A new study to be published in the journal of Psychological Science asks the question of whether or not emotions trigger just how much we spend when shopping.

The study used film clips to set the mood of the participants: the more emotionally tinged film – The Champ and a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef.

Ten dollars were given the people in the study for their participation. They were then told to use the ten dollars to buy something they wanted – a water bottle, being one of them. The people who watched The Champ turned out to be more likely to purchase a higher priced water bottle compared to the documentary viewers who would have spent 56 cents compared to the $2.11 of the Champ watchers.

I never really thought about it all that much. But when I’m really sad, the first thing I want to do (next to eating as much ice cream as I possibly can) is heading over to my favorite store and buying a number of items that I could get for cheaper somewhere else. But instead, choose the more expensive shirt/book/DVD because I can, and because I’m in no mood to care.

The U.S. economy could survive for years, and year and year with the rate of depressed shoppers.

I’ve hung out with friends who were in a horrible, horrible mood. Normally they’d be pretty cash conscious. But when they’re down, dropping a few hundred bucks on makeup doesn’t seem to bother them, or splurging on overpriced cookies and a five dollar cups of tiny ice cream.
—Eming Piansay