Survey – Three in 4 Americans have made impulse purchase

Austin, Texas - Three in four Americans have made an impulse purchase. According to a new CreditCards.com report, nearly 90% of millennials said they had made an impulse purchase, compared to just 56% of seniors. And in an interesting finding, men were nearly three times more likely than women to impulse buy while “intoxicated,” while women were twice as likely as men to impulse buy while “sad.” The most common emotions at the time of purchase? “Excited” and “bored.”

The survey also found other differences among Americans when it comes to what triggers these purchases, how much we spend and whether we ended up regretting them. For example:

• College graduates were more likely to make impulse purchases than non-college graduates. And suburban residents were more likely than urban or rural residents.

• Nearly one in three Americans had spent $100 or more on an impulse purchase, but men were the biggest spenders. They were almost three times more likely than women to have spent $1,000 or more on an impulse buy.

• Respondents were about as likely to make impulse purchases in-person and online. Cash was the top payment choice for impulse purchases (33%), just barely ahead of debit (32%) and credit (30%) cards.