One Sunday morning, Juliet* woke up to an eager delivery driver with a large package she had no recollection of ordering. She was quick to dismiss it as an e-commerce mistake before the card inside helped solve the mystery: “To Sober Juliet, from your friend, Drunk Juliet.”

The fact this story was recounted to us while researching this topic illustrates the rise of a cultural trend that surprisingly few academics have explored. But drunk shopping is a rapidly growing consumption phenomenon.

Intoxicated consumers generate billions of dollars in annual revenue: by one US survey estimate, around US$45 billion a year. In the latest research I carried out with colleagues, we attempted to explore this phenomenon and its ethical implications further.

How alcohol affects a shopper

When alcohol enters the human body, it acts as a general disinhibitor, causing people to “let go” of the inhibitions that would normally constrain their actions and increasing the likelihood of engaging in foolish and risky behaviour. Psychologists call the underlying mechanism alcohol myopia: short-sighted information processing that is part of alcohol intoxication.

Alcohol reduces the scope and focus of attention, limiting both the range of cues that can be perceived and the ability to process them. Behaviour is based only on the most salient and impelling “go” cues........

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