ladies spend so much time shopping which include window shopping to this day , its all in the wiring .
On the other hand , men are wired to deal with moving targets which calls for sharp shooting and quick-thinking or decisionmaking skills . If you miss your target you quickly move to the next one even if it could be less attractive . This wiring is observable to-date in the males shopping behaviors characterized by very targeted buying and less use of time .
We had a chit chat on that awkward moment in the evening in a day when luck would not be on their side to make a kill . There would be no laughter in that cave while some rights including the one to food would not be guaranteed were it not for the role of providing security that required nutrition for energy and warmth to be alert over the night . When luck would be on the cavemen on a big kill day that would provide meat for several days to the family similar to modern day bulk shopping . We concluded that malls provide fertile grounds for gathering while the streets are equivalent to hunting grounds .
Case for Retail Therapy or Is it Chopping Money ?
Another angle we looked at was the perspective of retail therapy where shopping is considered to be therapeutic . The Journal of Consumer Psychology highlighted a 2014 study which found that shopping provides an immediate feeling of happiness while fighting lingering sadness which restores one ’ s sense of control and autonomy . These feelings are mainly as a result of dopamine released in the brain even when one just window shops or fills a shopping cart even if they abandon it before making an actual purchase . Songs have been composed about retail therapy to heal from toxic relationships and other modern-day demands .
Given , that our shopping mall census was conducted during the pandemic period when working from home and curfews were the norm we made a note that we needed to cover the bars where we would have found men outnumbering the women or the ratio being within the one to three gender inclusion in line with the Kenya Constitution 2010 gender representation requirement .
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Shopping for therapy has its downside if it becomes an addiction which psychologists call compulsive shopping disorder ( CSD ). It is important to seek other dopamine inducing activities such as exercising or eating healthy that delivers the same high without the risk of breaking the bank .
The stress resulting from cage fever inflicted by the restriction measures called for consumers to seek peace of mind from retail therapy . Ladies and more generally human beings get relaxed from shopping which helps us to momentarily forget our worries .
The many offers provided by retailers at that time kept consumers curious enough to keep seeking the best bargains from different offers in the market which makes a shopper to feel wise .
Working from home also meant that people would frequently be reminded of missing items in the home front in addition to equipping homes to be more work friendly increasing need for frequent shopping while providing opportunities for social bonding or cheerfulness provided while working with other people in normal times . Scarcity associated with the austerity also created a need for frequent shopping especially for small luxuries that a human being doesn ’ t compromise on even during difficult times .
The attained sense of autonomy may also be a reason why ladies would go shopping without their spouses .
The psychology of spending makes consumers to spend rather than save , provides an instant feeling of gratification and control helping them feel better than others while filling voids in their life or other emotional reasons .
Being a male only team , we toyed with the thinking that the majority of the mall shoppers were chopping the money made by those who were hustling on the streets . We also noted that men find pride in their money being chopped as the song , ‘ chop my money ’ indicates . This was also influenced by the trend of increasing materialism in the society .
Be Wary of Compulsive Shopping Disorder ( CSD )
Shopping for therapy has its downside if it becomes an addiction which psychologists call compulsive shopping disorder ( CSD ). It is important to seek other dopamine inducing activities such as exercising or eating healthy that delivers the same high without the risk of breaking the bank .
Also avoid shopping while you are hungry , studies suggest that you end up buying more foodstuff than necessary . Shopping at the end of the month while you have bulky amounts of money has also been found to result to overspending . Sticking to your shopping list is also advisable for the same reason . The dopamine effect has been linked to the reason why gamblers lose their hard-earned money in their escapades and no one is immune to that danger , even if you don ’ t gamble that self-awareness can keep you away from brokenness .
Brain scans of people using credit or debit cards to pay for shopping or other bills shows that consumers feel less pain compared to paying cash , my assumption is that mobile money may also make one to overspend due to the same effect as plastic money . Shop and spend wisely to avoid becoming that fool who is proverbially soon separated with their money .
Boniface Ngahu is a seasoned marketing research expert and runs the Talking Point column in Marketing Africa magazine . He is the Marketing Director of SBO Research . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Boniface @ sboresearch . co . ke , or follow him on Twitter @ bngahu
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