Winter is finally over and you can now go back to being the social butterflies you were born to be! But, before you bring out your bright coloured spring clothes and summer hats, be sure to watch how quickly you part with your hard-earned cash in this glorious weather. There are several research papers that show how weather has an impact on consumer spending habits and retailors are now using it to their advantage.
In warmer weather, consumers apparently tend to spend more in general and are willing to spend more on specific items after being exposed to sunlight. This extract from Kyle Murray’s ‘Retailing and consumer services’ journal explains it more clearly.
“We find that sunlight influences mood (negative affect), which subsequently affects consumption. The third study manipulates(artificial)sunlight in a laboratory setting. The results of this study confirm that negative affect can mediate the effect of sunlight on consumer spending decisions. Specifically, we find that participants exposed to artificial sunlight are willing to pay significantly more for a variety of products than participants exposed to regular lighting only, and that this effect is mediated by negative effect”.
So be careful out there under the warm African sun (or the artificial bright lighting in stores) as it may result in you spending more money than you ordinarily would.