Shopping Spree Violates The Budget

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Some of the researchers have also stated the reason behind it. They conclude that all consumers tend to underestimate how much their groceries are going to cost.

"But those who try to calculate the exact total price almost always do worse than those who just estimate approximate prices," said Brian Wansink, contradicting the views of other researchers.

It is low-income shoppers who try most to calculate, rather than estimate, says Wansink.

It has been noticed that people with tightest budgets, end up spending the highest amount. This innocent problem, may further lead to stress. Such kind of chain of events can also cause these shoppers to develop negative feelings toward the store they patronize because they spent more than they planned.

The researchers in a deeper study found that shoppers based their estimates on the dominant range of price endings in their baskets — such as the 99 cents in 4.99 dollars. In other words, if the price endings of most of the grocers are between .50 dollars and .99 dollars, people should rounded up to the nearest dollar.

"When people don't round up, it leads to some unpleasant surprises at the cash register," said van Ittersum.

Wansink suggests that retailers can come to the rescue to these shoppers. It might help consumers estimate the cost of their groceries with cart scanners, by changing their price-setting strategies or by providing shopper trainings in the principles of decision making, statistics, and mental computation.