Have you been planning to save money lately, but you couldn’t as much as you wanted? You try to cut down your expenses, but your favourite clothing brand comes up with “Black Friday sale – Buy one, Get one(BOGO)” deal, and you notice your favourite shirt – that you had your eyes on for about 3 months is on sale along with the golden belt that would go well with your oversized dress … Oooo..The dress ..
The dress would be great for the party next week, and it would go perfectly with the belt… I need to get perfect earrings for the occasion, and it would be a set I can wear again and … How about this cute bracelet and the ring set, and the list goes on and on … But not your savings, they have to wait… a little. In her book “ To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop”, Dr April Lane Benson talks about 11 main reasons for overshopping, some of which are
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To feel better about yourself
Individuals suffering from low self-esteem, introverted individuals, and introspective people who have trouble expressing themselves. These individuals, in an attempt to feel better about themselves, shop relentlessly. Individuals suffering from eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, who constantly compare themselves to others, finding others smarter, prettier, more attractive compared to themselves, tend to have a consolation prize that they are better dressed than others around.
To avoid dealing with something important
Is it just me, or does anyone else here spend their hours scrolling on Myntra when I have a deadline for an assignment tomorrow? Many people shop to avoid dealing with something more important, like figuring out another step in their career. Questions like Should I apply for the internship? are often hard to answer, as compared to questions like Do I need another knife for my kitchen?
To Fit into an Appearance-obsessed Society
Indian society is especially concerned with the way people look, especially how women look. Korean standards of clear skin, Western standards of a perfect hourglass body contribute to this. Women moving into their late thirties have pressure to look younger, beautiful and slim, while younger women have pressure to have a fuller body. Similar standards are rising for boys’ broad shoulders, good height, and fair skin. Hence, people are left feeling unfurnished.
Continuing to struggle with body image issues fuel towards overshopping. People tend to shop relentlessly, trying to hide their insecurities, constantly trying to fit into social standards. Constant voluntary or involuntary criticism leads to a constant search for perfect clothes that would enhance their looks to the extent, all their insecurities would be overlooked by society. Of course, those perfect clothes do not exist, as self-esteem comes from within instead of the shelves of shops.
Read More: Mindful Consumption: How to Shop Consciously and Avoid Impulse Buying During Sales
In response to stress, trauma or loss, or to feel more in control
There are many things in life that we, as normal humans, cannot control, no matter how hard we try to manage all aspects of our existence. As a self-declared “control freak,” I often have a difficult time accepting that I cannot control everything in my life. For most people, when things do not go their way, missing deadlines, messy lifestyle, discord with family and friends, work overload, etc, create a lot of anxiety.
To avoid this, they find their thoughts wandering to a shopping cart, one thing they can control. Once they get inside their safe world, the anxiety decreases. They may not be able to control everything, or even all that much in their life, but they can control when and where they shop, as well as what they buy. Many also shop when they are under stress. There could be two reasons: avoiding dealing with something important and trying to soothe and repair the mood. During times of stress, loss, or trauma, we often have no idea what we are feeling or how to process our emotions.
We’re afraid that if we sit with our feelings, we may crumble into a heap of tears or lose our minds completely. Sometimes we don’t want to think about the stressful situations in life or deal with the grief we’re experiencing. To avoid such situations, people often tend to hide behind something safe – shopping turns out to be one.
Reasons why people tend to spend a lot during BOGO sales, FOMO
The term fear of missing out (FOMO) was introduced in 2004 to describe a phenomenon on social networking sites. It mainly includes two processes: first, the perception of missing out, followed by a compulsive behaviour to maintain these social connections. Fear of missing out is the anxiety that others are having rewarding experiences that one might be absent from; it is often fueled by social media.
This feeling can lead to negative emotions like anxiety, envy and fear of loneliness, along with stress and other negative effects on mental and physical well-being. It is often characterised by a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing, even if it means sacrificing sleep or other healthy habits. Retailers create BOGO sales with a limited-time offer to trigger FOMO, encouraging customers to act quickly before the deal expires, which helps increase sales, average order value, and inventory turnover.
Sales promotions can also evoke the feeling known as the fear of missing out (FOMO) (Alfina et al., 2023). It is mostly driven by a sense of urgency and exclusivity in owning a product or service (Hodkinson, 2019). Consumers who experience FOMO tend to follow the latest trends and often feel that they are taking advantage of trends or activities. This perception pushes them to buy products impulsively to ‘keep up with trends’ (Good & Hyman, 2020). Around 60% of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) consumers make an immediate purchase within 24 Hours of experiencing FOMO (Hott, 2024)
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Impulsive Buying
Impulsive buying has several characteristics. It is unplanned and occurs with an impulse that emerges after exposure to a stimulus. Stimuli can be in the form of discounts, displays, or advertisements (Madhu et al., 2022). Nowadays, stimuli are mainly in the form of BOGO, BTBT, Black Friday, sales and Festival Deals, etc. Impulsive buying can be related to demographic factors, such as gender, age, income, and education (Awan & Abbas, 2015; Sun & Wu, 2011).
Read More: FOMO and Retail Therapy: The Drivers Behind Impulsive Buying Behaviour
Reference +
Agrawal, A. (2018). The effects of immediate and delayed payments on consumption behaviour [dissertation]. The University of Nebraska.
Shirin Istikhara Djamhari, Martina Dwi Mustika, Bertina Sjabadhyni & AlifRamadian Puspa Ndaru (2024) Impulsive buying in the digital age: investigating the dynamics of sales promotion, FOMO, and digital payment methods, Cogent Business & Management, 11:1, 2419484, DOI:10.1080/23311975.2024.2419484
https://recoveringshopaholic.com/2013/09/09/why-do-you-overshop/
Oxford English Online Dictionary. FOMO. Available from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/FOMO
Sharma A, Gupta M. (2021)Fear of missing out: A brief overview of origin, theoretical underpinnings and relationship with mental health.World Journal of Clinical Cases. 9(19):4881–4889. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i19.4881
