NEWS & INSIGHT
COFFEE STIMULATES SPENDING IN NEW RESEARCH
SCHOOL: Copenhagen Business School COUNTRY: Denmark
Drinking a caffeinated beverage makes people buy and spend more, according to a new study involving Copenhagen Business School’s adjunct professor of marketing Martin Eisend. Customers who drank a cup of free caffeinated coffee before shopping spent around 50 per cent more money and bought about 30 per cent more things than those who drank decaffeinated coffee or water across the study’s two experiments. The coffee drinkers were also more inclined to buy non- essential items, such as scented candles and other fragrances. While these results are eye-catching, it’s important to note that these observations were only observed among individuals who usually consumed two cups of coffee or fewer per day. The suggestion is that these consumers are susceptible to the effects of caffeine in way that heavier coffee drinkers are not. In the experiments, half of 300 participating consumers were offered a free cup of caffeinated coffee from an espresso machine before entering a
retail store in a major French city or a department store in Spain, while the other half were offered decaffeinated coffee or water. The study’s implications are twofold. From the retailer perspective, it shows the potential benefits of encouraging caffeine intake as part of the shopping experience through promotions or the placement of coffee shops within stores, for example. From the policymaker perspective, it demonstrates an area that could require public education or other forms of intervention, as Eisend explained. “Understanding how caffeine affects consumer behaviour becomes crucial, especially when there is high inflation and limited funds, and consumers need to be more aware of their spending,” he noted. The study was conducted with Dipayan Biswas at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business and the University of the Basque Country’s Patrick Hartmann, among others. TBD
Ambition | SEPTEMBER 2023 | 9
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online