Have you ever emerged from an online shopping spree and wondered why you bought that crazy thing you don’t really need or is not quite right? Two recent studies put the decision-making of consumer purchases into focus.

According to a new study from Ohio State University, the brighter a product, the more likely consumers are to open their wallet for it.

Colours seemed to narrow a person’s focus on smaller product details, blocking out concerns about cost and functionality.

In one part of the study, 94 college students were asked to prepare for a hypothetical camping trip to a remote site where they could only pick up one station, and were asked to choose between a basic analogue radio receiver and a fancy digital model.

The students who were shown black-and-white photos of both models tended to choose the more practical analogue radio. Only 25 per cent chose the more expensive digital model with buttons that would be useless on the camping trip.

Among student who saw coloured photos, 50 per cent choose the more expensive digital model.

"Colour drew their focus away from the most important features to the less important features, and their choice shifted to the more expensive radio," said Xiaoyan Deng, who helped author the study and is an assistant professor of marketing at the university. "I think that's surprising -- that just by manipulating whether the product presentation is in colour or black and white, we can affect people's choice."

Marketing groups may focus on using flashy colours to attract the attention of shoppers; but Deng says there is a time and a place for making products colourful.

“Marketers may take it for granted that colour is always the best presentation format for advertising,” said Deng. “This study shows that while colour is desirable in most situations, it’s not desirable in all situations.”

Another part of the study had participants sorting footwear. In that sample, when people viewed photos in black and white, they tended to sort by functionality – separating rain boots from high-heeled footwear. When they viewed colour photos, they tended to put solid coloured shoes and boots together, and grouped colorful polka dot heels and boots into another category.

Location, location, location

Shopping in the real world instead of online? Where a product is placed can have an impact on what you choose, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Test subjects were given a choice to look up or down when selecting a printer to buy. The printers were described as either being ‘very reliable’ or ‘high quality.’

Those who looked at a lower shelf were more likely to choose the reliable product while those who looked up were more likely to choose the higher-quality product.

“People are used to paying detailed attention when looking down because everything that happens close to them could be important or dangerous. However, people are more likely to think about the big picture when looking up because they are used to looking at things from more of a distance (to get the full picture),” notes the study.

The researchers note that products on a lower shelf may be evaluated within specific terms, such as cost, while the product on the upper shelf will be judged on the general purpose it serves.