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Darlington CBT Counselling

The Simple Psychology of Shopping

With the proliferation of shopping centres, department stores, grocery stores, convenience shops, farmers' markets, and bazaars, shopping has become an important part of our lives. Many people flock to these places, hoping to find something that they want or need. Then there are also some who love shopping so much that the activity becomes an addiction.

But what causes us to shop for the things we want? Well, researchers from top scientific institutions have determined that before we go out of the house to visit the shopping centre or grocery store, we usually do not have pre-determined shopping goals. In other words, unless we have prior exposure to advertisements and usage of a certain product, we only have a fuzzy idea about what we want to buy when we plan our shopping trip. For instance, we know we want to buy a bottle of shampoo but we are not sure which shampoo we want to purchase.

As we reach the entrance of the establishment, our shopping goals become more concrete when we see posters, banners, flyers, and other media that advertise the products that we plan to purchase. In other words, we are rapidly influenced by all forms of promotions and advertisements that we see at the establishment's storefront. Furthermore, because of the lack of concreteness of our goals, our sensitivity to these advertisements is quite high and malleable during this stage of shopping. Thus, if we see a certain brand of shampoo being advertised at the store's entrance, we are most likely to make that product a candidate for our shopping cart or bag because the advertisement easily "imprints" that product in our minds.

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