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?
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.