Three faculty members in the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Mike Cottrell College of Business have published an article on the phenomenon of drunk online shopping and its effects on consumers and marketers. Their article used the Fogg Behavioral Model that focuses on motivation, ability and a trigger as influences on behavior.

Dr. Mohan Menon, department head of management and marketing; Dr. Waros Ngamsiriudom, associate professor of marketing; and Suzanne Anthony, associate professor of management, presented their findings at the Society for Marketing Advances annual conference, which was held virtually Nov. 4-7.

Drunk online shopping accounted for about $45 billion in spending during 2019, according to a survey by The Hustle. Menon said these figures come from purchase data from online retailers during peak drinking hours, such as weekend nights.

"The online shopping atmosphere can make shopping easy and addictive," Menon said. "Alcohol amplifies that effect."

Menon said marketers utilize many of these elements by making the "buy" button one of the easiest to see and click on a website, and some companies even target emails or social media posts to cash in during the night hours.

"While offline shopping while intoxicated is rarely a huge problem, marketers are finding the online shopping behaviors to be significant with respect to purchase volume and sales," according to the article.

Menon hopes to delve further into the topic of drunk online shopping and how stay-at-home orders and increased alcohol sales affected this phenomenon during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.