Shopping Situations Elicit Arousal in Excessive Shoppers

The present study is the first that contrasts the effect of buying impulsiveness on arousal in non-shopping and shopping contexts. In a laboratory experiment we measured pupil dilation while participants rated pictures of shopping scenes and non-shopping scenes. The results demonstrated that excessive shoppers, get more aroused in shopping situations than prudent shoppers. This is true for hedonic shopping situations as well as for utilitarian shopping situations. Importantly, this effect did not emerge in non-shopping contexts. Hence excessive and prudent shoppers are similar aroused in non-shopping contexts.