Impulse Purchase: An unplanned decision to buy a product or service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purchaser or impulse buyer. Research findings suggest that emotions and feelings play a decisive role in purchasing, triggered by seeing the product or upon exposure to a well crafted promotional message.
Upon getting into the car…
Lena: So I made an impulse purchase.
Husband: Uh huh. What did you buy?
Lena: THIS!!! (Shows product.)
Husband: Why?
Lena: Cause it smells like the 90’s! OMG I used this ALL. THE. TIME.
Husband: Let me smell it. (Smells product.) Actually it smells like poison.
Lena: I know!! Isn’t it wonderful?
Ah, back to a more civilized time when face products smelled like the chemicals used to make them. Back to the days of being a Noxzema girl.
I spotted this little jar of Noxzema Cleansing Cream in the travel-size aisle and just had to have it. Oh, the memories! Dipping my finger in the jar to get at the hard, creamy substance; slathering it on my face and feeling the trademark cooling sensation. Washing it off – and noting with dismay that I still didn’t look like the girl in the ad. Persistence, Lena… persistence.
Now that I’ve bought the cleansing cream I haven’t actually used it yet… preferring to simply unscrew the lid and sniff it from time to time. (I totally just did it again.) Isn’t it funny how scent can evoke such powerful memories? Just one whiff and I’m transported back to 1992. I can actually see the bathroom in my old house; I can feel the sticky Alberto Mousse and smell the heady Impulse Body Spray.
(OMG. Remember Impulse Body Spray? I totally rocked “Night Rhythms”. <<< “When a man you’ve never met before suddenly gives you flowers, that’s Impulse.” >>> Hasn’t happened yet, sorry.)
Were you a Noxzema Girl too?