Although more of us are cutting coupons these days, the practice is still looked down upon. The Chicago Journal of Consumer Research explains:
…the innocuous behavior of coupon redemption is capable of eliciting stigma by association. The general finding across four studies shows that the coupon redemption behavior of one consumer results in a second non-coupon-redeeming shopper being stigmatized by association as cheap…
More important, the research identifies a number of factors that protect a non-coupon-redeeming shopper from the undesirable experience of stigma by association, even during another shopper’s redemption of a low value coupon.
If you care enough about the way people perceive your financial status to actively avoid coupon-cutters at the grocery store, you better get your produce delivered. Coupons are so commonplace now. In fact, I rather envy coupon cutters for their tenacity in finding good deals.
Would you be embarrassed to stand in a grocery store line behind someone using coupons?
Have you read these books recommended by Warren Buffett.
The problem with grocery coupons is that the products that usually have coupons available are usually not a good value.
That being said, who cares what the people in line at the Piggly Wiggly think.
I’m even more interested in what factors “protect a non-coupon-redeeming shopper from the undesirable experience of stigma by association”…
Wearing a red cape during check-out will surely mask any cheapness rubbed off from a person in front of you using a coupon.