Bargain shopping ‘feels as good as sex’

LONDON - It is often said that retail therapy really works for those who have a poor love life - and now a new study has discovered why.

The research has shown that shoppers get the same level of emotional excitement when they spot a bargain deal as they do from sexual arousal.

Researchers at the University of Westminster have found that special offers make us so deliriously happy that the brain is turned on to the same level excitement that it gets from sex.

And that is why they are such a successful way of selling items from the shelves, reports the Telegraph.

The researchers came to the conclusion after measuring brain activity in emotional areas of the mind, while volunteers carried out a number of activities including shopping and watching an erotic film.

They found a coupon or free gift with a jar of Marmite or a loaf of Kingsmill bread gave them just as much excitement as the pornography.

The researchers used specialist equipment to monitored eye movements and emotional responses in the body to a series of everyday consumer products in 50 volunteers.

Some featured special promotions like a discount coupon scheme or a free gift offer or an association with a favourite character like a Wallace and Gromit campaign.

Other everyday groceries in the test featured no special offers and were the normal versions of well-known brands.

The research was revealed in trade journal The Grocer. (ANI)