Introduction: Asian American Psychologist Revisits “Retail Therapy”

We’re nearing that time of year again—Black Friday. So many irresistible sales! Do I need a new Dyson? Do I need new headphones? I can’t pass up a good deal! A little “retail therapy” can’t hurt every now and then, right?

Last year, I wrote about this topic in a blog post titled, “Black Friday With a Psychologist: Shopping Addiction and Retail Therapy.” My general approach has been that retail therapy is a very limited form of emotion regulation. I’ve counseled people to relegate shopping to be a pleasurable activity that is done in moderation and learn some “real” emotion regulation strategies, such as naming the feeling, mindfulness, and self-compassion. In short, I’ve been somewhat biased against the idea of shopping as therapy or coping.

I’m re-visiting the topic of retail therapy this year to add some new information and nuance. I decided to update my understanding of this topic because I’ve been having fun using Consensus.app to gather more scholarly information about a variety of mental health topics that I’m interested in. In my research on retail therapy on Consensus, I was surprised to find that the connection between shopping and mental health is one that has been studied quite a bit, especially in the disciplines of business, marketing, and consumer research. Below are some takeaways from more recent studies on the subject.

Retail Therapy: 5 Insights From Research

• Fashion-related online shopping is correlated with improving mood and feeling better about oneself.

Summary of the study’s conclusions: Online shopping significantly improves Korean female consumers' negative and positive moods, self-efficacy, and self-esteem, with stronger effects than resting. Some caveats for this study include that the sample were all women and that they were women in Korea, which is a totally different cultural context from the U.S. Because of this, it would be unwise to generalize the conclusions of this study to women in places outside of South Korea. Nonetheless, the findings are interesting because both real life shopping and online shopping behaviors seem to make people feel better. Of course, the risks associated with shopping in order to improve mood are still there, such as overspending, making unwise short-term financial decisions at the cost of long-term security, and developing a process addiction with shopping. This study suggests to me that contrary to my previous view, perhaps a little “retail therapy” can be part of a healthy and balanced emotion regulation routine.

Link to the actual article: Does online shopping make people feel better? The therapeutic effect of online shopping on Korean female consumers’ mood, self-esteem, and self-efficacy : Based on the context of fashion product shopping

• Shopping can improve mood by serving as a distraction, providing a sensory experience, and presenting opportunities to socialize.

Summary of the study’s conclusion: Therapy shopping is a common behavior for individuals experiencing negative moods, primarily to improve mood through distraction, self-indulgence, and sensory stimulation. This was an interesting study because it looked at people’s negative moods before they made the decision to go shopping, which I think is important in understanding what compels people to turn to retail therapy. Because I don’t have access to the full article, I don’t know the full range of negative emotions the participants experienced but the study suggests that most participants shopped because of negative mood and ended up feeling better after shopping. The most intriguing quote from the study is the following:

Shopping provided a positive distraction, an escape, an indulgence, an elevation in self-esteem, activation, a sense of control, and a social connection.

Another helpful aspect of this study is acknowledging the social dimension of shopping, especially if we’re doing it with friends or family. Also, there’s the socializing we do with retail workers and other customers, which, though seemingly minor, can make a big difference in how connected we feel to others. Remember how negatively impacted we all were by the loss of “weak ties” during the pandemic? This social aspect of shopping kind of gets at that too.

Link to the actual article: Let’s Shop! Exploring the Experiences of Therapy Shoppers

• People don’t necessarily regret what they bought when they were feeling bad.

Summary of the study’s conclusion: Retail therapy has lasting positive impacts on mood, with feelings of regret and guilt not associated with unplanned purchases made to repair a bad mood. I’m surprised by this finding! This is not what I often hear in the therapy space around this issue. Feeling of regret may also be related to an individual’s income level because whether or not you can actually afford to shop in order to regulate emotions may play a role in how you feel about it later. Still, this gives me pause. If you don’t regret it, what’s the harm? Perhaps emotional spending can provide an emotional boost that’s quick and accessible.

Link to the actual article: Retail therapy: A strategic effort to improve mood

• Shopping can help regulate emotions, depending on the motive.

Link to the actual article: The Therapeutic Utility of Shopping: Retail Therapy, Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being

Summary of the study’s conclusion: Shopping can provide therapeutic utility for emotional regulation and well-being, based on four primary motives: affective-preservation, affective-growth, cognitive-preservation, and cognitive-growth. The other interesting point this article makes is that “retail therapy” does not actually have to involve any purchases. There are so many ways to engage in shopping without buying such as “window shopping.”

• Retail therapy can lead to compulsive shopping.

Link to the actual article: Retail Therapy: A Qualitative Investigation of Therapeutic Role of Shopping in Negative Affect

Summary of the study’s conclusion: Retail therapy can be therapeutic for emotional regulation, but it can also lead to compulsive buying and addiction. This is what I focused on a great deal in last year’s post about Black Friday: the risk in over-relying on shopping to feel better is that you can develop a behavioral addiction (or what some in the field would like to call “Compulsive Buying Disorder”). I think it’s unfortunate that this isn’t discussed more in mainstream culture because I work with so many people who don’t feel they have a sense of control of their financial futures and are caught up in vicious cycles of emotional spending. The study points out that there is both benefit and risk to shopping to recover from negative feelings but the study doesn’t provide more information about what might protect a person from developing a compulsive shopping behavior.

My Revised Perspective on Retail Therapy

I’m reluctant to admit that retail therapy can actually be therapeutic! But I think it has to be done with a lot of intention and self-awareness. There are so many mindless things we do to deal with stress, such as eating, binge-watching TV/YouTube, and yes, shopping. I think online shopping fits into this more than shopping in person but that might vary from person to person. The bigger picture is that it’s not ideal to have just one tool in your toolbox. If retail therapy is your “go to” mood-booster, I would suggest you get some other tools. The tools you use to regulate emotions ideally would not cost you something every time you use them (other than maybe a bit of time and effort).