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Why We Shop and How to Stop
Unwinding emotional spending
If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably bought yourself something nice after wrapping up a big project at work, landing that promotion, or even just to shake off a particularly rough day. There’s actually no harm in giving into the occasional bout of retail therapy. And doing so is much more common than you might think. In fact, a 2011 Penn State study found that 62% of the shoppers they surveyed admitted to treating themselves for a little mood boost at least once in the past week.
The problem with this behavior arises, however, when it becomes your go-to response to stress, sadness, or other difficult circumstances. And for some people, this brand of emotional spending can be an especially slippery slope. But what is it about shopping that’s so addictive?
We shop for a number of reasons. But at the core of it, we shop to feel good.
Shopping does a few things for us psychologically. First and foremost, it’s a rewarding experience. As a result, our brain releases dopamine, the pleasure hormone, as we do it. Further, we learn to shop again the next time we’re feeling down.
But if you want to receive the same level of dopamine the next time you shop, you’ll need to buy something new or unplanned. This is because the brain especially loves an unexpected reward…
