Oct. 1, 2012, Toronto — Many Canadians are indulging in retail therapy,
splurging on impulse purchases meant to cheer them up, according to a
new BMO report.
The inaugural BMO Psychology of Spending report on the spending
habits of Canadians found the majority (59 per cent) makes impulse
purchases, with half (52 per cent) regretting the purchases after the
fact. Forty-three per cent sometimes spend more in a month than they
earn.
The survey, conducted by Pollara, also revealed:
- The
majority of Canadians at least sometimes shop to cheer themselves up
and buy something they may not need because it's on sale (60 per cent
and 55 per cent, respectively). Forty-two per cent buy items they never
use. - On average, Canadians spend $310 a month on items they want
but do not need, and believe they could save over two-thirds of this
amount if they made an effort to limit their spending. - The most
common impulsive purchases made over the past year are clothing (57 per
cent), dining out (52 per cent), shoes (39 per cent), books/magazines
(38 per cent), and music/movies (31 per cent). - One in five Canadians (19 per cent) have purchased consumer technology items on impulse in the past year.
On
average, men spend twice as much as women on “wants” ($414 vs. $207).
The top five impulse purchases reported by men are dining out (53 per
cent), clothing (47 per cent), books/magazines (32 per cent), shoes (29
per cent) and software/apps (26 per cent); the top five for women are
clothing (66 per cent), dining out (50 per cent), shoes (48 per cent),
books/magazines (44 per cent) and makeup (36 per cent).
The
survey results are from online interviews with a random sample of 1,000
Canadians 18 years of age and over, conducted by Pollara between Aug. 31
and Sept. 5. A probability sample of this size would yield results
accurate to ± 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
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