14 September,2010 01:18 PM IST | | Agencies
It is often said that retail therapy really works for those who have a poor love life - and now a new study has discovered why.u00a0
The research has shown that shoppers get the same level of emotional excitement when they spot a bargain deal as they do from sexual arousal.u00a0
Researchers at the University of Westminster have found that special offers make us so deliriously happy that the brain is turned on to the same level excitement that it gets from sex.u00a0
And that is why they are such a successful way of selling items from the shelves, reports the Telegraph.
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The researchers came to the conclusion after measuring brain activity in emotional areas of the mind, while volunteers carried out a number of activities including shopping and watching an erotic film.u00a0
They found a coupon or free gift with a jar of Marmite or a loaf of Kingsmill bread gave them just as much excitement as the pornography.u00a0
The researchers used specialist equipment to monitored eye movements and emotional responses in the body to a series of everyday consumer products in 50 volunteers.u00a0
Some featured special promotions like a discount coupon scheme or a free gift offer or an association with a favourite character like a Wallace and Gromit campaign.u00a0
Other everyday groceries in the test featured no special offers and were the normal versions of well-known brands.u00a0
The research was revealed in trade journal The Grocer.
