Travellers befuddled by conversions and calculations when using foreign currency often stray from their normal buying patterns, and tend to lavishly overspend or unduly restrict their purchases, according to a consumer study.

The study, published in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, found most consumers spend less if the numerical value of foreign money is less than their home currency, says researcher Dilip Soman, a marketing professor at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management.

Suppose you go from the United States to Thailand, you would exchange each of your dollars for 45 Thai bahts, he told CBC News Online. If you did this at the airport at a currency exchange where you put every single dollar down and got 45 in exchange, it actually makes you feel wealthier because you would get a lot more bahts in exchange for your dollar. As a result you tend to overspend.

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