Sad or unhappy? Go shopping!

“Retail therapy”
counters sadness

A study in the reputable Journal of Consumer Psychology has brought “retail
therapy”, shopping for comfort, back to the forefront. “Retail
therapy is often said to be ineffective, wasteful and a dark side of consumer
behaviour, but we propose that retail therapy has been viewed too negatively,
and that shopping may be an effective way to minimize sadness”, the researchers
from the University of Michigan wrote.

Retail therapy as a concept is quite old. There have been studies that show
that shoppers become happy thinking
about their recent purchases. Even a
stroll past some stores can lower their sadness. There had been no
scientific proof of what triggered this change in emotion though: the fact that
something was bought or that window shopping provided a distraction.

Key? “Choosing is
regain personal control”

Two sets of consumers were used for the experiments. Both were shown the
same 12 items, from slippers to
headphones. One group could choose
or buy 4 items, while the other group could only watch.

Results showed that 79 % of ‘buyers’
had found their sense of self-control again, while only 2 % felt like that
when they were not allowed to buy. The buyer group was three times less sad than the people in group 2. 

“Our experiments provided support for the notion that making shopping choices helps to restore a sense of personal
control over one’s environment, and thus helps to alleviate sadness”, the
Michigan researchers stated.