Buying behaviour theorists argue that as consumers, we buy things mostly because we need them or think we need them. And the purchase process is influenced by a variety of factors such as demographics — age, income, location, life-stage, product categories and market.

The female factor adds another dimension — as women we are more inconsistent consumers, influenced by mood, circumstances and lifestyle aspirations. We shop for a sudden need, for pleasure, to cope with depression, to ease insecurity, for comfort — and to keep up with the Joneses.

At the risk of simplifying our psychology, there are arguably three types of female consumer: 1, the efficient buyer; 2, the recreational buyer; and 3, the binge buyer.

The efficient buyer makes a purchase to fulfil a functional need. The decision is motivated by necessity and triggered more often by the 'left-side' of the brain, ie male predisposition. The buying process is short and logical, involving simple comparison in terms of product function and price.

Secondly, the recreational buyer seeks to experience the fulfilment of some need. This consumer makes expeditions to browse, window-shop and enjoy the shopping event. For these consumers, shopping as recreation is a hobby in the 'pursuit of happiness'.

They're 'time rich' consumers and are prepared to buy to reflect their mood, are very brand aware, and heavily influenced by advertising. Finally, the binge buyer makes sporadic and impulse purchases in direct response to a sudden change in mood, a specific circumstance or life event, which can be negative or positive. The result is a 'quick-fix' purchase and the reason is to ease physical or emotional dissatisfaction.

This is particularly evident in the purchase of fashion items, whereby high street retailers play on female insecurity about body image when advertising products.

Clever advertising impels consumers to make purchases unnecessarily; as a result, for many consumers the clich£ 'yesterday I didn't know it existed, today I can't live without it' characterises the buying behaviour of our society.

Dr Karise Hutchinson is a lecturer in human resources at the University of Ulster.

‘I went round more shops when younger’

Linda McAuley (53) is BBC NI's consumer affairs correspondent. She says:

I'm a commando shopper, in and out quickly because I get easily bored. I think this kind of shopping is perceived as being male, but there are more women like this than is recognised.

Recently I looked for a summer wedding outfit in a shop in Newtownards and took under an hour getting what I wanted. I tried on eight dresses but definitely didn't want to go to eight shops. I wanted a pretty summer dress as opposed to something stiff and starchy and ended up with a silk dress and wrap, in orange and clashing pink with an asymmetrical hemline; so I can wear lovely coloured shoes with it. I was thinking of the dresses in Four Weddings and A Funeral. I would normally get a hat for a wedding, but this is a young wedding and more a party-style event.

It may be an age thing, and I think I went round more shops when younger. Now I try to buy clothes which go with what I've already got. With food I'm an inveterate bargain hunter, and take longer. I'll go to the shop with butter on offer, then put it in the freezer, and I'm a sucker for bog-offs (buy one, get one free). The one area where I'm not so disciplined is bags — they're so lovely."

‘It's a delight to go shopping in Las Vegas’

Carolyn Stewart (in her forties), is a U105 presenter, and has a new show, Petrolheads, coming out in the autumn with BBC1. She says:

I'm an impulse buyer. I go through stages of shopping and am at the plant stage now. I bought two big Dicksonian Antarctica ferns at HomeBase recently for the back garden. They're £99 a plant, a bit extortionate really, but they're gorgeous — big with furry chunks.

I tend to clothes shop when I'm abroad, say on my annual trip to Las Vegas. You can go from escalator to escalator, hotel to hotel, with everything nicely laid out, and it's just a delight to shop there.

In Vegas, if you want a medium-sized jacket and they haven't got one, they'll say 'Leave it with me and I'll have one for you in 20 minutes'. And the pound against the dollar is good, with things roughly half price.

In October I went shoe shopping. I'm not really an Imelda Marcos, and got just four pairs. One pair was Jimmy Choos, in a sale for $285. They're slip-ons with a wooden sole, quite high, say 4 1/2, and a denim criss-cross. I bought shoes with a see-through sole and 3ins high heels. I do go on shopping sprees, but I know girls who buy shoes once a week, and I wouldn't do that.

I do overspend and don't compare prices. I bought a bottle of champagne the other days in Marks's for £15.99. I thought 'That's a good deal', but it wasn't chilled so I went to the fridge. They didn't have the same bottle, so I spent £4 extra getting a bottle that was chilled. There's no point in working hard if you can't give yourself treats."

‘I usually shop on my own’

Felicity Jordan (41) is floor manager on the homeware and children's clothes floor at the House of Fraser, Belfast. She says:

I would say I'm a perfectionist shopper. It could be a family thing — my brother's like me, a manic shopper, who knows the price of everything in every store.

Recently, shopping for my summer holiday, I looked in-store at the House of Fraser and searched in Kookai, Linear (our own brand), Oasis and Warehouse.

In two and a half hours I bought two dresses, a skirt to go with a top I'd bought previously and one other top. I tried on about 30 to 35 garments.

It's the workmanship I look for, something slightly different. At my age, it's about something that flatters, following fashion to a certain extent, but not so it's in your face.

Fit is important too. I'm petite, a size 8, but I'm only 4ft 11in. I do bring magazines with me to get inspiration but not to copy. T K-Maxx is my idea of hell.

I will go on searching until I find the right thing, and will take things back if they're not right. I bought my gypsy-style top in March and I've only just found the skirt to go with it. I'd try things and think well, that's only a 5/10. I only buy if it's an 8/10 or a 9/10. It'll only sit in the wardrobe if it's not what you want.

Normally I shop alone, but I have one friend who's very good at putting together a look. So I'll do the groundwork and narrow it down to a few possibles, then she'll come in to help.

The most money I've spent recently is on a pair of Gucci sunglasses. They cost £180 and you get this feeling. You know they're real, not a copy."