Are you a normal shopper? A neurotic shopper? Or are you just a compulsive shopper or, even worse, psychotic?

With shopping on just about everybody's minds these days, you might be interested to know that four types of shoppers have now been identified.

For several years, Paul Albanese, Kent State University associate professor of marketing and an expert on consumer behavior, has studied how personality relates to shopping and other activities.

While most researchers have recognized two types -- the normal and compulsive shopper -- he has gone further than that.

He identified four distinct categories:

1) The normal shopper. These folks spend less than they earn, save for future purchases they cannot afford in the present and prudently plan their purchases.

2) The neurotic shopper. These shoppers spend an excessive amount of time shopping, exhausting anyone who shops with them. They often don't buy anything, and when they do, they might return the item. They spend money that they have and typically don't impair family social relationships (other than trying a relative's patience).

"They're looking for the perfect item," he said. "Shopping with someone who's neurotic is an exhaustive process."

3) The compulsive or "primitive" shopper. They're driven to spend money they don't have on things they don't need and then tend to hide their purchases in the original wrapping with the price tags still on them (think Imelda Marcos, former Philippine first lady, and her shoe purchases). Family relationships, as well as the family budget, can become strained over the purchases.

4) The psychotic shopper. This is shopping to the extreme. It usually involves someone who has bipolar disorder and hits during the manic stage, when they buy everything in sight. This behavior can result in serious financial and legal problems.

It's important for retailers to understand the basic patterns of consumer behavior so they know who they're dealing with and how best to handle sales, said Dr. Albanese, author of "The Personality Continuum and Consumer Behavior," a 2002 book from earlier research that laid the groundwork for many of these personality differences.

To attract the neurotic shopper, for example, the retailer would want to be specific in advertising to get that customer into the store. Of course, whether he'll end up buying anything is another question.

"A neurotic shopper is someone who truly enjoys shopping," he said. "Their satisfaction comes from the act of shopping, rather than buying anything."

The opposite is true for the compulsive shopper. "A lot of the satisfaction for a compulsive buyer comes from interaction with the salesperson," Dr. Albanese said. "From the salesperson's point of view, it's his lucky day when a compulsive buyer is standing in front of him."

Compulsive buying is like binge eating. There's a blind drive. "When they're out buying, regardless of what it is, they're getting the rush from the act itself."

Many of the customers standing in line overnight waiting for the doors to open on Black Friday may fall in the compulsive category, he said. Even though they're making the effort to look seriously for advertised products they may "end up buying a lot of stuff they may or may not need."

Most shoppers nationally fall into the either the normal or neurotic categories, he said. Previous estimates indicate that about 6 percent of shoppers might be in the compulsive or primitive categories.

More research is needed to further define these categories. And he said other researchers are looking at possibility identifying another category -- shopping as sport.