Shopping for bargains? It's all in the family

For the Chicago Blackhawks, it's the Stanley Cup. For the New England Patriots, it was the Super Bowl ring.

For Cherry Hill Mall shopper Jennifer Sommers, the moment of glory was the fabulous Michael Kors purse she scored on Memorial Day. Already 35 percent off, the price was slashed another 25 percent in the holiday sale.

"It was at least a $300 purse," crowed a triumphant Sommers, 36, a social worker from Northeast Philadelphia.

She was back at the mall recently with bags of booty from the semiannual sales at Bath and Body Works - $12.50 body wash for $3.50! - and Victoria's Secret.

And she's not the only bargain hunter in her family.

"My mom definitely was," Sommers said. "My mom was a single mom with two kids. She was always looking for a good deal."

Apparently, Sommers' family is not alone.

Research by Rutgers-Camden marketing professor Robert Schindler has found that a passion for shopping sales and finding bargains - known as deal proneness - appears to run in families, passed down from parent to child.

"It's a thrill of getting something worth $200 for $49.99. It's a thrill that you've outsmarted the business that's very powerful," Schindler said. "It's a matter of pride."

The research Schindler did with Pace University marketing professor Vishal Lala and then-Rutgers-Camden student Colleen Corcoran also found that direct tutelage - "Never pay full price!" - can yield future bargain hunters. But they also found that offspring can pick up the bug even if their parents don't explicitly teach them to seek out deals. The findings were contained in a paper called "Intergenerational Influence in Consumer Deal Proneness" published in the journal Psychology and Marketing.

In addition, Schindler said, parents and children tend to share similar tastes in bargain seeking.

For example, coupon clippers/users tend to beget other couponers, and sales shoppers spawn new sales shoppers. The cycle also holds true for aficionados of free gifts, buy-one-get-one-free deals, rebates, and contests and sweepstakes.

Parenting styles appear to matter.

Although earlier research had shown that a restrictive parenting style has more influence on children than permissive parenting, Schindler said he and his colleagues found that permissive parents are more likely to see their children pick up deal proneness.

"We think that's because past studies have focused on discipline-related behaviors, such as eating fruit and vegetables and not smoking," Schindler said. "Deal proneness is not discipline-related; it's more of an indulgence."

Although Schindler, a Cherry Hill resident, has made a name for himself as a shopping and consumer expert, the professor is not deal-prone (although he said his wife is, as was his father and father-in-law).

"I have a lot of respect for people who are smart shoppers," he said.

He avoids malls but does grocery shop, and has been known to take a spin around the Mount Laurel ShopRite.

During a stop there last week, he met Rhonda Silverman, 48, carrying her binder full of cataloged coupons. The Mount Laurel resident and corporate event planner said she has always been a coupon clipper.

But in the last two months or so, you could say she has turned pro. Couponing has become something of a passion since she found the websites livingrichwithcoupons.com and thekrazycouponlady.com.

"It's fun; it's exciting. You find a great bargain," Silverman said.

That day alone, she said, coupons saved her about $66 on one $76 order. On another order of men's shaving supplies, "in the end, I made 27 cents," she said.

A lot of her bargains aren't even for her. The shaving supplies were likely to go to cousins or a charity for servicemen.

"I get a lot of satisfaction giving it away," Silverman said.

(According to an earlier paper by Schindler called "Games Bargain Hunters Play," Silverman would fall into the Santa Claus category of deal seekers.)

Is her mom by any chance a bargain hunter?

Of course. But not coupons.

"My mom is a department store maven," Silverman said.

A pair of $30 slacks for $5, a $40 bra for $15 - you name it.

"She's better in the department store than anyone," the daughter said. "She's amazing."

There was more than a touch pride in those words.