Breda University: It's not hunger, but why you're shopping, that drives unplanned purchases

BREDA, Netherlands, Oct. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As World Food Day on 16 October, turns global attention to food behaviour, new BUas research questions the popular advice to "never shop hungry."

Sait Durgun, a researcher in the Leisure & Events domain and affiliated with the BUas Experience Lab, examined the influence of hunger and shopping purpose on unplanned purchasing using real-world supermarket data. The study followed 323 shoppers, analysed 3,819 individual items from their receipts, and measured hunger on a 0–10 scale immediately after shopping. 

Hunger's narrow reach 

Across the full shopping basket, hunger had no significant effect on unplanned purchases. The one exception: snacks and sweets, where each one-point increase in hunger (0–10 scale) was associated with a 9% increase in the odds of an unplanned purchase.

Age matters too 

Older shoppers were less likely to make unplanned purchases. Those aged 55 and over reported the highest hunger levels in the study, yet made the fewest unplanned purchases, suggesting experience and self-control can override physical appetite. 

Strongest factor is shopping purpose

The strongest predictor by far was why people walked in. Shoppers who came simply to browse made unplanned purchases 69% of the time, versus 24% for routine grocery runs – a nearly ninefold difference, even after accounting for hunger. "The advice is simple," says Durgun. "What you plan to do before entering the store may matter more for unplanned purchasing than how hungry you are." 

Read more here: Don't shop hungry? A receipt-based field study of hunger, shopping purpose, and unplanned purchasing – BUas Research Portal

Note to editors 

Breda University of Applied Sciences is an internationally oriented higher education institution with study programmes in Leisure & Events and Hospitality, among other things.