Avoiding the Crowds

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When You're Avoiding the Crowds
You may be tempted to tackle your shopping list at 7 a.m. on a weekday, when Walmart is practically guaranteed to be blessedly empty. But shopping at crowded stores could help your wallet: We're less likely to buy unnecessary items when we're surrounded by swarms of people, a Journal of Consumer Research study found. It's like we go into survival mode, where we immediately think of what we need to get in and get out (and emerge relatively unscathed).