Yes I am a girl, and yes I love to shop; but sometimes I feel that I may like shopping too much. ‘WHAT? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?’ is the question you may be asking yourself, but it is true. I am what some call an impulse buyer- I buy what I like right when I see it. Most of the time there is no reasoning behind my purchase, unless you count “I just had to have it” as a reason (that’s probably the only way I can explaining buying a $40 dinosaur head hat at Disney). Although thankfully upon coming to college I have learned to keep my impulses at a minimum, as to buy something would mean more money going out then coming in. But the question is: is there any science behind impulse buying? Or is it just a phrase specifically dubbed for the average shopaholic?

According to Brain Blogger, one of the reasons we impulse shop could be due to our appetite. That’s right, having an appetite not only influences our buying in grocery stores, but also in regular stores as well. This article emphasized two experiments; one having participants pick either a lottery with immediate, smaller winnings, and the other option having a larger winning that they would receive over a period of time. They showed participants pictures of either nature or pictures of food and found the ones who were exposed to food pictures picked the smaller and immediate winnings. In the second experiment emphasized, women were given a budget and sent to either a store with a no scented candle, or a store with a cookie scented candle. The study showed 50% more women spent more money in the cookie scented store, despite having little wiggle room budget wise. Thus simply being hungry can cause impulse buying.

An article by Psychology Today also gave some reasons as to why we tend to impulse shop.  The simple and most logistical one is that some people just really love to shop. The feeling of getting something new is an act of empowerment for those who can’t get enough, and therefore do it often. Another reason is the loss aversion switch, which in this article is defined as being afraid you will regret the purchase. This is why retailers put up discounts so the fear then switches to “what if I miss this deal?” and the purchase is made. Basically it is emphasized that the desire to save is what really causes the impulses to kick in. If the consumer thinks they will be saving money (ex. buy one pair get the other half off) then they will go for it.  Retailers also use twisted heuristics to get the consumer to buy. That means retailers will put things in bulk, or add extra things such as a free item to a purchase,  so the buyer thinks they are getting a good value (when in reality they might not be). The last reason Psychology Today gives is that a lot of consumers live with “rose-tinted glasses”, meaning we think of future rather than present, which deludes our thinking and thus our purchases.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I not only really like shopping, but more times than not I am sucked in by retailers sale schemes. And while there is nothing wrong with impulse shopping for some, I am glad I have suppressed it; at least for now.