Browsing, Not Hunger, Drives Unplanned Shopping: Study

What the study found

The study, by Sait Durgun of Breda University of Applied Sciences, was published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. It followed 323 shoppers and analysed 3,819 individual items from their till receipts, with shoppers rating their hunger on a scale of 0 to 10 immediately after shopping. Across the whole shopping basket, hunger had no significant effect on unplanned purchases. For snacks and sweets, each one point increase in hunger on the 0 to 10 scale was linked to a 9% increase in the odds of an unplanned purchase.

What shoppers intended to do mattered more. Those who went in simply to browse made unplanned purchases 69% of the time, compared with 24% on routine grocery runs. Measured as odds, browsing shoppers had nearly nine times the odds of an unplanned purchase compared with routine shoppers, even after accounting for hunger.

Age also played a part. Older shoppers were less likely to make unplanned purchases, and those aged 55 and over reported the highest hunger levels but made the fewest unplanned purchases. The study found hunger predicted unplanned purchasing only among younger shoppers. Durgun said what you plan to do before entering the store may matter more for unplanned purchasing than how hungry you are. The study noted limits: hunger was self reported after shopping, and the sample was 323 shoppers.

Why shopping purpose matters more than hunger

The study, by Sait Durgun of Breda University of Applied Sciences, followed 323 shoppers and analysed 3,819 individual items from their till receipts. Shoppers rated their hunger on a scale of 0 to 10 immediately after shopping. Across the whole shopping basket, hunger had no significant effect on unplanned purchases. For snacks and sweets, each one-point increase in hunger was linked to a 9% increase in the odds of an unplanned purchase.

The reason for the trip mattered far more. Shoppers who went in simply to browse made unplanned purchases 69% of the time, compared with 24% on routine grocery runs. Measured as odds, browsing shoppers had nearly nine times the odds of an unplanned purchase compared with routine shoppers, even after accounting for hunger. Age also played a part. Older shoppers were less likely to make unplanned purchases, and those aged 55 and over reported the highest hunger levels but made the fewest unplanned purchases. Hunger predicted unplanned purchasing only among younger shoppers.

Durgun said what you plan to do before entering the store may matter more for unplanned purchasing than how hungry you are. The findings were published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, volume 93, 2026. The study noted limits, including that hunger was self-reported after shopping and the sample was 323 shoppers.

Snacks, sweets and age

Snacks and sweets were the exception to the overall pattern. The study, by Sait Durgun of Breda University of Applied Sciences, found that across the whole shopping basket hunger had no significant effect on unplanned purchases. For snacks and sweets, however, each one point increase in hunger on the 0 to 10 scale was linked to a 9% increase in the odds of an unplanned purchase.

Age also shaped the results. Older shoppers were less likely to make unplanned purchases, and those aged 55 and over reported the highest hunger levels but made the fewest unplanned purchases. Hunger predicted unplanned purchasing only among younger shoppers, the study found.

The findings come from research published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, volume 93, 2026. It followed 323 shoppers and analysed 3,819 individual items from their till receipts, with shoppers rating their hunger immediately after shopping. Durgun said what you plan to do before entering the store may matter more for unplanned purchasing than how hungry you are.

What it means for your shopping budget

The study suggests that the purpose of a trip matters more than appetite. Shoppers who went in simply to browse made unplanned purchases 69 per cent of the time, against 24 per cent on routine grocery runs. Measured as odds, browsers had nearly nine times the odds of an unplanned purchase, even after hunger was taken into account. Deciding the purpose of a trip before going in therefore looks like a practical way to keep spending in check, and a browsing trip is best treated as a spending risk rather than a harmless outing.

Hunger still matters, but mainly in one aisle. For snacks and sweets, each one point rise in hunger on the study's 0 to 10 scale was linked to a 9 per cent increase in the odds of an unplanned purchase. Across the whole basket, hunger had no significant effect. Older shoppers were less likely to buy unplanned items, and hunger predicted unplanned purchasing only among younger shoppers.

The findings come with limits. Hunger was self reported after shopping, and the sample covered 323 shoppers, so the results should be read with care.

Frequently asked questions

Does shopping hungry make you spend more?

Across the whole basket, this study found hunger had no significant effect on unplanned purchases. The exception was snacks and sweets, where each one-point rise in hunger raised the odds of an unplanned purchase by 9%.

What drives unplanned purchases most?

Why you go into the shop. Browsing shoppers made unplanned purchases 69% of the time, against 24% on routine grocery trips.

Are older shoppers more careful?

In this study, shoppers aged 55 and over reported the highest hunger but made the fewest unplanned purchases.

How was the study done?

Researchers analysed 3,819 items from the till receipts of 323 shoppers, who rated their hunger from 0 to 10 straight after shopping.

Where was the study published?

In the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, volume 93, 2026, by Sait Durgun of Breda University of Applied Sciences.