. Additionally, it can also instill more self-discipline and help you achieve your long-term goals.

Reclaiming Control

Learning how to control the desire to make impulse purchases is crucial for maintaining financial stability. By managing your spending habits, you can avoid unnecessary debt, save more efficiently, and reduce financial stress. Furthermore, it will get you one step closer to your goals.

Embracing these strategies will make you more mindful of your habits and help you to manage your finances. Take charge of your financial well-being and enjoy the benefits that come with financial independence.

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Feb 1, 2024

Impulse Buying: Effective Strategies for Spontaneous Purchases.

Impulse buying is a powerful force in the world of retail, leading consumers to make spontaneous purchases they may not have planned for. Understanding the psychology behind impulse buying and the factors that influence these decisions is crucial for businesses looking to boost sales. In this article, we will explore various strategies that can be employed to encourage impulse buying and drive spontaneous purchases.

Understanding Impulse Buying and Spontaneous Purchases

The psychology behind impulse buying and spontaneous purchase.

Impulse buying and spontaneous purchases are often driven by emotions rather than rational decision-making. When consumers make spontaneous purchases, they are responding to a desire or need in the moment, rather than carefully considering the long-term consequences. This behavior is driven by various psychological factors, including the need for instant gratification, the fear of missing out (FOMO), and the pleasure derived from the act of shopping itself. A study of Gen Z shoppers showed that 43% would want to take advantage of a sale or deal.

Instant Gratification

Businesses can tap into these psychological triggers to encourage impulse buying.

When consumers see a product that promises immediate satisfaction, they are more likely to make an impulsive buying decision. The temptation to indulge in a quick treat can be hard to resist, especially when it is conveniently placed within arm’s reach. An unplanned purchase study showed that 39% of Gen Z’s make a last minute purchase to treat themselves .

In addition to instant gratification, the fear of missing out (FOMO) also plays a significant role in driving impulse purchases. Consumers often feel compelled to buy a product or take advantage of a limited-time offer because they don’t want to miss out on a good deal or an exclusive item. FOMO can create a sense of urgency and push consumers to make impulsive buying decisions.

The Act of Shopping

The act of shopping itself can be pleasurable and rewarding for many individuals. The excitement of discovering new products, exploring different options, and making a purchase can release dopamine in the brain, creating a sense of pleasure and satisfaction. This pleasure-seeking behavior can lead to impulsive buying, as consumers seek to replicate the positive feelings associated with shopping.

Factors that Influence Spontaneous Buying Decisions

Several factors play a role in influencing impulse buying and spontaneous purchases. One such factor is the store layout and product placement. Strategic store layouts can guide shoppers through enticing displays and create a sense of urgency or curiosity that encourages impulse purchases.

For example, retailers often place high-demand or limited-stock items at the front of the store or in prominent display areas. This placement catches the attention of shoppers as soon as they enter the store, increasing the likelihood of an impulse purchase. Additionally, placing related products near each other can create a sense of convenience and encourage customers to buy complementary items they may not have initially considered.

Online retailers, on the other hand, can leverage product placement techniques to drive impulse purchases. By offering complementary products or showcasing items frequently bought together, online stores can create a sense of convenience and encourage customers to add more items to their cart. This technique is commonly used by eCommerce giants like Amazon, who suggest products based on the customer’s browsing and purchasing history.

Moreover, the use of limited-time offers and flash sales can also influence spontaneous buying decisions. By creating a sense of urgency and scarcity, retailers can tap into the fear of missing out (FOMO) and encourage customers to make impulsive purchases before the opportunity expires.

Understanding the psychology behind impulse purchases can help both retailers and consumers make more informed decisions about their shopping habits.

The Role of Product Placement in Impulse Buying

Impulse buying is a phenomenon that affects consumers across various shopping platforms, from physical stores to online retailers. The strategic placement of products plays a crucial role in enticing customers to make spontaneous purchases. By understanding the psychology behind impulse buying and implementing effective product placement techniques, businesses can capitalize on this consumer behavior and boost their sales.

Strategic Store Layout for Impulse Purchases

When it comes to physical stores, the arrangement of products can significantly influence impulse buying. Retailers strategically position high-margin items near the entrance or the checkout counter, where they are more likely to catch the consumer’s attention. These prime locations serve as hotspots for impulse purchases, as customers are more susceptible to making spontaneous decisions when they are in close proximity to the point of sale.

Moreover, creating visually appealing displays that highlight limited-time offers or flash sales can create a sense of urgency and scarcity. The use of vibrant colors, eye-catching signage, and attractive product arrangements can captivate shoppers and trigger their impulsive buying instincts. By leveraging the power of visual merchandising, businesses can effectively stimulate impulse purchases and drive revenue.

Online Product Placement Techniques

In the digital realm, product placement is equally crucial for encouraging impulse buying. Online retailers employ various techniques to capture the attention of consumers and entice them into making spontaneous purchases. Personalized recommendations based on a customer’s browsing history or previous purchases can create a sense of relevance and familiarity, increasing the chances of impulse buying.

Furthermore, showcasing popular items or offering limited-time discounts can create a sense of exclusivity and urgency. By highlighting the popularity or scarcity of certain products, online retailers can tap into consumers’ fear of missing out and push them towards impulsive decisions. The use of persuasive language, compelling visuals, and clear calls-to-action can further enhance the effectiveness of online product placement.

Additionally, businesses can leverage the concept of product bundling or upselling related items to capitalize on the consumer’s desire for convenience and value. By offering complementary products or suggesting upgrades, online retailers can tempt customers into making additional purchases. This technique not only increases the average order value but also satisfies the consumer’s need for a comprehensive shopping experience.

Pricing Strategies to Encourage Impulse Buying and Spontaneous Purchases

The power of discounts and sales.

Discounts and sales are effective tools for encouraging impulse buying. Offering limited-time discounts or special promotions can create a sense of urgency, compelling consumers to make quick purchasing decisions. A study on sales promotions showed that 52% of respondents prefer buying items on sale than full price .

Furthermore, highlighting the value of the discount or emphasizing the potential savings can make the purchase seem more enticing and worthy of immediate action.

The Impact of Bundling and Upselling

By bundling related products or offering upsell options, businesses can leverage the desire for convenience and value to drive impulse purchases. Bundling complementary items or suggesting higher-tier products can tap into the consumer’s desire to get more for their money and encourage spontaneous buying decisions.

The Importance of Visual Appeal in Impulse Buying and Spontaneous Purchases

Packaging and presentation techniques.

The visual appeal of products plays a significant role in influencing impulse buying. Eye-catching packaging, attractive displays, and well-designed product presentations can capture the consumer’s attention and elicit an immediate desire to purchase.

By creating visually appealing packaging and utilizing persuasive product presentations, businesses can make their products stand out and increase the chances of spontaneous purchases.

Utilizing Color Psychology in Marketing

Colors have a profound impact on human emotions and can influence purchasing decisions. By understanding color psychology, businesses can use specific colors in their marketing materials and product displays to evoke desired emotions and trigger impulse buying.

For example, using warm colors like red or orange can create a sense of excitement and urgency, while cool colors like blue or green can evoke a feeling of calm and trust, both of which can be effective in promoting impulse purchases.

Leveraging Scarcity and Urgency to Drive Impulse Buying and Spontaneous Purchases

Limited-time offers and flash sales.

The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a powerful motivator for impulse buying. By creating limited-time offers and flash sales, businesses can capitalize on the consumer’s fear of missing out on a great deal. These time-limited promotions create a sense of urgency and compel consumers to make impulsive purchasing decisions to avoid losing out on a special offer.

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Phenomenon

FOMO is a psychological phenomenon that drives people to make impulsive decisions in order to avoid feeling left out or regretful. Businesses can tap into this phenomenon by highlighting the popularity or exclusivity of a product, creating a sense of urgency and pushing consumers to make spontaneous purchases. By utilizing scarcity and urgency in their marketing strategies, businesses can drive impulse purchases and boost sales.

Encouraging impulse buying and spontaneous purchases requires a thorough understanding of consumer psychology and effective implementation of various strategies. By incorporating product placement techniques, utilizing pricing strategies, emphasizing visual appeal, and leveraging scarcity and urgency, businesses can effectively boost spontaneous purchases and drive revenue growth.

Remember, impulse buying is not solely driven by rational decision-making but is deeply influenced by emotions and psychological factors. 

Motivate customers to spend more with each purchase.

Neeta Nelson

Neeta is the Content & Community lead at AMP. She has over 8 years experience in eCommerce marketing having previously worked for TradeGecko.

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4 Sneaky Ways Online Retailers Trigger You To Make Impulse Purchases

On Assignment For HuffPost

We’ve all purchased something impulsively online. The decision was likely triggered by a message telling you the item was the last one in stock, or because a retailer offered free shipping if you added one more thing to your order.

It’s common for online retailers to use these kinds of tactics to encourage you to buy in the moment and spend more, with the goal of increasing revenue, explained Lennart Baardman , assistant professor of technology and operations at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. “Generally, that comes from increasing demand.”

One way retailers increase demand is by appealing to shoppers’ emotions. This includes using discounts or low-stock alerts to create a sense of urgency or fear of missing out (FOMO) that encourages you to react quickly and purchase, said Gary Reichmuth , associate professor of instruction in executive education at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management.

“It’s the value perception — if they feel that there’s just a few left, there’s that exclusivity that they’re getting something special,” he told HuffPost. “If there’s a run on products, then there’s social proof, a belief that if other people are buying it, it must be good.”

If you tend to buy things you don’t want or need or overspend, here’s what you should know about the strategies retailers use to encourage impulsivity, why the tactics work, and how to avoid falling into the trap.

4 Common Tactics Retailers Use To Encourage You To Buy Things

An analysis of 200 online retailers by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Information found that they used an average of 19 features to encourage impulse buying. (Large retailers, like Target.com and Amazon .com, included more than 30.) These features included discounts, low-stock messages, countdown clocks and more.

Here’s a look at some of the most common tactics online retailers use to encourage you to buy.

Sales And Discounts

More than 80% of consumers say they’re more likely to purchase something when they have a coupon or discount, according to a 2022 survey by Wildfire Systems.

Offering a percentage off a purchase or free shipping for spending over a certain amount can help retailers sell more items quickly, Baardman explained. While these offers can be costly for retailers, the companies still usually come out ahead if people are buying many more of the discounted items.

“It counteracts that loss in revenue from the discount itself,” he said.

Brands also often offer discounts in exchange for you signing up for email or text alerts or a loyalty program. This enables companies to collect data about your preferences and shopping habits so they can offer product recommendations and personalized offers, explained John Talbott , director of the Center for Education and Research in Retail at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

‘Last One In Stock’ Messages

Low-stock messages create a sense of urgency, Reichmuth said. “Retailers are trying to make you make a quick decision, not comparison shop.”

Baardman said this strategy often works well for airlines and hotels, when consumers are told there’s one ticket or room left at that rate. It speeds up the decision-making process. For products, he said, consumers might not feel as much urgency, as they could check other websites or wait in case the retailer restocks.

Whether an item truly is the last one in stock is difficult to say, but Baardman said most reputable retailers are likely being truthful.

Bundling, Upselling And Cross-Selling

Giving consumers the opportunity to upgrade an airline seat or buy a premium product for a small percentage more, which is known as upselling, is another way retailers drive sales, Reichmuth said.

Other strategies include cross-selling (where they offer a related product at a discounted rate, such as a camera bag if you buy a camera) and bundling, where a discount is offered if you buy multiple related items, he added.

“The whole intent is to get you to spend more to increase your average order value,” Reichmuth said.

These approaches also help retailers move large volumes of products quickly and increase consumer demand, Baardman added. This might be necessary if they have too much stock and need to reduce inventory costs.

Cart-Reminder Messages

Many consumers browse e-commerce sites and add products to their shopping carts, but don’t complete their purchases. Online shopping cart abandonment rates average about 70% , according to the Baymard Institute.

To get shoppers to return and check out, many retailers send cart-reminder messages via email or text message. This strategy has been shown to increase sales .

“Customers get reminded that they were shopping with you,” Baardman said. It instills a sense of urgency and scarcity and makes shoppers feel valued.

Why These Strategies Work

“Shopping is a complex activity and the decision-making process by consumers is not straightforward and linear,” Talbott said. “Many factors play into a decision to purchase or not.”

Often, emotions drive shopping decisions, especially impulse purchases, research shows.

Discounts, cart reminders, and other strategies tap into consumers’ FOMO, scarcity mindsets, feelings of accessing something exclusive, and social proof (the idea of wanting something because others have it), Reichmuth said.

“All these psychological aspects make people more likely to buy,” he said. The sentiments may also cause someone to “short circuit any comparison shopping or evaluation” that would help avoid impulse buying.

Each time a customer engages with one of these tactics, it’s also a chance for retailers to collect more data about them, which they can use to further encourage shoppers to buy, Baardman added.

“It allows them to understand their price sensitivities, what types of products customers should be recommended, and how they can personalize the promotions to this customer so that maybe if they give them a 10% discount on this specific product, then they might buy it,” Baardman explained.

But, encouraging impulse buys can sometimes backfire for retailers, such as by increasing return rates, Talbott said. There’s also the environmental impact of shipping and processing returns.

How To Avoid Falling Into These Pitfalls

It’s easy to get caught up in FOMO, buy too many things, and spend too much. If you want to avoid it, first recognize that retailers are using strategies designed to get you to buy impulsively, Reichmuth said.

“They are not trying to rip us off, necessarily,” Baardman said. “They’re just trying to get us to buy more to make more money.”

Then, experts suggest these tips for avoiding the traps:

• Unsubscribe from emails or texts from brands and retailers.
• Plan your shopping sessions to look for specific items only.
• Set a well-defined budget so you don’t overspend.
• Compare prices to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
• Wait 24 hours before completing a purchase.

It may be easier said than done, but Baardman said, “If you’re going to buy something, think about, ‘Do I actually want this item or do I need this item?’”

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My mom taught me how to save thousands a year with a simple shopping strategy

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• My mom taught me to never buy anything if it's not on sale, and I've saved a ton this way.
• My credit cards have special offers that reduce the price of purchases at different stores.
• I avoid impulse shopping — when I want something, I wait until later to buy it.

When my mom started having kids, she left her job in the insurance industry to be a stay-at-home mom. She spent her time not only taking care of my brother and me but also managing the household.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from her over the years was the importance of keeping an eye on your budget and limiting your spending to what you could afford.

From an early age, I noticed that my mom never bought anything unless it was on sale. When I asked her about this, she said that buying things at full price was a guaranteed way to lose thousands of dollars a year. Even when there was an item that I really wanted, she reminded me that there was a good chance it'd go on sale one day soon. Usually, she was right.

Because of her, I got good at coupon clipping and installing different browser apps that could alert me to savings when I did any online shopping.

Over the years, this lesson has saved me thousands of dollars — here's how.

1. I track the sales offered by different retailers

When it comes to clothing and accessories, my mom taught me to follow the 20% off rule. We normally won't buy an item unless it's at least 20% off. Since most retailers run sales weekly or monthly, there are a variety of ways that we keep an eye out for our favorite items to go on sale.

We subscribe to the retailer's email notifications. While it can get annoying hearing from a store every day, often it's the best way to find out about a mega sale it's running. If you do this for a few months, you start to see a pattern. One retailer we love usually runs sales in the same order. It will start off offering 20% off everything on their website and then a week later offer 40% off. Every six weeks, it will do a 50% off offer for 24 hours. That's when we make all of our purchases from that retailer.

2. I use browser extensions to get every coupon I can

We also hunt for savings using browser apps like Honey or GetJam , which show you coupon codes and links to other websites where the same item is on sale.

I'll also check with my credit card companies to see if they are offering any discounts since some credit cards offer promo codes from merchants to cardholders. For example, my Capital One credit card has a shopping browser extension that shares available discounts with you when you shop online.

My CapitalOne business credit card also offers deals and discounts from a variety of vendors that I often use for my business needs.

3. I pay attention to a store's policies

Often, retailers offer a discount code to first-time shoppers. Before we buy at a store for the first time, we'll look on its website to see if it is offering a one-time discount code if we subscribe to its email communication.

In the past, we've even emailed customer service to ask companies if there are any active discount codes available, sales coming up, or if the company is open to price matching based on a competitor's pricing. Sometimes, we get a no, but occasionally, companies will offer 20% off just for taking the time to reach out.

Some retailers even offer price adjustments for items bought in a 30- or 60-day time frame. We save all of our receipts, and if a sale pops up during that timeframe, we will reach out and ask for a price adjustment. This saves us hundreds of dollars a year. For example, I recently bought an item that was 20% off, and this week it was 50% off. I asked for a price adjustment and was able to get a $50 refund.

4. I avoid impulse shopping

Whenever I go shopping, I keep my mom's lesson in the back of my head. It allows me to refrain from impulse shopping. Instead of grabbing an item while I'm in the store, I'll take a picture of it and wait until it goes on sale.

Quite often, as the weeks pass, I find myself no longer interested in the item anyway. This has helped shape my shopping habits, because I rarely ever leave a store with an item in my hand. For online shopping, most items stay in the cart until the sale happens, and when it does, I reassess what I actually still want.

Last month, on my birthday, I walked into an expensive store and bought a sweatshirt at full price. This was one of the few times I've done this. I felt so guilty about this — it felt like I was wasting money. I absolutely was, because three weeks later, the sweatshirt went on sale for 30% off. Thankfully, I was able to go back to the store and ask for a price adjustment.

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