Feeling blue? Head for the shops!

By Jayne Warren - 08/02/2008

A new study has found that people who are feeling sad and self-focused spend more money to acquire the same commodities than those in a neutral emotional state - a finding that expands our understanding of consumer behavior and, more broadly, the impact of emotions on decision-making.

The research publication, called “Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More,” involved participants viewing either a sad video clip or one devoid of human emotion.  Afterwards, they  could purchase an ordinary commodity, such as a water bottle, at various prices. Incredibly, participants randomly assigned to the sad condition offered almost 300% more money to buy the product than “neutral” participants.

Moreover, participants in the "sadness" condition typically insisted, incorrectly, that the emotional content of the film clip did not carry over to affect their spending.

The 'self-focus' aspect of the study also helped to explain the spending differences between the two groups. Among participants “primed” to feel sad, those who were highly self-focused paid more than those less self-focussed. Not surprisingly, sadness tends to increase self-focus, making the increased spending prompted by sadness difficult to avoid.

But why does a combination of sadness and self-focus lead people to spend more money? Firstly the researchers believe that sadness and self-focus causes people to devalue both their one’s sense of self and their current possessions. And secondly, this devaluation increases a person’s willingness to pay more for new material goods - presumably to enhance their sense of self.

Notably, the “misery is not miserly” effect may be even more dramatic in real life, as the experiments underestimate the number of people who are long-term sad - just think of the thousands taking Prozac. And the effect could extend to domains beyond everyday purchasing decisions - such as increased stock trading or new relationships- without a conscious awareness that they are being driven by their emotions.

My thoughts on this research are: given that we are now a nation of buy, buy, buy - does this reflect  a general sense of sadness, and should supermarkets and retail shops play sad music and show depressing videos to get customers to spend more?

The mind boggles.