Impulsive shopping, how bad does it hurt?

When feeling worthless, small, disgusted with ourselves, our body, and our life, we sometimes tend to spend big amounts of money on things that we believe will make us feel better. It’s a way of pampering ourselves, isn’t it?
Haven’t you ever daydreamed about purchasing this expensive TV or this amazing dress thinking you will be so happy once you do? But does this solution really make you feel better and complete?
Emotional shopping means shopping for the only purpose of buying.
On the one hand, shopping can be considered as fulfilling. It’s true that when we tell ourselves we will save a specific amount of money as a reward, once we buy our “whim”, this can make us feel really good, especially if we sacrificed some of our vices only to get this new acquisition.

What’s important about emotional shopping is that before buying this caprice, there is behind, a long process of looking, comparing, and discussing with yourself. It’s like a treasure pursuit. And this process is what makes you appreciate more your new purchase.
Several studies have shown that shopping is an activity that helps in the process of lifting the mood. Depressed people don’t feel regret when buying. In fact, individuals who are in a bad mood, feel also more motivated and more impulsive, they don’t feel regret on spending their money. A study conducted in 2015 and published in the journal Psychology and Marketing concluded that “Feelings of regret and guilt are not associated with the unplanned purchases made to repair a bad mood”.

However, emotional shopping has also a dark side. Undeniably, this kind of shopping can give rise to unnecessary expenditures on things that we don’t really need. For instance, a paper published in Psychological Science showed that when feeling sad and demotivated, people are willing to pay up to 30% more money to obtain the object they think will help them overcome their negative emotional state. Emotional shopping is used by some people as an excuse to back up their bad emotional state. They refuse to confront the problems they are facing in life and find a refuge in spending money.
If you feel like a practitioner of emotional shopping, then consider this advice: don’t spend money to fill an emotional void!
No amount of money will ever be enough to fill the gaps of your heart, mind, or soul.
You may try to make this hole disappear with something shiny, new, super expensive but don’t fool yourself: your problem will still be there. Before spending your earnings, try to work on your personal growth. Try to develop yourself as a person by showing yourself how material things will never make you happy in the long-term. Instead, identify what really fulfils you.

