Impulse Buying- Mental Addiction
or Bad Habit
By: Kadie Stamper
English Comp. 101
June 7, 2010
The Problem

Consumers now have the ability to purchase more
than they ever could thirty years ago. Has impulse
purchasing become an addiction to some people or
just a bad habit?
Thesis

Today’s economy has changed drastically from thirty years ago.
Consumers now have access to purchase anything and
everything they could ever need or want for that matter. With so
many ways to be approved for a credit card line or even a loan,
stores are selling more and more these days to every race and
either gender. Stores offer percentages off of your purchase
when you open a new credit card, and these credit cards can
be approved in sixty seconds or less, according to certain
shopping centers. Someone that purchases large quantize of
unnecessary items on a regular and random basis is an
impulse shopper. Different studies indicate whether or not
impulse shopping is a mental disorder or just a bad habit. There
are three different types of impulse shopping that can and does
occur.
Available Credit & Types of Impulse
Buying.






Credit cards
Personal loans
Instant cash
Pure impulse buying- purchasing an item at random
Reminder impulse buying- purchasing one item reminds
consumer they need another item
Suggestion impulse buying-seeing a product for the first time
and thinking of ways you the consumer could use the item and
why you the consumer need the item.
ADWEEK Survey



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60% of respondents surveyed say they impulse purchased in the past
year.
39% of respondents surveyed say they impulse purchased in the past
month.
15% of respondents surveyed say the often buy items on impulse.
42% of respondents impulse buy “because it was a great price on
sale”
18% of respondents impulse buy “because they had to have it”
Conclusion

In the end impulse buying comes down to be a bad habit rather than a
mental addiction. Yes credit cards make spending easier and more
money available but with careful planning and getting help from friends
and family impulse buying can be controlled and even stopped. Ways
to help control impulse buying include: making a list of items you plan
to purchase before you leave the house, budget your expenses and
set aside extra spending money for when you do want to go out and
make unplanned purchases, decide exactly how much you want to
spend at each store you shop at, know before you leave home how
much money you need for other items or bills you have. But most
importantly to cure this bad buying habit make your mid up before
leaving home that you will not buy anything that is not written on your
list and that you will not go past the amount you have set aside for
each store you plan to visit.
Works Cited

Anonymous. "5 Factors That Cause Impulse Buying." OneMint-Helps You Make Better Financial Decisions. Web. 21 May 2010.
<http://www.onemint.com/2010/01/15/5-factors-that-cause-impulse-buying/>.
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Dolliver, Mark. "Impulse Buying Is Alive and Well." CMO. 19 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 May 2010.
<http://www.cmo.com/statistics/impulse-buying-alive-well>.
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Millinar, Ian. "Burying the Myth of Impulse Buying - Brand Strategy | HighBeam Research." Research - Articles - Journals | Find
Research Fast at HighBeam Research. 1 Sept. 2002. Web. 21 May 2010. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G192948716.html>.
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Montaldo, Donna L. "Impulse Buying Can Be a Good Thing." Coupons and Bargains - The Coupons and
Bargains Homepage. Web. 21 May 2010. <http://couponing.about.com/od/groceryzone/a/impulse.htm>.
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Rook, Denis. "The Buying Impulse." The Journal of Consumer Research. Web. 14 May 2010.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489410>.
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Stern, Hawkins. "The Significance of Impulse Buying Today." American Marketing Association. Web. 14 May 2010.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/1248439>.
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Thomas, Cindy. "Impulse Shopping: A Cure for This Buying Disease." Associated Content -Associatedcontent.com. Web. 14
May 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/29024/impulse_shopping_a_cure_for_this_buying.html>.