Pain of cash payments helps shoppers avoid junk food

LONDON - Consumers who make cash payments at shops and supermarts are more likely to avoid junk food than those who use credit or debit cards, a new study says.

“Cash payments are psychologically more painful than card payments, and this pain of payment can curb the impulsive responses to buy unhealthy food items,” study authors wrote.

The study could provide hope for shoppers keen to stick to a healthy eating regime, according to the Journal of Consumer Research.

Researchers from the Cornell University and the University at Buffalo in the US analysed the shopping behaviour of 1,000 households, reports the Daily Mail.

They found that supermarket trolleys had a larger proportion of impulsive junk food items when the shopper was using credit or debit cards rather than cash.

In a follow-up study they found people could better regulate what they spent if they paid in cash because of a ‘pain effect’ that was not felt when putting the bill on a card.