Report: Credit Cards Make Impulse Buys More Likely

10/22/2010

Consumers who are looking for some simple strategies to hold down health and life insurance rates may want to start by leaving their credit cards at home when they go grocery shopping.

This comes in light of recent data which suggests that when people pay for groceries with a credit card, they are more likely to indulge in impulsive purchases of junk foods. The data found that part of this is because paying with cash tends to be "psychologically more painful" than credit cards, so people are less likely to make impulse purchases.

"The epidemic increase in obesity suggests that regulating impulsive purchases and consumption of unhealthy food products is a steep challenge for many consumers," stated the authors of the study, which recently appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research.

 The researchers also found that the increased likelihood of Americans paying for purchases with cash and debit cards could be playing its own role in the nation's obesity levels.

With these things in mind, consumers can go a long way toward saving money on health and life insurance costs by maintaining a healthy weight.

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