Consumers who redeem money-saving coupons in stores face a "shame stigma" that may extend to people standing in line nearby, Canadian researchers suggest.

Marketing professors Jennifer Argo of the University of Alberta and Kelley J. Main of the Asper School of Business theorize that the act of redeeming coupons elicits a stigma-by-association phenomenon, in which the person redeeming the coupon and those around them are perceived as being "cheap."

Argo said coupon redemption rates tend to be low, with use tallying a modest two per cent in the U.S. The researchers suggest the modern consumer tends to prize status and luxury over thrift.

Argo and Main suggest in the paper, published in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, that a stigma-by-association phenomenon — typically associated with behaviours like alcoholism — extends to consumerism.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments in which participants observed a consumer cashing in a coupon. Participants were later interviewed about their perceptions of the consumer, as well as those waiting in line.

Negativity spreads from user

"We find that although a person may not redeem a coupon him [or] herself, they are not "safe" from stigmatization that arises during coupon redemption. Rather, if someone else redeems a coupon, the negativity associated with that behaviour will transfer and "mark" a non-coupon redeemer," Argo said in an e-mail.

"This is especially likely to happen when another consumer redeems a low-value coupon and people believe you personally know the coupon redeemer."

But in certain instances, the stigma didn't extend to other shoppers waiting in line.

"We do find that there are ways for a person to be "protected" from the stigma," Argo said. "If you do not know the person, the coupon value is high, you are in a different checkout line and if you are highly attractive."

Argo explained that being attractive counteracts the negative perceptions of coupon redemption.

"It is ultimately more powerful and so people focus on it rather than on the coupon redemption," she said.