Late-night marketing messages to vulnerable shoppers with mental health problems are leading to “financially-crippling impulse buys”, it has been suggested.
A report, compiled by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, has revealed that such people were unfairly targeted with email marketing and TV shopping at night when their “defences were down”.
It suggested that shoppers should be allowed to set “opening hours” for online accounts.
Twenty-four-hour online shopping meant “consumers who struggle to control their spending find themselves at greater risk than ever before”, said the Institute.
They claim that while most retailers targeted their marketing for first thing in the morning – typically from 6am to 9am – a select few seemed to frequently send emails at night, from around midnight to 5am.
These timely messages can cause catastrophic impulse buys for some mental health patients who have little control over their spending, the report said.
Otherwise known as “crisis spending”, this often occurs during periods of poor mental health and was “motivated by emotional or psychological needs and processes rather than material need”.
The Institute said: “Some people experiencing mental health problems find it difficult to return online purchases. They often feel too ashamed or guilty about their behaviour, or may face practical barriers such as social phobia preventing them from going to the post office.”
In response, Bryan Johnston, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “This report raises some serious issues which retailers consider carefully, but no retailers deliberately target vulnerable customers.
“The timing of marketing varies greatly, but mails are generally timed to land when they are most likely to be seen and never with a view to exploiting a particular vulnerability. All customers are able to opt out of marketing, which for many delivers useful product news and special offers.”