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Category: Retail Psychology

Beware: Creative Old Dogs Inventing New Dirty Tricks

On Monday, February 22nd, the Credit Card Act of 2009 took effect, outlawing several of the most egregious practices of the credit card companies. Can you finally relax? C’mon—by now you know better than that! True, your interest rate can no longer suddenly skyrocket, and a misstep with one card will no longer poison your… Continue reading Beware: Creative Old Dogs Inventing New Dirty Tricks

Recession Promotes Family Time Over Shopping

Jennifer Lance, writing in the January 7th Eco Child’s Play, calls our attention to a positive (and somewhat unexpected) consequence of the economic downturn. She cites a New York Times and CBS News poll which found that “more Americans are spending more time with family and friends and less time shopping during the recession.”  The… Continue reading Recession Promotes Family Time Over Shopping

Continued Media Focus on Compulsive Shopping

Compulsive shopping is pretty much out of the closet now, with continuing treatment in television, film, and print. Here are four recent examples of note: “The Bank of Mom and Dad,” a BBC show that begins airing on SOAPnet September 30th, is “reality programming as a financial-makeover show.” In each episode, a young woman in… Continue reading Continued Media Focus on Compulsive Shopping

Gender and Internet Shopping

Less in the Pink Than You Might Think No, it’s not that the rate of internet shopping has fallen off. It’s that in cyberspace, women, who in the popular imagination make up the vast majority of shoppers, are substantially outnumbered—and substantially outspent—by men. Reviewing the latest PayPal data from the United Kingdom, Charlotte Cowell notes… Continue reading Gender and Internet Shopping

Consumer Behavior: Messages into the Void?

Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior (Viking, 2009)
. An old philosopher’s question asks: “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it, does it make a sound?” An updated version, tongue-in-cheek, is this: “If a man speaks in the forest and there’s no woman to hear him, is he still… Continue reading Consumer Behavior: Messages into the Void?

16 Strategies to Curve A Compulsive Shopping Addiction

I’ve given you the three main strategies for stopping compulsive buying and curbing a shopping addiction. Now, I want to share with you some more tips to stop overshopping, things to think about, and questions to ask yourself if you think you’re at rick of developing a compulsive shopping addiction. First, keep in mind the… Continue reading 16 Strategies to Curve A Compulsive Shopping Addiction

Making Less, Spending More: What’s Wrong with this Picture?

In a Washington Post article earlier this year, Michael Fletcher pointed to some disturbing facts about the direction of the middle class economy. At the heart of the matter is a curious reversal: although the typical American family now earns less than it did seven years ago, its rate of consumption has increased significantly. Median… Continue reading Making Less, Spending More: What’s Wrong with this Picture?

Tip: Resisting the Shopping Channels

Recent research makes definite and demonstrable what we already suspected: that QVC and other such channels are enabling and encouraging compulsive shopping. For an overshopper, these channels are simply too seductive. Don’t go there. Stay away. These are not retail stores, where, at your leisure and with sales pressure you can limit, you are able… Continue reading Tip: Resisting the Shopping Channels

Emotions and Buying Behavior: Two Recent Studies

How do negative emotions affect our buying habits? A recent study looked into the effects of sadness on our willingness to spend. Participants, who had agreed to participate in the study for a ten dollar stipend, were divided into two groups. One viewed an emotionally neutral video about coral reef systems in Australia. The other… Continue reading Emotions and Buying Behavior: Two Recent Studies