By | Katie Hentschel
The accompanying infographic, The Psychology of Consumer Spending, provides a concise overview of consumer spending, while highlighting compulsive purchasing. The infographic is full of statistics: who buys too much, what they purchase, whether they pay by cash or card, and impulse buying statistics. While all that is fascinating, what can we learn?
The most interesting portions of the infographic may be the sections about the reasons for compulsive shopping and how our brains respond to it. Psychologists think that compulsive buying results from an emptiness in an individual’s life, perhaps stemming from childhood, or the need for approval or excitement or, the easiest explanation yet, a real lack of impulse control.
Regardless of the reason(s), when we shop, we feel good. The reward part of our brain lights up, dopamine floods our system, and we are pleased — at least for a while. The problem comes when a person is truly “addicted” to shopping. That’s when the brain wants more shopping, just like a drug addict’s brain yells out for more opioids or alcohol. It is essential to understand that a shopping high is only momentary and will not deliver what you really need in the long run.
Continue reading to learn more about this interesting topic.
Graphic created by Illinois Lending.
