A highly-necessary study conducted by University of Arizona researchers confirms what you probably suspected if you’ve ever stood in line at the grocery store behind a woman buying 42 cans of cat food because she has coupons and they’re on sale: Most of the people who use coupons are in it for the sport, not because they’re experiencing financial problems. MSNBC reports:
These shoppers, who would use six or more coupons on each shopping trip over the three-month period of the study, were high earners, with 24 percent of them reporting at least $75,000 in household income; 78 percent of the coupon divas were white; and 51 percent of them were women …
On the other hand, 71 percent of the people surveyed were “non-users” in that they rarely or never used coupons when they went shopping. Of the non-users, 61 percent had incomes of $35,000 or less, and 26 percent were African-American and Asian-American. That’s compared with 16 percent of the coupon divas who were African-American or Asian-American, and 68 percent of the non-users who were white.
The biggest difference between the groups is that coupon users believe the time spent hunting for a 50 cent coupon is worth it and may, “chastise people who don’t use them, saying, ‘You’re wasting your money.'” Non-users, on the other hand, believe earning several times that much at work is a more productive use of their time.
Image via Fotoline/Shutterstock.
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