Buying habits tied to being morning or night person

At some point, someone has told you that they are either a morning or a night person and how this trait dictates when they are most productive. One University of Texas at Arlington graduate says it may also affect people's health.

In the journal Psychology & Marketing Shashi Minchael (Ph.D., Marketing; M.S., Marketing Research) published research showing how those who identify as evening people derive more happiness and live healthier when they make material purchases than when they make experiential purchases, such as a tickets to a concert or movie. In contrast, those who identify as morning people gain more happiness making experiential purchases.

"Take a grill, for example," he said. "If I want to sell it to both a morning and evening person, maybe I could focus on the material specifications and also how having a grill creates memories among friends and family."

Dr. Minchael found that this is largely due to how both types perceive time, known as "subjective time perception." He said evening people perceive time and past events as further away.

If a concert happened a month ago, it seems even longer for these kinds of people, which is why they would rather have material items that always remain with them. Morning people, on the other hand, tend to hold on to experiences longer, so a concert they attended a month ago would retain its emotional impact.

"That is the crux of this research," he explained. "For evening people, due to their relative present focus, time seems to go faster for them and their memory of an experience fades, hence their lower happiness. That's why they'd rather have an item that is always present."

To complete his research, Minchael surveyed nearly 1,100 people across multiple studies. For example, in one study participants were asked to recall a material purchase and an experiential purchase they had made, then indicate which of the two contributed more toward making their lives happier. After answering questions about the price and the date of their purchases, they were sectioned off into morning or evening people.

In marketing, understanding the human psyche is valuable information, Minchael said. Studies like this can not only help marketers learn how to position their products better, but more importantly, can help people understand their own buying habits.