Using Your Phone While Shopping Might Cost You More Money

Researchers from the Academy of Marketing Science have conducted the research to observe a series of effects caused by using the phone for unrelated purposes while shopping, for instance, listening to music, browsing the Internet or making calls while walking and picking up all kinds of stuff the from aisles of items. Although their handsets were only used as a part of the shopping trip, the participants still have a tendency to carry out more unintended purchases and often forget what they have initially intended to buy before.

Furthermore, she also stated that shoppers usually pride themselves on their abilities to multitask; thus, they will certainly continue to use their phone while going shopping.

The research was participated by over 230 people, who were all under the surveillance of the researchers while doing their shopping based on a given shopping list of items in a simulated shopping environment. The following result of the research was published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JMAS for short).

It was also pointed out that people who are extremely dependent on their handset, and characterized by their reliance and excessive use of their device, would risk straying from their shopping plan while using their phone at the same time as shopping.