Last-Minute Valentine's Shoppers Spend More
Lovebirds in a time crunch pay to avoid making a bad impression, study says.
Feb. 13, 2008 — -- So tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and chances are you still haven't picked up that pot of petunias for your favorite squeeze. Too bad, because now it's so late you're probably going to pay more than you would have a couple of weeks ago.
But you won't fork over those extra bucks to make yourself look great. Instead, you will pay more just to be sure you aren't going to look bad.
That's the gist of a new study out of three universities into how consumers' attitudes change as a deadline approaches. If we buy early, according to the researchers, we're more likely to feel confident and make a good purchase. But if we put it off until the last minute, our confidence wanes and we're more likely to pay a bundle just to be sure we haven't messed everything up.
That may be especially true when it comes to buying a gift for someone else because the wrong gift can backfire.
"People are willing to pay more to avoid making the other person mad, as opposed to paying more to make the person happy [if they wait until the last minute]," said Cassie Mogilner, lead author of the study in the current issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
Mogilner, a social psychologist and marketing researcher at Stanford University, carried out several experiments with Jennifer L. Aaker, University of California, Berkeley, and Ginger L. Pennington of the University of Chicago, to see how attitudes change over time.
Researchers found that as the deadline approaches, a little panic sets in.
The closer it gets, the greater the likelihood that the giver will pay more, "but only when it's a means of avoiding a negative outcome," Mogilner said. "It's not that they are willing to pay more for a fabulous gift right before [Valentine's Day], but they are willing to pay more to avoid a negative situation.
"That's kind of unfortunate because it takes away from the pleasure of giving the gift."
Since males are usually the dolts when it comes to buying a valentine for the wife, or girlfriend, or whatever, they need to put a little more effort into picking the right gift so the lady won't be, as Mogilner put it, "pissed off." And if they wait long enough, they will more likely fork over the extra cash.
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