Why does shopping make you happy? - The secret behind "bags" curing all diseases

According to the British Daily Mail, in 2016, British women had an average of 14 bags for different occasions, and Chinese women's love for bags is not inferior to that of Great Britain. Tmall Queen's Day data shows that 350,000 Chinese women buy at least 12 bags a year. "Bags" cure all diseases seems to have become an unspoken consensus among girlfriends. Why do women prefer "buying bags" so much?

01

What makes women so addicted to "buying bags"

In ancient times, women were responsible for collecting (picking) and men were responsible for attacking (hunting). Whenever there was a gathering activity, women would take baskets or animal skin bags with them. "Bags" became a necessary daily necessity for women. The pleasure brought by this division of labor has been ingrained in their genes, making women particularly fond of bags.

Of course, this evolutionary psychology speculation can only explain why women like "bags", but it cannot explain why women always prefer expensive brand-name bags. In fact, women's love for "expensive but useless" things also stems from the need for "love". An article in 2014 gave relevant evidence.

Luxurious clothing can make women feel more "loved" | Tuchong Creative

The researchers asked two groups of female participants to read an article about a woman attending a party with her boyfriend. Most of the content of the article was the same, except for the description of the woman's clothing and jewelry - version A said that she was wearing big-name goods (luxury goods), while version B described it as ordinary goods. After reading, the participants were asked to rate "how much do you think this boyfriend loves his girlfriend". The results showed that the subjects who read the version about wearing luxury goods felt that the boyfriend loved his girlfriend more.

In the second experiment, the researchers asked the women to imagine that another woman was trying to steal their boyfriends - to see if this situation would trigger women's defensive shopping. The results showed that when the subjects felt that someone was competing with them for their boyfriends, they would indeed be motivated to shop for luxury goods. This shows that from a psychological point of view, another important motivation for women to buy branded bags is to demonstrate to potential competitors - "See? He is willing to buy luxury goods for me, and he cares about me, so don't think about him."

Asking your boyfriend to buy you something may be a trick to prove your love | Tuchong Creative

Of course, women have many ways to get the emotional value of shopping. In addition to bags, there are many other products that make women feel "loved." A study on "retail therapy" shows that in addition to bags, the top three items women choose to buy are clothes, food, and shoes. In contrast, men prefer food, electronic products, and movies/music.

At the same time, women are more dependent on online channels for shopping. Surveys show that 67% of women mainly use online shopping to relieve stress and relieve emotions. This is mainly because online channels can be more convenient (staying at home, saving commuting costs, etc.) and comprehensive (various types of e-commerce platforms), meeting people's needs to heal through shopping in a short period of time when they are under stress or emotions.

02

Shopping is really a kind of emotional healing

Of course, online shopping makes it easier for women to fall into the vicious circle of "impulsive buying" - things they didn't intend to buy end up in the shopping cart, or they know that the things they want to buy are not necessary, but they still can't help but "buy". Why is this?

In fact, humans are not "rational animals" at all. Behind rationality, it is "unconscious motivation" that drives our behavior, even what we think is "rational thinking." We cannot control ourselves to "not drink" or "not buy bags" simply by willpower, especially when such behavior has deep psychological significance. Psychologist Lance M. Dodes specifically discussed the relationship between psychological helplessness and mental addiction in his book: "When we feel emotionally helpless and overwhelmed by emotions, we will have great anxiety. When people face anxiety, they will use specific self-regulation mechanisms to maintain a sense of control and emotional stability." And purchasing can play this regulatory role.

When you are at work, will your colleagues suddenly take out their mobile phones to show you what new good stuff they have released? | Tuchong Creative

Compared with obtaining the use value of an item, the positive emotions brought about by consumption are a more important motivation for buying things.

When shopping, people are in a relatively relaxed state without having to think. Therefore, when completing a complex and difficult task, shopping as a "short break" can help the brain relax and adjust, improve the state so as to better find solutions to difficulties. Especially online shopping. In the gaps between busy work, people can quickly take out their mobile phones to browse e-commerce websites, which is like a mental decompression and relaxation journey. It is lighter and simpler than traveling in real life. People do not need to pack their bags or make careful plans.

In addition, shopping is a process in which people constantly make their own choices (not including those who cannot control themselves in shopping addiction). After going through this process, people's sense of control over their lives will be enhanced. It can be seen that most of the time, buying things does make us feel better, and it is not without basis that shopping has a psychological healing effect. The key to healing the heart through shopping is to understand one's own psychological needs and grasp the degree of purchasing behavior.

03

Here comes the secret to prevent shopping sprees: the SOS rule for rational consumption

Although consumption can bring us a pleasant experience, if we are blinded by consumerism for a long time and fall into the trap of "impulsive buying", it is also detrimental to our physical and mental health. If you want to calm down from the impulsive state in time, you might as well try the "SOS rule":

Mentally take a step back (S): Disable one-click shopping (such as password-free payment and facial recognition shopping) in advance, give yourself more buffer time, then sort out your thoughts, breathe slowly, relax your body and mind, and then stretch your body. Add the things you want to buy to the shopping cart, delay gratification, and check back six hours later to see if you still want to buy;

Reposition yourself (O: orient yourself to what you most deeply value and believe in): Think about what you value most, consciously think or imagine what is most important to you, clarify your normal consumption and values, and connect with your "real self". For example, imagine that you have a bank account with some extra money in it, and you will save this money for something or someone;

As a price-sensitive consumer, you should consider your budget before buying something | Tuchong Creative

Self-check (S): Understand how much financial pressure you are under at the moment, rate yourself, and make purchasing decisions after you have determined the degree of pressure. As a precaution, you can also set up a special shopping wallet for yourself and deduct money from it every month. If you exceed the limit, you cannot make advance payments. Keep your claws under control!

In addition, when the things we want to buy are too expensive, we can buy some cheap substitutes to trick our brains into thinking that we really own it. This practice takes advantage of the vicarious ownership effect. Psychologist Ian Zimmerman believes that when people have a connection with a product, our brains begin to behave as if we already own the product. This connection can be a physical connection, such as touching it in front of the shelf. This connection can also be a social connection, that is, seeing others using a certain product, which creates a comparison mentality. Of course, it can also be owning a substitute.

So, when you can't help but want to spend a Chanel, buying a COACH may also reduce your desire to consume.

References:

Bailey, E. (2013). Retail therapy: Pros and Cons of using shopping to relieve stress. Health Central.

Baumgartner, J. (2011). Visualize it.Psychology Today.

Borreli, L. (2015). Confessions of ashopaholic: 7 warning signs of shopping addiction and the personality traits most susceptible. Medicaldaily.

Gregoire, C. (2013). Retail therapy: One inthreerecently stressed Americans shop to deal with anxiety. Huffington Post.

Kacen, JJ (1998). Retail therapy: Consumers' shoppingcures for negative moods. In JW Alba & JWHutchinson (Eds.), Advances in consumer research (Vol. 25, pp. 75-87), Provo, UT: Association for ConsumerResearch.

Morad, R. (2012). Shopaholic: 7 Signs you'readdicted toshopping. Huffington Post.

Researchscape (2013). “Retail Therapy”: 64% of Women and 40% of Men Shop to Improve Their Mood.

Nepomuceno,MV & Laroche, M. (2016). Do I feardeath? The effects of mortalitysalience on anti-consumption lifestyles. TheJournal of Consumer Affairs,124-144.

Author | Tang Yicheng Beijing Science and Technology Mental Health Promotion Center

Review | Fan Chunlei Associate Researcher, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Editor | Jiang Fan

Editor | Ding Zong

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