Researchers of a new study found that wearing high heels while shopping can prevent overspending because it promotes a heightened sense of balance in the shopper.
According to researchers from Brigham Young University, wearing high heels should be on a shopper's checklist, especially while looking to purchase big items like a television or a computer.
Sounds strange! But it actually works, claim researchers of a new study. They found that wearing high heels while shopping promotes a heightened sense of balance for the shopper, enabling her to choose a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale.
"If you're someone who tends to overspend, or you're kind of an extreme person, then maybe you ought to consider shopping in high heels," said study author Jeffrey Larson, a BYU marketing professor, in a press statement.
Larson and BYU co-author Darron Billeter found that it's not just heels. Anything that forces you to focus on balance affects shopping choices. This new study is part of an on-going program that looks to determine the relation between physical sensation and decision making.
For the study, researchers conducted a series of experiments including asking participants to sit on inclined chairs while they shopped online, making participants play Wii fitted games while they answered questions about product choices and standing on one foot while deciding which printer to purchase.
The findings of the study emphasize on the need for customers to understand how physical forces affect their choices and changes the way they think.
"We need to sit back for a minute and consider, 'Is this really what I want, or are the shoes I'm wearing influencing my choice?'" Billeter said. "We need to be more aware of what is influencing our choices."
