Brits remain ethical shoppers despite one third saying they would fight for a sale item

However, just because shoppers consider the ethics does not mean they are ethical. One third of British consumers would take part in a ‘competitive encounter’ with another shopper to secure the last item in a shop. A further fifth believe it is acceptable to buy clothing online, wear it once and return it.

Shoppers seem to have an increased concern with retailers using private data to suggest purchases. 63 per cent were happy for retailers to profile shoppers by their private data but this has markedly decreased from 77 per cent in 2011. Two thirds of consumers said they’d be happy to share private information about their shopping habits if there was a tangible benefit to it.

Two thirds of shoppers browse goods on mobile but over half believed that mobile shopping was not as fun as visiting physical stores. Additionally, forty per cent admitted to regretting impulse purchases made on mobile.

Rodney Collins, regional director of McCann Truth Central, said: “Shopping is at the very heart of our everyday lives, fulfilling fundamental human needs of connecting, giving, and discovering.

“Most of us like if not love it, and in some cases, we live to shop. Even as technological innovations enable consumers to integrate the multi-fold practice of shopping deeper into their lives, the global financial downtown continues to impact shoppers the world over.”

He added: “Pioneering brands and companies that both take notice of these truths and then lead the way toward transfigurative outcomes may very well relieve consumers of the challenges they associate with the changing structure of shopping and the shop as we know it.”

McCann's 'The Truth About Shopping' report had 10,000 respondents.