Ok, so apparently there is a reason Targets have a Starbucks as soon as you enter the store.
A new study from the University of South Florida has found that we're all likely to spend more money if we have a cup of coffee before we go shopping.
The study's lead author Dipayan Biswas, the Frank Harvey Endowed Professor of Marketing at USF, said per Study Finds, "Caffeine, as a powerful stimulant, releases dopamine in the brain, which excites the mind and the body. This leads to a higher energetic state, which in turn enhances impulsivity and decreases self-control. As a result, caffeine intake leads to shopping impulsivity in terms of higher number of items purchased and greater spending."
Because the caffeine in coffee makes us "more energetic, and more impulsive," it seems that people who drank coffee tended to buy far more "non-essential" items that they didn't really need, i.e., impulse purchases.
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