Bean counting? You’d best avoid a coffee before hitting the shops

A CUP of coffee before heading to the shops is probably best avoided by those looking to save their cash.

A study suggests that drinking caffeine is likely to lead to greater impulse buying.

Researchers handed out espressos at the entrance to a household goods store, then compared the number of items bought by those who drank a caffeinated version and those who had decaf.

The caffeine-drinking shoppers picked up an average of 2.2 items compared with 1.45 for the other customers. When the experiment was repeated in a similar shop, those who had drunk caffeine were found to have purchased a greater number of ‘indulgent’ items such as scented candles and fragrances. Professor Dipayan Biswas, who led the study at the University of South Florida, said caffeine is a powerful stimulant which ‘enhances impulsivity’.