Christmas is a period with a strong link to shopping, which causes a much more impulsive and emotional shopping (in other periods shopping is more rational, “I want rather than I need”.
Technology-related products, very popular at Christmas time, tend to have a high price and also a “shelf life” that drives us to buy them periodically: “I can buy a phone every two years, so I can enjoy the advances it promises me and not be outdated”.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the urge to buy
Days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday exaggerate this false sense of need. Companies play with the fact of offering special prices or offers for a few hours, which will expire if the customer does not buy it immediately.
Thus, events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday take advantage of this feeling of haste, because if we stopped to reflect, surely we would not make many of the purchases we make on those days compulsively.
On the other hand, when we intelligently buy something we need, we can have a pleasant feeling afterwards, whereas, if we compulsively buy things we don’t really need, we can feel a sense of guilt afterwards.
The 3 steps to avoid compulsive Christmas shopping
- Go out with a closed budget in mind to spend. It is positive to indulge ourselves, but it is important not to make unnecessary expenses that we may regret.
- It is better to go with cash, with the credit card you have less constancy of the amount of money spent.
- Go forewarned and think in advance what things we need and what we do not need. You can even make a list to avoid being attracted by offers for things you don’t really need.
How does advertising influence Christmas shopping?
A few decades ago the distribution of roles in shopping was much more marked, being the man the one who provided income with his salary and the woman the one who took care of the home and the children. This distribution included shopping in the woman’s attributions. The fact that the income was controlled by men meant that the decision also needed their approval, which is probably why many of the advertisements were clearly sexist.
Fortunately, the roles have softened to the point that men and women are equally interested in purchases such as clothes, beauty products, cars,… while in the past these purchases were much more segmented.
Even so, nowadays we can still see how the marketing of some products is directed to one or the other sex according to what used to be traditional. Especially in the advertisements of children’s toys the differences are noticeable, possibly because the advertising is aimed at parents and not at children. It is enough to go to a kindergarten to see that boys and girls play indistinctly with all the toys (kitchen, balls, etc.).
In the case of young people, video game consoles and electronics are more common in the case of boys, but this will surely be resolved in the next generation, since the social differences between genders are becoming more equal as society progresses.
Why do we go to a psychology office more often after the holidays?
The stress of shopping, preparing meals, and interacting with certain members of my family are also situations that accompany the holiday season. Mood-related demands increase after the holidays.
Although Christmas often causes stress due to shopping or social commitments, the demands of psychology patients during the holidays are much more related to melancholy (people who feel sad because they are lonely or in the process of mourning) than to stress.
On the other hand, consultations related to compulsive shopping do not tend to increase at Christmas, as they are more related to frequent purchases throughout the year than to specific days.